Most of the people reading this blog will never come to the annual conference of The Gathering – for a number of reasons.  It’s like any other conference for a particular affinity group – doctors lawyers educators – in that the content is designed for individuals families and foundations giving financial support to ministries.  However that does not mean some of the content is not interesting or useful for others. 

Because of our arrangement with the media vendor (Dove Conference Services) I cannot give you a link just yet to a download direct from our site.  However you can go to their site and download everything that looks interesting to you.  We don’t make money on it.  It’s a breakeven service we provide.  Here are three suggestions I would make right now:                 

The Curse of Human Trafficking:  The United Nations estimates that 700 000 to 4 million women and children are trafficked around the world for forced prostitution labor and other forms of exploitation every year.  It’s an estimated $7 billion business. 

Panelists:  Blair Burns with IJM; Helen Sworn with Chab Dai in Cambodia; Jeremy Floyd with Equitas Group; and moderated by Dot Beck Board member of The Gathering. 

Hard Lessons We Have Learned:  If you have been a donor for any length of time you have learned some lessons; hard and perhaps even life-changing lessons.  These Gathering participants share some of the hard lessons they have learned about giving. 

Panelists:  David Weekley David Weekley Family Foundation; Steve Beck Springhill Equity and Gathering Board chair; John Coors Community Uplift. 

On The Record: A Conversation With Two World Class Opinion Journalists:  Both will address the particular challenges that come with being a Christian and writing in two of the most important newspapers in the world. 

Panelists:  Ross Douthat New York Times; Michael Gerson Washington Post. 

Go to http://dovecds.com/store/index.php/cPath/121_278 for more information.