Nov
5
Good News Goods is part of the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger, and seeks to fight poverty through ethical purchasing. Seldom do we know how the goods we purchase impact “the least of these” (Matt. 25:40). Some of the items we buy are made by slaves, some of the fruit we eat is harvested by indentured laborers, and some of the carpets we walk on are made by women and children who realize almost no return for their work. Through Good News Goods, Texas churches have an opportunity to host markets and where we can buy things we need and at the same time know that we are helping people in need instead of hurting them.
By simply redirecting a small proportion of what we already buy, we have incredible power to bring good news to the poor (Luke 4:18). Such purchases are an important step in moving beyond charity to justice because buyers get a fair return for their purchases, because sellers get fair compensation for their work product, and because fairly engaging people in need in the marketplace is an expression of God’s righteousness (Amos 5:11-24).
The sale of items made by missional micro-businesses provides a living for the people in need. There is also a second gift. In addition to the funding of mission enterprises through a purchase, ten percent of the proceeds from the sale of Good News Goods products in Texas Baptist Churches are donated to the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger.
A number of trusted partners help connect Texas Baptists to these fair-traded products. A primary partner is Trade as One, an organization whose core concern is to use sustainable small business in the developing world. Another partner is Woman’s Missionary Union through WorldCrafts, a nonprofit ministry which imports handcrafts from 31 countries and markets them in the U.S. Both Trade as One and WorldCrafts are Fair Trade organizations which ensure that craftsmen, artisans, and laborers are paid and treated fairly. Other partners include the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Baptist World Alliance, and the development ministries directly supported by the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger.
The program officially launches in January 2009, but several churches are piloting Good News Goods Events and programs in Fall 2008. Through events at churches our Texas Baptist churches will encounter the stories of women, men and children who have suffered the worst of global tragedies, such as human trafficking, forced commercial sex, children fleeing genocide, HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty. We also can work to bring hope to many through several partnership options for churches. One example is signing up to be a Good New Goods “Trading Post,” where Fair Trade goods will be sold regularly in churches. We hope to provide simple, sustainable, and effective ways for BGCT church members to change their spending habits in a way that brings “good news to the poor.” (Luke 4:18)
The wisdom of the Old Testament teaches us that we ought to “Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17) Texas Baptists have yet another opportunity to “do good” and together we can serve “the least of these.”
Who is Trade as One?
Trade as One is a supply partner for Good News Goods and supplies Fair Trade products that come with meaning and stories behind them. (On Nov 10 & 11, you can visit Trade As One at the CLC booth at the BGCT Annual Meeting in Ft Worth). Trade As One was started by Nathan George, a British Christian who left a corporate job to bring markets and missions together. Trade As One uses spending power rather than donations as the means to bring jobs to the poorest of the poor by offering products that US consumers need. The products are all of extremely high quality and made by innovative and ethically responsible organizations in the developing world. Trade as One’s core concern is using sustainable business to address the issue of global poverty. All manner of related abuses and misfortunes come from poverty – human trafficking, AIDS, commercial sexual exploitation, gender abuse, lack of medical care and access to education. There are many organizations that rescue people from spiritual and physical enslavement and provide jobs for them making products that relatively affluent western people would buy if they knew of them. Trade As One partners closely with faith communities because they believe that faith is a powerful and under-utilized motivator for ethical purchasing in America. By choosing to substitute ethically traded goods for conventional ones, people have daily opportunities to put their values and faith into action.
“Despite the fact that the Bible has a lot to say about our stewardship of the resources God has entrusted to us, we sometimes don’t see the connection between our spending habits and the Kingdom of God. By directing our spending to help the people Jesus called ‘the least of these,’ we support his mission to ‘bring good news to the poor,’ which was so central to his understanding of God’s Kingdom” said Nathan George.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The dignity of the individual will flourish…when he knows the means to self-improvement.” By using our spending power as consumers we will be supporting those who bring jobs to the poor that give them the power to control their destinies and to live with hope and dignity.
As we seek to build the Kingdom here we continually find new ways to change culture, serve the poor and build community.
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