Campaign Dimensions…

Bringing Campaigning Together With Our Faith

A fragmented mind-set which disconnects morality from economics has enabled some economists to pursue economic policies that are divorced from a sense of morality and ethics. It means they can draw diagrams of labour and capital to explain why people in Free Trade Zones are employed on such low wages, without making judgements about whether this is right or not. They just don't see it as their responsibility. Many believe that the end justifies the means, that economic growth justifies exploitation. Money itself becomes morality and the justifier which is very frightening! This fragmentation has also enabled Christians to separate their worship of God from the products they buy and their outlook on their global neighbours.

Holistic Campaigning

SPEAK wants to model campaigns in a way that brings the dynamic of sharing our faith and the source of our hope for change together with our campaigning. We want to do this because we are committed to a holistic approach and believe that the answer to social injustice lies in the cross of Jesus and God's power to change the human heart. It is the ‘Greek mind-set’ that compartmentalises everything and puts faith in one box and campaigning in another.

The Multidimensional Aspects of the Big Dress Campaign

The dimensions of the campaign are developed from SPEAK’s 13 core values; Jesus centred, Believing the Bible, The Holy Spirit, Community, Sharing our faith, Discipleship, Prayer, Campaigning and Speaking for Justice, commitment to the poor and the environment, Empowerment, Arts and Culture,Network Ethos and Integrated Philosophy. You can read more about our values and why we have them in SPEAK’s Core values booklet.

The ‘socio-economic’ goals/dimension of SPEAK’s Big Dress Campaign (found in the ‘What Can We Do?’ section of this booklet pp?-?, and in short on the inside of the front cover) are the basic building blocks for the campaign. They are vital for all of us campaigning together to grasp on to and understand so that we can make an impact. However if we only attempt to reach the goals of changing these laws and government policies the real underlying issues in our society will not be dealt with. That is why SPEAK is pursuing a ‘multi-dimensional’ campaign as the information below introduces.

We don’t want to overwhelm you with information. However when you have grasped the basic socio-economic goals as an individual or in your group and are running with them we want to ask you to choose to speak louder by beginning to look at the different dimensions of this campaign. The extra dimensions are outlined below in terms of further goals and action ideas. However we are keen to communicate in more detail about this so please do get in touch when you are considering this, for example when you feel you have reached a stage in the capacity of your group to be able to engage with this you could over the course of the year include reference to each of the dimensions of the campaign systematically and chose actions which reflect each one.

Spiritual Dimension

(Core Values: Jesus centered, Believing the Bible, The Holy Spirit, Discipleship, Prayer Commitment to the Poor and the Environment, Prayer)

Goals:
• To encourage people to repent over the economic selfishness that is in their own lives. This selfishness results in the continuance of unfair trade and in particular, the lack of accountability of multinational companies for their social and environmental impact.
• To recognise and repent of our nation’s sins linked to trade and of past sins that have caused present sinful trading patterns. To acknowledge Jesus as our source of hope for change and to bring peoples' attention back to the cross as the means by which we can change.

Action Ideas:
• Speak has resources on meditation – get in touch for information
• Speak also has further resources to help you organise prayer and meditation events which can enable you to help other people engage with this dimension.
• Why not organise a discussion about this dimension and the issues of the campaign, reflecting on the verses used throughout this booklet, and letting this lead people into prayer and action.

Discipleship Dimension

(Core Values: Jesus centered, Believing the Bible, The Holy Spirit, Discipleship, Prayer, Commitment to the Poor and the Environment, Campaigning and Speaking for Justice, Community, Network Ethos, Empowerment)

Goals:
• To encourage the Church to see the importance of being concerned about injustice in trade in all its facets as a part of discipleship and hence their worship of God.
• To make particular connections with the links between all of us and multinational companies and hence the importance of campaigning for greater legal accountability of these companies. We want to see a new theology and practice which sees tackling injustice in trade, speaking up for and with the poor, and and developing a new lifestyle to be part of what it means to be a Christian.

Action Ideas:
• Use SPEAK’s Pray & Post cards in a meeting to raise awareness about the issues and give people a chance to take a simple action and to pray – it only takes 15 minutes!
• Why not volunteer to do a Bible study with your home group, or hold a one off justice evening at your church or with friends? You could use the Bible studies in this book, or make use of the material and links on the SPEAK website.
• What mission links does your Church have? What’s going on in the countries where they are based?
• Suggest that your church fosters partnerships with Churches in the developing world.
• Become a fair trade church if you’re not already. Take time to celebrate this if you do it. Encourage people that by eating fair trade chocolate and drinking fair trade tea they are contributing to global justice!!

