Swords into Plowshares

Study resource on Africa

Resolution on Africa: A Guide for Study and Reflection [PDF] is now available for download.

Based on "Resolution on Africa" approved by the 215th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the study is intended for youth of all ages. Former Stated Clerk, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, notes that the study guide invites us to explore "our calling to be partners with Christians in Africa—and to do something about it!"

The study guide [PDF] has six sessions, but there probably is more material than can be covered in six one-hour sessions. Options are to expand the number of sessions or to be selective about the discussion questions to keep to a shorter time frame. The guide includes the resolution.

The sessions address a comprehensive range of topics and concerns:

• Introduction to Africa and the Church in Africa
• Singing a New Song:The African Church
• Diseases of Poverty (HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis) and Health Issues
• Human Rights
• Development
• The Role of the PC(USA) with the Churches in Africa

In the closing words of the resolution [PDF]:

"Christians in Africa sing and pray every day for the kingdom of God. We can do no less than join them—and in so doing fortify and renew our faith by sharing the pilgrimage of God’s people everywhere who seek justice, peace, and freedom. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) joins African church partners in working for the liberation of all people worldwide."

New study resource on Sudan for children

Order Piece Work/Peace Work: Working Together for Peace and Sudan at the Presbyterian Marketplace. Use item number 24-358-09-008. The cost is $8.00 plus shipping and handling.

Piece Work/Peace Work: Working Together for Peace and Sudan is a curriculum designed for elementary children from Grades 1-6.

The study is divided into four sessions, one intergenerational session, and a resource section which includes stories of Sudan and information on African quilt history and Sudanese religions and customs.

Using a quilt project, the study explores the relationship between the work of making a quilt from different pieces of fabric and the work of making peace. Activities include games, simulations, and art projects.

Through an exploration of situations faced by the children of Sudan, children are led into an understanding of the largest country in Africa and learn also of the many divisions within the country. Worship, songs, scripture, a book center, and a computer station all enhance the
learning process.

As the author, Martha Bettis Gee says, “It is vital to the future of Sudan that followers of Jesus take seriously what is happening there and respond with compassion and real help.”

Piece Work/Peace Work: Working Together for Peace and Sudan is produced in partnership between the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian Office on Child Advocacy. Representatives of the Sudan Advocacy Action Forum, the Sudan Mission Network, and the Presbyterian Africa Office provided assistance with the content of the resource. Presbyterians have been in ministry with the people of Sudan for over 100 years.

Order Piece Work/Peace Work: Working Together for Peace and Sudan at the Presbyterian Marketplace. Use item number 24-358-09-008. The cost is $8.00 plus shipping and handling.

UN General Assembly to consider UN probe into Gaza conflict

The United Nations General Assembly will meet on November 4 to consider the report [PDF] of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict. The Mission was appointed on April 3, 2009 “to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza during the period from 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009, whether before, during or after.”

The four-person Mission presented its report [PDF] to the United Nations Human Rights Council on September 29, 2009. The report [PDF] concluded that both parties to the conflict likely committed war crimes during the fighting. The report has generated a great deal of discussion, controversy, and criticism.

The October 23 edition of Bill Moyers Journal featured an interview with Justice Richard Goldstone who served as the head of the Mission. Justice Goldstone came to prominence investigating the behavior of security forces during the apartheid regime in his native South Africa. He served as chief prosecutor of International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavian and Rwanda and has been part of investigations into Nazi war criminals hiding in Argentina and war crimes in Kosovo.

Moyers interviewed Justice Goldstone about “the report, his critics and why he believes international humanitarian law is an important part of the peace process.” View video and read the transcript of the interview.

Here are some other perspectives on the report:

• Amnesty International
• Human Rights Watch
• B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories 
• UN Goldstone Gaza Report sponsored by the Association for Human Rights in Israel™ 
• Breaking the Silence - testimonies of Israeli soldiers who participated in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza
• Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been involved in mission efforts in the Middle East for nearly two centuries. The denomination’s long-standing witness in Israel and Palestine involves working with partners in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Since 1948, General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its predecessors have made statements calling for a just peace for Israelis and Palestinians.

General Assemblies have supported the work of the United Nations since 1946. Assemblies have seen the United Nations as a peacemaker, and a peace-builder, a forum for U.S. foreign policy making, and a guarantor of law and human rights in a troubled world. In addition, assemblies have consistently endorsed international law and supported human rights as they have proclaimed the life-giving vision of Jesus.

Q&A - The CTBT

Ask your Senators to work to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) calling for a global ban on nuclear tests was rejected by the United States Senate ten years ago. Over 180 countries have signed the treaty. Nine countries, including the united States, still need to ratify the CTBT for it to enter into force. 

Since 1946, General Assemblies [PDF] of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its predecessors, acting out of faith in Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace, have understood that working for God’s intended order and life abundant involves seeking international disarmament and arms control measures. Assemblies have called for the creation of test ban treaty and have called the United States to ratify the treaty.

In a video presentation, Deepti Choubey addresses issues around the CTBT in Q&A format, describes the CTBT’s importance and how it impacts U.S. security. Choubey is deputy director of the Nonproliferation Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Those questions and answers in the presentation are:

•    What is the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty?

•    How will the CTBT impact the United States?

•    Will the United States ratify the treaty?

•    What are the prospects for the treaty entering into force?

•    How does the treaty relate to President Obama’s goal of a world free of nuclear weapons?

•    Does the CTBT influence U.S. national security?

