Swords into Plowshares

Moving day

Today Swords into Plowshares moves to a new home: www.pcusa.org/swords-plowshares/.

Please change your bookmark to www.pcusa.org/swords-plowshares/, and continue to seek peace and pursue justice in the global community with the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations and the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. 

All the content currently posted on the blog will be moved to the new address. We hope you move with us.

Thanks for coming along on the journey!

Attack on peacekeepers will not deter UN's work in Lebanon, says commander

Attack on peacekeepers will not deter UN's work in Lebanon, says commander.

We're moving - tomorrow

Starting May 31, 2011 (tomorrow) the Swords into Plowshares blog will have a new home at www.pcusa.org/swords-plowshares/.  

All the content currently posted on the blog will be moved to the new address. We hope you move with us.

So, please change your bookmark to www.pcusa.org/swords-plowshares/, and continue to seek peace and pursue justice in the global community with the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations and the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.  

Thanks for coming along on the journey!

A new URL for Swords into Plowshares

Swords into Plowshares will have a new home as of May 31, 2011 - and a new URL: www.pcusa.org/swords-plowshares/.

Be sure to change your bookmark to www.pcusa.org/swords-plowshares/. 

Together we will seek peace, strive for justice, and explore ways to live as discples of Jesus in the global community.

Thanks for reading! Thanks for moving with us!

 

Munyagishari and Mladic arrested for genocide and crimes against humanity

Bernard Munyagishari, a suspect of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, was arrested this week in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after 17 years on the run.

In Europe, Ratko Mladic, Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive was also arrested in Serbia after 16 years in hiding.

Both Munyagishari and Mladic will be tried for charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.  To read more detail about Munyagishari and Mladic, click here.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has long supported international mechanisms, which seek justice.  For a compilation of Presbyterian policy on genocide, please click here.

We continue to pray that for just and lasting peace throughout the world.

 

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers

The details are still coming in, but the UN reports an attack on peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

This comes as the UN community celebrates the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

The day has two purposes:

• to honour the memory of the UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the cause of peace;
• to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in UN Peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage.

UN Peacekeepers are, like all of us, not perfect. It has been noted that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)" is empirically verifiable.

UN Peacekeepers have violated their trust at times. Peacekeeping operations have been given inadequate mandates, provided insufficient equipment at times, and received inappropriate leadership.

Yet, women and men from around the world still put themselves in harm's way to preserve the peace and protect the people in places around the world.

We give thanks for those people who serve in peacekeeping missions. We remember for those peacekeepers who have fallen in those missions. We pray for those peacekeepers who were attacked today.

About the photo: Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro offers a wreath during a solemn wreath-laying ceremony in honour of all fallen peacekeepers in the United Nations Visitors Lobby. Photo is by UN Photo/Evan Schneider.

Pray with the people of Sudan

Prayers are always in order for the people of Sudan. Prayers are particularly in order as July 9 – the date when South Sudan becomes an independent nation draws near.  Our sisters and brothers in Sudan and around the world are in prayer now and will continue in prayer until and after independence is achieved.

Remembering the role that prayer played in the days before the referendum, a number of faith communities will again come together in a Season of Prayer with the people of Sudan in this time. Specifically, we are invited to pray for thirty minutes on:

• each Friday until July 9 (this would be May 27, June 3, June 10, June 17, June 24, July 1, July 8); and
• Saturday, July 9.

In the United States, we will be  praying at 11:00a.m. (EST); 10:00 a.m. (CST); 9:00 a.m. (MST); 8:00 a.m. (PST). And we have invited our sisters and brothers in Sudan to pray with us pray at 7:00 p.m. in their country. Pray at these times or whenever time works for you; pray wherever you are; pray individually or gather with your community or an ecumenical community or an interfaith community; pray in a manner you feel comfortable praying.

Here are some specific prayers to use or adapt:

Come Holy Spirit to the people of Sudan

A prayer out of fear and hope

A prayer for Sudan after the Security Council visit

A prayer for South Sudan and forgiveness by PC(USA) Mission Co-Worker Aliamma George

Prayer from the Sudan Advocacy Action Network by Claire Zuhosky

A prayer from the Sudan Catholic Bishop's Conference in South Sudan

A prayer for the Security Council

Find additional resources for prayer and about Sudan on this blog, from the PC(USA) Office on Africa, and from the Sudan Advocacy Action Network

Justice and Peace Links—Words Matter

Check out the current issue of Links:

Words can hurt, words can heal, and words shape our realities, coloring the ways we experience the world. They are the tools we use to interpret our experiences, to relate to one another, and to build a relationship with God.  Learn more about Words Matter, an ecumenical project to reinvigorate deeper conversations about the power of our words.

