"Years ago, some folks from our communities attended a rally against overseas sweatshops. They had not invited the typical rally speakers--lawyers, activists, and academics. Instead, they brought the kids themselves from the sweatshops to speak. We listened as a child from Indonesia pointed to a giant scar on his face. 'I got this scar when my master lashed me for not working hard enough. When it began to bleed, he did not want me to stop working or to ruin the cloth in front of me, so he took a lighter and burned it shut. I got this making stuff for you.' We were suddenly consumed by the overwhelming reality of the suffering body of Christ. Jesus now bore not just marks from the nails and scars from the thorns, but a gash down his face, for when we have done it to the 'least of these,' we have done it to Christ himself. How could we possibly follow Jesus and buy anything from that master? The statistics had a face. Poverty became personal. And that messes with you."
-Shane Claiborne, "The Workers are Groaning"
[the flyer : singapore]
[night market : taichung, taiwan]
[skyline : singapore]
[taxi ride : chiang mai, thailand]
[temple : tokyo, japan]
[market : tokyo, japan]
[elephants and their mahouts : chiang mai, thailand]
[elephants and their mahouts : chiang mai, thailand]