Discipleship and Citizenship

Discipleship.

Churches encourage members to engage in a wide array of discipleship programs and have committees to provide resources in spiritual disciplines, classes, and more.  Olson and Friedrich acknowledge that discipleship is the domain of the church and we are comfortable with that.

Citizenship.  

Schools and communities try and teach our children to be good citizens by participating in their communities and government.  Vote!  Know what your community is doing and how to advocate for change.



Olson and Friedrich challenge their readers to connect these two domains. Religious motivations should shape how one feels about affordable housing, childcare opportunities, health care for children, or fair wages for immigrant workers.  Churches feel comfortable addressing and meeting the immediate needs of those in the community, yet are often uncomfortable digging deeper into the issue and asking why it is happening and what can be done about it on a public policy level.

Scripture reminds us that it is our work as advocates to speak.  What would have happened if the Canaanite woman had not insisted her child was deserving of Jesus's attention and healing?  Olson and Friedrich are clear - advocacy about power.  Yet out baptismal vows boldly claim that as Christians we accept the power of God to resist evil and injustice.  Therefore child advocacy, and all it entails from acts of mercy of feeding hungry families to acts of justice in fighting for affordable housing for families, is Christian Discipleship.

Here is a common metaphor to leave you with:
You are enjoying lunch along the river with your friends.
You hear someone yelling for help from the water.
You (with your mad lifeguard skills) jump in the river and save them.
A few minutes later, someone else is in the river needing your help again!
You jump back in and rescue them too.
A few minutes later, another person!
You are getting tired, but continue to rescue those in need.
When do you go upriver to look for who is pushing people in the river?

There will always be those who are in the river and need compassionate help to get out.  Yet, others are called to the justice work of looking at the systems of oppression and working to keep people out of the river in the first place.

How can the church address both of these paths?

Peace,
Erin 

Garland's Steps to Advocacy Programs

Olson and Friedrich lay out Diana Garlands principles for organizing an effective advocacy program, which provide a step by step practical approach to advocacy as she outline in her book Precious in His Sight: A Guide to Child Advocacy.  


1.  Acknowledge Abundance.  
In a materialistic culture, it is hard for most of us to come to the realization that we have more.  This is a difficult thing to accept, and it can bring up feelings of entitlement and defensiveness.  The reality is that there are enough resources in the world to provide for everyone if they are redistributed.  This is a difficult concept to unpack and really needs to be done first.  The reality of privilege can be paralyzing for many, however acknowledgement is the first step to empowering and advocating for others.  
2. Infuse Theology
The love of God and love of neighbor is our foundation, or as the authors describe, our loom.  This is what makes us different from other social justice organizations.  Always ask - "Where is God in this?" and we will find much more in common throughout the body of Christ.  
3. Identify Obstacles
The reality is there are many obstacles that need to be expressed before advocacy work can be done.  A few that Garland lifts up include "there's really nothing we can do to stop child abuse, we should leave it to professionals", "we are already doing so much", "we need to take care of our own children first", "we don't have the money".  All of these are valid obstacles, but do not have to be the end of a good idea.  
4. Engage Allies 
Don't reinvent the wheel! Find other organizations in the community or across the denomination to offer assistance, provide resources, and partner with you working towards a communal goal. 
5. Develop Structure 
It is important to consider the logistics of who will be responsible for what, where supplies will be stored, what committees will be effected, and making sure to have potential leaders.  
6. Build Plan 
This is the part of the larger plan in which prioritizing issues and goals should be done.  Prayer, brainstorming, discernment, and conversation is crucial to making sure all people involved are on the same page and working in the same direction for the biggest impact.  
7. Foster Action 
Committees can meet, dream, and talk all day - but at some time (sooner than later hopefully!) the work discussed needs to be done!  This can be in the form of articles being written, events, trainings, phone calls to legislators, and many more.  
8. Evaluate Response
Taking time to reflect and evaluate is one of the most important steps to continuing to make a impact.  During this intentional evaluation, changes can be made to streamline processes, update educational pieces, or bring in new people to continue to build the advocacy program.

