This handout is again prepared for two columns, on a letter-size sheet of paper, back-to-back. Of course, it will work with one column, back-to-back, but it takes more paper, obviously! You may get more information on both topics from GBGM website. Free,
downloadable resource, perfect for bulletin inserts, study discussions: Faith
& Facts Card: Human Trafficking available at GBGM
website. Follow UMC efforts in text-cloud; click on “human
trafficking.”
Human Relations Day.org provides offering envelopes and aids for publicizing the observance.
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UNITED METHODIST
WOMEN
Jan. 18--Human
Relations Day
A symposium on the role of religion and faith-based organizations in
international affairs will be held Wednesday, Jan. 21, at the UMW’s Church
Center for the United Nations. Inaugural theme of the one-day event is “Human
Dignity & Human Rights.”
The purpose of the symposium is
to have frank discussions on the theory and practice of human dignity and human
rights, with a view to formulating concrete proposals as a contribution to the
work of faith-based groups and U.N. and multilateral organizations.
The symposium will focus on the
intersections of human dignity, human rights and religion in international
affairs, including freedom of religion or belief. It will offer a venue for
faith-based groups and international organizations to explore ways of working
together in addressing new and emerging challenges.
The symposium will attempt to discern on critical issues relevant
to the life of humanity, such as sustainable development, freedom, peace and
security.
Study of critical issues now close and
real directs our attention to the refugee situation in the U.S. While The
United Methodist Church does not engage in partisan politics, we stand with
immigrant families and the sojourners in our midst. This is a biblical mandate
and a reflection of God’s hospitality and love for all of us.
Our United Methodist congregations can help in this
manifestation of human need. We can assist immigrant families with the cost of
the legal processes. We can support and accompany immigrants through the legal
process so they are treated fairly. We can educate our congregations and
continue to welcome immigrants to our communities and churches.
UNITED METHODIST WOMEN
Jan.
11--Human Trafficking
Awareness
Day
Human trafficking
is a violation of human and civil rights that enslaves thousands of people
across the globe. The United States’ Trafficking Victims Protection Act
defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as :
a. sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is
induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform
such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or
b. the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision,
or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force,
fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude,
peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
In 2012, the International Labor Organization (ILO)
estimated that there could be 20.9 million victims worldwide in what the State
Department defines as human trafficking. In 2011, only 42,291 victims of
human trafficking were identified worldwide. The ILO also estimated that women
and girls make up 55% of forced labor victims, and 98% of sex trafficking
victims.
(Trafficking in Persons
Report June 2012, U.S. Department of State)
As United Methodists, * we proclaim faith in the God of
freedom and condemn slavery as wrong and incompatible with Christ’s teachings.
* We recognize that we are called to follow Christ in proclaiming release to
the captives and setting the oppressed free (Luke 4:16-19). * We affirm that
each person is of equal value in the sight of God and will work to create
communities in which each person’s value is recognized, maintained, and
strengthened. * We affirm God’s abundant grace for everyone and strive to
embody this grace toward all involved, both those trafficked and those who are
trafficking.
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