‘It all started seven and a half years ago when the inimitable Ugandan dance troupe, Heartsong, danced around our aisles and into our hearts, And now it seems our whole borough is beginning to establish a friendship link with Jinja’
Altrincham Baptist Church Website

ABC and Jinja enjoy mutual support and encouragement. Some of ABC’s congregation have taken the opportunity to visit the church in Jinja and have taken part in initiatives such as adult literacy support, hospital teaching, school visits and business skills transference. Not only this but it has had an effect on their wider communities too. The respective mayors of Jinja and Trafford have officially met, and schools in Trafford and Jinja have now linked up.

Lifestyle Dimension

(Core Values: Jesus centered, Believing the Bible, The Holy Spirit, Discipleship, Prayer, Commitment to the Poor and the Environment, Campaigning and Speaking for Justice, Community, Network Ethos, Empowerment)

Goals:
• To spur people on to see campaigning for justice in trade as being part of their life and work (including sphere networking - see information below).
• To encourage people to recognise the importance of their lifestyle decisions and how the products we buy and use impact on people and their environment. Also to encourage people to live sustainability and to limit the resources we consume.
• To promote the purchase of fair trade products where possible (and to engage with issues around organic and local produce) and to push for fair trade in local shops.

Spheres are groups within SPEAK set up in order to help people with similar lifestyle issues to support and encourage one another. Some examples of current spheres include: engineering, healthcare, education… see the SPEAK website (http://www.speak.org.uk/spheres) for more information and for details of how to get connected.

Action Ideas:
• Adopt a Multinational! Build up a relationship, writing to and praying regularly for, a particular company long term. See SPEAK’s Adopt a Multinational booklet for help and ideas.
• Check out Tearfund’s ‘Lift the Label’ campaign for more ideas and information about this area.
• Hold a fundraising event for the Big Dress Tour, for example get people to sponsor the number of miles you run in a week/month. Don’t forget to tell everyone where the Big Dress will be and when! Invite them to come and be part of it and ask them if you can send them regular updates on the tour and campaign.
• How about providing an ethical shopping tour around your nearest city?
• When you go shopping ask staff if the company is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI – see information below).

Spheres are groups within SPEAK set up in order to help people with similar lifestyle issues to support and encourage one another. Some examples of current spheres include: engineering, healthcare, education… see the SPEAK website (http://www.speak.org.uk/spheres) for more information and for details of how to get connected.

What is the ETI?
The ETI was set up in 1998 in order to pool the combined knowledge and influence of relevant NGOs and international trade union movements. Companies are invited to publically commit to the ETI Base Code and to implement it in their supply chain. The ETI Base Code covers issues such as forced and child labour, job security, working conditions and wages. Companies must submit annual progress reports to the ETI, and where shortcomings are found the ETI meets with senior representatives of the company to agree an improvement plan and implementation deadline. The ETI started off in 1998 with 12 members and had 60 by the end of 2006 including NGOs and trade unions.

Theology Dimension

(Core Values: Believing the Bible, The Holy Spirit, Discipleship, Community, Network Ethos)

Goals:
• To build a good theological understanding of how personal salvation and change of the heart ultimately affects society. We want to clearly link this with our belief in the gospel and the importance of the Bible demonstrating how the Bible clearly relates to issues of social injustice.

Action Ideas:
• Use the Bible studies in this booklet and in the SPEAK Trade Justice Campaign booklet individually or with others. SPEAK’s development education video Global Eye Opener also has useful resources to inspire and challenge.
• Christian Aid, Tearfund and World Vision have all produced useful study and reflection materials which are available to order or download from their websites
• Send SPEAK your Bible study ideas and plans, and reviews of good books, to share with the network via email and the web.

Education Dimension

(Core Values: Jesus centered, The Holy Spirit, Discipleship, Campaigning and Speaking for Justice, Prayer, Community, Network Ethos, Empowerment)

Goals:
• To educate people about the justice issues surrounding trade particularly the legal accountability of multinationals and also the WTO and unfair trade rules.

