Full Stories - February 2011

Jewish-Christian Relations & Roots — February 9, 17 & 23, 2011

Call to Mission Discernment Retreat March 2011

Lenten Journey at Scarboro Missions - March 16 - April 20 (all Wed's)

Annual SFM Lecture — Muslim-Christian Relations in the 21st century: Challenges and Prospects — March 19, 2011 CANCELLED in Scarborough and Waterloo

Training Workshops conducted by Golden Rule Institute — March 19-20 and May 28-29, 2011

LAY MISSION OFFICE NEWS

My Childhood Dream a Reality

by David MacDonald
Scarboro Lay Missioner in Guyana

Having never been to a developing country, my first impressions of mission life could be compared to Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. My faith, my sanity and my resolve were tested. The heat, the bugs, the noise, the poverty and the overall chaos left me exhausted. Through my work in the soup kitchen, I learned that life on the streets carried its own set of unwritten rules – don’t make eye contact, respect someone else’s space or don’t touch other people’s belongings.

My main challenges in mission have been trying to understand their language (Guyanese Creole English), witnessing violence, adapting to different foods, and the ever-present heat and humidity. The language issue seemed to have worked itself out over a period of time. Heat continued to be a major struggle with temperatures rarely below 32 degrees. Being in the white minority also was difficult at the beginning. Then when I least expected it, a day arrived when I was no longer conscious of my skin color. I wasn’t a white flower in a bouquet of color but just another flower and that was a beautiful moment. One day at a time was my motto – each morning I would ask God for what I needed to do His will and away I went.

Volunteering at a drug rehab (Phoenix Recovery Project) in Georgetown was a great teacher of addictions. When the Center opened it was given a grant for eighteen months but hasn’t received anything since. However the people in charge are determined to keep the program running on donations with the staff receiving only a small stipend. The Center has room for twelve females and sixteen males that participate in an eighteen month program, made up of six months of residential and twelve months of weekly meetings. Friendships made there followed me to New Amsterdam.

Working at the soup kitchen, occasionally I witnessed a homeless person sharing their daily bread with one who arrived late. I have seen someone give to another and expect nothing in return or on occasion when someone who has nothing obvious to be thankful for wishes me a pleasant day or a vendor working twelve hours a day to make a meager living, slips an extra egg into your bag just because you’re a good customer. Sometimes when I felt tired, fed up and discouraged someone would come along who would say the right words to encourage me, to give me the boost I needed. These were God experiences for me!

Do childhood dreams come true? For me it certainly has. I was surely blessed to have been chosen to participate in this adventure of faith! I would compare my mission life to a simple coin, with two faces. Each side of the coin is uniquely different from the other. One side would be my walk in faith, with God at the helm; the other, my walk in darkness, where my faith was tested and where God seemed to be absent. My walk in faith, with God as my Captain, was a pleasant experience even though I was not always successful but remained faithful to my calling. It was enough to know that God was working through me.

Flip of the coin reveals the other side of my mission life where God appears to be absent. Long forgotten character defects such as impatience, anger and at times even doubting the existence of God would resurface. Serving others became a job, a burden, self confidence eroded and a sense of mission evaporated. Thankfully the darkness passed and once more I became a tiny reflection of God’s light.

Over all, my mission experience has been a great teacher. For me, formal education might have turned me, a meandering brook into a straight narrow ditch, where as mission allowed me to remain a meandering brook. The privilege of being able to minister to those I felt a connection with solidified my belief that all people are created equal.

I believe by choice or by chance we arrive at different destinations in life, but the fundamental worth of a human being remains unchanged. We are, and will remain, regardless of circumstances, children of the one God.

Life in mission is not always a walk in the park. Without a strong conviction that I was doing Gods will, I could not have persevered. It is a huge commitment with lots of challenges to overcome. To experience the good, the bad and the ugly of mission life has been a blessing. Having the opportunity to share and walk in faith together with my wife, touching, and being touched by so many people on our faith journey was a dream come true for me. Did I make a huge difference in the lives of the people of Guyana? – a resounding “NO!”. Did I manage to touch lives?, “I think so”. Did it change me for the better?…..definitely! It’s an adventure of a lifetime, a time to grow and a time to serve humanity – a freedom to follow your calling into the unknown.

