[I now have about a month before I depart and thought that this would be a good time to start blogging. I decided to open up with my fundraising letter. It talks about what I will be doing, why I feel so compelled to do it, what my needs are, and how you can help. Thanks for reading!]
Dear All,
As some of you may already know, my life is undergoing a radical shift. This January, I will be departing for South Asia to work for the oppressed with a legal human rights agency. I am truly and sincerely grateful for this opportunity and it represents the culmination of years of introspection and endeavor.
It has only been in this last chapter of my life that I have become aware of the problems that this organization seeks to alleviate: slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression. Although there is nearly unanimous international condemnation of these atrocities, they unabashedly continue due to overburdened judicial systems, indifference, and unimaginable poverty. To cite just one example, while many act as though slavery is a past problem, it is estimated that there are over 27 million slaves in the world today. There is an overwhelming and disheartening pattern in the developing world where oppressors prevail. I am telling you that this doesn’t have to be the case. Human suffering and dehumanization don’t have to be normal—we can take realistic and effective action to shift this pattern.
This agency secures justice for these victims in very tangible ways. I, personally, will work in an office that focuses on bonded labor—a form of slavery that results when people are sold to pay off debts. Too often these debts only increase due to exorbitant interest rates that are impossible to pay off. Long hours are spent toiling under the threats, intimidations, and physical beatings of their debtors for little or no gain. Sometimes generations of families are held under an initial debt on farms, brick kilns, stone quarries, factories, or rice mills. This is not only illegal according to national law and numerous international laws, but it is a violation of something deeply human. Spiritually, rationally, and emotionally it affronts our humanity. These people have a dignity that is oppressed and denied.
It is undeniable that human lives in their vast multiplicity are intermingled—we are connected. As we ourselves struggle with physical pain, doubt, disability, loneliness, or hate we can make decisions to help others transcend their dark places. We can remember those who are mistreated as if we ourselves are suffering. What it comes down to are our choices, and while this might seem very abstract and perhaps idealistic this is the very choice that confronts us all. The people that this NGO helps are in situations where hope is never provided unless they are enabled. Other people must act and make sacrifices on their behalf—people must advocate for them. My part is small and I do not claim to be righteous or strong but I am choosing to take a step now that often scares me, excites me, and confounds me.
I would love to have a chat with you about this new step in my life. I also have ongoing financial needs and if you have a heart to help then please contact me. My e-mail is brady.a.nordstrom@gmail.com. In any case, I look forward to sharing this new endeavor with you.
Peace and Hope,
Brady Nordstrom
Dear All,
As some of you may already know, my life is undergoing a radical shift. This January, I will be departing for South Asia to work for the oppressed with a legal human rights agency. I am truly and sincerely grateful for this opportunity and it represents the culmination of years of introspection and endeavor.
It has only been in this last chapter of my life that I have become aware of the problems that this organization seeks to alleviate: slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression. Although there is nearly unanimous international condemnation of these atrocities, they unabashedly continue due to overburdened judicial systems, indifference, and unimaginable poverty. To cite just one example, while many act as though slavery is a past problem, it is estimated that there are over 27 million slaves in the world today. There is an overwhelming and disheartening pattern in the developing world where oppressors prevail. I am telling you that this doesn’t have to be the case. Human suffering and dehumanization don’t have to be normal—we can take realistic and effective action to shift this pattern.
This agency secures justice for these victims in very tangible ways. I, personally, will work in an office that focuses on bonded labor—a form of slavery that results when people are sold to pay off debts. Too often these debts only increase due to exorbitant interest rates that are impossible to pay off. Long hours are spent toiling under the threats, intimidations, and physical beatings of their debtors for little or no gain. Sometimes generations of families are held under an initial debt on farms, brick kilns, stone quarries, factories, or rice mills. This is not only illegal according to national law and numerous international laws, but it is a violation of something deeply human. Spiritually, rationally, and emotionally it affronts our humanity. These people have a dignity that is oppressed and denied.
It is undeniable that human lives in their vast multiplicity are intermingled—we are connected. As we ourselves struggle with physical pain, doubt, disability, loneliness, or hate we can make decisions to help others transcend their dark places. We can remember those who are mistreated as if we ourselves are suffering. What it comes down to are our choices, and while this might seem very abstract and perhaps idealistic this is the very choice that confronts us all. The people that this NGO helps are in situations where hope is never provided unless they are enabled. Other people must act and make sacrifices on their behalf—people must advocate for them. My part is small and I do not claim to be righteous or strong but I am choosing to take a step now that often scares me, excites me, and confounds me.
I would love to have a chat with you about this new step in my life. I also have ongoing financial needs and if you have a heart to help then please contact me. My e-mail is brady.a.nordstrom@gmail.com. In any case, I look forward to sharing this new endeavor with you.
Peace and Hope,
Brady Nordstrom
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