The truth is that my heart has been repeatedly broken for people around the world. Through study and travel I have learned about and seen injustice, oppression and unimaginable cruelty. I’ve wept and despaired and asked why. I’ve cast blame and sought solutions, and have solved nothing. The time for thinking and grieving is past.

Ezekiel was given a time of grief when God tells him, “Therefore groan, son of man!  Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief” (Ezekiel 21:6). It is important to allow ourselves time to grieve – to acknowledge people that have suffered and to share in their pain. We bind ourselves to each other when we share in, not only the joys and successes, but the heartache and pain. If we find ourselves completely at a loss to effect any change, at the very least we can stand in solidarity with our neighbours and grieve with them.

Grief also wounds our hearts to action. We cannot allow emotion to remain emotion. It must become active compassion. Tears are evidence of hearts touched, but if that’s as far as it goes, we remain useless to the people we weep for. Many of us have the luxury of deciding whether or not to stand and fight. We are not forced by circumstance to beat back injustice and protect the broken and vulnerable. Tears may come, but at the same time we need to pick up our weapons and prepare to do battle. We need to step out into action and work to make sure that there is no further cause to grieve.

In the past, heartbreak for what’s happened and what continues to happen around me has left me motionless, staring at the wall in my bedroom. Helpless and depressed.  That feeling has festered and now I’m angry. I’m angry at what has been allowed to happen, at the audacity of evil people and the arrogance of lazy people. I’m angry at hearts that are callous and immobile. People that are self seeking and comfortable. I’m angry at myself for not doing more, but frustrated because I don’t know what to do.

I’m begging for the opportunity to stand against oppression and injustice. Ezekiel’s time of mourning gives way to action. In chapter 37, he is commanded to speak over the valley of dry bones. God brings him to the valley and Ezekiel walks back and forth among them. Bones long dead and beyond hope of life. Ezekiel does not answer with positive assurance when God asks if these bones can live. But when commanded, he speaks and the bones come to life. Not only do they come to life, but up rose “a vast army” (v 10).

Those of us who depend on God know that we do not act alone. We live by the power of the Holy Spirit and our actions are his arm moving across the earth. Working with God we have the power to do much more than we can imagine. We can move beyond our hopes. And we MUST move. We must act in obedience, “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke… to share [our] food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when [we] see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from [our] own flesh and blood” (Isaiah 58:6-7).

I’m admittedly quite ignorant about many things, but I know enough. I’ve cried tears over too many dead children, slaughtered villages, evil war lords and corrupt governments. Enough now. It may look hopeless. It DOES look hopeless, but we are called to something higher. We are called to act justly, love mercy and to defend the fatherless. It’s past time to do that.

If We Must Die

If we must die, let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

If we must die, O let us nobly die,

So that our precious blood may not be shed

In vain; then even the monsters we defy

Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!

O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!

Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,

And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!

What though before us lies the open grave?

Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

Claude McKay (1919, 1922)

“Slavery was abolished 150 years ago, right? While it is true that slavery is illegal almost everywhere on earth, the fact is that there are more slaves today than there ever were…”

- Robert Alan (American Author) From Love146.org

Ages ago – before I knew better – I actually envied those that lived during times that gave them the opportunity to fight gross social injustice. People were a part of the abolition movement, actively fought against Aparthied, marched for civil rights, etc. It all sounded so glamorous and like a huge honour to be able to stand on the right side of history. I thought, if I was just given the chance, I too would stand up against the norms of the day and do what was right. Meanwhile, not only do we continue to look bleak poverty in the face every day, not only do we continue to live in a country whose policies form systemic racism, but a massive slave trade is alive and thriving.

Human trafficking and sex slavery isn’t something that most of us encounter, unless we go out of our way to find it. It’s something that is easily ignored and not dealt with. It’s a nasty reality and it offers no simple solution. However, the scope of this problem is such that it cannot be ignored. According to the A21 Campaign, there are 1.39 million people globally in sex slavery, and the vast majority of these are women and children. It’s a lucrative business. Sex slavery exists not only abroad, but in our own back yards. It’s there if we’re willing to see it.

I’ve often felt helpless as I’ve learned about human trafficking and child prostitutes – I didn’t know what to do. Obviously I’m against sex slavery, but there’s no one standing on my street corner looking for help to free child prostitutes. Organizations like A21 Campaign, Love146.org and the International Justice Mission make it easy to learn and they suggest ways to participate and help. The A21 Campaign outlines 21 ways you can get involved. They include ideas such as fundraisers, supporting survivors through jewelry sales, educating yourself and those around you and watching for signs or sex slavery right where you are.

The victims of human trafficking are voiceless and cannot ask for help. Less than two percent of sex slavery victims are rescued. These websites offer some of their stories. Women and children represented in those stories need us to stand up for them in any way we can. There are things that everyone can do. Check out the websites and see how you can stem the flow of a growing slave trade. We have the opportunity to be on the right side of justice, if we’re interested.