Recalling My Time in Mission

by Patty MacDonald
Scarboro Lay Missioner in Guyana

My experience in Guyana was one of personal growth. I was confronted with issues that forced me to reflect deeply. I went to Guyana with the attitude that the poor needed saving from their life situation and perhaps I was being sent there to do just that. I soon learned that I wasn’t there to save them – only God can do that! I had to look at my attitude and soon realized that I am only a drop in the ocean and that my way was not necessarily the right way in Guyana. It didn’t take me long to acknowledge my ignorance in the ways of the Guyanese and knew I had to learn how to live within their culture. I didn’t realize it at the time but the Guyanese had a lot to teach me.

During my two and a half years in Guyana, my main challenges were the language, the heat, and trying to accept their way of life while still being true to myself. It was so difficult seeing so much poverty and helplessness and not being able to do anything about it. In order to be able to stay in mission, living with this feeling of helplessness, I had to resort back to “accept the things you cannot change” plus the scripture where Jesus says “the poor will always be with us”, which helped me to accept their situation and do the little where ever I could.

It seemed that whenever I was on a low God would intervene. I remember one day, shortly after arriving there, walking down a street, the traffic was so heavy and it seemed impossible to cross the street. I wasn’t used to such busy intersections with no traffic lights to guide me. While standing on the corner not knowing how I would ever get to the other side, I noticed a woman walking on the other side of the street heading in the same direction as I was. I must have looked bewildered because the next thing I knew she crossed the street, grabbed me by the arm and led me through the traffic and then she was gone. She was a gift from God. It seemed that no matter how difficult things were, I always had the sense that God would see me through it and if the situation got too tense God would give me a way out.

Working at the Phoenix Center was a blessing for me. I really enjoyed working with addictions. In helping them, I was helping myself. The prison ministry was also a blessing because they were always so happy to see us. I felt like our presence actually made a difference. There was a visible, uplifting change in them from the time we arrived and the time we left.

My mission has been a positive one in that I learned to adapt to a new culture and lived in a society where I was part of the white minority and was okay with it. Just being a presence can make a difference. My experience in Guyana has been enriching and has helped fill the emptiness in me. I am leaving my mission with a sense of peace and contentment. I have no regrets. I can’t thank Scarboro enough for making my dream come true by providing me with the way and means to answer Gods call and walk with the people of Guyana.

All Souls Day Candlelight Celebration in Guyana

by Kate O'Donnell
Scarboro Lay Missioner in Guyana

The church was full, as the people gathered for Mass in the evening on All Souls Day, and everyone had brought some candles to have them blessed. Before Mass started all the hundreds of names of the deceased were read out. When Mass had finished everyone processed outside carrying their candles and gathered around the priest and prayers were said, hymns were sung and then the blessing of the candles took place. The people held their candles up high to be blessed. Then everyone dispersed to the cemetery where they lit the candles again and placed them on the graves of their loved ones and the priest went around the cemetery blessing all the graves. By this time it was dark and to see how the light from the many candles lit up the cemetery was very beautiful and quite touching. The whole ceremony took several hours. There were two new graves, both of young men – one killed in a road accident and the other murdered. Both of these graves had many candles, as not only family members but people from the town also put candles on them. I met one elderly lady who was lighting two candles on a broken stump of a tree where her father was buried. I was very touched by this Celebration and felt that this was a nice tradition in which they honor their loved ones.

Kate boarding a boat to Santa Rosa

Blessing of the candles outside the church

The grave of the young man who had been recently killed in a road accident

Meeting Hardship with Dignity

by Barbara Michie
Scarboro Lay Missioner in Malawi

One Thursday night when I was on supervision at school, I got a call from a neighbourhood high school boy asking for help to take his older brother to the hospital. Since I am the only teacher with the use of a car, I'm sometimes asked to take a sick student or neighbour to the hospital. The family home is on the hillside with only a long walking path to get there, so he told me to wait in the primary school yard and they would bring the man down.

After waiting about twenty minutes in the deserted school yard, I began to get a bit anxious, then I saw them coming. The sick man was too weak to walk, so his father and brother had balanced him between them on a bicycle, and brought him down the sandy gullied path in the dark without even moonlight to help them.