Links is the electronic newsletter of Presbyterian Women’s Justice and Peace Committee. Each issue explores a topic of justice and peace and offers suggestions for how to be involved and advocate on the topic.

A brief introduction to Sudan

At the Compassion, Peace & Justice Training Day held on March 25 before Ecumenical Advocacy Days, the staff of the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations led a workshop on Sudan. The workshop included a presentation on the history of Sudan, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) partnership in ministry with the people of Sudan, the involvement of the United Nations, and the process leading up to the January 2011 referendum on self-determination for the people of southern Sudan. Here is a simplified (to make the file smaller) version of the presentation from that workshop:

Download An Introduction to Sudan

Note that there have been many developments in Sudan since then - but this still provides a brief sense of the background.

For recent developments and more information check out:

Sudan from the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations

Pray with the people of Sudan prior to South Sudan's independence

Presbyterians in minstry with the people of Sudan

The Sudan Advocacy Action Forum

The United Nations and Sudan

The United Nations Mission in Sudan

 

A Jerusalem Prayer - May 29, 2011

Sunday, May 29, 2011 begins the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel 2011. Here is a prayer for that day from the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem:
 
Isaiah 2:1-5; 11:9
“In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it….”

“They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea….”
 
Almighty and Merciful God, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, you gathered the first Christians in Jerusalem.  Grant that, like the first church of Jerusalem, we may come together, and with courage, we may preach and live the Word, and the good news of truth, reconciliation, and peace.

God Creator, Giver of Life, Bearer of Pain, Initiator of Love, you made the world and everything in it.  You created the human race in your image and likeness, and gave us the earth for all to share.  Break down the walls that separate us.

God of Justice, your generosity is without bounds.  Guard us from selfishness; inspire us to be instruments of love, and witnesses of your mercy and justice.  Help us to face challenges and to struggle against all that is born of injustice.  Lead us to act together in places and situations of want and need: where families are driven from their homes, where the vulnerable suffer in the hands of the powerful, where poverty and unemployment destroy lives.

God of Hope, you continue to call us to work for Peace in our world, broken and wounded by injustice, violence, and indifference.  Alone, we are overwhelmed by challenges but together, and inspired by your Spirit, we can prevail beyond dreams and imagination.  In fear we lose hope, and feel the futility of our efforts.  Instill in our hearts and minds the image of your suffering and compassionate love as a source of courage and strength.

God, Protector of the widow, the orphan and the stranger, in a world where many know despair, you raised your Son Jesus Christ to give hope for humanity and renewal to the earth. Strengthen and unify your Church against the forces of evil in this part of the world, where aggression of all forms, killings and the blood of martyrs shed even in places of worship, obscure the hope of a new life.

God of Peace and Mercy, inspire nations to transform oppression and violence into freedom and peace for the sake of the poor, the vulnerable and the broken-hearted.  Help us to respect and promote the equality and dignity of all, particularly in your Holy Land.  Grant discernment to leaders and legislators, that righteousness and truth may flourish among all peoples throughout the world.

God our Father, we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who taught us to yearn through prayer for the coming of your Kingdom.  You are able to accept in us what we cannot acknowledge; to name in us what we cannot bear to speak of; to hold in your memory what we tried to forget.  Teach us to pray together to resist the evil and oppression by our non-violent actions and love for one another.  May your Son’s earthly life be the model for our own, as we recognize your presence and guidance through all our joys and tribulations.

We pray these in the name of the Risen Lord, and in the power of His Spirit.  Amen.

Learn about the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ministries and policies related to Israel and Palestine.

A prayer for Sudan after the Security Council visit

The UN Security Council visit to Africa, which included a trip to Sudan (and a cancelled trip to Abyei), has ended. Here's a related prayer to use for the Season of Prayer leading up to the independence of South Sudan:

God of peace and possibility,
grant wisdom to the members of the United Nations Security Council
as they reflect upon what they have seen and heard in Sudan.
Guide them to make plans that will establish justice, promote peace, and protect the people

Grant courage to those currently serving in the United Nations Mission to Sudan and to those who will serve in days to come.
Inspire them to fulfill their mandate faithfully as they work to promote peace and protect the people.

Grant vision to all the peoples of Sudan that they may turn from violence,
see one another as sisters and brothers,
and work to live together in justice and in peace.

We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.