I walked with the world at General Conference 2008

The Downtown Fort Worth Convention Center where the General Conference was held.

I spent this past weekend in Fort Worth at the General Conference of the United Methodist Church. I've been trying to think ever since I got back for the perfect word to describe my experience- a word to sum up how it felt to be in a place with thousands of people from all around the world who have all felt their "hearts strangely warmed." Even with a dictionary full of words sometimes the English language just Needless to say I felt so inspired by the good that is happening all over the world because of these people. Although I was at the Conference for little more than a day, I left renewed in spirit and empowered to continue my work as a social justice missionary now more connected with my sponsor denomination, more ready to represent these people of faith.

I attended the Conference with Glenn, UMCOR Sager Brown depot manager, and Kathy, the director at Sager Brown, i.e. my co-worker and boss. We were invited to share in the rural life celebration, which honored all of the town and country ministries in the US. Along with our organization, individuals representing Appalachian Service Projects, Henderson Settlement, Hinton Service Project, were a part of the celebration. Each ministry was asked to carry a banner and parade it onto the convention floor. Preceding our banner parade were butterfly streamers created by one of the rural life ministries representing all of the rural ministries (those like ours as well as rural churches) bearing the United Methodist Church name in the US. If I remember correctly there were about 25000 total. The celebration ended with a rousing "These are the Days of Elijah" by a rural life choir with all the banners swaying with the music.

After exiting we joined the other ministries for an outdoor information fair that lasted about 3 hours. We spoke to a couple hundred people I guess, but definitely the most memorable visitor were the delegates from the Central Conferences, ie countries outside the US. Many were dressed in their native garb and very few understood English well enough to grasp the purpose of our display. Part of our ministry is to inspect and ship health kits, school kits, sewing kits, ect. to places of need throughout the world and so to encourage people to donate we had several of these kits on display. A few delegates from one of the Central Conferences thought we were giving away the contents of these display kits and it took several minutes of confused English and attempts at sign language before the message that these items were for display purposes only was delivered successfully. I can imagine that after everything was explained the delegates left thinking it was pretty silly of us Americans to have cloth diapers, toothbrushes, and soap as part of our display. Near the end of the information fair someone drove up to our booth on a "PET" or personal energy transportation vehicle. PETs are basically handcranked tricycles that can be used by people in impoverished rural areas around the world who have lost the use of their legs due to polio or landmine injury, ect. Check me out below riding one. I have to say that it was lots of fun, but is way harder than it looks. According to what I've read about PETs, each different part is made by different non-profit, faith-based groups in the US and then assembled and sent to someone in need. What a great symbol of working together!

After the fair we spent several hours exploring the different displays set up by various ministries, General Board of Higher Education, General Board of Discipleship, General Board of Global Ministries, Cokesbury, ect. My favorites by far were the display about the history of inclusiveness in the church by the General Commission on Religion and Race and the international display by the Advance- our charitable giving program. The display about inclusiveness (photo to the right) included a self guided timeline equipped with video and audio clips of individuals or events highlighted by the timeline. At the end of the timeline was a "human race machine." I'm sure you know what I'm talking about you've probably seen one on TV before. It kinda looks like a mall photo booth, but instead of printing a picture of someone a la Van Gogh style it computer generates a picture of someone as a different race. Of course, Kathy, Glenn, and I all tried it out and we had a fun time laughing a ourselves. The message that I think they show fairly well is the beauty of each race's distinctive features. "There is no gene that determines race." The Advance display (photo to the left) featured life size replicas of ministries that are supported by the funds collected through Advance giving by United Methodists. Basically the Advance provides a whole catalogue of ministries and programs to support and each has its own distinct number. People may choose exactly which program to support and know that their money will go directly to that program. The display pictured left is of the Kissy Medical Center in Sierra Leone.

Before heading back to Louisiana the next morning, Glenn and I attended morning worship at the convention center and heard Bishop Minerva Carcano (click on the link for a copy of her sermon). She was an amazing speaker and I couldn't help but join in on the standing ovation at the close of her sermon. She spoke about the real issue of justice for immigrants in the US. As a bishop in the Desert Southwest Conference its an issue she faces daily and it was so nice to hear what someone deeply connected to the issue had to say. She connected the radical hospitality needed in our treatment of immigrants with the story of Jesus healing the madman, Legion, who lived in a village cemetary... a living man relegated to a land of the dead. Worship concluded with "You Shall Go Out with Joy." It felt so appropriate to be leaving on such a joyous note from an experience so spiritually uplifting.

