Freedom Sunday

From the “Freedom Sunday” Website:

On February 21, 2010, churches around the world will be praying for those held captive in honor of the first ever Freedom Sunday. Please join in this worldwide day of reflection by preaching about the freedom Jesus brings, singing songs of redemption and prayerfully considering taking an offering to support the global projects of the Not For Sale Campaign. From India to Australia, Myanmar to San Francisco, Costa Rica to New York, churches around the globe will collectively ring the Freedom bell to declare that they are Not For Sale, you are Not For Sale and no one should be For Sale.

I was surprised - painfully so - to learn that human trafficking isn’t something that happens somewhere else in the world. There are slaves right here in Canada - perhaps right here in our own city. That’s a little hard to take. Most, but not all, are sex-trade workers and Canada is known as a place of transit for foreign slaves entering the United States. This Sunday we’re participating in Freedom Sunday to raise awareness of the issue. Our Manifesto says that we are a community that stands up for justice and speaks against oppression and - sooner or later - we’re going to have to do more than raise awareness.  But here is where we are, so here is where we begin. We’re going to have communion as a reminder that freedom comes with a price , that freedom is found in Jesus Christ and that freedom for the oppressed is found in God’s people living as Christ did…

…and as a reminder that if one of us ain’t free then none of us is free.