Millenium Development Goals...

I wanted to take a minute to write about something awesome I did this week. I spent Thursday fasting and praying, and it was amazing!

Last Thursday the UN convened for a special, high-level meeting to specifically talk about the Millenium Development Goals. That is HUGE! The UN has a lot to talk about but to this group of powerful world leaders, the MDGs are so important that they felt it best to have a meeting only to speak about them! Awesome. Amazing. and so much more.
So what are the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)? Specifically, they are eight goals:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger .
2. Achieve universal primary education.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
4. Reduce child mortality.
5. Improve maternal health.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Create a global partnership for development with targets for aid, trade and debt relief.

But, in reality, the MDGs are so much more. They are a recognition by world leaders that something CAN and SHOULD be done about issues of poverty and inequality. Set for the year 2015, the MDGs are an agreed upon set of goals that can be achieved. Poor countries have pledged to govern better, and invest in their people through health care and education. Rich countries have pledged to support them, through aid, debt relief, and fairer trade.

Countries are not, however, the only groups who have vowed to take action in making these goals a reality. Beginning even before the MDGs were signed in 2000, the Episcopal Church has said the church plays a crucial role in bringing an end to poverty (check out this awesome article about why Christians should care about the MDGs). In 2003 (during the first General Convention after the signing of the MDGs), a resolution was passed that: -endorsed the achievement of the MDGs -challenged all dioceses and congregations in fund development -urged all Episcopalians to contact their elected representatives and advocate that the US government fulfill their agreement.

To continue their support, the Episcopal Church observed last Thursday as a day to Fast, Pray, and Witness. ((For those who have never fasted before, "fasting" is a way to actively pray by choosing to forgo some of our daily pleasures (like three square meals, soda, sweets, or any food at all). When you get hungry or tempted by a cold glass of Coke, you use that emotion to pray for those that do not have such pleasures. It is an amazing way to become spiritually connected to people all over the world. For more information on last Thursday check out this website: http://www.e4gr.org/sept25.html

peace+,
kiera

Micah Reflection

I got this prayer and reflection from a wonderful collaboration of the Micah Network and World Evangelical Alliance - the Micah Challenge. The challenge aims to mobilize Christians against global poverty. The campaign aims to deepen Christian engagement with impoverished and marginalized communities, and to influence leaders of rich and poor nations to fulfill their promise to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

---------------------------------------

Reflection
‘TV has made us into monsters’ is the title of the above picture of London artist Banksy.
It shows graphically how Christians in the Global North can too easily ignore poverty issues if they are delivered on TV. In our world of mass media we are bombarded with people’s needs from all around the world. How can we avoid turning a blind eye to them?

In Matthew 20:29-34 we read of Jesus’ healing of two blind men. The bible says that Jesus ‘had compassion on them’ and then helped them. As a result of Jesus’ actions the men followed Jesus and praised God; so did all the people who had witnessed the scene.

Let us pray:

Lord, we pray for compassionate hearts so that we can respond to needs close by but also globally. We also pray that we will use our resources wisely and generously.
We pray for Micah Challenge Haiti. Valery Vital-Herne, the coordinator of MC Haiti writes:

‘As you may know the situation is terrible in Haiti. About 8/10 departments had severe floods. We are still counting the dead. The Minister of Finance has estimated the destruction to more than 10 billion US dollars. We were in harvest time, so no need to tell you how great the lost is. There are about one million stricken people. The main roads and bridges leading to the most affected departments are destroyed. So relief is delayed.

Pray also for the church to be courageous and be the heart, hand, feet of Christ to express love and compassion to the most afflicted.’

Meditate on the Statistics

‘Between 1970 and 1990, Asia-Pacific as a whole managed to reduce its annual number of under-five deaths from 10.5 million to 6.7 million. Despite these attainments, major challenges for child and maternal survival remain. Asia-Pacific’s absolute numbers of child deaths, though falling, remain high… Worldwide, of the 9.7 million children who died before their fifth birthday in 2006, more than 40 per cent were from this region. Of the six countries accounting for half of all deaths of children under age five worldwide, three are in the Asia-Pacific region: China, India and Pakistan. India alone accounts for one fifth of under-five deaths worldwide, with 2.1 million in 2006.’

Wow. It's been a while and for that I am sorry. This blog will become a great place to look for information about the happenings at the K-State Canterbury House as well as fun facts and some weekly (or so...) devotionals so we can all spend some essential time in prayer...

For now, I thought this would be a great place to introduce myself! Some of you I have met, others I hope to meet soon, and hopefully throughout the year I will be able to sit down and talk with many of you. Me? I am Kiera - this year's Episcopal Campus Ministry Intern. I will be working with you all, the peer ministers, and Craig (the campus missioner) for the school year. (That's me with my Nana...she's great!)

So a little about myself. I am originally from New Jersey and, as hard as it may be for you to believe, I love it there. I grew up outside of a state park and now call the beach ("The Shore") my permanent home. I did my undergraduate work at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA -- I studied sociology. Graduated in 2007 and moved to Vermont to continue my education with an M.A. in Social Justice from an itty-bitty school (School for International Training) in Brattleboro, VT. This internship will help my finish my degree work and I will graduate in August hopefully!

I've got a big 'ol family and they are wonderful. I live with my brother Owen in NJ and talk to my step-brother, Topher, pretty much everyday while he is in PA. My step dad lives in Minnesota. And my Dad lives in Plano, TX...though he enjoys calling sometimes and nonchalantly mentioning he is in some random city in some random country for work -- a few days ago he was in Colon Germany. Crazy! So, despite being hundreds of miles apart, we stay pretty close. That's all of us to the left at my brother's wedding a few years ago...we are way more fun than a posed wedding picture could ever say.

It's kind of nice to have a family so spread throughout the country because I LOVE to travel. I have gotten to go to some amazing places, though my travel list is about a mile long still. The best place in the world, I would argue is Argentina! I mean, com'on! Soccer, tango, gauchos...Evita, Maradona, and Lionel Messi all in one place - it can't get much better. And I was lucky enough to study in Buenos Aires for 6 months. I could go on for...hmmm, forever about this country but I will leave you with one last picture. But please, if you want stories, I can give you stories.

So I look forward to seeing you soon! If you have any questions about Episcopal Campus Ministry, what we do at the Canterbury House, or want to talk - just drop me an email at kierae@ksu.edu ...in case you forgot our weekly schedule here it is!

Sunday: 11:30 Contemporary Service at St. Paul's Episcopal (6th & Poyntz) -followed by Free Lunch
Monday: 6:30 Fellowship Dinner at the Canterbury House (1823 Laramie)
Tuesday: 6:30AM Cocina Alegre (we cook and serve breakfast for the community)
Thursday: 5:45 Weekday Eucharist

peace+