Trade As One

All over the country, in states like Texas, California, New Hampshire, Georgia, Arizona, Texas, and Minnesota, faith communities are embracing the idea that their holiday celebrations can reflect the world the hope for and believe in. Upper Room, in Minneapolis, is one of those communities. Steve Conrad has spearheaded the initiative at his church, so we asked him to write a post that talks a bit about what they’re doing at Upper Room.

As a part of our Advent Conspiracy series, our church community (Upper Room) decided to partner with Trade as One to create a ‘Global Marketplace’.  We wanted to do more than just talk about how we can worship fully, spend less, and give more this Christmas season– we wanted to live out these ideas in tangible ways.

So, this past Sunday we transformed our sanctuary into a global market.  We set up big wooden crates and steel barrels to display the products that we received from Trade as One.  The whole service was built around the idea that our Christmas shopping can be done in a way that reflects the Kingdom of God and helps to bring justice and hope to people around the world.  The simple act of buying Fair Trade gifts can literally transform lives.

We talked about the world that Jesus was born into – a world full of poverty, sickness, and pain. We talked about how Jesus entered into the messiness and brokenness of people’s lives and brought life.

We then highlighted 5 different Fair Trade producers that work in various parts of the world. We talked about HIV/AIDS and how an organization like Beacon of Hope helps families whose lives have been devastated by this disease to rebuild their lives.  We highlighted the rugs that the women at Beacon of Hope make and described how purchasing a rug provides income that a woman in Kenya can use to buy medicine and feed her family.  We talked about human trafficking and how organizations like Nightlight help women escape from sexual slavery and prostitution in Thailand. We saw how purchasing jewelry made by Nightlight provides employment for women who no longer have to sell their bodies to earn enough to survive.  We saw how purchasing products from Fair Trade producers around the world provides hope, dignity, and opportunity for people who desperately need it.

At the end of the message, during the final worship songs, we invited the community to purchase products that they could give as gifts.  It was overwhelming to watch hundreds of people come forward and place orders.  It was a beautiful moment, where we got to live out our call as Christians to love and serve the least, the marginalized, and the forgotten around the world.

As people give the gifts that they purchased to family and friends, the story will continue.  Many people commented on how excited they were to tell the stories of these products to those who will receive them.

From all of us at Upper Room in Minneapolis, we want to say thanks to Trade as One for all the work that they do and for allowing us to help share the love of Jesus with people around the world in a unique and wonderful way this Christmas season.