I have to confess. I carry inside myself a certain longing despair. Somewhere between grade school and university graduation I learned too much about our world and its gross injustices. And to top it all off I managed to marry someone who can only be described as obsessed with the pursuit of ever more revelation of how the powerful have and continue to take every advantage and, for lack of more precise language, screw over the rest of the world.

He does this, I know because he has hope that we can change it. He believes that it is only by knowing the truth that we can work to set ourselves and our brothers and sisters free. Mostly I believe this too and I do have hope… it’s just a butterfly kind of hope, the sort that takes your breath away for a moment of two… until it flies away and I’m left facing the cold hard facts.

I recently encountered the poem from which I’ve titled this post and honestly I cried. It’s difficult to explain, but these words crawled inside me and made themselves a home, a home that displaced some of the familiar despair.

I wanted to share the entire poem. It is written by Barbara Kingsolver and dedicated to the Nicaraguans killed by the Contras in the 1980’s. I find it incredible how the words speak so clearly to both that particular context and a much broader one. I am uncertain how well-known the details are of what occurred between Nicaragua and the United States so I’ve included a brief explanation and a link to a lengthier one at the end.

In the late 1970’s, the US-backed Samoza dictatorship of 40 years was overthrown by a group which came to be known as the Sandanistas. They formed a provisional government and in 1984 elections internationally recognized as free made a transition to democratic rule. Early on, the Sandanistas gained recognition from international organizations for their progressive social programs as literacy and nutrition levels rose.

Unfortunately powerful interests were not impressed with the redistributionist policies nor friendly relations with Cuba and the USSR. Throughout the 1980’s the US provided organization, arms, training, planes and even pilots to the Contras, an opposing group largely composed of Samoza’s former National Guard. CIA agents and mercenaries were also directly involved in the fighting. They explicitly targeted civilians and the means to their livelihoods. At least 13,000 unarmed Nicaraguans were killed and the country’s economy and infrastructure were devastated leading to further hardship for the country’s survivors.

In 1986, The International Court of Justice found American actions in Nicaragua to be illegal and ordered them to pay significant reparations. Instead the US refused to acknowledge the finding and continued with their actions in the region for several more years.

If you are interested in a more detailed description including the links between the CIA funding and drug trafficking, there is a good paper available here.

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity!

Of the 47,677 known species in the world, 17,291 are facing the threat of extinction. About 70% of plants, 21% of mammals, 12% of birds, 37% of freshwater fish, 30% of amphibians, 28% of reptiles, and 35% of invertebrates are currently endangered (IUCN).

With Canada’s vast landscape comprising “almost 20% of the world’s wilderness, 20% of its freshwater, 24% of its wetlands and 10% of its forests,” Canada has a significant role to play in the conservation of biodiversity (Convention on Biological Diversity).

According to the Species at Risk Public Registry of Canada, there is concern for species of whales, hawks, orchids, wolves, owls, mosses, bears, seals, caribou, and many, many more. While some species loss has been determined to be naturally occurring by the scientific community, there is also consensus that the rate of extinction we are experiencing has been accelerated by human activity.

The question of how to respond to the loss of biodiversity can feel very complex and overwhelming. It can seem like every action we make has an environmentally damaging consequence.

For myself, the realization that my choice of food, toiletries, clothing and transportation can cause damage to the forest, grassland and marine ecosystems that I have enjoyed on a regular basis has prompted me to change the way I look at my money and time. It has become hard to justify time and money-saving measures in exchange for the degradation of environments and ecosystems.

Environment Canada has released several resources for Canadians to engage in the International Year of Biodiversity:

• On the International Biodiversity Day website, you will find useful suggestions to make your eating and lifestyle habits more friendly to biodiversity.
• Visit the Canadian Biodiversity Information Network for events and resources for Canadians. There are initiatives in the business and arts communities, and with community and national organizations and governments.

Here are a few facts from Environment Canada:

• When asked to explain the meaning of “biodiversity”, only one in five Canadians (19 per cent) correctly identify it as the “variety of life on earth.” Nearly half (48 per cent) say that they do not know, and a quarter (27 per cent) come up with the wrong answer.
• About 7,000 plant species have been cultivated and collected for food by humans since agriculture began about 12,000 years ago. However, today only about 15 plant species and 8 animal species supply 90 per cent of our food.
• Canada’s boreal and temperate forests cover nearly half of its landmass, and provide habitat for approximately two-thirds of Canada’s 70,000+ known wild species of plants, animals and micro-organisms.
• Much of the food we eat depends on the services provided by a diversity of pollinating insects and animals.
  (Quoted from Environment Canada’s EnviroZine)

*You can join the International Year of Biodiversity on Facebook.

