This year we are joining with a hundred churches in the Fresno/Clovis area to pray and fast for change and renewal in our cities. Beginning on Jan.11 and ending on Jan. 31 we are committing to devote three weeks to seeking God’s plans for our individual lives and our mutual service. For more information on fasting (what it is, why we do it, what we are praying for) please download this handout (courtesy of Northpark Community Church).

From our Executive Director:

Human Trafficking is evil.

It’s morally abhorrent and ethically indefensible on every level.

As people of faith, we can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the world’s second largest criminal enterprise (U.S. Dept of Justice). It can feel like there is no hope for the people caught in modern day slavery and despair can overtake even the most committed activists.

Trafficking is an evil trade exploiting a weak system. We must act. – Yvette Cooper

This is why prayer is key in the battle to end slavery. This moment we find ourselves in doesn’t just call for prayer, it demands it. Prayer is essential because prayer is AN ACTION that we undertake. It is a conscious choice to do something profoundly counter cultural.

In prayer and fasting, we recognize the limits of our own abilities and plans. We realize that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves and that we are powerless to defeat evil without the help of an all powerful God. This doesn’t mean we are powerless, in fact, it’s the opposite: when we recognize our own weakness and vulnerability then we are in position to see the greater things Jesus was talking about in John 14:12.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

May we never forget that we have the hope of the world on our side.

Ryan Townsend, December 2015.