“What happens to others should make me care,” says Rev. Victor Kim on the phone. “This person, forced into labour, is my sister. We are all interconnected.”
Kim is the minister at Grace, Calgary, and is talking about the congregation’s year-long study on human trafficking, which has included interfaith roundtable discussions, screening of a harrowing film on the subject and will culminate with a public event featuring renowned columnist and activist Nicholas Kristof.
Human trafficking was the subject of the Record’s cover story in January.
According to uncommongrace.ca, the church’s webpage dedicated to this mission, “We see a culture that looks at religion with deep suspicion or apathy, much of it well deserved. At Grace, we believe that our present culture cares deeply about many issues that touch the lives of all people, but that the conversations about these issues now take place on a level which is at least once removed from what might be called primary source material.”
For Victor Kim this is an important point: That many of the pursuits in secular society for justice and education actually have Christian roots and as Christians we need to reclaim our place in society. Or as the website states: “Conversations of unCommonGrace is an invitation to our community and our city to give purposeful thought to the role that spirituality plays in our life and in the common life of our community.”
In late January, Grace hosted Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton, general secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, as she presented the council’s leadership and learning kit on human trafficking. In a statement she said:
“With rising incidences across the globe, and within our own borders, we need to understand that human trafficking is human rights abuse, economic injustice, violence; and
organized crime. As a national council, we have heard from all churches of Christian faith across the country in their desire to become educated in the signs and solutions for human trafficking in our country.”
Hamilton was an officiant at Grace on Jan. 19 for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The annual ecumenical celebration was described by Kim as “a chance for us to discuss and celebrate what we all have in common, identify what role our beliefs have in today’s ever-changing society, and how it can apply to everyday teachings and situations.”
For more about the CCC’s human trafficking learning kit visit councilofchurches.ca. To learn more about Grace, Calgary’s March event featuring Kristof visit uncommongrace.ca.
