By Anne Olson
I’ve been working as the Good News Goods Coordinator for a little over two months now, and each day I am reminded that Good News Goods is incredibly unique. And while indeed, the products themselves are beautiful and distinctive, the individuality I speak of here reaches much deeper than bracelets and bowls. To illustrate what I mean, let me first state our mission also found here.
“Good News Goods is a ministry of the Christian Life Commission, designed to give churches a fun, mission-driven way to shop in a global market. Good News Goods products fund international development projects, and every sale supports the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger.”
So the bottom line is quite simple, really. But if we concentrate on each portion of the mission separately, we can reach to the heart of Good News Goods and find what makes it so exceptional.
- Good News Goods is a ministry. As a part of the Christian Life Commission, the work of GNG is a wonderful example of putting our Christian ethics in action, founded primarily in the words of Luke 4:18.
- Good News Goods is designed to give churches a fun, mission-driven way to shop. Live catalog markets are a fantastic opportunity for churches to come together in fellowship to shop and learn about the lives of the artisans who make the products for GNG.
- Good News Goods is part of a global market. GNG products are culturally distinct from one another and allow church-goers a way to see beautiful work made by people around the world.
- Good News Goods funds international development projects. The artisans who make Good News Goods products are often former victims of human trafficking or are extremely impoverished. By supporting their work through our purchases, we are able to bring their families and villages out of poverty and support better lives for them.
- Every sale of Good News Goods products supports the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger. Ten percent of every sale is given to the TBOWH. Last year alone, nearly $5,000 was raised to assist in projects in Texas, the United States and worldwide. (And this year we hope to raise even more!)
Good News Goods allows you to discover, celebrate and contribute to the hard work of our brothers and sisters around the world because each purchase you make through GNG comes with a personal story of success and love. So this year, I encourage you to give your church the opportunity to shop with a heart for missions. Schedule a live catalog market for the Advent season before September 15 and we will take $50 off the market fee.
Email me at anne.olson@texasbaptists.org to schedule a market, or visit http://goodnewsgoods.com for more information.
Mother’s Day Gift Cards With a Mission
Are you looking for a special way to celebrate this Mother’s Day that is also meaningful for the life and mission of your church?
Buy a gift that says I Love You to the special women in your life while sending love to women and mothers around the world!
Churches can purchase a Mother’s Day Gift Pack from Good News Goods that includes:
1) Greeting cards & Divine Chocolate Bars (milk or dark) to be sold as a set for $5.00 on or before Mother’s Day
- $50 fee for small pack (25-50 cards/chocolate bars)
- $75 fee for medium pack (51-100 cards/bars)
- $100 fee for large pack (101+ cards/bars)
2) Instructional cards for buyers to add value to their gift cards online before giving them away
3) Eight sample chocolate bars for tasting (4 of each flavor)
4) Promotional Signs to post around the church (1-2 weeks prior to May 1st and/or May 8th)
5) Divine Chocolate producer picture and story table top signs
Through Good News Goods, Texas Baptist churches are given the opportunity to purchase gifts and everyday items while providing a fair wage, dignified and safe employment, stability, freedom, and hope to “the least of these” in the developing world who have experienced slavery, abuse, exploitation, extreme poverty, civil war, and illness.
We can bring good news to the poor through redemptive purchases!In addition, 10% of purchases will be given by our partner, Trade as One, to support the relief and development ministries funded by the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger
For more information and to order your Mother’s Day Gift Card Pack, contact Charlotte Bumbulis at charlotte.bumbulis@texasbaptists.org or call 512.473.2288
“Did you ever stop to think that you can’t leave for your job in the morning without being dependent on most of the world? You get up in the morning and…you go into the kitchen to drink your coffee for the morning, and that’s poured into your cup by a South American. And maybe you want tea, that’s poured into your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you’re desirous of having cocoa for breakfast, and that’s poured into your cup by a West African… This is the way our universe is structured; this is its interrelated quality. We aren’t going to have peace on Earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.”
-Martin Luther King Jr., A Christmas Sermon on Peace, 1967
This quote by MLK Jr. reminds me that stories are a powerful tool to awaken us to our interrelated world because stories have the capacity to penetrate the deepest places of our hearts and minds, thrust open the doors of our present worldview, and usher in a new reality—a Kingdom of God reality that offers peace, compassion, love, reconciliation, and justice for all people and the whole of creation. Perhaps this is why Jesus so often chose parables to speak the truth.
