International Justice Mission is organizing a National Call-In Day to Pass the TVPRA (Trafficking Victims Protection Re-Authorization Act). The day isn’t until September 8th, but please join me in committing to call. IJM will send out reminders and a sample script as the day approaches. May God bless you and others through you today!
Some Petitions
There are a few petitions that I’ve added my name to recently that I want to make available to you as well. The first is a petition to President Obama asking for more committed action in response to the discovery of mass graves in Sudan. You can find the petition HERE. The second is to McGraw-Hill Publishers asking for their help in educating students about the reality of human trafficking. You can sign that petition HERE. Third is a petition to the government of Pakistan asking for justice for victims of persecution including Asia Bibi, a woman recently sentenced to death for blasphemy. That petition is available HERE. Please join me, and may God bless you and your neighbor through you today!
Update
Obviously, I have not been doing a great job of keeping this up to date as of late. There are many reasons for this (some of them even good ones), but I don’t want to make excuses. Rather, I’d just like to give an update and ask for your help and prayers.
As many of you know, my husband and I are expecting our first child, and the due date is now less than a week away. I knew life would change after this baby is born, but I think I severely underestimated how much life would change even before her arrival. I feel like pregnancy has transformed me from an active, capable, wake-up-crazy-early-in-the-morning-to-work-out person to someone who is barely able to keep up with responsibilities and requires two naps a day. This blog is one of the things that has suffered, which makes me wonder: if my ability to keep up with life has changed so much just during pregnancy, how different will it be after this baby comes? What will my ministry look like? How will I keep up with all of the things I am passionate about? My passion for these issues has not diminished, and I still fervently hope that God will use me to work for peace and justice for those most in need. My involvement, however, has certainly shifted.
Every life change brings with it its own trials and puzzles. I had a bit of an emotional breakdown after Taylor and I got married as I struggled to find out who I was as a wife. God led me through that, and I know God will lead Taylor and me through becoming parents as well. If you are a parent, I am open to your advice on how to make this change gracefully and faithfully. If you are not, please have grace with me as I figure things out! I want to be more active in blogging; please understand as this may take some time to figure out as well. I am so thankful for this child, and I am excited to raise her up to care about these issues and be part of God’s kingdom. I just don’t quite know what that looks like yet!
On a different note, I have not been calling as of late because the bills that I knew about died with the 111th Congress and my time available to research bills has decreased. If you know of any worth calling about, please let me know! I still believe that calling our Congressmen is one way that we can be faithful in being a voice for the voiceless. Also, if you are in the Denton area and would like to get involved with a group of people passionate about ending human trafficking in our area, contact my friend Brandon at rockoutforjesus@gmail.com and ask how to get involved with the Freedom Vigil. I have not been involved with them much since their meetings don’t work with my current schedule, but I’m sure they could use all the help they can get.
Thank you for your prayers as we get ready to welcome our child into our family. May God bless you and your neighbor through you today!
IJM
Today, I’ve signed a petition through IJM (International Justice Mission), asking President Obama for several actions to fight human trafficking. Many of the points of the petition are related to actions called for in the Child Protection Compact Act that was working its way through Congress before adjournment. You can sign the petition HERE at IJM’s website.
I love the work of IJM. I wish I had legal background just so I could work for them! But since my degree in jazz saxophone performance isn’t of great use for such an organization, I try to support them in whatever ways I am able. Here are a few ways to be involved in the work of IJM:
Become a Freedom Partner. As a Freedom Partner, you commit $50 to the work of IJM and are allowed to decide what field of work your donation goes to. My husband and I chose to put our monthly donation toward sex trafficking casework. You can sign up to become a Freedom Partner HERE.
If you are in the DFW area, you can participate in the Run4Justice, a 5K run/walk and Kid’s K fun run hosted by 121 Community Church of Grapevine to raise awareness for and benefit IJM. The event takes place on February 12th, and a few of my friends and I are planning to participate. I will unfortunately be walking, not running, as my abysmal first trimester put a damper on my training. After such a long break from running, it seems like a good idea to stick to brisk walks until after the baby arrives. If you’re going to participate, let me know and I’ll look for you at the walk!
Please consider joining the work of IJM in whatever way you are able, and may God bless you and your neighbor today!
