Today I called on the offices of Oregon Representative Vickie Berger and Oregon Senator Jackie Winters. I am supporting legisation to control "pay day loan" operations which often charge interest rates over 500%! This was part of Lutheran Advocacy of Oregon. The day started with meetings at St. Mark Lutheran Church. Often at such meetings I don't know anyone. I was greatly surprised and highly pleased to be greeted by Lisa Wenzlick (Sandau). She is very active in this ministry in her own congregation and appears in a video distributed nationally by Bread for the World.
Advocacy means being the voice of those who have no voice in places of power, especially at the state and national governmental levels. In the public sector, it is called lobbying. And I suppose corporations devote billions of dollars to the process. Why? Because it gets results. We've discovered that people in government will also listen to the ordinary man if he can come and make his case. That's what advocacy is all about, and that's what I did today. Bread for the World is also an advocacy organization. Click on the link to learn more about it.
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