With that said, I wish to share with you three stories about our global partners, specifically those producing food and drink items such as coffee, chocolate, and tea. Although we will still most likely be dependent upon most of the world for these daily luxuries, by hearing their stories of struggle and hope combined with the startling fact that billions of people around the world lack access to food, basic healthcare, clean water, and education, we may yet give pause to the true cost of our daily routines and, with God’s grace and mercy, learn to be peacemakers and bearers of “good news to the poor” (Lk. 4:18) in “deed and truth” (1 Jn 3:18).
Divine Chocolate is the first farmer-owned chocolate company in the world. They serve as a stark contrast to the slavery and injustice that dominate most of the world’s chocolate production. The cocoa beans that make up this chocolate are fairly traded, sustainably farmed, and irresistibly tasty.
The chocolate industry in West Africa is marred by violence, child labor, unfair business and accounting practices, and even slavery. The low prices we see here in America get lower on the backs of overworked, underpaid, and sometimes underage farmers in countries like Ghana and The Ivory Coast. These two countries farm about 2/3 of the world’s cocoa beans, and yet still face crippling poverty every single day. The farmers of Kuapa Kokoo believe that there has to be a better way.
Like all of our partners, Divine Chocolate combines an amazing product with a compelling story. In the early 1990s, a group of farmers frustrated with being cheated at every turn, pooled their resources and formed the Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative. These farmers based their cooperative on fair trade principles, transparency, democracy, efficiency, and equality for women.
Thanksgiving Coffee Company- Peace Blend
In 2003, Ugandan farmer JJ Keki walked door-to-door asking his Muslim, Christian, and Jewish neighbors to leave behind a history of conflict, and unite to face their struggle against poverty caused by low coffee prices. The farmers came together, and founded a cooperative to build peace and prosperity in their community.
Since its founding in 2003, the coffee cooperative has grown to include over 1,000 members. JJ is 48 years old and has 25 children, more than half of whom he adopted after they lost their parents to AIDS. Thanks to Fair Trade, and his relationship with Thanksgiving Coffee Company, JJ has been able to increase the value of his organic, shade-grown coffee, expand his farm, and pay school tuition fees for all of his children. His neighbors are also thriving and hopes for peace are high.
“…They have created a tangible expression of their unity—a fair trade/organic coffee that wakes our bodies and souls and fuels their vision of shalom.” –Lynne Hybels, author & activist
In 2000 Choice Organic Teas became the first tea crafter to adopt Fair Trade Certified tea in the United States. Today, more than half of Choice Organic Teas’ offerings (and 100% of the teas sold through Good News Goods) are Fair Trade Certified, far surpassing the numbers of any other tea company in the United States.
On many traditional estates, tea workers live on the estate and toil long, hard hours for extremely low wages. The development of Fair Trade Certified tea standards guarantees fair wages, respectable living and working conditions, and a worker-managed premium. This premium represents additional funds, which are paid by Fair Trade registered importers like Choice Organic Teas directly to tea workers. It empowers them to improve their own lives because the workers collectively decide how they wish to manage and disperse the Fair Trade
For more information about Good News Goods and how to get involved, visit http://goodnewsgoods.com or contact Charlotte Bumbulis at charlotte.bumbulis@texasbaptists.org
In 2010, 12 churches and 5 Baptist universities throughout Texas partnered with Good News Goods through a Fair Trade market, the JUST ONE card program, and/or an on-going Trading Post as a means of living out the gospel way as a congregation, and extending the hope of the Incarnated Christ.
Because of Christians throughout Texas committing to make Fair Trade purchases in 2010, an estimated 8,434 hours of dignified employment was created through missional businesses for women, men and children living in extreme poverty and oppressive conditions all over the world. Moreover, an estimated $4,217 will be contributed by our partner, Trade as One, to the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger, which is a ministry of the Texas Baptsist Christian Life Commission, and supports numerous relief and development ministries throughout Texas, the United States of America, and the uttermost parts of the world.
THANKS BE TO GOD!
Our hope and redemption in Christ continues into the New Year of 2011, and what an appropriate time to take inventory of our lives and habits, humble ourselves to change the things that do not honor God, and lean on his understanding to shape us into people of love, peace, reconciliation, and justice.
Perhaps a first step would be to commit to making at least ONE Fair Trade purchase each month from goodnewsgoods.com so that our neighbors around the world may experience the hope and love of Emmanuel—God with us—through simply having dignified work that restores not only their material poverty, but their spiritual poverty and poverty of self-worth. Better yet, you could sign up for Hungry for Change and receive a monthly basket of Fair Trade goodies delivered right to your door step. It’s convenient, tasty, and can change a life or an entire community in the developing world.