MCC’s guide is through their Mining Justice campaign. The weekly themes are: Gold, Precious Metals & Gems, Oil & Gas, Hydro-Electricity, Coltan, Impacts on Food and Water, and Where to from here? The guide is available on the MCC website.

KAIROS’ Re-Energize campaign has released a Carbon Fast guide. The weekly topics are: Electricity, Heat, Travel, Waste, Shopping, Water and Food. The guide is downloadable on KAIROS’ website.

The following is a reflection from Esther Epp-Tiessen on her choice to remove her wedding ring as a mining fast:

“Francisco Machado is a Honduran Mennonite pastor. Since about 2000 he has led a movement to reform mining practices in his country. In 2008 he fled Honduras because of death threats uttered against him for his work. He was a guest speaker at several MCC annual meetings in the fall of 2009 in connection with the launch of our Mining Justice campaign.

“At the MCC Manitoba annual meeting, one delegate noticed that Machado, though married, wore no wedding ring. Machado responded with the question, “Why do we need gold rings when they cause so much suffering?” Later that evening, the MCC offering plate was found to contain the typical offering of cash and cheques – as well as two gold rings.

“I am not quite prepared to part with my wedding ring as two individuals did that night. But I have taken off my gold wedding band for Lent. It didn’t come off easily – I needed some soap and warm water to wrest it off my left ring finger. And because I hadn’t taken it off in years my hand feels rather naked.

“I’ve taken my ring off as an act of solidarity with people who suffer because of the harm that some gold mining operations inflict. My naked ring finger reminds me to remember and pray for people, like Francisco, with whom my life is intimately linked. I’ve also taken off my ring as a kind of spiritual discipline that I hope will help me to “stay close to God’s heart.” A blessed Lenten season to all of you.”

~ Esther

As a Canadian concerned with peaceful living – environmental sustainability, social equity, alternatives to militarization – I like to keep track of how my Member of Parliament is representing my views in Ottawa.

www.howdtheyvote.ca is a non-partisan website that compiles information about Canadian Parliament. You can see how your MP has voted on the bills important to you, or see where your MP ranks in absences, bills brought forward and words spoken in Parliament.

Of course, there won’t be anything exciting happening for the next couple months…. So, you can use this to see how your MP has done for the past year.

If you would like to let your MP know that you are checking up on them, you can follow the Parliamentary Contact Info link on their howdtheyvote profile.

Here are some items that I have been interested in:
C-300 Corporate Accountability of Mining, Oil and Gas Corporations in Developing Countries Act
C-393 Drugs for International Humanitarian Purposes
C-304 Affordable and Accessible Housing
C-311 Climate Change Accountability Act
C-291 Refugee Appeals
C-447 Department of Peace Act

Here is a record of the second reading of Bill C-300 – The Corporate Accountability of Mining, Oil and Gas Corporations in Developing Countries Act:

On January 21, the Globe and Mail published an articled called “God in the gun sights.” The article described how some machines guns used by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan are inscribed with New Testament biblical texts. For example, some guns display 2 Cor 4:6, while others John 8:12.

As a Christian committed to peace and nonviolence, I find it almost impossible to comprehend how the military establishment can use the Christian faith to bless their wars. I find it abhorrent that the Christian church through history has willingly supported certain wars. Yet to have scripture texts emblazoned on weapons that are used to threaten and kill, takes this audacity to a whole new level.

It is as wrong for a Christian soldier to use scripture to support war-fighting, as it is a Muslim to do so to support suicide bombing and terrorism.

New Testament scripture is pretty clear that Jesus Christ lived, taught and died the way of peace and nonviolence. He taught his followers to do the same, encouraging them to love their enemies and do good to those who hated and harmed them. Sadly, much the Christian church has lost sight of this most central and fundamental teaching. Were the church to embrace Jesus’ way of peace, the world would no doubt be a more peaceful place.

While the Globe and Mail does not have “God in the gun sights” on their website, you can read an article about the story from the Washington Post: “Bible references on U.S. gun sights?.”

Editor’s note: For an update on this story, please see this article from the BBC: “US firm to remove Biblical references on gun sights.”

A recent report from Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) details some surprising trends in Canadian military spending and policy.

