Nearly two weeks ago I and a few friends spoke our the declaration below; without a doubt one of the biggest days of my life. Bold words indeed.Thought I had fully digested them but alas they got stuck somewhere on route. Still, we all need to nail our colours to one mast or another and I have nailed mine.

Regrets? Actually, in my darkest moments, yes. However I can’t actually afford such indulgence. So I set my face, even as I did seven years ago.

A declaration to Arabia, the trade routes and economic systems

We come today as children of the living God, knowing O Lord that our destiny is completely secure in you. You are our provider and you are our Kinsman Redeemer; the one who has the last word over our lives. We have considered the lilies and the ravens and are completely confident of your provision. We therefore refuse the lure of mammon and agree that in casting our bread upon the waters it will not return void.

We rest this day from our labours.

Today our testimony is one of no fear. No room for worry about what we shall eat or what we shall drink for our Father in heaven knows what we need. Ha! That is enough! We declare today we trust you for our old age and we trust you for our children. We refute the fallen systems of this world and refuse to be measured as economic units. Instead we stand in the blessing of Abraham; a blessing that is for us and our children and for those who are far off. Let it flow!

We come to you Arabia as indeed we come to the Square Mile of London, Wall Street of America and every other so called storehouse across the face of this world declaring you are not our keeper. We need you less than you think for our destiny and inheritance is secured………..but you have need of us and our Lord and the story of grace and redemption that we carry. You think you are rich but we humbly remind you today, you are blind wretched and poor.

Our invitation to you is to leave behind your self-serving agenda and to rise into your true identity. We therefore speak to you trade routes and declare we will not partner with you in service of the god of mammon for there is a different story to rise and a different flow to be found.

• A flow that is from heaven to earth; one that has the power to break famines over lands and deliver whole nations from cycles of poverty.
• A flow that brings freedom in the place of captivity and decrees an exposure and unravelling of child labour, bonded labour and every other form of economic slavery across the face of this world.
• A flow that releases the gold to go to the source of all that is truly glorious……………..for to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power forever and ever.

We therefore stand with Jesus at the door and knock. You Laodicean lands be unlocked to enter your rightful inheritance. We say let blind eyes be opened and purses be unstrung. We stand with pen in one hand and story book in the other declaring let a new story begin to rise up and down the length of these global trade routes; a story of laughter, justice and the glorious provision of our Lord and God. We say to you trade winds that there is a wind far more powerful than you. It is the wind of heaven and the wind from the storehouses of heaven. Let it be heard again across the face of the globe.

So this is our decree today. Hear O lands the word of the Lord. Amen

A different vehicle to travel in

For several years our mode of transport was on foot,Now it’s time to travel business class courtesy of the pen! No doubt the romance of the ancient Arabian frankinsense trail is a draw. A trail that drew the wise men west in search of the child King to be. Also however it is the stench of abuse & exploitation that has pulled us right out of our comfort zones into a ‘dog eat dog’ world of global trade.These last months have tested us to the core as we have sought entry, Yet now we’re through those Jeddah gates and in business, looking to write something fresh on these trade routes. A big marker.

Global hubs of trade

There are global hubs of trade the world over.These have been sending bases for imperialism and mission as nation state & religion have riden the trade routes hand in hand, These routes of commerce are the arteries of empire; the navy the historic insurance policy against rival competition. With the fight on for ever decreasing resources we look not to might but to the unnoticed instruement of the pen. Yes we are foolish enought to believe there is space for us to speak a better word on such huge matters…… Where are those men in white coats! So what does a new story look like? ** A story that liberates A few days ago I shared how we are looking for a business story that flies in the face of the dehumanisation & exploitation of people that is so rife across the world. As we ride the river of migrant labour that flows between India and Saudi no passports will be confiscared by JustPens for our story is to be one of empowering and releasing rather than entrapment and economic slavery.This is how we prophesy. That this is a real issue for us here in the UK was confirmed by my friend Adam who on Monday of this week had to pay £150 to help a migrant worker in Bradford get his passport back.So we say no!…….and step onto the global trade routes. A reverse flow Secondly we are looking to tell a story in trade that carries a reverse flow. This is the crazy part. Get your head round this if you can for I still struggle myself! All trade is governed by the laws of economics. Yet we are looking for a different flow. Yes a flow that is from heaven to earth and then out onto the trade routes. So we are not investing for what we can gain out of JustPens; rather for what we can sow! No we are not a charity. We are not looking to sow into these trade routes out of simply our own substance. Rather we are allowing our tiny prophetic actions to be conduits for the substance of heaven. So everyone wins! Now if we can only begin to access that flow then there is nothing to fear and everything to hope for. Who knows, could it be possible for whole nations to be lifted out of poverty!? Now that’s a story worth having.

