Visible Love through Shopping: Part 2

Have you ever wondered if your favorite brands relates to trafficking and other labor abuses? If you do, I want to mention one of the most important company who provides consumers with information on how and where the products are made, and if it involves child and forced labor.  The name of the company is Free2work and all you have to do is download the app through your I phone or Android,  and You can scan the barcode of an item and instantly get access to information on the brands effort to prevent child and forced labor.  Through the site you can learn how your favorite brands are working to address forced and child labor.  You can additionally access in-depth information about industry issues through their industry pages and news feeds. Additionally through their blog posts you can learn more about trafficking and supply chains.

http://www.freetowork.

Weekly Picks of companies who stands behind a cause…let’s go shopping!!!

Raven+Lily: If you are in search of handmade eco-friendly jewelries, t-shirts, soaps, scarfs and bags from Cambodia, Ethiopia and India you should check out this guys. Raven+Lilly is a company who believes in creating sustainable economic opportunities for HIV positive, formerly trafficked and marginalized women. The company is dedicated to returning proceeds to their partner communities to fund education, healthcare, and micro-loans. By purchasing R+L products you will be able to break the cycle of poverty and transforming the lives of women and families.

http://ravenandlily.com

 

Groobs: Are you looking for unique tennis shoes that are also comfortable both for your feet and your mind?  You will have a peace of mind wearing this shoes because you will know for every pairs of groobs you buy you will give a new pairs of groobs to someone in need.  In addition to sending a new pairs of shoes to a needy individual you will also get to pick a charity of your choice to send 50% of the proceeds to your chosen charity.

www.Groobs.com

TOMS: TOMS is one of the most popular brand out there and still worth mentioning. TOMS shoes comes in variety of colors and styles for both men women and children. The company have similar programs as Groobs except that they are more selective to who they give it to.. They give one pair of shoes for every shoe you buy to a child in need in third world countries. TOMS has given over 200,000,000 pairs of new shoes to children in need to 40 countries around the world and still expanding.  The  one for one movment is about people making choices that improve the lives of children.
www.toms.com

To be continued.... 

  

"Encourage each other to build each other up, just as you are already doing."

1Thessalonians 5:11

Special thanks to those of you who have suggested names of companies for this post. Please continue to suggest if you know any other companies who stand behind a cause. I am enjoying learning about this companies and I hope you do too.

Dancing with the Poor

Go out and dance with the Joyful,

Who are so poor but beautiful;

They enjoy life more than you do,

There is so much they can teach you.

They will tell you…

It doesn’t matter what you have,

How much money or what car you drive;

I will dance with you field with joy,

I will teach you how to rejoice.

They will tell you….

A piece of bread is all that you need,

You don’t live to eat, you eat to live;

Now let’s dance again and be thankful,

Our God is so wonderful.

They will tell you…

Be grateful for what you have,

Make the most of everyday life;

Let’s sing now and dance together,

You’re going to feel a lot better.

Enjoy your time with the reach in heart,

You will miss them when you come back;

Whenever you feel a little sad,

Just remember this joyful dance.

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing: You have put off my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness; Psalm 30:11

 Photo Credit:  blogs.ft.dancing, Don Parrish, Skopje, Macedonia, come together trading

Join me in Prayer

Today I am praying for all the hungry men, women and children’s in the world  who just wish they have a little piece of bread to eat, but can’t find any.

To the women and children who are raped, beaten, abused, and live a life filled with fear.

To the people who are thinking about ending their life because they feel hopeless.

To the mothers who are crying and desperate because they couldn’t feed or protect their children.

To the orphans who are wandering around and don’t know what it means to have a family.

To the homeless people who lost more than a home, and are suffering from loneliness, despair, and shame.  

To the sick lying in hospital beds, and to the sick that don’t even have a hospital or a bed to lie on, and are in so much pain and agony.

To the soldiers who are wounded, in pain, and are in fear of losing their life, or a part of their body.

To the men who aren’t able to provide for their family, and feeling desperate and incapable.

To all abandoned children, men, women, because of their cast, color, religion….

To the teenagers and adults addicted to drugs and alcohol.

To the parents who are experiencing the loss of a child.

To men, women, and children who are being used as slaves and feeling trapped.

To the widow and the widower that just lost the love of their life and suffering from loneliness.

To the immigrants who are trying to assimilate, but feeling home sick and lonely.

To the oppressed who don’t know what it means to have freedom.

To all the people who are searching for the meaning of life, but haven’t found it yet because they haven’t found you….

And finally to the people who are the cause of the suffering of this world. Help us forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing and no matter how evil they are, they are still your children.

Thank you God for being hope to the hopeless and let us be hope through love.

“If enough of us decided to share, we would unleash a Torrance of justice to sweep away disparity, extreme poverty, and hopelessness. The world is waiting. Our kids are watching. Time is wasting. Are we willing? “   Jen Hatmaker

Photo credit: gramatisticblogspot.com, prayer_page_leadaimint.org

The fear of Love

When I loved I feared.

I feared of disappointments,

The sad truth of getting hurt.

I didn't know if I could handle,

The breaking of my heart.

They say love freely,

But I am not sure if I know-how;

How can I love freely?

When  it cost to love another.

Don't  they know it is too hard,

To give freely and suffer?

But they say it is worth it,

To suffer and to love another,

love is not about getting;

It is mostly about giving,

Giving as much as you can;

Without worrying about the return.

