Skip to main content

Shalom Zone on Wall Street?

Friends of Shalom,

As National Director, following the lead of my Dean at Drew, I have identified myself and Communities of Shalom with www.OccupyFaithNYC.com --a multifaith coalition of religious leaders and faith-based organizations in metro New York in direct  solidarity with and support of the Occupy Wall Street Movement.

Personally, I have visited Occupy camps in three cities and participated in three multifaith services at Zuccotti Park, and joined a dozen clergy and religious leaders who led the Occupy March across the Brooklyn Bridge on November 17--the second month anniversary of the movement.

On Sunday, December 4, Communities of Shalom will host and lead the weekly multifaith service at Zuccotti Park.  Our theme is Occupy Advent and we have tremendous support from Drew University and United Methodist leaders in New York, including Bishop Jeremiah Park of the York Annual Conference who will make a statement of support.

I write you today to invite you to attend the prayer service if your are nearby and able, and to pray for us if you are not available--that our prophetic witness will be clear and in the spirit of Shalom.
For background on the Shalom Zone on Wall Street, read the string of blog posts on Shalom and OccupyFaith and spread the word during Advent. 

Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D.
National Director, Communities of Shalom
Drew University   
Madison, NJ 07940

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Let the River Flow: Why WorldHope Corps digs village wells

  Sunday Sermon at the The Water's Edge in OB , San Diego, CA. "Woman at the Well" (John 4:7-15) When you think about the gospel story of the Samaritan woman with Jesus at Jacob’s well, I’d like you to picture this Woman at a similar well in northern Malawi. Sitting and talking with Pastor Dennis Singini about water. Her name is Nyang'oma, which means "drum." Her Christian name is Mary Botha. She is 85 years old and lives in a village in the Kampenda area of Northern Malawi. She has cared for 11 children, two of whom have died. And her husband has died. When Dennis and I first met Mary in 2008, her village did not have a deep well or access to clean water. Nor did the six surrounding villages with over 1,500 people. Women and children had to drink with animals from shallow seasonal wells or walk about of 5km away to drink from the closest stream. Sometimes they would get sick and complain of stomach aches. Cholera and dysentery were widespread, and m...
Read more

Not Afraid of Death by Julia Esquivel

In reading your blog, Michael, I immediately think of these two poems is poem by Julia Esquivel, from Guatemala, whom I had the pleasure of meeting years ago.  Un abrazo, Ada Maria I AM NOT AFRAID OF DEATH I am no longer afraid of death I know well Its dark and cold corridors Leading to life. I am afraid rather of that life Which does not come out of death, Which cramps our hands And slows our march. I am afraid of my fear And even more of the fear of others, Who do not know where they are going, Who continue clinging To what they think is life Which we know to be death! I live each day to kill death; I die each day to give birth to life, And in this death of death, I die a thousand times And am reborn another thousand Through that love From my People Which nourishes hope! THREATEN WITH RESURRECTION They have threatened us with Resurrection There is something here within us which doesn’t let us sleep, which doesn’t let us rest, which doesn’t stop the pounding deep inside. It is t...
Read more

Twelve New Wells in Malawi in 2012

New Well for Mayaka UMC sponsored by Church of the Resurrection  Villagers in Zomba Mayaka wait their turn for clean water from COR well. WorldHope Corps, Inc. succeeded in drilling 12 new villages wells in 2012, including three for Church of the Resurrection in Leewood, KS; two for World Childrens Fund in San Jose, CA, one for Helen Ford in Ocean Grove, NJ; one for Pittman Presbyterian Church in NJ; and five for local sponsors in Malawi. From 2007-2011, WorldHope Corps drilled a total of 18 wells in northern Malawi by hiring borehole drillers from the southern Malawi.  In April, 2012, we acquired our own well rig and equipment, hired our own crew, and learned how to drill wells ourselves. By the end of 2012, we had drilled 12 new wells for a total of 30 wells since 2007!  Over 50,000 villages now can drink clean, fresh, safe water and not get sick from water borne diseases.  For this we praise God! For 2013, we have 2 more boreholes to drill for Unite...
Read more