CPCA Update and Thank You
For those of you who joined me in calling about the Child Protection Compact Act, here is an update I received from International Justice Mission:
Dear Allison,
We want to thank you for your time, energy and prayers in support of the Child Protection Compact Act over the past year and a half. Unfortunately, the 111th Congress adjourned for the holidays without voting on the bill. The clock simply ran out.
While we are deeply disappointed that this bill was not passed, we celebrate what we have accomplished over the past two years: IJM supporters have conducted nearly 600 face-to-face meetings with Members of Congress and their staff, and delivered 67,000 Abolition Postcards to Congressional offices, resulting in a huge number of CPCA co-sponsors: 118 in the House and 28 in the Senate. It is rare for any free-standing bill to make it this far in the legislative process — thank you for making this possible.
So what’s next? In January, IJM will be working with House and Senate members who are passionate about ending slavery to introduce the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), legislation which will provide the State Department’s Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Office the resources it needs to protect vulnerable people from slavery around the world. We’ll need your help in 2011 to build on the strong foundation we’ve created together to grow bipartisan support for the TVPRA — please stay tuned for more information about this campaign.
Today, I encourage you to contact your Senators and Representative to respectfully let them know that you are disappointed that the CPCA did not pass, and that you are counting on them take a stand against modern-day slavery by supporting the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act next year. You can find their contact information at www.senate.gov or www.house.gov.
Again, thank you for everything you contributed over the last two years to the movement to end modern-day slavery. We look forward to partnering with you in the coming year.
With thanks for your support,
Eileen Campbell
Director of Justice Campaigns
H.R. 5575 Call-In Day
Today is National Call-In Day to support H.R. 5575, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010. I’ll be calling Representative Burgess (202-225-7772), and here’s what I’m going to say:
“Hello. My name is Allison Kami and I’m from Denton, TX. I’m calling to express my concern about domestic sex trafficking, and I’d like to ask Representative Burgess to cosponsor House Bill 5575 to combat this industry and care for its victims.”
Please join me! May God bless you and your neighbor through you today!
Water Walk and Lame Duck
Today, Congress is reconvening for a short lame duck session. There is now just a short amount of time for bills to be passed before the 111th Congress adjourns for good. IJM, International Justice Mission, is asking people to call their senators today in regards to the Child Protection Compact Act. So today, I’ll be calling Senators Cornyn (202-224-2934) and Hutchison (202-224-5922) regarding this bill. Here’s what I’m going to say:
“Hello! My name is Allison Kami, and I’m from Denton, TX. I’m calling to ask Senator [NAME] to vote yes to pass the Child Protection Compact Act, Senate bill 3184. This bill would help to eradicate child trafficking, an important issue to me. Would you please pass my message on to the Senator?”
Please join me! Also, yesterday was the 2nd annual Denton Water Walk and the 1st Charity: Water benefit concert, featuring Ashley Gatta and the Free People and the Cumulonimbus Band. Both events were a success, and we are still raising funds. To check out more about Charity: Water, visit their website HERE. And if you’d like to help us fund the building of a well, please donate to the Water Walk HERE. We’ll be able to accept donations through the website through December 31st. By giving clean water, we give communities the opportunity to transform themselves. Please be part of this! Thank you, and may God bless you and your neighbor through you today!
CPCA Update
Here’s an email update I received from International Justice Mission (IJM) on the status of the Child Protection Compact Act:
Dear Friends:
We have been so grateful for our friends around the country who have worked so hard on the Child Protection Compact Act (CPCA). Your faithfulness has kept our spirits up over the last week in Washington as we did everything we could to get the bill passed before Congress adjourned. I’m sorry to tell you that both the House and Senate adjourned on Wednesday night without passing the CPCA.
Here’s what happened. On Monday, September 20th, IJM friends and supporters across the country participated in a call-in day to their Senators’ offices. It was an enormous success! So many of you called that phone lines were actually tied up in many offices.
On Tuesday, September 21st, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee took up the CPCA and unanimously adopted it. We were so thankful to Senator Boxer and her wonderful staffer, Ann Norris, and for the good work of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff, both Democratic and Republican, in shepherding the bill through the Committee.
Unfortunately, the bill ran into trouble almost immediately. To our amazement and the astonishment of our friends in the Senate, the State Department Legislative Affairs Bureau sent Senator Boxer’s office a package of killer amendments to the CPCA. The changes would have watered down virtually every provision of the legislation. The worst changes were those that literally removed the TIP Office from the bill altogether!
