Global Forum Recap

//one// Inside the Global Forum  //two//Hearing the story of a former trafficked victim turned NPO founder //three//One of my favorite moments, hearing Lelia Jana (Samasource) speak  //four// Ultimate icing on the cake, grabbing a picture with Bob Goff. Such an incredible spirit.// (sorry for the blurry pics.)

What a whirl-wind couple of weeks it has been. Lots of things happening in life, in the world that I'm very excited about. One of the things I love most in life is meeting passionate and "doing" people. Being at the 2012 Global Forum on Human Trafficking last week was like a 2 day buffet of crazy bold, passionate, and innovative human beings. One thing was for sure, you couldn't leave that conference unchanged by the stories heard over the two days; stories of survivors, of brothel-door-busters/sex-slave-rescuers, of socially minded business leaders and pastors to passion driven major league baseball players. It was great. But it wasn't about being moved by how awesome the speakers were-and they were all pretty awesome. It was about bringing together the collective energies of everyone there to motivate ourselves to be better doers. To not just go to conferences about things, but to put fire to our feet and feet to our beliefs. God talks about how "they will  know us by our actions." But a lot of times when I think of action, I think of things that are comfortable to me, the kind of actions that are tame, with all the t's crossed and i's dotted, the kind of actions that don't interrupt you when you're speaking. You know, the ones that involve minimal commitment and even less heart.  And most importantly the kind of actions that wouldn't dare ask you to do more than put the $5 bucks that you were saving for your pumpkin soy latte into an offering basket lest you feel too "uncomfortable" or deprived. That's not what He could have meant. The people at this conference were a great reminder of life in real action; of healing wounded people, of starting companies with nothing but ambition, of creating new ways of thinking, of giving up opportunity to pursue passion, of messing up, getting disappointing and doing it all again. I want my life to be that kind of life. The kind that really does things. This conference was a great reminder that sometimes all you have to do is just start.