Go to http://goodnewsgoods.com for more information and to get involved in one of our Fair Trade ministries, or contact charlotte.bumbulis@texasbaptists.org.
This is truly a season of Good News! For Christians, December holds more than just parties, gifts, food, and shopping. It is the season of Advent—the time of waiting in anticipation of the Messiah, the incarnate miracle who brings the hope of heaven to earth.
In my favorite Christmas carol “O Holy Night,” the third stanza says,
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
As the hymn portrays, Jesus’ birth and ministry on earth ushered in a revolutionary way of living daily as people of love, peace, reconciliation, and justice—as disciples of Christ living out the hard way of the gospel.
After hosting a Fair Trade Market at his church, Mike Fanning, Associate Pastor of The Fellowship of San Antonio said “I love the fact that by doing this Fair Trade market we are putting what we say and believe into practice.” This Advent season, Second Baptist of Lubbock, Cottonwood Baptist of Dublin, Highland Park Baptist of Austin, First Baptist Austin, Sugarland Baptist, and The Fellowship of San Antonio partnered with Good News Goods through a Fair Trade market or the JUST ONE card program as a means of living out the gospel way and extending the hope of Emmanuel, God with us.
These December events combined created an estimated 4,000 hours of dignified employment for women, men and children living in extreme poverty and oppressive conditions all over the world as well as an estimated $2,000 for the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger. And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Read more about what ministers and church members have to say about Good News Goods:
“Good News Goods is a ministry of Highland Park in a number of ways, and it links our community to other communities around the world through Fair Trade practices that benefit people groups who are vulnerable and poor. It addresses our inclination of over-consumption, allows us to make purchases that reflect our faith values and reminds us to actually think about what we purchase and why we buy it.”-Marcus McFaul, Senior Minister, Highland Park Baptist Church, Austin
“It has been a great program for our children at Highland Park to be educated in the ways that their purchases make a difference around the world. They have been able to personally learn about the artisans that create each of the products and they have been a part of re-telling the artisan’s stories and selling their products to church members at our monthly Good News Goods Trading Post, and so it has been a really important learning process for our children.”-Cheryl Kimble, Associate Pastor for Children & Family Life, Highland Park Baptist Church, Austin
“One reason why The Fellowship decided to host a Good News Goods Fair Trade market this year is because I felt it was a win-win for our community here and the people who made the products. People are already buying gifts for the holiday and they can buy high-quality goods here, and yet at the same time with their purchase, they can help someone else around the world pull themselves out of poverty. I love the fact that by doing this market we are putting what we say and believe into practice. We are trying to help people—not give them a hand out, but a hand up—and it works for us as well, so we’re going to do this every year!”-Mike Fanning, Associate Pastor, The Fellowship of San Antonio
“This is a brilliant business model and mission. It is not asking folks to give more money away, it is just about redirecting our dollars on what we were already spending to help people in need. I love it!”-Member & Business Development Consultant, The Fellowship of San Antonio
Americans love the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays because of all the excitement and cheer they bring, the gathering of family and friends, the gifts we get to give and receive, the traditions we keep, the special memories we make, and of course, the FOOD we eat.
While most of us this year will sit comfortably in warm homes surrounded by family, dear friends, and a feast of food, many people will go hungry around the world, in the United States, and yes, even in our beloved state of Texas (which is the #1 state in terms of food-insecurity for children). While Texans love being #1 in many things, this is not one of them.
That is why the Christian Life Commission is working so diligently through its World Hunger Offering, The Texas Hunger Initiative, Bike Out Hunger, Good News Goods (affiliate of World Hunger Offering), and many other ministries in order to make sure people are being fed—physically, emotional, and spiritually.
So this year during the holiday season, as we sit down with our family and friends, may we remember the blessing of food that fills us, nourishes us, and reminds us to not only pray for those who are hungry, thirsty, broken, and poor, but also to love the “least of these” (Matt 25:31-46) in “deed and truth” (1 Jn 3:17-18).
One easy way to do this is through the new Good News Goods program called Hungry for Change, which is designed to give you a simple way to redirect your normal spending dollars to fairly traded food products on a monthly basis. This way, you receive delicious, high quality food items while also engaging in the redemptive practice of buying and eating food grown by people who are treated with dignity and paid a fair wage, so that they too may have food on their table, provide for their family, send their children to school, invest into their community’s development, and experience the love of God in a holistic manner.
To learn more about Hungry For Change and/or order your monthly subscription, go to http://goodnewsgoods.com/get-involved/hungry-for-change/
Change the world with every bite!