Programs can very difficult to get started, especially if they are lead by the pastor or staff.  Ownership by the community is one of the most important elements to motivate to work towards sustainability.  Each of these steps can be done as response and reaction to parishioners if they are guided and encouraged to work with others with specialties in different areas.  For example, Olson and  Friedrich tell a story of a pastor who asks a foreign businessman, accountant, teacher, and stay at home mother to help lead a book study together.  A year later they were actively engaged leaders in a social justice program they began.

What needs do you see in the communities you are doing ministry in?
How can you bring gifted and called folks together to learn about these ministries and begin to address some of the issues that arise?

Personally, one of the greatest needs in one of the communities I serve is having a safe place for children in the afternoon.  The church has created an after school program which is working to fill this need, with the help and support of many other agencies in the community.

Peace,
Erin

Who, me?

Continuing working through Weaving: A Just Future for Children, an Advocacy Guide by Diane C. Olson and Laura Dean F. Friedrich, I was reminded of a childhood song -

Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?  (repeat)
(John Doe) stole the cookies from the cookie jar!
Who me?  Yes, you!  Not me!  Then who?

Responsibility.  Accountability.
Definitely difficult concepts, especially if we as Americans must choose to change something we love.

In review - Olson and Friedrich on the subject of child advocacy:
Framework is important!!
Metaphor is a loom, which requires a frame, made up of:
1 - Theology
2 - Scripture
3 - A Safe Environment (Chapter 3)
Then comes the weft: (strings going vertical)
*Child Advocates

A huge part of advocacy is making the choice to do something.  They turn the frame into something - without them it is just an empty loom.  While advocating for children can be a one time act of mercy or compassion, more often it comes a continual process of justice.

Olson and Friedrich give an great discussion on types of advocacy.  Here is the list -
* Education
* Service
* Public Policy
* Coalition Building (partnering)

Some of which are much easier, or more comfortable for churches however as Christians I firmly believe we are called as the body of Christ to each one of these.  As leaders I think it is crucial to focus on making connections and building relationships to encourage each of these types of advocacy roles within the gifts of a congregation - including children!

On a related topic, I am often asked (as a UM Deacon Candidate) what a Deacon does?  The best thing is a deacon can do ministry in so many places!  Deacons can serve in hospitals, schools, community organizations, or even churches.  A great metaphor for a deacon is a bridge builder.  I understand my calling as a deacon as one who helps to encourage and facilitate the connections between churches and those who are in the church with the needs of the world.   Many of us are called to acts of compassion and mercy - such as giving change or a granola bar to someone begging in the street, yet others are called to justice work - such as advocacy as described as a process, creating relationships and asking/addressing the question of why is this person here?

How do you respond to the concept of advocacy?
Do you feel called to any particular type of advocacy, whether towards a particular group or using the categories listed above?
How does advocacy fit within your calling?

Peace,
Erin

Change the World

The United Methodist Church is sponsoring a day of volunteering around the globe.  Awesome!  This is the second year of this project and I'm excited about it. 

Get involved locally. 
Improve health globally.
Change the World. 

That's something I'm proud of coming out of our church.  :) 
The idea of the event is to challenge local congregations to partner with other groups in town and do some volunteer or service work.  If you would like to, they also encourage you to raise money for Imagine No Malaria.  (Related to Nothing But Nets - but do more than prevention - treatment, education, etc)

There are a lot of humanitarian organizations out there.  Some I agree with, some I am alittle leary of.  I do however appreciate the church (my church) getting out and doing something.  Not that they don't, there are many amazing programs happening on the local/conference/jurisdictional/etc level.  Prison ministries, homeless ministries, etc, but this is uniting, simple, and easy. 

That weekend my home church is coming to camp for a retreat.  Perhaps I'll talk them into a project somewhere.... :) 

What will you DO to change the world? 
Peace,
your sister in Christ~Erin

Imagine a world...

Many people tell me I really only about 8 - or act like it many days.  I love to play pretend and color!  Even at work my favorite phrase starts with "Can we... "  I love to rearrange the furniture and change things up to keep it new and fresh.  Color, music, movement, and nothing for too long.  Imagination is a huge part of me.

Yet I am not always stuck in my 8 year old world.  None of us are.  Something makes all of us mature and grow up.  Sometimes we want it... sometimes we don't.  People say the world ages us.  We have all seen pictures of children who seem much older and wiser than their years.  It's the tough situations in life like poverty, hunger, violence, fear, anger, and injustice that age us.

