Register your team today at justsalvos.com - pay date is Jan. 31st... so there is plenty of time to get your team sorted!
Why?
Our excessive pleasures (chocolate, coffee and sex) are what enslave millions of people (mostly children) in the world’s largest slave trade ever. Our excessive behaviour also enslaves us through obesity and desire. This progression of oppression needs to be confronted. As we confront our own enslavement it can lead to freedom for everyone in the cycle. Let’s join together to stop the oppression in our own lives and then share that freedom with those trapped in the current slave trade.
Join a team of people committed to justice. We will shed our excess so that others can be free. To do that we each pay to join a JustLose team and the entry fees are sent to a trafficking project that is freeing those trapped at the other end of the slave chain. This is a friendly competition - a race to freedom. The prize will be fun (there will be a declared winner) but everyone involved will win by breaking the cycles of slavery in an excessive world.
Who?
Team of 10 committed to lose so others can gain.
How Much?
$1,000 per team to enter (that's $100 per person/that's $5 per week)
How?
Each member of the team sets a goal of percentage of body weight to lose (eg, if you are 70kgs and you want to lose 7, that’s 10%)
Everyone is accountable to one another. We suggest a weekly weigh in at your cell group or other weekly get together.
At the end of the time, the team that has lost the highest percentage of body weight ‘wins’.
JustLose is about focus on heath, self-sacrifice and spiritual responsibility. Weight loss should be a combination of exercise/activity and a balanced, healthy diet.
Teams should also consider what lifestyle choices need to be sacrificed for the sake of justice.
Winning
The Corps/Community team that ‘wins’ will have all the entry fees counted towards an earmarked trafficking project that aims to free those caught in the slave trade.
When?
JustLose is run over 5 months every year.
Health Stuff
0.5-1.0 kgs per week is the recommended healthy weight loss. Those with questions and medical conditions should consult their doctor before commencing any weight loss/exercise programme.
8 comments:
I will preface my comments with the statement that I am morbidly obese so that you may weigh them accordingly as it seems I may be the enemy. Having fought obesity since childhood I am concerned by this campaign. While there may well be a connection between a percentage of food ingredients and slave farms I feel it is unfair to label those who are overweight as supporting the slave trade. I am sure there are other items that contribute. What about the people who wear designer label clothes? Or the cheap clothing made in sweat shops? What about the nuts and bolts that hold a car together? Do you know how and where they were made? Where was the ball made for your soccer team? What about the diamond in that engagement ring? But back to obesity. Reports in Australia seem to link weight trends with social class such that those of lower status are those most likely to be overweight. (Is something missing from scripture here, "Blessed are the poor"(except those who are overweight)There has been debate over the cause of this trend, some suggest it is poor nutrition before or shortly after birth that contributes to a metabolism predisposed to being obese while others link the wage rate and hours worked to cheap/fat/fast food options. There are also higher rates of obesity in indigenous populations. Whatever the cause I can personally testify to the layers of shame and grief that being obese brings. It has taken me years to work through the issues and come to the conclusion that being huge doesnt mean I am unlovable and that as such God CAN love me. I hope that if you are raising this issue in public forums that you will provide the support needed for those who then stop attending. Will your corps stop putting out biscuits and scones after the meeting and offer carrot sticks and fruit wedges instead? Will Officers be stood down once they reach a size 18? Will uniforms be only available up to size 14? Will you open detox units and rehabilitaion facitilies to treat this addiction? obesity is a complex and difficult problem with social and mental aspects as well as a physical face. Please be careful as you may not be aware of the buttons you are pushing in some who have developed fragile self esteem due to this condition.
these are important and very good comments.
When we came up with the idea of JUSTLose we were aware of the implications... both on people who already suffered from obesity and it's results and those struggling from various eating disorders on the other end of the spectrum.
The idea behind JUSTLose is that much of our own efforts at 'body image' are inspired by our own self-esteem or lack of... and a culture obsessed by 'self'. We wanted to try pursuing 'health' because of something outside of us - not just because of how we looked or were treated.
So, the very things you mentioned were part of our thinking process. They are important.
Rather than losing weight because of shame and guilt and a cultural obsession with self... let's do it because we could help contribute to those in the world without enough.
The real focus is on 'excess' - that could be shopping, eating, drinking, smoking, and a variety of other things... the weight focus was the easiest way to measure...
I think I could see groups growing out of JUSTLose that focus on other things as well - for example, I already know of one guy who has sold his x-box and contributed to the JUSTLose campaign.
The other thing we did was made it a part of a community, team group - that way there is a built in support structure of people doing the same thing together... that prevents even more isolation and shame that can sometimes be results of regular weight loss programs.
Anyway, I hear you - and appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks for sharing... I'll be praying and believing for a collective response of positive healthy behaviour for the good of others.
Be blessed.
Danielle
I wonder how many will be exercising in slave made shoes and sweatpants. How many will be taking time from more noble pursuits such as being a good parent or caregiver to "lose".
I could go on and on, but the intelligent will see my point. and to equate "good Christian" with any kind of body build is, in my opinion, un-Christian. Why not concentrate on spreading Gods word instead of tearing down good Christian folk with innuendos?
Surely Jesus would want us to value His folk, and the efforts they make on His behalf, to raise them up, not pass veiled judgments...
I guess in the end it's easy to poke holes in people's efforts towards justice... no matter how small... the harder thing is to actually try to make a difference in the world. It would do us good to applaud any effort that would try to alleviate suffering.
On another note: to think that trying to work on your personal health/condition is contrary to the gospel is to misunderstand our whole 'spirit, soul and body' that Jesus is helping us preserve blameless... perhaps our bodies could use some help in the 'blameless' bit?
JUSTthinking...
Danielle
I've joined!
I understand the comments above, and I'm slightly overweight. For me it is an incentive to lose weight for a good cause.
I'm with you Danielle and support your cause for justice - well done!
V
Trying to get a team together.....I just keep forgetting when I am around people! But I am on it! I reckon the whole thing is awesome, its about time that we look at the reality that our excess is depriving people of there God given right of freedom, we can change things, bit by bit, step by step, we can be the generation that brings the end to extreme poverty, lets not let our sensibilities get in the way of this reality!
Thanks. Very nice post. Your web site is very beautiful.
Fraternal Community
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