“This year during Advent, our church focused on what it means that through Christ’s birth, chains are broken, peace is ushered in, and oppression ceases. We asked ourselves how we can participate in this liberation, especially during a season that focuses not on freedom, but on consumerism. Good News Goods was the perfect complement to our Advent theme.”
-Rev. Todd Ferguson, Willow Meadows Baptist Church, Houston, Tx
Can you believe it? Summer is almost over, school is starting, and fall is fast approaching, although our Texas weather doesn’t seem to reflect that yet. Football is already on the brain, and before we know it the holiday season will be upon us, filling our time with parties, family functions, shopping, and church events, perhaps, a Good News Goods Fair Trade market. Our calendar is booking fast for Fall 2010, so contact us and schedule your church’s Fair Trade market today!
What is a Fair Trade Market? This is a shopping event, hosted at, and by your church, where church and community members can choose from a large display of Fair Trade products, place their orders at the market, & have products shipped directly to their homes. This event allows your church and community members a convenient and fun way to positively impact the world with their spending, while also receiving a high-quality product with a story of hope.
Did you know that Americans spend an average of $40 billion each year around Christmas time? Have you ever wondered how our spending impacts people all around the globe—people who we will probably never meet? That amount of money could eradicate poverty worldwide two times over.
So this holiday season, buy a gift that pays a fair price and provides dignity; a gift that lifts families out of poverty and women and girls out of bondage; a gift that “brings good news to the poor and freedom to the oppressed.”
Good News Goods will also be present at various conferences throughout the fall such as The No Need Among You Conference in Waco, Tx, and the Global Voices Summit in Austin, Tx. Come by and visit our booth!
A Little Hope Goes A Long Way
“To Christians in America, buying something like a bag doesn’t feel like mission work, but to countless families, your purchase is their lifeline to a better future—a future filled with hope, healing, new possibilities, and the tangible love of Christ.”
On May 11, I returned home to Austin after spending two weeks in Phnom Penh and Battambang, Cambodia. This was my first international trip, and one with a very specific purpose in mind.
Let me rewind and share the story of how this opportunity came to be. Back in September 2009, when I was traveling around Texas networking with churches to market Good News Goods, I met Bryans Fitzhugh, Missions Minister of University Baptist Church in Fort Worth. There was an immediate connection between us because of Good News Goods’ partnership with our Fair Trade apparel producer, StopStart (Stop Human Trafficking. Start a new life), in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and the church’s on-going relief and development work, and pastoral training in Battambang, Cambodia. As we were meeting, we realized the overlap of our ministries and our common areas of interest, so Bryans invited me to accompany UBC on their 8th annual mission trip to Cambodia. In the moment, I hesitantly said yes, but never thought that I would really be able to go, mostly due to financial reasons. However, the church was very gracious and offered me a scholarship that made this dream trip a reality. In addition to their typical trip itinerary, Bryans added a visit to the StopStart factory in Phnom Penh, so we could meet and interview some of the women workers whose stories I tell and bags I sell at churches throughout Texas. So on April 28, I joined a group of people whom I barely knew or had never met, and began the 24 hour trip to Cambodia (You can read more about my trip from this blog).
When I stepped foot in Cambodia, the reality of the devastating poverty that engulfs that country was not an immediate shock to my senses, due to previous knowledge-based exposure. However, the difference between reading about global poverty and actually encountering someone living in poverty is comparable to prescription glasses. Without the proper prescription, one may be able to see the world around them, but not clearly, thus quickly becoming disoriented and overwhlemed. However, as soon as you place the properly prescripted glasses in front of your eyes, the picture comes into sharp focus and you are suddenly aware of your surrounding reality.
Likewise, the vision I now have of Cambodia is no longer that of a distant statistic or a sad anecdote. Rather,it is a distinct smell from the busy marketplace, a feeling of intense compassion and love towards a gracious and needy people, a charming yet filthy little girl begging for her family, or a woman’s hands hard at work. Specifically the hands of a woman I interviewed at StopStart—a woman who suffered abuse at the hands of her husband, who experienced healing through Hagar International’s Women’s shelter, who has been given a second chance through dignified, fair employment, and who’s hope for the future is to open her own small grocery store and earn enough money to provide for her children and have her mother come live with her .
