What Does It Mean To Be Displaced?

Several members of the Global Partnerships Office are attending the Global Episcopal Mission Network’s 2013 conference in Bogota, Colombia. Below are some thoughts and reflections on our experiences so far.

We often hear about internally displaced persons on the news. Sadly, this has become a norm in our world today. But what does it mean to be displaced? Displacement, according to the Oxford English dictionary, is the “action of moving something from its place or position.” On Tuesday, we visited the Misión del Espiritu Santo in the municipality of Soacha in Bogota, Colombia and learned about the very human impact of displacement in Colombia and what a group of courageous women are doing to serve members of their community who have been displaced.

A little background might be helpful: According to the people we’ve met with, Colombia has had 40+ years of armed conflict which has resulted in the displacement of approximately 5.2 million people or 11% of the population of Colombia. Only Sudan and South Sudan have a higher number of displaced people. In Colombia, many people are displaced at least twice if not three or four times and while there are ongoing peace dialogues, the displacement continues. Leaders, especially human rights advocates, are killed. Youth and young adults are killed, deliberately and accidentally. Armed groups charge for access to basic necessities, like vaccinations for children. Essentially, people are forced to pay for their own safety. Those who cannot do this are forced to leave their homes. In some parts of Colombia, armed groups force residents out of their homes in efforts to get land that contains valuable resources like gold and uranium. It is these resources that are funding the ongoing war that has had an impact on so many people.

It would be a mistake to let the above paragraph serve as our only narrative of life in Colombia. During our visit to Soacha, we met members of Mesa de Organizaciones de Mujeres de Soacha (Women’s Table) and Coopsermujer, who meet at, and are supported by, the Misión del Espiritu Santo and listened to the stories of their work with displaced people in the Soacha municipality. There are a minimum of 40,000 displaced families who now call Soacha home. Problems like drug trafficking, domestic violence, and child malnourishment are common, but the women of these two organizations are working with the community to help show a different face of Soacha. To make it, as one woman said, a “place where we build our dreams.”

The Women’s Table and Coopsermujer have produced a public policy document for women, who make up the majority of the population in Soacha, which outlines the needs and rights of women and makes proposals for action. The organizations offer training for women and men on issues like human rights, administration, and public health. Members of the organizations, many of whom have been displaced themselves, seek to put their own experiences into practice so they can serve others. As they do this work, the women of Soacha are transforming their community and working toward equality and equity in Colombia.

The Rev. Carlos Guevara of Misión del Espiritu Santo told us, “Even though we have a situation that goes against life, we have men and women who want to fight for life…the little grains of sand that these women plant strengthen many paths for men and women in Colombia.”

The Five Marks of Mission, which frame our mission engagement, clearly state that we are to “seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind, and to pursue peace and reconciliation.” We give thanks for the witness of the women of Mesa de Organizaciones de Mujeres de Soacha and Coopsermujer and for the Episcopal Diocese of Colombia as it stands in solidarity with them.

China Earthquake Update

Our colleagues in the China Christian Council and the Sichuan Christian Council have shared information and pictures from the Sichuan Province which was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on April 20, 2013.

Lushan, Baoxing, and Tianquan counties were the hardest hit areas. The most recent update we received indicated that the death toll had reached 193 with over 10,000 people injured. Over 1,200 aftershocks have been detected, mostly in the 3.5 to 5.1 magnitude range. 1,500,000 people have been affected. Over 120,000 people are now homeless.

Damage from the earthquake in the Sichuan Province, China.

The Lushan county hospital is full of patients and many of the wounded have had to seek treatment in common areas of the hospital or in outdoor tents. Patients have also been sent to facilities in Ya’an and Chengdu.

A man carries his father to medical facilities set up after the earthquake in Sichuan Province, China.

The epicenter of the earthquake was the Longmen Township. Over 99% of the houses in the township have collapsed and hospitals lost water and electricity. Three dams in Lushan county damanged and residents who live downstream have been evacuated.

The China Christian Council has worked with partners to organize teams of churches in neighboring towns to carry out disaster relief efforts. These teams have provided food, water, and quilts.

We’ll share more information as we receive it. The China Christian Council has shared that the supplies that are most urgently needed are tents, quilts, medicine, food, and water. They have set up a direct appeal for earthquake relief. For additional information, please contact the Asia and the Pacific Partnership Officer, Peter Ng.

Damage caused by the earthquake in Sichuan Province, China.

Please pray for all those affected by the earthquake and join us in giving thanks for the ministry and leadership of the China Christian Council and the Sichuan Christian Council during this difficult time.

Nina Boe is (Finally!) in Brazil!

