North Korea Freedom Week

North Korea Freedom Week started Sunday in Washington, D.C. to bring awareness to the human rights crisis in North Korea and the atrocities committed by North Korea and China (who captures North Korean refugees and sends them back to North Korea). It's disappointing how little coverage this event has gotten so far in the wider media. I created a page on Chosun Journal to list all of the coverage I could find online for those of us who aren't able to be in Washington. I'm hopeful there will be some video and photos of the scheduled events available later this week. More to come...

City of San Francisco Declares April 26 Not for Sale Day

I received an email from the Not For Sale Campaign this afternoon informing me that the mayor's office of San Francisco has declared this Thursday, April 26th, Not For Sale Day. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any information about the event online, except for this one blog post. The email said this was the schedule of events happening at the University of San Francisco:

12:00 pm - Students demonstrate anti-slavery activities on campus (Harney Plaza)

1:00 pm - Anti-trafficking film festival - new and unreleased films (McClaren 252)

5:00 pm - David Batstone, Norma Hotaling (founder and director of SAGE), Olympic and World Figure Skating Champion Brian Boitano speak about their abolitionist work. (McClaren 252)

6:30 pm - World Premiere of "Not for Sale: The Documentary". Director Robert Marcarelli presents the films and answers audience questions following the film (McClaren 252)

Then on Sunday, April 29th (my birthday :) First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley will be hosting a special Not For Sale worship service in the Sanctuary at 7:30pm.

IJM Prayer Gathering Offers Remote Participation

The International Justice Mission Prayer Gathering starts today. IJM is an amazing organization started by Gary Haugen that works on the front lines of injustice, rescuing victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery, and oppression. I first heard about IJM in Gary's book, Good News About Injustice. My pastor, Mark Labberton, and a number of other people from First Pres Berkeley will be flying to Washington D.C. to participate in the annual global prayer gathering. They will join IJM staff from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. who will lead them in prayer. They will also hear personal testimony from victims of slavery and injustice, as well as from the teams who have been used by God to bring their rescue.

For those of us, myself included, who would love to attend this event but cannot make it to Washington D.C. - IJM has provided us with the online resources to participate in this event remotely. They have provided written prayer guides and video clips from IJM field staff. Let's join them in prayer this weekend.
2007 Global Prayer Gathering Remote Participation