April Meeting
Not For Sale 101
Wednesday, April 20th, 7pm
Greenwood Community Church, Grays Peak Room 14

In the first of what will become a bi-annual event for new Not For Sale members (and a refresher for existing members), the April meeting will focus on Not For Sale 101, providing an overview of the issue of modern day slavery and Not For Sale’s vision of raising up smart activists to fight slavery by using their skills within their spheres of influence.  We will introduce various tools that Not For Sale has developed to help get you started as an effective abolitionist including:

• http://free2work.org/ – Be a conscious consumer by buying from companies working to provide you items not made by forced labor (like Nike), while avoiding companies that just don’t care (like Skechers).
• Free2Play – Raise awareness and money as you play, to provide support to former slaves through physical activity.  Former Rockies Jeremy Affeldt and Matt Holiday are Free2Play, are you?  Perfect for soccer moms, softball dads or high school teams.  Under this umbrella is also what we like to call Free2Create.  Use your creative side to fight slavery through art, music, poetry, or whatever moves you.
• Faith Communities – Want to engage your church, synagogue or mosque in the fight against slavery?  Learn more about Freedom Sunday, Freedom Shabbat or the Underground Church Network. 
• Slavery Map – Want to follow cases of slavery in your own backyard?  Help show others that slavery is both a local and an international problem.
• And much more…

We want to help you be an effective abolitionist and we are working to create leadership and teams who can put these tools into action.  Bring a friend and join us to learn more and find people interested in the same things as you.  Please RSVP to denver@notforsalecampaign.org

I just learned of a great organization called Red Card.  They use Psalm 72:12 as there mantra. 

www.redcardkids.org

And remember to pray, pray, pray. 

“When our grandchildren ask us where we were when the voiceless and the vulnerable of our era needed leaders of compassion and purpose, I hope we can say that we showed up, and that we showed up on time.” Gary Haugen, IJM President and CEO

Recommended Reading

Christian

-         Good News About Injustice, by Gary Haugen

-         30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless

-         Zealous Love, by Mike and Danae Yankoski

Others

-         Not For Sale, by David Batstone

-         The Better World Shopping Guide, by Ellis Jones (most recent published 2010)

Restore Innocence  (www.restoreinnocence.org)
Benefit Dinner
April 15, 2011
6:30 pm
The Pinery
12375 Black Forest Rd
Colorado Springs, CO  80908
- Speakers
Tom Davis – Children’s HopeChest
Anne Darr – FBI Victims Specialist
Sarah Davis – Former Victim

  Micah 6:8 Alliance

Mark your calendars for the official launch of the Micah 6:8 Alliance which will include special speakers, prayer and round table discussion groups.

April 7, 7:00 pm at Denver Community Church 1101 South Washington Street Denver.

Join this network of Colorado Christians championing the cause of the oppressed through prayer, information and action meeting on the first Thursday of every month.

Not for Sale Vision

How we end slavery once and for all is the twenty-seven-million-person question.

The Denver chapter of Not For Sale exists because 27 million people are enslaved.  We are not an end in our own right.  We long for the day when slavery is fully abolished and we can throw a party and disband.  But until that day comes, we will face the twenty-seven-million-person question. 

As Pam and Rose have done before us (and continue to do with the Denver chapter, but in a less time-intensive role), Michelle and I have been discussing that question in the context of this chapter.  How can we, as individuals living in Denver with families, jobs, and other responsibilities, work to re-abolish slavery? 

Here are some of our thoughts:

1. This is way too hard of a thing to do alone.  Truthfully, it is too expansive and too heartbreaking of a reality to deal with by yourself, and its too easy to try to do it all in a burst of energy and flame out.  We all need encouragement and hope to keep going.  Thus, we desire to work alongside others and do it in a sustainable manner.
2. This is a complex and difficult problem.  It interweaves complex issues in areas including culture, economics, belief systems, politics and values.  Thus, we desire to be always learning more about the reality of slavery in order  that we might fight it in as smart of a way possible.
3. There is no single thing that we can all do to abolish slavery.  Thus, it will take many people each operating out of their strengths and in areas where they hold sway to make a difference.It is primarily about living as an abolitionist, not merely going to abolitionist meetings.

As a result, we see our roles (as co-directors) as that of equipping you to be an effective abolitionist, working in a sustainable and smart way, operating out of your strengths and in your areas of influence. 

We picture monthly meetings as working towards this end as well, split between an educational piece on slavery and work being done (local, national or international), and breaking into various focused teams such as:

• Education Team (working to educate us and the community)Consumer Team (working to help us be better consumers and not pay for slavery)Fundraising Team (working to raise funds for prevention and aftercare)Advocacy Team (working to know and craft local laws)Local Intelligence Team (working to understand and prevent local slavery)Faith Engagement Team (working to engage churches, synagogues and mosques in the fight)Communications Team (working in areas such as social media, marketing, and other forms of communication)Help us find out more about your vision, desires and abilities by taking a short survey at: NFS Denver Survey
• Come this Wednesday (3/16) from 6:30-8:00 to our mini-meeting / social hour at Metropolis Coffee (http://www.metropolisdenver.com/)

Michelle and I are working hard to pick up what Pam and Rose have built, and to move forward.  If you have suggestions or questions, please feel free to email us at this address.

Lastly, we are working on improving our communications.  Michelle is working on getting Facebook and Twitter going again, while I am working on getting our email list purged from unsubscribes and old emails. 

Thanks,

Michael Graf and Michelle Maldonado

Micah 6:8 Alliance

Join us for the official launch with Special Speaker – Michael Hidalgo, Lead Pastor of Denver Community Church

April 7, 7:00 pm at Denver Community Church 1101 South Washington Street Denver, CO 80210-1615 

We are a network of Colorado Christians championing the cause of the oppressed through prayer, information, and action meeting on the first Thursday of every month to pray, discuss, and share resources and ideas on how to eradicate injustice locally and throughout the world.

 For more information visit our the Facebook Page of the Micah 6:8 Alliance

http://vimeo.com/19947355

by Transitions Global

Bear Valley World Of Girlfriends Presents
Becky McDonald, director of Women At Risk, International – www.warinternational.org Mon, March 14 at 7:00 pm.
Everyone is invited to attend. For more information, contact Lois Hasselblad, Women’s Pastor Bear Valley Church, 10001 West Jewell Avenue Lakewood, CO 80232 303.731.4325.

CNN you rock with your new series on slavery in the world. Go to:   www.CNN.com/freedom