Sadly, her story of abuse is not rare in Cambodia, or anywhere else around the world where women are not held in high regard, or viewed as children of God. Currently, she is one of about 40 other workers at the StopStart factory, mostly women, who are vulnerable to or victims of physical abuse, exploitation of labor, homelessness, and/or human trafficking (mostly in the form of commercial sexual exploitation). Because they are now employed by a Fair Trade business, the workers are provided a livable fair wage according to the economic context (about $20 US dollars more per month than other garment factory workers in the city), overtime pay, dignified treatment in the workplace, a safe and healthy working environment, free childcare, machine training, and language classes for the workers who cannot read and write in their native tongue. Because StopStart is not only a fair trade business, but a Christ-minded business as well, the women and men workers may also participate in a weekly Bible Study. It is the future goal of StopStart to maintain a sustainable, fair trade business in order to employ more workers and fill all ninety sewing machines. In addition, StopStart plans to offer free English classes and computer classes to workers outside of their scheduled work hours, so that their skills can be expanded, and better future opportunities can be attained.
One of the interview questions I asked this particular woman was “What would you like to say to the people in the United States who buy your bags?” She shyly responded by saying, “Thank you, and please continue to buy bags from StopStart so that I can keep working here.” To Christians in America, buying something like a bag doesn’t feel like mission work, but to this woman and countless others, your purchase is her lifeline to a better future—a future filled with hope, healing, new possibilities, and the tangible love of Christ.
Through Hagar International’s social services and StopStart’s social business, the whole person is cared for and their hope is renewed, enabling them to care for themselves , their families, and their surrounding community. A little hope goes a long way. Good News Goods is proud to partner with missional, life-giving businesses like StopStart.
Fair Trade Market at Woodland Baptist Church, San Antonio
March is International Women’s Month and the Global Women group from Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio chose to celebrate by hosting a Good News Goods Fair Trade Market, which creates a missional avenue for church members to connect to and purchase from people in the developing world who are making what we buy, especially women and children, who are the most vulnerable victims of extreme poverty conditions such as forced labor, abuse, disease, and human trafficking.
The market was a huge success, and the excitement that filled the air was infectious and glorious. It was an honor to witness a church, led by a group of faithful women, take part in Jesus’ mission to restore creation and redeem the image of God in all people through simple Fair Trade purchases.
When I asked Dena Dalton (one of the Global Women leaders from Woodland Baptist) to tell me about her Fair Trade Market experience, she said, “Talk about refreshing! I truly believe that our response to missions should never be static. As Christians we should always be mindful of the constantly changing political and economic dynamics in our world. Attention to what drives these dynamics brings us much closer to fulfilling our missional calling. Our call to missions should always be vigorous, purposeful, and energetic. Thank you for bringing Good News Goods to Woodland. What a wonderful way to introduce congregations to the far reaching implications of fair trade. Seeing the faces behind Good News Goods brings the issues of abuse, hunger, human trafficking and slavery to the front of our conscious. Our dollars make a powerful impact and so do you!”
St. Francis of Assissi said “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” This quote holds so much power for me because I believe that as Christians and co-partners with Jesus Christ, we are constantly preaching the gospel (or not) by our lifestyles—our everyday words and actions, whether those be intentional or not. To paraphrase N.T. Wright in his book Simply Christian, when we receive the Holy Spirit, our bodies become the Temple of God—the place where heaven and earth intersects! Therefore, everything we say and do is a spiritual and ethical decision that reflects who we are as image bearers of God, and as His active agents in this world. This includes how we shop and what we buy.
When churches (and individuals) commit to making ethical, life-giving purchases, entire families and communities in the developing world can begin to experience a taste of God’s kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven”.
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and buying Fair Trade chocolate and gifts for your loved ones is a wonderful way to say “I love you.”
Sometimes being wrong is OK. And this time, it’s actually GOOD NEWS!
In last month’s newsletter, our 2009 revenue was estimated to be around $21,000 in total sales, which created $2,000 for the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger and over 4,000 hours of dignified employment for our global artisan producers.
However, I was presently surprised to see our final performance report numbers were actually higher than the expected outcome. Texas Baptists really purchased $26,134 in fair trade goods ($7,676 from church & University Trading Posts, $15,893 from church markets, and $2,613 from individual web orders and JUST ONE card orders). From that total, $2,613 was deposited into the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger to aid their relief and development ministries locally, in the U.S., and around the world. But the most exciting number is the 5,227 hours of dignified, life-altering employment that was created through Texas Baptist fair trade purchases.
This means empowerment and hope for a better life—a life with options, resources, & economic stability. This means decreased vulnerability to forced labor, and other exploitive, abusive conditions. This means mothers & fathers can feed their families, educate their children, and develop sustainable, thriving communities. This means the image of God is being restored in people around the world—people who might otherwise never experience the physical hope of God’s kingdom on earth, and the unconditional love of Jesus Christ through the missional living of His disciples.
So thank you, Texas Baptists, for embodying the call of Jesus to “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.”