Hope it makes sense.

The power of story and the coffee bars of Damascus.

Damascus is a massive city for me for whilst there in November 2007 I and my friends encountered the Arabic storyteller. We had been looking for him ever since leaving Whiitby! So often in life our stories get buried beneath the pressure of simply surviving economically. Our own journey walking across Europe and into the Middle East was,amongst many other things, a refusal to bow to that god. Now I am committed to discovering an economic that empowers story rather than one that sacrifices it at the altar of the laws of global finance. This is what this trade route journey is all about. To understand more of this journey hit the link here  The power of the pen-encounters in Arabia  In March 2010 our journey east took us to Saudi Arabia. Travelling with my new friend Solomon his intent was to start a business in pens, manufactured in India and imported into Saudi. We took notice therefore when on the heights of that locked up nation we came across this monument to a pen. Stories and pens go together and a new partnership was birthed; story book in one hand, a pen in the other. To read more follow the link here What does a new story look like? We have no idea! However to give just one illustration, we soon will be appointing a worker for us in the gateway port of Jeddah, just beneath Mecca. The normal practice for the employment of migrant workers in Saudi is for their paspport to be taken off them; at best a means of control, at worst a form of economic slavery. Our worker will be one of the first, if not the first,to keep hold of his own passport. One example of the new story we are looking to craft. ** So thanks for reading this far. We are looking to see a beachhead established in the gateway city of Jeddah. A base from which we and anyone else who cares to partner with us can begin to help scribe a different story on these global portals of power,A place where people are treated as commodities and units of economic growth, and a place where economic slavery is very much alive. ** Finally, for those who received an email from me last week, thank you so much for praying. We saw an immediate shift in Jeddah. Communication is flowing, our first batch of pens have hit the market place and we have a temporary worker in place. An amazing and immediate shift. ** More over the next few days

Looking to write a new story into this Arabian peninsula it is like these pens are a continuation of all that we have carried on our journey east. Step after step we have called for a new story to rise free from the imperialism of religion and state. Now it is the multinationals and hidden powers that control the corridors of trade that we are demanding an audience with.

Held up at every point it feels as if we have touched, in a tiny way, some of the indignity experienced by those that labour in sweatshops the world over. Occasional moments have even given us understanding of those whose freedom has been lost to bonded labour as they work their lives away, without hope of ever paying off the debts that keep them trapped and completely and utterly lost. If in doubt of this reality then take a look at this short article, advertising a programme soon to be shown on Al Jazeera.

And so these final weeks of our journey we have waited so patiently for the nod and the whim of the Saudi customs officials as they pick over what is, in reality, the substance of our lives. Often sent to the back of the queue we have discovered, the hard way, the pecking order that dominates the world of migrant labour.

It was with a smile therefore that I read this short reply to my email, from my friend and fellow journeyman Paul. “They’ll be dangerous things for the Saudi’s to mess around with those pens, stuck in the gates of Jeddah as they are, with all that faith invested in them and the eyes of the Lord watching over them. Especially if thy’re at the bottom of the pile with everything else sitting on top of them. There will be no regrets.”

Today, as protests ripple round the world demonstrating against corporate greed, so a little subversive act finds a foothold in Arabia as our pens passed through customs into the hands of friends in Jeddah. A tiny hidden act calling for a better story on these global trade routes that network the world.

Tonight therefore we rest, wondering quite what stories will unfold from these weapons of warfare-the mighty pen.

Go go go pens!

If anyone doubts that modern day slavery is alive and growing then take a look at this short film produced by Al Jazeera. The first of five it charts the growth of slavery in Hawaii and right across the breadth of the USA. Not that the USA is on it’s own. By no means, as these films will show.