Following a lengthy visa process, our seventeenth (and final) volunteer of the 2012 Young Adult Service Corps has arrived in Sao Paulo!

Nina Boe (Diocese of Olympia) is a Seattle, WA native who is excited to serve in Brazil. This is her first time anywhere in Latin America, and she has eagerly been working on her Portuguese in preparation for a year in Sao Paulo. She will be supporting the office of the Rev. Arthur Cavalcante, the Provincial Secretary of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil.

Keep up with Nina at http://ninaboe.blogspot.com/.

Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Today, January 11^th, is “Human Trafficking Awareness Day” (nationally recognized and declared by the United States Congress). Since the term “human trafficking” was originally coined in 2000, this form of “modern day slavery” continues to rise. Human trafficking for labor, and for sex, is continually on the rise and is now considered the second largest criminal enterprise in the world, accounting for two-thirds of the world economy. It affects women, men and children, and there are an estimated 27 million people enslaved today. Labor trafficking accounts for two thirds of this number. In the United States, sex trafficking is the more common form, and depends heavily on the demand and willingness of men to pay for sex.

We are all implicated in trafficking in some way, through the products we buy and how labor is procured through the supply chain to make those products. A useful tool for understanding our own involvement in trafficking is the Slavery Footprint. Why not find out today how human trafficking affects you, and others? Take your Slavery Footprint at www.slaveryfootprint.org.

This weekend, many religious leaders have called for a National Weekend of Prayer to End Slavery and Human Trafficking. Please join this effort by praying for all victims of trafficking – men, women and children – for the conviction to change for their slavers and traffickers, for government and religious leaders who are addressing this crime, for social workers, law enforcement and medical staff who work with victims and criminals. Here is a sample prayer, courtesy of the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual:

Prayer of Solidarity

Holy Compassion, you who hear the cries of those in anguish,
Be with us now to bring them to safety and to speak out against those who exploit.

Holy Love, you who shout with us “No” to human trafficking in all its forms,
Be with us now to restore freedom to the trafficked and their families.

Holy Justice, you who rage with us against the injustices of trafficking,
Be with us now to take action to prevent and end this violence.

Holy Wisdom, you who know the worth of every human being,
Be with us as we erase this sinful practice from the face of the earth.

© Diann L. Neu, Co-director of WATER, dneu@hers.com

DON’T SPEND CHRISTMAS ALONE, SPEND IT WITH THE “GLORY GIRLS”: Glorifying God wherever they go

Glory Girls gather over lunch to share their ministry work in Prescott, AZ.

Meet the “Glory Girls”, a group of women from St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Prescott, Arizona who visited New York in October. Lynnaia Main, Global Relations Officer of the Episcopal Church, crossed paths with them by “divine chance” at the United Nations on the occasion of the first ever International Year of the Girl Child on October 11^th.

Rushing through the United Nations visitor’s lobby this past October, I heard someone behind me say, “Look, that woman’s bag has an Episcopal shield!” Turning to introduce myself, I found that the speaker was with a group of women huddled around a map on the lobby bench. They turned out to be the Glory Girls of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Prescott, Arizona, a city of 40,000 just south of the Grand Canyon, and they were in New York on an annual pilgrimage. They had come to the UN that day to celebrate the first ever International Day of the Girl Child.

Deacon Kimball Arnold (left), founder of the Glory Girls, will soon celebrate her twelfth anniversary of ordination.

The next day we enjoyed each other’s company and fellowship over lunch. Founded a few years ago by their Deacon, the Reverend Kimball Arnold, the Glory Girls have as their main mission to glorify God, and they leave it to the Holy Spirit to define how this might happen. Many of them are members of the Daughters of the King. Over the past four years, they have come to New York for a week long spiritual pilgrimage of rejuvenation, education, fellowship and worship. So far, 18 Glory Girls have made the trip to New York, some for each of the four years they have been gathering in New York.

Back home in Prescott, each Glory Girl is a backbone to important ministries at St. Luke’s and in their communities – ministries that strive for corrective peace and justice and cross international borders. For example, trafficking is a major concern in their region. Immigrants are lured across the Mexican border with promises of work and, once in Arizona, find themselves forcefully and illegally sequestered by “coyotes” who hold them hostage in “drop houses” until the coyotes have received enough money for them to earn their freedom. Of course, the day of debt repayment never arrives. In the midst of this tough situation, with the local community overburdened by the sheer numbers of people in need of basic assistance and in which hospitals and jails are overflowing, the Glory Girls minister to these immigrants in various ways, such as visiting with them in the hospital or nursing homes, preparing lunches on Friday to serve to the needy on Saturdays all year long, through music, assisting through work at the local community college, and helping to identify resources to meet their needs. They also help pack food boxes at a local food bank, work with Veterans, help those who are unable to take care of their needs, help in the schools and with Boy Scouts, work with Alzheimer’s patients, support their community’s numerous events, and work with the Philanthropic Educational Organization – an international philanthropic educational association committed to furthering the educational needs of women.

