UMW GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2014
REPORT
It’s what I think of first, when I reflect
on UMW Assembly 2014:
“Until all are
fed we cry out!
Until all on
earth have bread.
Like the One who
loves us each and every one,
We serve until
all are fed.”
I hear 7000-plus women singing in unison
of voice, spirit and soul.
And, truly, that’s what Assembly was all
about—and what United Methodist Women is all about: serving until there is justice
for all.
My dear, dear sisters. There is still so
much injustice in this world, but through our almost 150 years we have made
giant changes all over the globe, and we still are making very positive changes…
and we must continue until all on earth have justice.
Let me give you an overview of just some
of the offerings.
The Film Festival included:
Chasing Ice and Gasland (environmental justice)
The Raising of America and Behind the Kitchen Door (economic
justice)
I Believe You: Faith’s Response to
Intimate Partner Justice (domestic violence)
Welcome to Shelbyville and Harvest of Empire (immigration)
Herman’s House; Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us
Sick?; Waking in Oak Creek (racial justice)
Not My Life (human
trafficking) was also one of the offerings.
I watched this film, and found it a powerful
documentary on trafficking. WE CANNOT CONTINUE TO TOLERATE THIS GHASTLY SLAVERY!
A $32 billion industry that de-humanizes children and young women! $32 billion
made on the backs and in the beds of
enslaved people!!
I
refer you to the websites for Not My Life. Type “Not My Life film” in your
browser and choose a site. There are numerous links relating to the film. I
URGE—BEG you to watch the youtube presentation of the film’s trailer…and then
perhaps the whole film. I have ordered the DVD and will make it available to
you.
In
his response to the trafficking situation, Kofi Annan said something like this:
“Human trafficking is a moral affront to
me! I have to consider, Who am I?” And that’s really the
basic question for every single one of us: Do I see that this business is a moral
affront to ME? Can I ignore such a situation and be true to the Christ in
me?
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The
Workshop Menu included literally dozens of topics. A very short list follows:
Birthing
a Healthy World: The Church’s Role in Improving Maternal and Reproductive
Health
Caring
for Our Elderly Parents
Challenging
the Culture of Violence in the United States
The
Christian Consumer: Living Ethically in a Material World
Linking
Service with Justice Advocacy in Your Community
“Making
Judgments”: Skills for Conflict Resolution and Deep Communication
Migration
Is a Global Concern
Politics
Is Personal
Walking
the Talk: Putting Justice and Joy, Spirit and Sustainability into All of Our
Meetings
Why
Justice in Palestine Is a Racial Justice Imperative
I
attended the sessions on Justice in Palestine,
Politics Is Personal, and Social Justice as a Spiritual Pursuit:
Living Lives of Radical Welcome.
Quotable
Quotes:
Justice in Palestine
From
the Geneva Convention: The occupying power must ensure food and medical
supplies of occupied population. The occupying power shall agree to relief
offered to population. The occupying power cannot contaminate water or land.
(Israel has defied all three.)
Israel’s
avowed approach is to “put Palestinians on diet, but not severe enough that
they die of hunger.”
From
David Wildman, executive secretary for Human Rights & Racial Justice with
the United Methodist
Church's General Board of Global Ministries: The situation in Israel/ Palestine
is a question of human rights, about land and rights. It’s not a matter of
who’s good or bad. The ministry is to erode injustice. In a fight between
elephants, all the grass gets trampled.
The
US has been a stumbling block in UN efforts to bring about change regarding
South Africa and Palestine, vetoing sanctions against both countries.
Three
philosophies of political regimes are colonialism, apartheid, and foreign
occupation.
Clearly
stated policies and laws reveal racial discrimination is at the heart of
Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. There are too many instances to enumerate.
Check it out on-line, through reliable sources..
Approaches
we can take to change the situation: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS).
Politics Is
Personal
Politics
are how we order our society, express our faith.
Justice/Mishpat
(Hebrew) was established by God to counter any power that is organized against
justice or when powerful are favored.
The
duty of politics is to establish justice in sinful world. -- Reinhold Niebuhr
Political
action seeks to uplift and empower; speaks to the system, not just immediate
condition; involves partnerships; is ongoing and challenging.
Social Justice
as a Spiritual Pursuit
The
first migration was when God’s Spirit moved over the face of the earth.
At
the point of action, one becomes real.
Anything
I do, I force Christ to do with me.
Social
justice is justice in terms of distribution of wealth, opportunities and
privileges within a society.
Any
relationship is Trinitarian. Read Taking
the War out of Our Words by Sharon Ellison.
The
secret of a spiritual life is to go to the “other.”
Hillary Clinton,
keynote speech
From
a UMC family background, Hillary Clinton spoke to us with the theme: Jesus said to disciples, “Don’t send them
away. YOU feed them!”
From
Martin Luther King, Jr.: We are all in an inescapable network of mutuality.
To
get an idea of the slavery involved in what YOU own, go on-line to slaveryfootprint.org.