They hauled him into the backseat of the car and on the ten minute trip to the hospital, said he had been sick for several days, but insisted he just wanted to rest and would be fine. When he refused food and even water at suppertime and his breathing became very fast and shallow, they decided to get him to hospital despite his resistance.

He was given a bed and was getting incoherent, but managed to ask his father for some Sobo (orange drink). The father quickly went outside to a little variety shop and brought the drink, only to find his son had died in those few minutes. After some arrangements were made with the hospital, I took the subdued father and tearful brother back to where I had met them, and they started out to notify relatives and prepare for the funeral the following day.

The next day, when I climbed up the path to their homestead to extend my condolences, my mind was pre-occupied with both the hardship of their life and the dignity with which they met it.

Barbara Michie teaching her class at St. Patrick’s Secondary School in Rumphi, Malawi.

RU2 Primary School Block (under renovations) where Barbara Michie waited to take the boy to the Hospital. The family lives up in the hills behind the school.

Are you interested in becoming a Scarboro Missioner?

Lay Mission work in December 2007 Magazine Issue

To read about the current Lay Mission work in the latest magazine issue, click here

INTERFAITH DESK NEWS

The Language of Interfaith Conversation

In this article, Canadian multifaith educator, JW Windland, argues that a sensitive use of interfaith language expresses our common humanity, builds relationships of respect and trust, and pursues peace. Click here to read article...

Golden Rule curriculum for schools and youth groups

Scarboro Missions is proud to announce the publication of this comprehensive Golden Rule curriculum. This version complements another curriculum on our website, authored by two Chicago teachers in 2005. Using the logic of circles, rules, moral modeling and the Golden Rule, this newly-published curriculum unit inspires young people to become global citizens. The students' learning experience is enriched through drama, art, music, group reflection, journaling and rap. The curriculum can be used in public schools, religious schools and youth organizations. To view or download the new curriculum, click here…

Milestones in Recent Catholic-Jewish Relations

This document chronicles, on a year-by-year basis, the dramatic advances in Catholic-Jewish dialogue since the Second Vatican Council. This detailed profile of significant changes and developments in Catholic-Jewish relations will be very useful to teachers, students, researchers, historians, interfaith practicioners and others. This document can be downloaded free of charge and is available in English and French. Connection is also available to a Hebrew Version.

Review of Scarboro Golden Rule Movie

Earlier this year, Scarboro Missions released its Golden Rule video entitled, Animating the Golden Rule. The movie features Grade 11 students embodying Golden Rule values by way of skits, artwork, song, dance, rap and interviews. An exciting review of the DVD has been published in the Toronto Interfaith Unity newsletter. To read the review, click here.

Guidelines for designing a multifaith prayer service

A do-it-yourself interfaith workshop outline for chaplains and spiritual care-givers

JUSTICE AND PEACE OFFICE NEWS

Make Poverty History News: Campaign calls to Unfreeze the Aid Budget

KAIROS News: Preliminary Analysis of the Outcome of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancún

From John Dillon’s blog, posted on December 12th while in Cancún:

Cancún Accord Mirrors Copenhagen Accord while Keeping Kyoto Protocol Alive

1. Inadequate Reduction Target

The agreement repeats the Copenhagen Accord’s target of keeping temperature increases below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels while recognizing the need to consider strengthening the goal on the basis of scientific evidence to a global average temperature rise of 1.5°C as requested by small island states.

The Cancún Accord does not include any new emission reduction commitments by industrial countries beyond those made a year ago in Copenhagen. According to the United Nations Environment Program the promises made under the Copenhagen Accord fall far short of what is needed to meet the two-degree goal. Without new commitments global temperatures are likely to increase by more than four degrees. Bolivia’s UN Ambassador, Pablo Salon, asserts that this would be “disastrous for humanity [as] recent scientific reports show that 300,000 people already die each year from climate change-related disasters. [A four-degree rise] threatens to increase the number of deaths annually to one million.”

