KNOW WHEN TO SPEAK

When people want to give back to the community, looking for an organization to help support is often the first step. Giving time by volunteering at your local hospice or giving funds to a worthy organization is always needed. But a different route of giving back and pushing for change is through advocacy. The same drive, desire and passion for a cause needs to go to changing other people’s minds, inspiring them to take action, and alerting them of the injustices in the world. It is through advocacy that awareness can be promoted in a powerful way. Rallying people towards a cause, building relationships and creating a united front against injustice is an important part of making change.

Speak is not an organization. Think of it more as an informal hub, or a meeting place, where people find others who are passionate about the same issues. It is here where fusion happens—where organizations are created, support is found, and where socio-political concerns are brought to attention. Speak is an advocacy network, an evolving dynamic movement of relationships that are built on the united interest of being change agents in this world. It connects people who want to promote global issues, but who also want the change to be rooted in God.

Speak has taken on the examples of Martin Luther King Jr., William Wilberforce, and Mahatma Gandhi, who brought about social change that was rooted in spirituality. The campaign believes that before addressing and transforming the injustices of the world, individuals seeking change need to start with themselves. Pushing any political, social, environmental, or economic agenda is exhausting. So many who start off wanting something more for the world, something better, are spent early on. These are tough issues that aren’t going to be solved overnight. Huge blows are often taken with very small victories, if any. It can knock the idealistic wind out of anyone—unless your movement and energy stems from something more. The network promotes Christ-centered spirituality as a source for energy, rooting the work on the firmest of foundations: God. Since there is such a deep focus on individual transformation prior to global transformation, the campaign not only promotes Bible reading and faith sharing, but also recalls the spiritual and meditative practices in the Christian tradition that marked the lives of the many activists, radical nuns, and monks centuries ago. While Speak recognizes the issues of injustice related to Christianity over the years—colonization, its participation in slavery, church offenses, oppression—the network continues to promote the need to share the Christian faith and to recall the core focuses and ideas of Christianity, not what people have changed it to be over time.

Speak connects people who want to promote global issues, but who also want the change to be rooted in God.

Also, because Speak is a network, getting involved takes initiative. You are able to support the cause through donations and to receive mail alerts about current issues. But involvement means taking part in the connected chain of the network. It’s about finding others who care about the same things you do and coming together to be in a Speak group. These groups can be focused on campaigning about an issue, praying, or lobbying. All of the details are entirely up to the Speak group. The network has several campaigns already: pushing accountability for multinational corporations, the action of world leaders to care about climate change and its effects on the world’s poorest populations, and awareness of the damage of the arms trade. You can also get involved by holding fundraising events, helping fund the network or causes through your talents of coordination. And of course, daily prayer is another powerful and proactive way to support the causes of this unique God-centered network. For more information, visit www.speak.org.uk