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June 30, 2008
New Fair Trade Bible study available
Resource aims to help consumers learn how their purchasing power can impact social and economic justice worldwide
Partners for Just Trade Bible Study LOUISVILLE — Partners for Just Trade (PJT), a non-profit Christian organization related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that cultivates global partnerships between impoverished artisans and conscientious consumers, has developed a new six-part Bible study resource based on the principles of Fair Trade.
Fair Trade is a model of international commerce that ensures farmers and workers in developing countries receive a just price for their products, which helps them compete in the global marketplace and promote development in their financially strapped communities.
PJT’s recently released Bible study, “Fair Trade: Using Our Purchasing Power for Justice and Hope,” walks readers through the principles of Fair Trade by means of personal narration, Biblical passages and questions for reader reflection.
The 40-page paperback booklet is intended to be a resource for teaching and learning about Fair Trade, complete with a reference section on Fair Trade featuring resources and ways to get involved.
The study can be conducted alone or with a group, and a Bible is all that is needed to use the resource.
PJT’s executive director Carrie Hawthorne said in a note to readers that the group believes providing a biblical foundation for Fair Trade will help motivate people to explore how consumption practices are felt across the world and how to use their purchasing power to positively impact social and economic justice.
“Becoming a knowledgeable shopper is a first step toward aligning your purchases with your values,” Hawthorne wrote. “We trust this Bible study will help you learn about Fair Trade and reflect on how to become a responsible consumer.”
The guide is also filled with helpful information about Fair Trade, why it should be practiced, and suggestions for facilitators leading groups through the study’s six sessions.
The Bible study’s first session, “Fair Price for Products,” points out that two different systems exist in Fair Trade commerce that determines the fair wage paid to the producers. Fair Trade prices are determined differently for handmade items than for commodities such as coffee, tea and cocoa. However, all fair traders ensure prompt payment to their partners, and in many cases, pre-finance the producers 50 percent of the final payment to help with production costs.
The first session suggests participants read Isaiah 65:17-25, which describes how God’s grace and abundance will reign for all creatures. Also suggested are Jeremiah 22:13-17, which deals with God’s care about how people are paid for their work, and James 5:1-5, which focuses on the distribution of wealth.
Each suggested passage is followed by questions for reader reflection.
Each of the study’s six sessions include a “challenge” to participants such as changing personal consumption patterns or learning how someone’s purchase can directly impact another person’s life, or finding ways to create opportunities for Fair Trade producers.
PJT, a strong proponent of Fair Trade, is related to the Presbyterian Hunger Program’s Joining Hands Network, which works to develop partnerships worldwide between consumers and economically challenged artisans. In addition to providing access to Fair Trade products, PJT addresses the root causes of poverty through education, solidarity and a commitment to trade justice.
The group receives strong support from Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery — a Joining Hands partner with Peru — working to benefit the artisans by reducing the number of middlemen and minimizing overhead costs to return up to 30 percent of the retail price of an item to the producer.
PJT came about after a handful of Presbyterians visited Peru in Sept. 2002 through the Joining Hands Network, developing long-term relationships with those they befriended in the South American country.
The travelers returned home and started organizing to receive Peruvian handmade products, which they began to sell while working to establish a nonprofit agency that eventually became PJT in 2005. Late last year PJT launched its Web site — www.partnersforjusttrade.org — in part to sell Peruvian handcrafts and other products online and also to use it as a means of education about Fair Trade and the artisans behind the products.
With their Peruvian partners, PJT works with more than 230 artisans from nearly 20 cooperatives, helping to improve their income while empowering them to work in their neighborhoods and operate their own businesses.
Through this partnership, PJT works with artisans who live in poverty and with groups who have a minimum of five people from different families.
PJT, which is a screened member of Co-op America’s Green Business Network and also the Fair Trade Federation, is based in the St. Louis offices of Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery.
The Bible study was written by the Rev. Judy Hoffhine, a PJT board member who traveled to Peru several times with the Joining Hands Peru Network while serving as associate pastor for Global Ministries at Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, OH.
The co-writer was Ruth Farrell, a former mission co-worker in Peru who currently serves as acting coordinator of the Presbyterian Hunger Program.
Hoffhine said she hopes the Bible study will not only serve as an academic exercise for participants but also contribute to a lifestyle change.
“I’m hoping that through the study participants learn not only the biblical and theological underpinnings for Fair Trade, but also that they become active in it,” she said. “We have listed many ways that they can find where Fair Trade products are available and how they can influence their favorite shopping places to carry more Fair Trade items. We’ve given them Web sites, books and articles to learn more about economic justice.”
HOW TO ORDER THE BIBLE STUDY
The Bible study’s table of contents  , sample session and reference section can be downloaded free of charge over the Internet. The complete Bible study guide can be ordered online for $5 each. For a 40 percent discount on bulk orders (11 or more copies), contact PJT at (314) 707-2831 or by email. | 