Yet there are many of us who haven't experienced that side of life.  Imagine the college frat boy whose parents pay for college and spends more time partying than studying.  Now imagine the college boy who's father walked out on his pregnant mother before he was born who is working 4 jobs to support himself and his family as he goes through college.  Who is "older"?  Now imagine a 20 something old boy who is in a refugee camp trying to protect his family and get as much education as possible while being displaced and fighting for his daily needs.  Who is "older"?

It's often hard for me to connect to the stories and parables of Jesus.  I wonder what kind of a world he lived in.  Obviously not a world where he grew up going to public school and had his own personal computer to blog his thoughts out to the world and keep up with his friends on facebook.  The stories he tells relates to his life and the lives of the people similar to him.  The broad concepts relate to my life - struggling with money, struggling with sin, not wanting to love my neighbor.  And these are the ways the church and our church leaders teach us today.  Yet their are significant differences.

Social Justice is a concept many "religious" people grab onto and run with or run from.  For some it is what the gospel is all about.  For some it has nothing to do with the gospel and how dare you try to  make it.  I believe social justice is something Jesus was all about.

Love your neighbor.  Not just the one who lives next door or upstairs, but everyone on the planet.  Get to know people who are different than you.  A different race, culture, gender, religion.  Don't judge.  Share your beliefs and your belongings.  Take care of the widows, the orphans, and the sick.  Not just by throwing some money in a plate or towards a charity.  Go out and do it.  It can and may change your life.     That's what Jesus did.  He didn't give all his money to the synagogue  and work towards becoming the next "Nazareth's Carpenter of the Year".  Jesus went out and walked among God's children and told them that first - they were loved.  Second - they needed to follow him.

I read an amazing book (almost in one day!) by Barbara Kingsolver called "The Bean Trees".  It's an amazing story of a young girl whose goal is to get through high school without getting pregnant and make something of herself somewhere far away from home.  She ends up going from Kentucky to Arizona and along the way "inherits" a small child.  Once in Tucson she starts making a life for herself working at a tire repair shop that just also happens to be a safe house for Central American refugees.  In my eyes, it's a story of how Taylor Greer grows up.

My favorite line is during a conversation with a friend who happens to be a refugee from Guatemala who has experienced some awful things in his life.  After hearing his story Taylor says "I hate to say it, but I really don't know.  I can't even being to think about a world where people have to make choices like that."  Her friend replies - "You live in that world."

I live in that world.  We say it all the time, especially faced with something beyond words difficult, I can't imagine... what that would be like, or I can't imagine a world where that happens.

We don't have to imagine it.  It's here.  The question is what do we do about it.  What does our christian faith move in us to do about it?

Give.
Be there.
Go out and love people.

Not just go out and preach to people about how Jesus saves.  I mean, yes Jesus saves.  But if I was a widow walking to the drug store wondering about how I'm going to afford my medication and you handed me a pamphlet about God I might curse at you.  If you walked with me and became my friend, perhaps helped me with my paperwork for healthcare I would say "God Bless You"  and go to church if you invited me.

If I was a poor young adult struggling to find steady work to pay the bills and wondering what is good in this world and you tried to tell me Jesus was good I would ask you if he was hiring.

Meet basic needs.
Preserve human dignity.
Don't do it through a middle man - go out and make a friend.

The best way I know to not get lost in the imaginative world is to experience the real one.  Don't keep yourself in a pretty imaginative world were everyone has what they need.  Go out and live, love, and share the love of God.

In peace,
your sister in Christ~
Erin

God is not a vending Machine

A very wise friend of mine told me one night -
"Erin, I have realized many things people try to make God into that he's not.  For example, God is not a vending machine.  People put in their good deeds and their righteous lives and expect blessings to follow in exactly their way.  But it doesn't work that way.  God is not a vending machine."  (paraphrased.... )

Very sound theological advice actually.  In my devo for the day I was reading from Psalm 79.  The past few days have been from Jeremiah.  Sigh... Jeremiah.  My favorite prophet.  Gosh I can't imagine being him.  Trying to tell the hebrew people that they weren't doing what they should and that they would fail.