Don’t Spend Christmas Alone, spend it with the Glory Girls! Christmas dinner 2011 at St. Luke’s.

During this Advent season as in previous years, the Glory Girls will be busy preparing to serve the lonely and poor in their communities through the “Don’t Spend Christmas Alone” program. Glory Girls help prepare and serve meals to the 850+ people who come to St. Luke’s on Christmas Day.  You may find them making mashed potatoes and gravy, serving plates, waiting tables, or preparing meals to go to the homebound that the Fire Department delivers. Delivering love, kindness and fellowship, and filling basic human needs to boot – all to the glory of God.

We give thanks to God for the mission and ministry of the Glory Girls and their willingness to be instruments of the Holy Spirit’s power, and for their leader, the Reverend Deacon Kimball Arnold, who will soon celebrate her twelfth anniversary of ordination. Learn more about their ministries at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Prescott at http://www.stlukesprescott.org.

Reflection on Gender-Based Violence: Spencer Cantrell

Spencer Cantrell, Episcopal Church provincial delegate for UNCSW 2013, in Hong Kong wearing a Filipino Rosie the Riveter shirt which says “We can do it!” in Tagalog.

Recently the Episcopal Church joined the International Anglican Women’s Network in commemorating the 16 Days Campaign against Gender-Based Violence. This campaign was started in 1991 by the Women’s Global Leadership Institute and is observed annually by Anglicans worldwide. The International Anglican Women’s Network has composed a page of resources on gender-based violence available here. The Episcopal Church’s Spencer Cantrell, provincial delegate for the Anglican Communion  at UNCSW 2013, shares her first-hand experience with gender-based violence in this post.

As an Episcopalian, I feel like my calling is in helping women who are survivors of violence. I have helped women both in the U.S. and abroad who survived violence at the hands of an employer or a loved one, and unfortunately, the system in place to help was not always sufficient.

I was fortunate to be able to serve in the Young Adult Service Corps (YASC) for one year as an Episcopal Missionary in Hong Kong, where I worked for the Mission For Migrant Workers. This was an amazing experience, because I was able to help migrant women, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, who came to Hong Kong to be domestic workers. These women were often vulnerable to exploitation and deplorable conditions in their new homes: 18 hour work days, separation from family for years at a time, a low minimum wage, and rest days that weren’t enforced. In my office, I was greeted daily by women with a plethora of problems: women fired for no reason after 1 day or 5 years, women who pawned family lands to pay to work in Hong Kong, and women who had been kicked, punched, bruised, burned, assaulted, or raped.

These women were courageous, and many went through a rigorous legal system to get what was owed to them, standing up for themselves, even at the expense of finding new work or being able to fully support their families. But that should not be the case. Women should not be punished for being survivors of violence.

Back in the United States, I am in law school and working with survivors of domestic violence. These are women who have been abused by husbands, boyfriends, or partners. Unfortunately, these women also have to overcome extreme obstacles in leaving their abusers. Regaining emotional and financial independence is almost impossible without a network of support.

That’s why I’m glad we have the Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence. It’s important to shine a spotlight on the gendered violence women are facing. While men also face violence at home and in the workplace, this violence disproportionately affects women. One in three women around the world will face intimate partner violence in her lifetime. God calls us in Micah 6:8 to “do justice and to love kindness.” Eradicating violence against women is an integral part of this.

A key component of my work in Hong Kong and Washington D.C. in stopping violence is education. So I urge you to read about the campaign here and the UNCSW here.

As always, if you know someone who might be experiencing violence, share the domestic violence hotline number with them: 1−800−799−SAFE(7233).

I’m also thrilled to have the opportunity to represent the Episcopal Church at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) in March 2013, where the theme is also “Elimination and Prevention of all forms of violence against Women and Girls.” This will be an incredible opportunity to learn about the work of women from all over the world to stop gendered violence. Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions about my work at the UNCSW or as a YASCer!

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

Today, December 10^th, is International Human Rights Day and the final day of the 16 Days Campaign against Gender-Based Violence. This campaign was started in 1991 by the Women’s Global Leadership Institute and is observed annually by Anglicans worldwide. The International Anglican Women’s Network has composed a page of resources on gender-based violence available at http://iawn.anglicancommunion.org/resources/documents.cfm#s3.