When you don’t make it about your self,

And it is all about the other;

Your love will be returned,

And you could truly say you loved another.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us”  1 John 4: 18

 Photo credit: Jeanwi Young, Frommetoyouwordopress.com

Visible love through shopping

I believe by simply redirecting our spending habits to shop from companies who are helping others  we can make a big difference. Why not make it a goal this year to make our Christmas Shopping count in both ways. We could make the people who are in needs as happy as the person we give the gifts to. By shopping from companies who stands behind a cause we are not only giving material gifts, but we are also giving spiritual gifts to others.  I will do my best each week to find three companies with a mission to help those who are in need and list them with the description of in what ways they are supporting others. If you know any companies please feel free to suggest, so I could put them in my next blog. Together we can educate ourselves and make it a habit to help others  while we shop.  

1) ComeTogetherTrading.com is an online marketplace. If you are looking for really cool looking accessories both men and women can wear as well as t-shirts with good messages this is a place to go. All of the products they sell are handmade with great love by wonderful amazing people who just happen to live in some of the most poverty stricken and difficult places in the world. By purchasing their products you are helping create and sustain jobs for them, which positively impacts all other areas of their life. Under each item for sale, you will find the inspiring stories of the incredible people who make the products and learn how your purchase is benefiting them and their communities.

http://www.cometogethertrading.com/

2) At tradeasone.com you can find anything.  When I say anything I really mean anything...Starting from honey, wood carved gifts, olive oils, to  coffee, cool accessories, Journal, and  Jim bags. I guess you got the Idea.  Trade as one is a company with a mission to provide as much fair-trade employment as possible to fight long term poverty. They believe the poor want what we do - not handouts or pity, but a chance to provide for their families in a dignified way. It means fair wages, honest employers, clean water, healthcare, education for children. Their first goal is to provide as many of these jobs as they can.

http://tradeasone.com

3) The open Arm Shop. If you are looking to buy one of a kind skirts or scarves that are made from recycled t-shirts you are in the right place.  Open Arms is a company that is  committed to providing refugee women in America a living wage to create one of a kind products using recycled t-shirts  (the baseline hourly income necessary for food and shelter [including housing and incidentals such as clothing and other basic needs]) which typically runs $3-$7 above the federal minimum wage. Combining ESL and enrichment classes on an as-needed basis with family-friendly hours, this meaningful work and living wage are intended to set these women and their families on an upward path of integration and prosperity.

http://www.theopenarmsshop.com

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrew 4:16







A mother’s Promise

Would you forgive me, my child?

For not giving  you what you need,

But I promise it will get better;

It is just for now we suffer.

Don't be sad my love,  don't cry my child

I am going to give you whatever that you need;

Good food, drinks, and sweets, your favorite bread.

A mattress to lie on and a pillow for your head,

Some nice clean sheets, and a warm blanket.

We will get some toys,

For you to play with.

I will send you to school,

You will learn how to read.

I will buy you some clothes to keep you warm and neat,

Of course a nice bath; you’re going to smell so sweet.

What about some shoes you can actually fit?

And good pairs of socks to cover all your feet.

Dream with me my child,  dream with me,

Dream with me for now until it gets better.

Fight starvation this horrible hunger,

It’s just temporarily we’re going to suffer.

He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 2 Corinthians 1:4

Gandhi and his visible love

In remembrance of Gandhi on his  Birthday

Gandhi was one of those teachers, who stood for what he believed, and he lived his whole life taking actions that cost him so much, but in return, he was able to become a great leader and a great example in which the world looked up and still looking up to.

Image credit viceof influence.com

Gandhi is mostly known for his nonviolence platform, but he also loved the poor and the poor in people. He wanted to be able to relate to them.  He wanted them to know it is possible to live a life filled with joy without having this world's possessions, so he took action. He took action by giving away all his possession and living amongst the poor. He dressed like them, starved like they do; felt the coldness of being without a home, and being an outcast, but in spite of that, he was field with joy. He wanted to make it a point wealth is not a source of joy.  Materials are temporary, only through prayer, love and finding truth we could find ourselves, and the way to find ourselves is by being lost in serving others.

          Image credit pickthebraing.com  

Gandhi believed if we could believe in God, not by our intellect, but with our whole being, we will love all mankind without any distinction of race or class, nation or religion. We will work for the unity of mankind. 

In the book "The mind of Mahatma Gandhi he states, ” All my actions have their rise in my inalienable love of mankind. I have known no distinction between relatives and strangers, countrymen and foreigners, white and colored, Hindus and Indians of other faiths whether Muslims, pareses, Christians or Jews. I may say my heart is incapable of making any distinction. By a long process of prayerful discipline, I have ceased over forty years to hate anybody. All men are brothers and no human being should be stranger to another. God is the common bond that unites all humanity and to break this bond even with our greatest enemy is to tear god himself to pieces. There is humanity even in the most wicked."

Image Credit cubanexilequarter.com 

Yes it is true there is humanity even in the most wicked, but we have to remember that we are all god’s children. We should try our best to live judgment to god. Our job in this world is only to love God and to love others. We need to show our love even to the ones who we don’t think deserves to be loved; because that is the only way we could win evil. We could win evil by loving the unlovable, by helping the helpless, by forgiving the unforgivable and by touching the untouchable.

“There only is life where there is love. Life without love is death. Love is the reverse of the coin of which the obverse is truth. It is my firm faith…that we can conquer the whole world by truth and Love.”