While many Canadians view our military to be on a laughably low-budget, Canada’s military spending ranks 6th of the 28 NATO countries – “trailing only the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy, all of which have much larger populations and economies.”¹

Our military budget is currently the highest it has been since WWII – $21.185 billion.² (Compare this to 2007 Canadian Official Development Assistance – $4.08 billion.³)

And our government plans to commit more funds – by increasing military spending by 0.6%  every year from 2008 to 2028 (percentage adjusted for inflation).⁴ Total spending during this 20-year plan will be about $13,000 per Canadian – around $415-440 billion!⁵

The CCPA report draws attention to military spending in Afghanistan. The Department of National Defense has estimated the cost of Afghanistan operations from 2001 at $6.3 billion.⁶ However, through the calculations of Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page – the CCPA report brings the estimation up to $12-15 billion!⁷

There is also the matter of the dwindling reputation of Canada as a peacekeeper. With only an average of $9.2 million over the past eight years and 55 soldiers currently committed to UN peacekeeping missions, Canada’s shift away from UN peacekeeping appears solidified.⁸

As the author of the report, Bill Robinson, states, “If the extra $130 billion to $155 billion that Canada will spend over the next 18 years as a result of its post–Cold War military budget buildup were spent instead on aid, it would be enough to nearly triple Canadian development assistance over that period, enabling us to meet and even exceed the 0.7% [1969 United Nations] target and to provide additional resources for climate change aid.”⁹

Such a boost to the foreign aid budget could arguably create greater stability and security in our world by preempting many conditions that create or magnify conflict.

You can download the report for more information.

¹ Bill Robinsion, “Canadian Military Spending 2009,” Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), December 2009; p. 3
² Ibid; p. 1
³ Ibid; p. 7
⁴ Ibid; p. 2
⁵ Ibid; p. 2
⁶ Ibid; p. 1
⁷ Ibid; p. 1
⁸ Ibid; p. 7
⁹ Ibid; p. 8

As we wait for the anniversary of your birth, Lord Jesus,
we are waiting for peace in Afghanistan.
We have created a war that goes on and on;
military operations come and go,
bombs get dropped or planted,
hospitals fill up and empty,
graveyards in Afghanistan and around the world
are visited by those who mourn.
And we have not found peace.
Saviour, where is your relief?
We need your strength and consolation.
We need release from fear and sin.
We require a rest from war.
And so today we ask for deliverance.
Deliver us from a mindset that takes war for granted,
that is unaffected by casualty figures,
that gives up hope for an end to conflict.
Deliver us from corporations that make billions
selling arms and armaments to countries at war,
profiteers who would like to see this war go on and on.
We pray for Afghan civilians,
who have endured too many foreign occupations.
We pray for Taliban fighters,
who believe in the cause for which they risk their lives.
We pray for foreign troops,
who also believe in the cause for which they risk their lives.
We pray for political and military leaders,
for religious leaders and diplomats on every side.
Open every heart to a longing for peace,
not just for themselves, but for their enemy.
Taliban, American, Canadian, all nations in Afghanistan
holding the bodies of their dead,
weeping together and saying, “Enough.”
Afghani people standing up to govern themselves,
providing justice for men and women.
This vision of peace is monumental and seemingly impossible,
but we know that you are the Prince of Peace,
and we ask for this gift in your name.  Amen.

Copyright Carol Penner, www.leadinginworship.com

A landscape of tin-roofed homes, narrow alleyways and potholed mud roads sprawls from the centre of Zambia’s capital city, Lusaka. This is Kanyama and Chibolya: Two slum neighbourhoods merged after years of population growth and urban migration. The area, home to almost 50,000 people, has been characterized by crime, little access to government services, poor heath standards and high unemployment. It is also a refuge for poor and desperate families fleeing violence or instability in countries bordering Zambia.

Here, youth face many hardships – an overloaded school system, strained families, distressed peers and the feeling of limited possibilities. Many students have been abused or neglected by guardians or teachers; others have found themselves caught in rivalries because of nationality-based divides in their community.

This is where I met Issa Sadi Ebombola and his band of child-peacemakers. The group is slowly infiltrating their schools and communities with open ears, understanding and conflict-resolution strategies.

They are part of a network of 10 school peace clubs throughout Kanyama and Chibolya, initiated by Issa. The clubs teach peacemaking and train students as conflict-resolution counsellors. They also provide a forum for students to share their own problems and face them with support from the group.

Issa, a peace-facilitator and refugee from the DRC, hopes that the peace clubs will create a reverberation of change for the students and the community. Already, the child-peacemakers have resolved conflicts between students, family members and, in some cases, strangers. Continuous transformation of the schools and communities is what they are aiming for, and good things are happening after only three years.

Take, for example, Emmanuel Shembesa, a student in Chibolya. Before the club, Emmanuel was aggressive with other students and was often involved in school-ground fights. Now, Emmanuel has joined the peacemakers and counsels his peers through non-violent ways of resolving conflicts. He has learnt to empathize with others’ problems, resolve fights and express his own conflicts without violence.

For Royce Banda, a peace club leader and teacher from Kanyama, the largest impacts have been less fighting between students and improved relationships between teachers and students. Her club has grown to include one third of all students at her school.

As the child-peacemakers bring their training and experience into their schools and communities, it is clear that other communities could benefit from peace clubs in their schools. Hopefully this band of peacemakers will become the norm for schools throughout Lusaka.

MCC partners with Issa in the training of club leaders and funding of the clubs.