Faith

Christians gather in nation’s capital to reflect on global justice

Carolyn Worthge and Adeela Tajdar are ONE’s Faiths Act Fellows for the Faiths Act program of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which works to mobilize faith communities to take action on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

We were excited to join nearly 1,000 Christians for this year’s Ecumenical Advocacy Days last week. For the past ten years, Christians from many different denominational backgrounds have gathered together in the nation’s capital to reflect upon the call to do justice. This year’s theme was “Is This the Fast I Seek?” calling on the teachings of Isaiah 58 and focusing on economy, livelihood, and our national priorities.

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A mile in their shoes

ONE volunteers in Nashville joined partner agency Blood:Water Mission last week for their annual Water:Walk in honor of World Water Day. Tennesseans gathered to walk a mile in the women’s shoes who carry water to their families in Africa every day. Participants started downtown, carrying plastic jugs and buckets, and walked a mile to the river.

They then filled their containers and carried them a mile back in silence remembering the women and children across the world for whom this is a daily task.

Among the volunteers was Jars of Clay lead singer and Blood:Water Mission founder Dan Haseltine, who stopped by the ONE table before the walk to sign a letter to Representative Cooper urging him to protect lifesaving programs in this year’s budget.

Abby Sasser
Congressional District Leader TN-5

Apply for Bread for the World’s young religious leaders program

Our friends at Bread for the World share an awesome opportunity for young religious leaders:

We live in one of the world’s wealthiest nations, yet more than one in five children lives in households that struggle to put food on the table. Around the world, nearly 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes every day. Proverbs 31:8-9 tells us to “Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” We can end hunger in our time—but it will take faith and political will to make it happen.

Tsega Nega from Stone Mountain, GA, listens to the speakers during Bread for the World’s Lobby Day briefing, June 14, 2011.

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Tackling faith and global poverty at the Justice Conference

Mar 2nd, 2012 12:54 PM UTC
By Adam Phillips

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I was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer size of it all. Nearly 4,000 evangelicals and more than 150 exhibitors and organizations gathered at the Justice Conference in Portland, Ore., for two days of barn-storming reflections on the issues around the world calling us to respond with justice.

Ten years ago, it seems, evangelical voices for social justice were few and far between — I know, because in seminary I was always looking for them. Now, organizations like World Relief, World Vision, IJM, the “58” movement, and campuses like Kiln College and Fuller Seminary are leading the way toward justice and the end senseless hunger, pain and disease.

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Faith at ONE signs up 100 new members at Jubilee 2012

Last week, ONE had a strong presence at Jubilee 2012, an annual conference for Christian college students. Several volunteers from the Pittsburgh area and the University of Pittsburgh tabled, gathered signatures and told attendees about extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases.

Conference goers had the chance to hear Micheal Gerson, senior adviser at ONE, speak. ONE’s own Adam Phillips, ONE’s faith relations director, gave a workshop on HIV/AIDS, called the Beginning of the End of AIDS, that laid out ONEs goals for HIV/AIDS eradication.

The conference was a great opportunity to reach out to students and educate young people and how to — as students and as communities of faith — respond to the world’s poor and those communities dealing with HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases.

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To do the most good for the famine victims, we must seek justice

Isaac Barnes and Don Golden of World Relief seek to use the strengths and capacity of the famine victims to mitigate food crises in the future.

In February 2012, the United Nations (UN) declared that the famine in southern Somalia is now over, seven months later. I find little triumph or accomplishment in this technical press statement.

Why? Take a look to the greater Horn of Africa, to Turkana, Kenya. In Turkana, thousands have lost their cattle due to drought and now rely on food aid to live, their dignity and vitality greatly diminished. This lack of restoration and perpetual brokenness is not right; it is an injustice. And while the Turkana remain disempowered and marginalized from restoring their livelihoods and dignity, the broken social and political systems that perpetuate famine and injustice will recycle again.

Disaster relief cannot start after the UN or international media deems a situation to be a “famine.” Instead, effective disaster relief must start before a disaster strikes. If another drought hits Turkana, a major food crisis will be inevitable; unless, beforehand, the people of Turkana are empowered with the knowledge, resources, and tools they need to cope with their lost livelihoods.

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Essay: My mother’s Lenten advice

Faiths Act Fellow Carolyn Worthge reflects on some sage advice from her mother as Lent begins.

I have fond memories of Lent from my childhood, admittedly due to the “breakfast for dinner” pancake feast that took place each year in my church on Fat Tuesday. The day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season was supposed to be our day to indulge on treats before a 40-day long season of penitence, fasting, service and sacrifice that would end in the Easter celebration.

While everyone spent time deciding what they were going to give up, chocolate, soda, candy, etc., I remember my mom had a different take on Lent that has stuck with me throughout the years. She felt as though it wasn’t really about giving things up, but rather taking things on. While she respected those who chose to fast from something, she challenged me to instead do something that helped me think about what it meant to be a person of faith. For me, this took different forms. Some years, I followed a Bible devotion about social justice, made an effort to volunteer more, or just paid attention to thanking others in my everyday life. It was through these acts that helped me focus on what it meant to say I was a Christian, and challenged me to engage more with my faith by understanding how I was reflecting my beliefs to the world around me.

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