Date!

So we've decided on a date... April 20th, 2009 will be the first ever Day of Silence!

We are depending on you to help spread the word about this event, so tell your friends, neighbors, schools, churches, everyone you know to join this event. Our goal is 1,000 Christians participating in unity!

Also, feel free to post comments asking questions or anything on your heart.

God bless you all!

What Can You Do?

We're glad that you are participating!

Here are some details about what we will be doing and some ideas for you to do throughout the day:

Look at this day as a break from your everyday, hectic schedule...

We will be taking a vow of silence for the day, quieting our mouths and minds, in order to reflect upon the global poverty situation that we face today. As we hold our tongues we will open our ears to hear the needs of the world and the tears God cries over the brokenness of this world. As we calm our hearts we will reflect on the causes and changes that must be made on both large and small scales. When we silence our words we will open our hearts in prayer to the God in control of change. We will raise awareness in the eyes of others and ourselves about the inequality of basic needs in our world.

On this day, take the opportunity to:

- PRAY, fervently and without ceasing

- FAST from food, TV, internet, music - try to keep yourself from things that will break your silent mindset

- WRITE Senators

- FIND imaginative ways to write on a plain white shirt, "We will take a vow of silence, to speak out against poverty" and write statistics, verses, and other quotes about poverty

- MEDITATE and practice Lectio Divina on Scripture that shows us God's heart on the matter of poverty and oppression

- READ about hunger issues in the US and around the globe (bread.org)

- PROVIDE the immediate needs of the homeless people in your area

- VOLUNTEER in your community at homeless shelters, soup kitchens, etc.

- GET CrEaTiVe!!! Find a way to express your passion against poverty in your community, nation and world

Churches

- Get your members involved! Help us get the word out about Christians internationally uniting together to express our passions against poverty

- Have a reflective, poverty, lament or social injustice based Sunday/Wed. service

Professors

- Be creative in planning a class period that would promote silence, solitude and reflection

- Question ways in which the topic of your class addresses or relates to poverty

- Have students bring their Bibles to class and practice Lectio Divina as a class

Those who will be working

- We understand many of you will be working. We request that you try to be reflective to the degree that you can (silence in grading papers, 

- Wear the shirts to work!

Rest. Relax. Enjoy the silence!

It's Time To Take A Stand

We will take a vow of silence, to speak out against poverty.

As Christians, God calls us not only to pious living but also brokenness for the poor. This is an attempt to raise awareness in our schools, churches, families, communities, nations, and in our selves about the reality of poverty in the world. We need to reexamine the way we look at our lives, spending, habits, social structures and more. We must look carefully at how we view Christianity. Love must be our agent of change and passion our motivation.

Thus, let all Christians, everywhere, ban together and take a vow of silence in order to let our voices be heard. As we spend a day together in silent reflection, prayer and thought we will fight for the cause of the poor, sick and needy. Inevitably become more concerned ourselves with the poverty our neighbor experiences. On this day devoted to social injustice, let us plead the case of the oppressed to the only One who can make a change this cosmic in size.

“Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.” Psalm 82:3

“Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” Isaiah 1:17

“Religion that is pure and holy before God, the Father, is this: to care for the orphan and widowed in their distress, and to keep one’s self unstained from the world.” James 1:27