Good News Goods
Seldom do we know how the goods we purchase impact “the least of these” (Matt. 25:40). Some of the items we buy are made by slaves, some of the fruit we eat is harvested by indentured laborers, and some of the carpets we walk on are made by women and children who realize almost no return for their work. By simply redirecting a small proportion of what we already buy, we have incredible power to bring good news to the poor (Luke 4:18).
Such purchases are an important step in moving beyond charity to justice because buyers get a fair return for their purchases, because sellers get fair compensation for their work product, and because fairly engaging people in need in the marketplace is an expression of God’s righteousness (Amos 5:11-24). Through Good News Goods, we can buy things we need and at the same time know that we are helping people in need instead of hurting them.
A number of trusted partners help connect Texas Baptists to these fair-traded products. A primary partner is Trade as One, an organization whose core concern is to use sustainable small business in the developing world. Another partner is Woman’s Missionary Union through WorldCrafts, a nonprofit ministry which imports handcrafts from 31 countries and markets them in the U.S. Both Trade As One and WorldCrafts are fair trade organizations which ensure that craftsmen, artisans, and laborers are paid and treated fairly. Other partners include the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Baptist World Alliance, and the development ministries directly supported by the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger. Ten percent of the proceeds from the sale of Good news Goods products are donated to the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger.
The program officially launches in January 2009, but several churches are piloting Good News Goods Events and programs in Fall 2008. Through events at churches, Trading Posts where Fair Trade goods will be sold regularly in churches, and www.goodnewsgoods.com, we hope to provide simple, sustainable, and effective ways for BGCT church members to change their spending habits in a way that brings “good news to the poor.” (Luke 4:18)
Trade as One
Trade as One sells Fair Trade products that come with meaning and stories behind them. It uses spending power rather than donations as the means to bring jobs to the poorest of the poor by offering products that U.S. consumers need. The products are all of extremely high quality and made by innovative socially responsible organizations in the developing world.
Trade as One’s core concern is using sustainable business to address the issue of global poverty. All manner of related abuses and misfortunes come from poverty — human trafficking, AIDS, commercial sexual exploitation, gender abuse, lack of medical care and access to education.
There are many organizations that rescue people from spiritual and physical enslavement and provide jobs for them making products that relatively affluent western people would buy if they knew of them. We partner closely with faith communities because we believe that faith is a powerful and under-utilized motivator for ethical purchasing in America. By choosing to substitute ethically traded goods for conventional ones, people have daily opportunities to put their values and faith into action.
BGCT / CLC
The Baptist General Convention of Texas encourages, facilitates and connects churches in their work to fulfill God’s mission of reconciling the world to himself. The Christian Life Commission coordinates the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger and serves as the ethics/public policy arm of the BGCT.