Robin Denney, Juba, South Sudan, 2011

Robin Denney writes here about gender-based violence and her experience representing the Episcopal Church as part of the Anglican Communion’s delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women earlier this year. Thank you to Robin and all Episcopalians and Anglicans who participated in this year’s campaign.

We are in the midst of 16 important days.  The 16 Days between International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (November 25) and International Human Rights Day (December 10) has been a time of mobilization for women’s groups around the globe since 1991.  Thousands of organizations participate in this 16 day campaign to raise awareness and end violence against women.

Did you know that there are 160 million women missing from the world today? Women who were killed or were aborted merely because of their gender.  It is easy as westerners to point fingers at countries in Asia and Africa and say that the governments there are not doing enough to stop gender-based violence.  It is important that we stand with our sisters around the world and help their voices be heard.  But we also need to realize that gender-based violence is a huge problem in our own country, a problem which plagues all parts of society and is largely ignored.

• In the United States 1,000-1,600 women are killed each year by their spouse or partner.  While many more commit suicide or die on the streets having fled violence to homelessness or prostitution.
• Women in the U.S. lose 7.9 million workdays a year due to injury from domestic violence.
• The total cost of domestic violence annually in our country is 8.3 billion dollars (in lost wages and medical care).
• One in five women in the U.S. has been raped.  Nearly half of rapes go unreported.  Of those that do get reported only 25% lead to arrests.
• One in four women have been beaten by an intimate partner.
• In Topeka Kansas October 2011, the city council voted to de-criminalize domestic violence so that they wouldn’t have to pay for the trials.
• In 2010 women in the U.S. made only 81% of what men made for full time work.  Violence against women and wage disparity are statistically linked.

The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion have a rich tradition of advocacy and support of women’s rights.  We have long been involved annually with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.  The Mother’s Union and the Episcopal Church Women have a long history of women speaking out for women from every corner of the globe.

The Anglican Consultative Council, which is one of the instruments of communion which bind our many provinces into one communion, has passed two groundbreaking resolutions regarding women in the last 7 years:

• 2005 Resolution 13.31: requests that churches comply with Millennium Development Goal 3 by having equal representation of women on all decision making bodies at all levels of the church!
• 2009 Resolution 14.33: is a call to action against gender based violence, “[The ACC] unequivocally supports the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, including trafficking, and encourages all Provinces to participate in programs and events that promote the rights and welfare of women.”

I was one of 20 women from around the Anglican Communion who were observers to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March of this year.  Being a part of this effort, and learning these shocking statistics changed my life and opened my eyes.

We follow the God who came to be one of us, to touch and heal women and men who the world rejected, to raise up both women and men to be his followers and to proclaim his Gospel.  Let us go forth into the world, these 16 days and beyond, our eyes never to be closed again to the plight of the vulnerable amongst us!

YASCer Brian Orlay Arrives in Tanzania!

Young Adult Service Corps volunteer Brian Orlay (Diocese of New York) has landed in Africa! Brian will serve as the Program and Project Coordinator for The Carpenter’s Kids Program in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika in the Anglican Church of Tanzania.

Keep up with Brian at http://brianorlay.wordpress.com/.

Making the Product Better

Sam McDonald makes a new friend while on a site visit with Be the Change-Kenya.

Sam McDonald, the Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Director of Mission of The Episcopal Church, recently visited Kenya. During his time in Nairobi, he visited two Episcopal Church missionaries who work in the area. Many thanks to Sam for sharing his thoughts about his visit on our blog!

I spent my first full day in Kenya with a marketing phrase espoused by a multinational chemical company — “we don’t make the products you use; we make them better” — going through my head. And why, while touring the Nairobi area with two missionaries of The Episcopal Church, was this expression renting space in my mind?  Well, imagine missionary work that is not a ministry providing a direct service of food, education, orphanage, scholarships, agricultural development, grants, or HIV/AIDS or Malaria prevention, nor any direct funding whatsoever. Imagine a person with a heart for missionary service and trained in community organizing at Harvard’s Kennedy School who believes that the solutions for all the struggles direct service ministries provide actually lie within the people of Kenya. What if those solutions — the people and resources of Kenya — could be further developed and set loose? What if you viewed these as unleveraged, untapped assets that could organize themselves into a force for good and a force for positive permanent change?

That is largely my impression of a remarkable ministry, Be the Change – Kenya (and now Tatua Kenya), envisioned and founded by a missionary of the Episcopal Church: Natalie Elaine Finstad (Diocese of Massachusetts). Natalie is now supported by Jenny Korwan (Diocese of Atlanta), a member of the Young Adult Service Corps.