Five reasons why a new story needs to rise on the trade routes. Five reasons why, pen in hand, Kathy and I are looking to prophesy into these corridors of abuse and exploitation.

For many months afterwards I pondered as to why I should be in York at the very moment its namesake across the pond tipped into the most terrible of events. Was it just coincidence or was there in fact something for me to take note of? Living as I do with a passion to speak into the destiny of whole nations and continents was the maker of heaven and earth getting my attention? Was he indeed saying that, yes Steve you can have a say on such matters?

That’s why ten years on, after delay after delay, I take note that of all days for our pens to arrive in the gateway city of Jeddah, today is in fact the day of arrival. The timeline has my attention in the same way as on the 11th September 2001. Is another invitation being extended to us, to once more let the decisions made in the living room of one very ordinary family have repercussions way beyond our horizon?

Indeed to make matters even stranger it does not surprise me that in some peculiar symmetrical dance my wife has experienced every toss and turn of the waves these last five weeks as the pens have made their torturous way across the Indian Ocean.  Afflicted by a horrible inner ear virus it has felt like perpetual motion sickness. Coincidence? Maybe………….or maybe the story line of ancient trade routes beginning to merge with that of one family on the most hidden of journeys. Could that ancient Celtic blood that runs through Kathy’s family line be echoing the groans of creation? Stranger things have happened.

But today safe harbour has been reached and we now expect the sickness to lift as we pass through these gates, pen in hand to begin to partner in a new story. Even the gateway to Mecca is not immune to the hand of the ready writer.

So today  we are completely sold out for the new tale that is being crafted on the parchment paper of our lives, and the terrible events of ten years ago even now underline our journey.

It’s been the quietest of summers. With Kathy still in recovery we have surrounded ourselves with the familiar, for in the known there is safety. So some easy reading, a few trips to the coast, games with the girls, odd bits of work and the chance to catch up with some important friends.

It’s a tried and tested routine isn’t it? When everything is uncertain and fragile best to hunker down, bit like fishermen returning to their nets I suppose. So that’s what I’ve been doing. Chilling, living one day at a time, making space to enjoy the small stories of life. The big stories? Well there comes a point where you have to let them look after themselves. Know what I mean? You have done all you can and simply have to rest on that, for having done everything we stand.

So I will let the next few days unfold, well like any week unfolds. Can’t imagine there will be anything worth writing about, but if there is I will try to let you know. Meantime I will give myself to the small story. Indeed I will look to live a quiet life, mind my own business, and yes even work with my hands. Shocking stuff I know!

Night

Who of us hasn’t travelled to untold places as free reign is given to the imagination?  So it was for me as I contemplated an online space where room could be created for the true life stories of the unknown heroes of our world. It has obviously become clear however that after forty plus months of tracking with this dream the time is now right for someone else to look to shape this journey. I have therefore reluctantly closed down the Stories from the Street web site. Massive thanks to the many who have contributed over the years. There are some quality pieces of writing, and I am touched by the high level of honesty throughout. However, I do want to give whoever takes Stories from the Street on, the best chance of shaping it as they want to do. So I will keep the domain name, ready to pass it on when the time is right. At the same time, any monies remaining in the Sfts account will go into whoever rises to shape the new venture. My friend Vicky, from Sheffield here in the UK, is currently looking at options.

I am not down heartened! I know my roll has been to stand at a cultural gate and speak out what I see, and that I have sought to do. The recent turmoil in News Corp encourages me that a long overdue shake up is beginning to work its way through.

Meantime my focus is now on a different instrument of story telling; yes the old fashioned pen! Once more my imagination is running wild at the possibilities that a million pens might offer up, sown in as they will be this coming Autumn into the Middle Eastern gateway of Jeddah. Indeed, the first batch of two hundred thousand pens arrives this weekend.

I will continue, from time to time, to blog from this site, not least of which because it is to me a most intimate record of some of the deepest moments of my journey these last few years. Like a much loved diary I am reluctant at this point to let go.

For now however I simply want to thank everyone who has contributed into Stories from the Street, whether that be financially, through writing, or tracking with our journey. I for one am glad that I am one of those crazy people who choose to live from the world of the imagination….the place where anything is possible!