I love watching the kids I have taught go through teambuilding games.  One of my favorite things for them to realize is that they don't like to be told what to do, so maybe... just maybe... they shouldn't tell others what to do.  I can't imagine what Jeremiah ran up against.  I'm sure the Hebrew people didn't appreciate him telling them what to do, or worse, that they would fail.

Then he lived through the Babylonian exile.  Being a prophet is hard enough, but to predict bad things and then see them happen?  I understand the words of the psalmist, how long will you let us suffer?  I feel like our society is fairly used to suffering.  We hear often of single parents struggling, unemployment, homelessness... but we also hear stories of people overcoming.  We life those stories up and say look - you can do it!

But it's not that simple.  (sorry... )  Every time we lift up someone who has made it, despite difficult times and situations; those of us who do have enough, who are food secure, who even have extra (like multiple cars and multiple TV's, and stocks, and... the list goes on) say to ourselves - "self, I don't have to give of my excess because I worked for it.  That person made it, so can others".  Sigh... that's not what its about.

We want God to give all of us our happily ever afters.  Yes, we expect struggle and difficult times - for what would any story be like without that.  We all have something we're up against.  - I love that quote from The Freedom Writers.  But like any good movie, we expect somehow for things to resolve and work their way out.  If we pray enough.  If we have enough faith.  If we are generous and loving.

That's not what God is about.  God is about love.  Forgiving us for our sin and saving us.  That doesn't mean our lives will end like a disney movie.  It's not a simple introduction - building tension - climax - resolution story we all want so bad.  Sometimes we just have to accept the cards we have been dealt and make the best lemonade with them.

My favorite prayer (Francis of Assisi)
"Lord, give me the serenity to accept the things I can not change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference."

Yes, I hope for my happily ever after.  Find love, serve the world, make a difference, raise some loving kids.  But I try to keep in mind that my God is not a vending machine and accept all the burdens he blesses me with as well as the treasures.

In peace,
your sister in Christ~Erin

Kaj Munk

Great quote:
"What is, therefore, our task today?  Shall I answer: "Faith, hope, and love"?  That sounds beautiful.  But I would say - courage.  No, even that is not challenging enough to be the whole truth.  Our task today is recklessness.  For what we Christians lack today is not psychology or literature...what we lack is a holy rage - the recklessness which comes from the knowledge of God and humanity.  The ability to rage when justice lies prostrate on the streets, and when the lie rages across the face of the earth...a holy anger about the things that are wrong in the world.  To rage against the ravaging of God's earth, and the destruction of God's world.  To rage when little children must die of hunger, when the tables of the rich are sagging with food.  To rage at the senseless killing of so many, and against the madness of militaries.  To rage at the lie that calls the threat of death and the strategy of destruction peace.  To rage against complacency.  To restlessly seek that recklessness that will challenge and seek to change human history until it conforms to the norms of the Kingdom of God.  And remember the signs of the Christian Church have been the Lion, the Lamb, the Dove, and the Fish... but never the chameleon."  - Kaj Munk

Kaj Munk (1898-1944) was a Danish pastor and playwright killed by the Gestapo in 1944 for his opinions and preaching against the german invasion of Denmark.  He was influenced highly by Kierkegaard, a famous philosopher - also Danish.

I love his (Munks) quote here about holy rage.  I get so angry and disheartened  today about poverty, hunger, human trafficking, war, terrorism, and just in general that wealthy christians justify their lifestyle without seemingly much of a care for anyone else.  We have become like the Pharisees living IN the world and OF the world.  We are so focused on what we deserve, what we want, and what we want.  It's hard to say that we don't deserve happy lives in nice neighborhoods and food on the table.  But doesn't everyone?  Is it fair to want those things at the expense of others?

I say no.

I want to love recklessly and without abandon.  Not to be concerned about the "bad" parts of town, but to find a need and do my best to fill it.  To use my gifts and talents to help redistribute the worlds resources, expose privilege, and dance, sing, laugh, help folks reach out to one another and have meaningful relationships.  I want to help the world remember that we have other options, and we can't just accept what we see and what we are given, we can schmear finger paint all over it and make it beautiful.

God Bless,
your sister in Christ~Erin

Meaningful Words

How do you respond to the following words and images?  

