Emma & Sabino

I haven’t seen Emma Jackson de Diaz in over 10 years.  And I only met her briefly; she was just the tiny little sister of my friends Justin and Sarah.

Emma grew up (apparently), got married and is now expecting her first child in less than a month. This should be a time for celebration and anticipation, but instead it’s one of stress and worry for Emma and her husband Sabino (and their families).

Sabino is Mexican and has not only been denied entry into Canada for the birth of his child, he has been treated horribly by Canadian Immigration and their officials.

I’m standing in solidarity with Emma and Sabino, their unborn child and their families, and I’m petitioning for Sabino to be granted a temporary visa on Compassionate and Humanitarian grounds. Sabino is no risk to this country, and should be given the opportunity to be with his wife when their child is born (and also compensated for all of the absolute crap the government has put them through).

To learn more about Emma and Sabino, and to stand in solidarity with them, visit: Emma and Sabino (make sure you read “Emma’s Letter” to get the full story). Send letters, or at least sign the petition.

Jennifer

I Made It Up, But I Don’t Know What It Means

So, I’m not sure if this accurately fulfills the criteria of standing in solidarity, but I think so. I submit myself to the jury.

I mentor 5 students at Calvin College and I teach Sunday school at my church.

At Sunday school I am teaching my students about the Bible. We’re all reading it together. I’m the teacher and having read the Bible several times already, I probably don’t need to do it again (for the purposes of the class at least), but I am reading it with them, and writing in my journal, as I’ve asked them to do.

As for my Calvin Students, I have been encouraging them to pray for their dorm (they are responsible for the spiritual life of their dorm – they plan Dorm Worship and Bible studies, etc.). Over Christmas I have been praying alongside them, and emailing them each Monday to see how their prayers have been going. I’ve missed a few days, but on the whole I would say I have been with them in this.
For one of my students I even made this handy stamp chart for keeping track (and I made one for myself too).

“We can never fall if one voice rings throughout the world…”

So, there has been a bit of a situation here at the YWAM base. I won’t bore you with the details, but there was talk of ending the school six months early, and just giving up. At the beginning of the school year, we staff all felt so strongly that we were supposed to run the school. At a staff meeting the other day, five of us got together to pray about the decision whether to continue or not.

And stand in solidarity we did!

We all agreed that we wanted to continue the school, despite it being more work, despite it being hard, and despite what the other leaders said. I got really worked up and ranted a bit about how God does not change his mind and how could running a bible school be bad etc. etc. It was a proud moment, as it got everyone else out of their slump and they realized they were not the only ones feeling upset but hopeful.

It was a glorious moment.

Stephanie

Do Post-it Notes Count?

On Wednesday, I walked out of the delicious campus restaurant (I swear. It’s delicious. Even the door lintels are flavourful), and walked to get a tea and honey with my friends. Usually we’ll get a tea and then cross the bridge back from the outdoor students’ walking mall (copy places, stationary shops, restaurants, snooker halls) to the teaching buildings. That walk looks like this:

On the way back, one of my students ran up to me, grinning and wearing a red baseball cap.

“Sara! Sara! Sara! Sara! Come! Come!”

Suddenly, there were about 12 students wearing red caps. They asked us to be a part of their public presentation about the environment. They had posters out, and they were asking people to write environmental advice on post-it notes, to add to their poster.

I looked at my tea, in its paper cup, and wrote “carry a reusable mug with you”. This is a mantra I stick by in Canada, but it seems more difficult in China. I also wrote “carry your own chopsticks”. I’ve noticed this year that more restaurants seem to be washing and reusing chopsticks: apparently there’s been a deforestation problem. Good work, China!

This is what my friend James wrote:

SO. I put it to you. Does putting my Post-it up on my students’ posters count? I can tell you that when we walked away, all the red caps jumped up and down, high-fived, screamed, and hugged each other. They’d got more Post-its; from foreigners, no less. It was really important to them.

I suppose when I post my eco-friendly challenge, we’ll know if I stuck to my words. I do like to mean what I say. SO there’s that.

Welcome to The List II

6 women (see “Participants”)

3 continents (see the locations in “Participants”)

27 challenges (see “Items of The List II”)

1.5 months (December 1, 2009 – January 15, 2010)

many reasons (see “What Is The List II?”)

1 blog (bravo! you’ve found it!)

hopefully regular updates and reflections on how we’re all faring with this undertaking…