Just residing with hope, Margaret

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine for the soul.

-Luther Burbank, American botanist

Thinking about saying goodbye already...

Today was the day that we distribute commodities at work through a program called Food for Families. We only hand out food once a month, but since I've been in charge of the program for over a year now several of the faces that I see each month have become friends-- sweet people who have chosen to share a little part of their lives with me. Today a few of our elderly clients, found out that I would be leaving soon, that my time as a missionary in their community was coming to an end. I was so touched by one older man's response to this news that I wanted to share it with all of you. He of course first questioned me as to when I'd be leaving (which is actually in two months) and then said "We'll miss you." I told him that I would miss seeing him, too, and he reached over to me. I thought he was going to just pat me on the shoulder, but instead he gave me a great big hug and said thank you. It was nice to see that these people who I have only known for a year and who I spend maybe 30 minutes total each month with would miss my presence. I'm so glad that I chose to spend some time serving in a new community after graduating. I feel like I've learned so much about life and I got to meet such sweet people. Serving others makes me feel so alive when I take the time to remember to slow down and recognize what's going on around me. Today receiving a hug from that old man was one of those moments.

Just, Margaret

Earth Day 2008

Our Earth Day celebration was great! All my plans for what the day should represent were highly exceeded and as I drove around from one project site to the next I was simply joyous. To think that I helped make this happen was unbelievable. I guess this day was just a testament that when people work together great things can happen. Here are some photos of our fun day with a few captions for explanation.

Connie and a volunteer picking up trash near our campus.

Our makeshift factory, manned by volunteers of course, cutting out conservation reminders to post around our campus.

Enthusiastic volunteers about town in all shades of green.

Bill and Ken and all the trash we picked up.

"O God, make us prophets of our time."
A closing worship to focus our actions back on our responsibility to serve as stewards of the world God created.

Just believing that together we can make a difference, Margaret

A new pair of glasses

Friday night I picked up my new pair of glasses from Target. I love that feeling of new glasses... being able to see again is great. It always reminds me of when I was a little kid and got my first pair of glasses. I remember that I wasn't too happy about having to wear them all the time, but putting them on and being able to see the leaves in the trees in our backyard was an awesome experience. My parents kept asking me if I could see this or that. I saw the world clearly for probably the first time. So all day Saturday I wore my new glasses revelling in their newness and how well I could see. (To qualify: I very rarely wear my glasses all day and lately it hasn't even because my last pair split down the middle. Plus, since middle school I've been pretty attached to my contacts.)

Today I put on my glasses again and I happened to catch a glimpse of my self reflected in a window pane as I walked into my office building. I'm sure why, but I just started to think about all of the superhero alter egos who wore glasses, like Clark Kent or Peter Parker. I am not a comic connoisseur, in fact I'd say I'm barely a novice in the field. But I do find it interesting that glasses somehow came to signify a change in the comic world from superhero to ordinary guy. Anyway, I began to think what's different about me when I wear my glasses. I haven't figured it all out yet, but I keep thinking about it and let you know. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy seeing clearly.

Just, Margaret

What are you doing for Earth Day?

Today I was hoping to take off a little early from work, but I'm not sure that will work out. Earth Day is just around the corner and as the youngest and closest thing to a eco-justice expert on our staff I'm in charge of planning our activities. I've always loved celebrating Earth Day, but it does take some thought to plan activities that will be significant to a wide audience. For me taking steps to live green make so much sense. It's also a justice issue. Global climate change is a problem that is largely initiated by the world's wealthy nations and is most devastating to those living in economically depressed regions. Anyway, I don't want to get on my soapbox. I guess I'm just trying to say that you should try to do something on Tuesday to learn more about eco-justice yourself or share what you know with someone else. So what are my plans... well, I'll be wearing green of course and joining the rest of my work community picking up trash around town, putting up water and energy conservation notices around our campus, and leading a discussion on appropriate responses to eco-justice issues in our community.

Gardening Project Update

If you'll remember a couple of weeks ago I put up a post about working at the local Senior Center. Here are a few pictures of the final project. It looks so much better! Kudos to all of the volunteers who helped with the gardening projects this Spring!