Competition...

Justice...

Activism...

Grassroots...

Social Justice...

Words have meaning... some of them a lot of meaning, but it is a meaning backed by actions, emotions, and beliefs.  As humans we are all unique and will always differ; yet it is not only a great learning experience for us to hear others perspectives but use them to help us better understand ourselves.  

I struggle with competition, I am not competitive yet I use it as a teaching tool to help keep my students involved.  I believe there are much better motivators than competition and that competition can tear apart people and relationships.  

I believe justice is the ability for a community to treat one another with human rights, dignity, and fairness.  

I love activism because it involves people who care standing up against injustice and truly care.  

I love grassroots movements because it is about local communities coming together on a personal and relational level to make the world a better place.  

I believe social justice is the act of working to create more justice among people, like Robin Hood, take from the rich to give to the poor.  (how else will it balance out?)  

What do you think?  

God Bless!

Your sister in Christ~Erin

New Vocab New Fire

I learned a new word, more than that though... a new condition millions around the world find themselves in which can be devastating.  A term born out of our need to control as much as possible, especially people.  Our governments need to know constantly what we are doing, where we are living or working, and our general status.  Without the proper documentation of who we are we can't get a job or see a doctor, go to school, or travel out of the country.  What if you didn't have this documentation?  What if you couldn't prove you were a citizen of anywhere?

You would be stateless.  There are an estimated 15 million stateless people in the world today.  Unable to work unless paid under the table.  Unable to travel, unable to vote, unable to provide for their families, unable to get an education to work past their present.  Alone and unaccounted for - and uncared for.

Some refugees are stateless, however many have citizenship simply in a state where their is conflict and war.  If given refugee status though they are allowed to travel and given aid.  Unlike a stateless person who may not be fleeing from any conflict, simply unable to prove where and to whom they were born.  (honestly not really their fault either is it?)

Without proper documentation (birth certificate, social security number, work permit, general ID's) people are denied everything.  This is a problem in many countries from Bangladesh to the Dominican Republic to Pakistan and the independent states that were a part of the USSR.  Imagine your government saying "No.  We don't claim you and we don't know who you are."

Sometimes this is done accidentally, in a state of chaos or upheaval, sometimes specific groups are targeted (ethnic, racial, religious), and almost always it is a generational inheritance.  If your parents don't exist to the government how do you?
So in response to this issue my heart cries - LEARN.  Learn as much as you can about everything you can so that you can go out in understanding and love.  I have 3 different colors of post -it's (yes I organize my life in colors and post it's) one for Issues I Want to Learn About, another for People to Learn About, and another for inspirational quotes from others.  There are many issues I don't know about, but much I can learn.  There are people who have gone before me asking the same questions and living out their lives in response.  I want to learn from them to better understand my own calling. 

My favorite so far -
When I feed the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.
Dom Helder Camara,
Archbishop of Recife, Brazil

Best of Luck with your passion -

your sister in Christ~Erin

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I wrote about my experiences last week with MLK, Jr. Day in Cincinnati however I want to offer up some of the beautiful insights about this wonderful man.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an inspirational man who has become known worldwide for his peaceful activism, and is widely remembered for his leadership in the civil rights movement to secure equal rights for  african americans in the united states.  However Dr. King also spoke passionately about the evils of poverty and war (Vietnam).  He wrote 5 books and lead multiple marches, rallies, the bus boycott, was the pastor of a large southern baptist church, and the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize for peace @ 35.  Dr. King raised his voice against injustices happening in the world and our country for YEARS, but he is mostly remembered for one (be it excellent speech).  Here are some other brilliant things he said.

The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.
          Still true today.  
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil--hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
          "The chain reaction of evil... must be broken"
Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
            With love.  
Dr. King wasn't afraid to speak out about issues he saw as oppressing or injustice.  He wasn't afraid to raise awareness and actively do something about it.  His 3 big issues, equal rights for all American citizens, war, and poverty.  Dr. King wasn't afraid to say that to tip the balances back from the injustice and oppression that some will have to give for others to get what they deserve.  We still haven't solved these issues today because we still aren't willing to give.  I look forward to reading more of what Dr. King had to say.  


God Bless!
your sister in Christ~Erin