Learning about Sudan in Maryville

In the Presbytery of East Tennessee, International Peacemaker the Rev. Orozu Lokine Daky, from Sudan, and Dr. Ingrid Reneau, a PC(USA) Mission Co-worker in South Sudan, offered workshops at the Global Voices Summit. This event was sponsored by the group, Global Women, a nonprofit organization connecting and empowering women to transform our worlds through global friendships. It was held at the Monte Vista Baptist Church in Maryville.

Oruzu and Ingrid told of efforts for peace in Sudan. They traveled as a team in the partnership between the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and the World Mission Challenge.

Photos provided by Caroline Best.

Events in Guinea

On September 28, a violent crackdown on unarmed demonstrators in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, led to the deaths of at least 150 people. Many rapes were also reported.

The trouble in Guinea goes back to last December, when a military junta led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, an obscure junior officer, took control of the small West African nation six hours after its longtime dictator, Lansana Conté, died.

Camara first indicated his rule would be temporary. That has not been the case. This led to the demonstration on September 28 and the violence by security forces directed at the demonstrators.

Richard Moncrieff, West Africa project director for the International Crisis Group, was interviewed about events in Guinea by the New Yorker.

The International Crisis Group suggests that if military rule in Guinea is not rapidly ended, there is a serious risk the country will slide into a civil war that could affect all West Africa. They have issued a policy briefing that focuses on the events of September 28 and their implications for the stability of the country and the sub-region, discusses dangerous fractures within the military and signs that various members are raising ethnic militias, warns that Guineans will not accept an attempt by the army to remain in power and calls for the end of military rule and a re-opening of the democratic transition process.

The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security has issued an open letter to the United Nations Security Council concerning the situation in Guinea.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced that he will set up an international commission of inquiry into these events.

A prayer for United Nations Day

Here is a prayer for the United Nations for use in relation to United Nations Day (October 24) or any appropriate time:

God of compassion, walk alongside all of your global stewards who work to create a more just and peaceful world. Equip the United Nations community with a sense of urgency and humility that lets your will be done. Each day you give bread enough for all, grant us also the wisdom to ensure that everyone has enough.Teach the world’s leaders to forgive, to extend welcome across borders. Show the world a new path beyond greed, oppression, and division. We pray for a world united. We pray for the power to save succeeding generations from war. We pray for a glory that reaffirms the dignity and worth of every person. We pray that your grace might ensure life in larger freedom forever, for all of your children. Amen.

Jessica Hawkinson
Associate for International Relations and Education
Presbyterian United Nations Office

Photo of the United Nations General Assembly by UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras.

Worship resources for United Nations Day

October 24 is United Nations Day. The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian United Nations Office offer worship materials for use on Sunday, October 25 or another time.

Download O God Who Formed Creation [PDF], a hymn by the Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, co-pastor of Limestone Presbyterian Church.

Find prayers, bulletin inserts, and more.

Here is one prayer:

Great God,
supreme ruler of all the earth,
give vision to those who serve the United Nations.
With justice and goodwill, may they take down barriers
and draw the world together in peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

— from Peacemaking through Worship: Volume I by the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program

Christmas International House

Christmas International House is a Christian ministry designed to offer hospitality to international students during the Christmas Holidays. Through the hospitality of churches and civic groups, we witness to the reality that, behind diverse manners of dress, religious affiliations and political ideologies, everyone stands together as one human family. This peacemaking program gives students an opportunity to visit in an American home and to become acquainted with different areas of the country. It gives them a chance to express their feelings about the United States and find explanations for cultural differences they have observed. Students and hosts develop friendships and learn how to exchange ideas and develop relationships with people who come from countries with different ideologies.

The Christmas International House program runs from December 19, 2009 to January 2, 2010.    Some local programs have elected to change these dates slightly.   

Applications will be accepted between October 1 and November 20 or until all programs are filled. All international students or scholars studying at a college or university in the United States (non-immigrants, 18 years of age or older on an "F" or "J" visa) are invited to apply.

Some programs are able to accommodate married couples with one or two children.  Check out the individual program listings for more details.

God bless us, every one!

On the road with International Peacemakers

Eleven International Peacemakers, church leaders from partner churches of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in other countries, recently traveled around the country telling about ministries of peace and justice in the name of Jesus Christ in their home countries.

Five of these individuals went with a Presbyterian mission co-worker as part of a partnership between the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and the World Mission Challenge of the World Mission ministry.

Where have these followers of Jesus traveled?

Delia Leal and Tracey King from Guatemala have been to Presbytery of San Jose.

Vinita Eusebius of India has been to the Presbytery of Homestead (NE).

Lamiel Phiri of Zimbabwe has been to Presbytery of Seattle.

Nazeli Vardanyan has been to the Presbytery of Miami Valley and the Presbytery of Western New York.

Among the places that Ellen Smith and Piotr Romme from Russia went was Franklin, WI. They stories they told of working with the Roma people. Piotr's story of having to chose between higher education and being a Christian touched many who heard them. 

Diego Higuita-Arango preached on his vision of peace during two worship services at First Presbyterian Church in Neenah, Wisconsin on World Communion Sunday, October 4. This visit took him to Winnebago Presbytery.

Orozu Lokine Daky and Ingrid Reneau spoke about peacemaking efforts in Sudan. Their journeys took them to Maryville, TN among other places.

http://presbyterian.typepad.com/peacemaking/2009/10/learning-about-sudan-in-maryville.html

Actually all of the International Peacemakers and mission co-workers have been to many places. These are just the ones we know. They have about one more week of travel left - see if they will be near you. [PDF]

More will follow as we learn more.

Please pray for the peacemakers, mission co-workers, and all who heard them.