IJM and our good partner, World Vision, assured Senator Boxer’s aide, Ann Norris, that the proposed changes were completely unacceptable. Ann worked around the clock negotiating with the State Department, and by Wednesday, September 29th, had succeeded in neutralizing every serious threat to the bill. Senator Boxer took the bill to the Senate floor on Wednesday night.
At that point, a Senator anonymously put a “hold” on the CPCA and a host of other noncontroversial bills on the grounds that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had not yet released a cost estimate for the bills. Ann Norris expects that she will have this document from the CBO by mid-November.
On November 15th, the House and Senate will return to Washington after the mid-term elections for a “lame duck” session where all Senators and Congressmen and women, including those who are defeated or retiring, will finish up the business of the 111th Congress before it adjourns for good, presumably around Thanksgiving. The newly elected Members and Senators will not take office until late January, when they are sworn in.
Senator Boxer will bring up the CPCA again during the lame duck session. We have every expectation that the CPCA will pass the Senate with flying colors. It will then be sent immediately to the House, which can take up the Senate bill, pass it, and send it to President Obama for his signature.
IJM’s friends and constituents have taken the CPCA this far. Now we need you to stay with it just a little longer. We’re going to ask for your help in building support over the next six weeks for a second call-in day to your Senators’ offices to help make sure the Senate passes the bill this November. Stay tuned!
Thank you again for all of your work and support.
Warmly,
Holly Burkhalter
Vice President of Government Relations
Please pray that this bill will make it through before the end of the 111th Congress! The CPCA is an important piece of legislation for fighting the trafficking of children internationally. May God bless you and your neighbor through you today!
House Adjournment
The House has adjourned, leaving quite a few things hanging. They will reconvene for a lame-duck session in November. Thankfully, some progress was made on some bills I’ve been calling about. Here’s how things stand:
S. 624, the Water for the World Act, passed the Senate on September 20th, but was still stuck in committee in the House as of their adjournment.
S. 3184, the Child Protection Compact Act, was reported favorably out of committee in the Senate on September 21st, but has not come up yet for vote.
Hopefully, if these don’t make it through before the end of the 111th Congress, they will be reintroduced in the 112th. Until the lame-duck session begins, however, I am going to take a break from calling. As you may have noticed, I’ve had a bit of trouble keeping up lately, which is due to some life happenings (an excuse, but a good one, I promise!). The calling will continue in earnest once Congress reconvenes. Keep checking back, as I hope to include some non-calling, but hopefully still somewhat significant, ramblings in the weeks to come.
And, if you are in the Denton, TX area, please put the second annual Denton Water Walk on your calendar for November 13th! More details will follow in the weeks to come.
May God bless you and your neighbor through you today!
Many Goodbyes
This week has been a rather tumultuous one emotionally as I’ve had to say goodbye to several friends, at least for a time. My good friend Garnett heads back to LA today for another semester at Biola University. My friends Darren and Lindsey were also back for the week on a temporary break from driving around the country in their VW bus. You can check their story out at On the Good Road. They too are leaving today, that is if they can get a flight. During this visit, Lindsey dropped the news that they may actually be gone longer than expected. Lame. And, I just got back from dropping off my good friends Lauren and Cass at DFW Airport. They are moving to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for two years for Lauren to teach there. You can follow their adventures HERE. Five friends, all leaving today. Goodness.
I find myself in this peculiar role of being the one who is staying behind and holding down the fort. I never thought that would be me, but Taylor and I increasingly find ourselves drawn into that role. There was a time when I thought I would flee the U.S. and never marry; that I would move to China and never look back. Yet here I am, a new homeowner with two dogs, having just celebrated our three year anniversary, and saying goodbye to yet more friends as they head off on adventures. Strangely enough, as sad as it is to say goodbye, I’m happy where I am. If my role is to hold this post and keep the porch light on, so be it. May I be faithful in that.
Today, I’m calling Representative Burgess (202-225-7772) about the Child Protection Compact Act, H.R. 2737. Here’s what I’m going to say:
“Hello, my name is Allison Kami and I’m from Denton, TX. I’m calling to express my concern about the practice of trafficking children for forced labor and prostitution, and I’d like to ask Representative Burgess to cosponsor House Bill 2737 to help combat this industry.”
Please join me! And may God bless you and your neighbor through you today!