Action Ideas:
• Keep yourself informed. Make use of SPEAK campaign resources (check you are on the mailing and email lists!) and information on the SPEAK website.
• You can inform yourself and others! Don’t feel you have to be an expert before you can be effective, and don’t wait for others to do it for you, make a start yourself. Incorporate the discipleship dimension here to understand the issues and what God has to say about them, learn with each other, work together, take responsibility for one another.
• Use this booklet as an educational tool to work through and use in a group – it can be a foundational building block to begin introducing yourself to the issues, then systematically work through other books and websites and pray through these issues as you go.
• Plan a talk together as a group to raise awareness. Go through this booklet and picking out a few key statistics and Bible verses which can help others to gain a grasp on the situation. This book can be used a yard stick throughout a year of campaigning to keep coming back to in order to remind you of the goals of the campaign, the Bible verses and the hard hitting facts.
• The BBC and most newspaper websites offer a variety of short news summary services which you can watch or read on mobiles, PDA’s, computers, etc
• The WTO’s website allows you to sign up for mailings giving you plenty of opt in and out boxes so that you only get the information you are interested in.

Philosophy Dimension

(Core Values: Jesus centered, Believing the Bible, The Holy Spirit, Discipleship, Commitment to the Poor and the Environment, Campaigning and Speaking for Justice, Community, Network Ethos, Empowerment)

Goals:
• We want to systematically question the economic philosophy of neo-liberalism, its assumptions and its effects, which are the foundation of the issues we are campaigning about. We want to question the philosophy of the 'Free Market' granting companies the 'freedom to exploit'.
• We want to question the World Trade Organisation assumption that one size fits all and that liberalisation is always good. We want to release the thinkers and dreamers to see alternatives to the way world trade currently works.

This is not about disobeying, but questioning. We are blessed to live in a country where there are laws and procedures in place which allow us to voice our opinions and effect change. We should really make good use of this! Having this approach is useful in getting people to rethink principles which they have possibly unknowingly accepted. Have this questioning approach to all laws that come to pass.

Action Ideas:
• Facilitate discussion of the issues. Do this informally amongst friends and also more formally through organising training (contact your SPEAK Regional Support Worker for help) and debates.
• Be alert to the changes around you and listen for what God has to say. Think through what your response as a Christian should be.
• Question the underlying philosophy and cultural assumptions that are present in any issue, and aim to tackle the structures and causes of injustice, not only the symptoms.

Creative Dimension

(Core Values: Arts and Culture, Jesus centered, Believing the Bible, The Holy Spirit, Discipleship, Campaigning and Speaking for Justice, Community, Network Ethos)

Goals:
• To make use our creative skills in order to engage, challenge and encourage people, appreciating that they will come from differing backgrounds and levels of understanding.
• To use, and to encourage others to use, art as a medium for expressing their concerns and hopes for justice.
• To provide a safe space in which people are able to do this, so that visions which may be counter cultural can be nurtured.

The Big Dress is a prime example of this!!

Action Ideas:
• Do pray about this and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you specifically to reach the cultures around you.
• Make a point of establishing a “safe space” mentality in your local SPEAK group or other campaign and prayer group. People should feel able to make contributions and explore ideas however idealistic they may seem at first. Use time together to encourage one another and develop each others skills.
• Brainstorm different creative ways in which you can engage people with the campaign, this could be an art exhibition, poetry evening, a conscious club night, an art installation such as a mock sweatshop…the only limit is your imagination!
• Get creative and hold a mock Sweatshop and make a mini Big Dress as a prayerful action to raise awareness about what some people suffer because of the unaccountability of companies.

Connecting the Dimensions

(Core Values: Jesus centered, Discipleship, Community, Network Ethos, Integrated Philosophy)

Goals:
• To recognise that all things hold together in Jesus. We want to connect the dimensions so that people have an integrated vision for change, which involves personal and social elements.

Action Ideas:
• Work through the different action points as a group. Introduce the series by writing out the different dimension titles and exploring together how they overlap and impact one another.
• Study the core values together and the ways that these interconnect with one another and with the campaign dimensions.

Jesus is the cornerstone of all that we are attempting to do to bring change. Whilst the above goals are foundations, the cornerstone of the building is the most important foundation stone. Jesus is the one who gives us strength to speak louder and take our campaigns to the next dimension, as we explore further in the next section…

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