Natalie has taken her expertise in community development and the mobilization of young adults and has started a movement in an area outside of Nairobi. She works alongside teams of young adults trained as community organizers to mobilize the people within their communities to see that they already have power to be unleashed for good and for permanent change. They connect business leaders with locally founded and operated ministries, and these business leaders serve as mentors and resources of expertise. Be the Change – Kenya brings in local, successful people with proven track records in grant proposal writing, business management and record keeping, and accounting, among other skills.

A Kenyan mother, moved by the sight of a found orphan baby, came home one day and told her husband that they were going to open an orphanage in their home. Now, a few years later, the orphanage has fifty children. They have a small plot of land to grow maize, a portion of which feeds their seven milk cows. The waste from the cows is converted into biofuel by a natural, organic operation onsite. The ‘mama’ introduced us to the social worker they have just brought on staff. Though micro, the operation is incredibly complex. Be the Change has a team of young adults, trained in organization and development, from around the community who assist with building the base and foundation to continue its sustainability. They offer workshops about goal setting and proposal writing. The components necessary for its success lay there within the rural community. Natalie is convinced of this, she is convincing those in Kenya with whom she works, and, frankly, she is convincing me. The work of Be the Change – Kenya is a remarkable model for missionary service. It is not the only model, but it is one that we would be wise to pay attention to.

Natalie so clearly connects her expertise with her deep, abiding faith and her spiritual walk. It is this connection, I think, that makes her a true missionary. This is a calling by God to give away her treasure to others, so that it becomes the treasure of others and will continue to be given away. I suspect that Kenyans will take this treasure and shape it, mold it, and continue to improve it.

The United Nations and The Episcopal Church

On United Nations Day, Wednesday, October 24^th, we celebrated the ways in which the UN helps us, as Episcopalians, uphold our Baptismal Covenant to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself,” and to “strive for justice and peace among all people.” Being involved with the work of the UN is one way in which we serve our neighbors – especially the poor, the oppressed, the sick, the stranger, and the displaced – and share the light of God’s presence in the world.

 

How does your ministry connect with the United Nations?

Do you have:

• A concern to bring to the attention of the UN?
• A ministry to celebrate?
• A voice to uplift?
• A need for information, connection and community on a global issue?

Let’s work together!

On October 24, 1945 the United Nations officially came into being when its founding Charter was rati­fied by the majority of its signatories. Established to foster peace and security in a world ravaged by two World Wars, it is unique in being the only forum at which representatives of the majority of the world’s governments – 193 to date – meet regularly to discuss and collaborate on global concerns. But the UN is not just talk. Member states work together and through UN agencies to maintain peace and stability, coordinate humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, alleviate poverty, fight disease, assist refugees, clear landmines, and protect the environment. The United Nations does vital work in promoting respect for human rights for women, refugees, children, indigenous peoples, and other populations. United Nations agencies define global standards and lead campaigns in such areas as the empowerment of women, and fighting drugs, human trafficking, and terrorism.

 Did you know?

~Collectively, all Episcopalians and Episcopal agencies are represented at the UN through The Episcopal Church in its official association with the UN, both on its own and as a member province of the Anglican Communion

~ Countless individuals, parishes, dioceses, provinces and church wide ministries and programs have supported the UN’s Millennium Devel­opment Goals (MDGs) since they became a church wide mission priority in 2006

~ A delegation of 14 Episcopalians, including Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and led by our Office of Indigenous Ministries, attended the 11^th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and collaborated in ecumenical written and oral statements  in repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery

~ Over 100 people from across the Anglican Communion and The Episcopal Church gathered at the Episcopal Church Center in February for the 56^th UN Commission on the Status of Women, making their voices heard on the empowerment of rural women. They represented women’s groups, young adults, Native Americans and indigenous peoples

~ In 2012, Episcopalians and staff have collectively made visible the Church’s presence in the world by participating in tours, commemorations, side events, seminars and working group meetings at the UN. They have covered human trafficking, gender-based violence, ageing, ecumenical and interfaith collaboration, indigenous rights, youth empowerment, women’s empowerment, peace building, the environment, genocide and the transatlantic slave trade

~ Episcopal bodies such as Episcopal Migra­tion Ministries and Episcopal Relief & Development partner regularly with UN agencies such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and UNICEF

~ The Episcopal Church has applied for consultative status at the UN, which will give it greater voice and more advocacy opportunities in areas related to sustainable development, human rights, narcotic drugs, crime prevention and criminal justice, forests, women’s empowerment, indigenous issues