During the first week of negotiations here it was feared that the refusal by Japan, Russia and Canada to make any new reduction pledges under the Kyoto Protocol might have led to its demise. However, the Cancún Accord, responding to demands from developing countries, at least keeps the Kyoto Protocol on life support by putting off until 2011 any decisions about new reduction commitments for the period after 2012. But it adds a loophole allowing countries to choose the base year against which their reductions will be measured. This could allow the Canadian government to substitute the much lower target it announced after Copenhagen instead of the previous target (6% below 1990 levels) in the Kyoto Protocol.

2. US$100 Billion Goal and Green Climate Fund

The Cancún Accord “recognizes that developed [countries] commit, in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation, to a goal of mobilizing jointly US$100 billion per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries.” This is the same amount as the Copenhagen Accord pledged to mobilize without specifying where the money would come from. There is no commitment to raise this money from public sources. Instead it is expected that most of the resources would have to come from private sources, including from carbon trading.

It is also unclear how much of the targeted amount will be delivered through a new international “Green Climate Fund” to help developing nations curb their emissions and respond to climate impacts, as the US has signaled its intent to use other channels for delivering climate finance. Moreover, the World Bank will have a role in administering the new fund, something that is very worrisome for our partners in Jubilee South as I explained in an earlier blog.

While the US$100 billion total may appear to be a large amount, it falls short of developing countries needs for adaptation and mitigation as assessed by the UN at between US$500-600 billion per year.

3. Reducing Emissions From Deforestation

KAIROS’ Southern partners are very concerned that the text on reducing emissions from deforestation treats forests primarily as carbon sinks rather than homes for forest-dwelling peoples. Although there is a reference to respecting human rights there is no explicit acknowledgement of the importance of adhering to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Nor is there any reference to the need for forest-dwelling peoples to give their free, prior and informed consent to any projects aimed at forest preservation or reforestation.

Instead there is a heavy emphasis on the use of carbon markets to finance forest preservation. Rev. Nnimmo Bassey, a KAIROS partner from Nigeria who chairs Friends of the Earth International, asserted here in Cancún that : “Developed countries need to stop spending so much time trying to secure cheap forest carbon credits and focus on reducing their emissions at home. We need mechanisms to stop deforestation and not merely ones designed to allow developed countries to continue polluting and emitting carbon. We need real solutions to protect our forests, and we need developed countries to solve the climate problem they created by making drastic emissions cuts at home instead of offsetting them elsewhere. Rich countries should also commit to provide public money to stop deforestation, as a repayment of their climate debt.”

Only time will tell whether substantial progress will be made at next year’s conference in Durban, South Africa. From my vantage point here Cancún was a missed opportunity. The Northern countries failed to acknowledge the climate debt we owe to the Earth and to the peoples of the global South. In particular they failed to listen to the exhortation of Bolivia’s President Evo Morales who told the conference: “Our aim here is to look at how to cool down planet Earth. Our planet has a high temperature, it is wounded, and we are witnessing the convulsions of planet Earth. We have an enormous responsibility toward life and humanity. … We need … to put ourselves in the shoes of families … worldwide that lack water and food and suffer misery and hunger. I call on leaders to take responsibility, and make history by responding to the demands of the people … struggling against climate change and for life.”

John Dillon
Cancún

KAIROS News: Update on the CIDA funding cut

KAIROS News: “The Land, Our Life” Campaign Update

News that Canada had endorsed the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on November 12 has just been followed by word that the last remaining country to vote against the Declaration, the United States, has now also endorsed it. The task now turns towards implementation of the Declaration, and KAIROS has revised its campaign materials to reflect this.

If you’ve circulated and signed the KAIROS petition asking Canada to endorse the Declaration, thank you! The endorsement means that KAIROS cannot submit these petitions in Parliament, but can use their moral weight! Please send them in to KAIROS in care of Sara Stratton.

If you’re still planning to gather signatures, please use the new version of the petition, which calls on Canada to “work collaboratively with Indigenous Peoples on the full and effective implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and provide the Parliament of Canada with regular reports on how the Government will reform laws and policies that fall below the UN Declaration’s standards.”

The new petition and updated resources such as the Education and Action Guide can be downloaded at the KAIROS campaign resources page here…

Pope Benedict XVI's Message for 2011 World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace

KAIROS Campaign 2010-2011: The Land, Our Life—Indigenous Rights and Our Common Future