Justice Devotional - Child Nutrition

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Child Nutrition
Matthew 18:10

Babies! Whether it is mom, dad, grandparents, aunts or uncles, we get so excited about babies. When we hear the news of expectant parents we throw parties and buy gifts and start planning what the life of this child will look like. We think about bright eyes and chubby cheeks and smiling, happy faces.

I planned all of those for my first pregnancy, too. At 7 months I began to have problems with my health. In spite of the blizzard outside, I was sent to the hospital for tests. A quick x-ray (before the day of sonograms) showed that there were, in fact, two babies. “Oh no! I need a second crib and a second car seat and twice as many clothes and bottles and diapers.....” Well, at least I had two months to get all the plans made.

Regardless, the snow was still falling and we were told to double up in houses in case the grid couldn’t handle the demand of heating everyone’s home. Ten hours after my x-ray, in the midst of the blizzard, I went into labor. The doctor said not to delay...to get to the hospital immediately because they were coming too soon and we needed to be certain to be there before they were delivered. They arrived two hours later. They lost weight, had breathing problems, had to be fed intravenously. It was 16 days before I was permitted to hold them in my arms.

Scary? Challenging? Yes. But within a year they had gone from a weight of three pounds up to within normal development range. After those initial challenges they grew and developed normally and there were no residual difficulties.

How can preemie babies thrive so well? How is it that some babies go full term and still struggle? The truth is there is a whole host of reasons. One of those reasons can be addressed: nutrition for the child for the first 1,000 days from conception to her second birthday. I was blessed to have proper food, vitamins, and medical care during my pregnancy. When this unexpected challenge came along my daughters were healthy enough to be able to overcome those early difficulties. How different might the outcome have been without that safety net? If they survived, they might still have had emotional or learning challenges. Full term babies without the proper care face those same challenges.

As we face the challenge of child nutrition, may we recognize the hope that lies in the fact that WE CAN DO something about it.

Rev. Dr. Patricia Donahoo Disciples Women Indianapolis, IN Women and Children Read more!

A Word About US Elections - Sharon Watkins

http://disciples.org/sharon_blog/word-u-s-elections/ Read more!

Justice Devotional - Connectedness

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Connectedness
Galatians 5:13-14

I always held a keen interest for geography, specifically the inter- relationship between places and people. The relationship between a given landscape and how its inhabitants interact with it continues to intrigue me. The first law of geography states that, “everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things” (Tobler, 1970). As a graduate student in geospatial sciences, I began to see beyond statistical relationships. I became increasingly aware of how we are connected to one another more than we realize. People are connected to each other because of their proximity to one another. Faith communities are connected to each other because of our willingness to listen deeply and compassionately to one another’s stories. Our relationship to one another is bridged as a result of connectedness. For many geographers, connectedness is difficult to quantify. Yet, somehow the depth of our connectedness is correlated to our proximity in distance we have with one another.

Connectedness can be experienced as we laugh, mourn, rejoice, worship and fellowship with each other.

Connectedness is found in appreciating diversity without expecting conformity or homogeneity.

Connectedness is never done instantaneously neither is it an easy passive task. While connectedness takes time to foster, connectedness isn’t weakened overnight. When we trivialize another human being’s experiences, we distance ourselves. When our social sphere has a price of admission or appears inclusive to individuals of similar culture, education, and socio-economics, we distance ourselves. When issues like poverty, marginalization and disenfranchisement are articulated as “THE poor,” “THE marginalized,” and “THE disenfranchised,” we distance ourselves. Little by little the distance causes disconnection. As a people of faith, we value connectedness. Where do we start? Perhaps a good way is to prepare our hearts and have room for others. Let us go forth prayerfully and faithfully as we seek to establish connectedness and meaningful relationships. May we continue to seek the Holy Spirit help guide us into deeper fellowship with one another. In the process, let us awaken our senses to God’s loving compassion for all humanity and creation. With Jesus our prime example of our faith, may we go forth!

Lynette Li: Seminarian at Phillips Theological, Oklahoma Region Worked with General Youth Council on GA programming Immigration and Refugees Read more!

Justice Devotional - Advocates for the Poor

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Advocates for the Poor
Proverbs 31:8-9

Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all those who are destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the right of those who are poor and in need. (Proverbs 31:8-9).

As people of faith and conscience, we are called by God to be advocates for the poor and needy. This we must do among our friends and colleagues, within our families, within our congregations, within our communities, and within our democratic system of government.

Sovereign God, with great joy and hearts full of thanksgiving, we thank you for all your many blessings. Forgive us, we pray, for our selfishness and our blindness, open our eyes, ears, hearts and hands to our suffering and struggling sisters and brothers, and empower us humbly yet boldly to advocate for those whose voices go unheard and whose needs go unmet. This we pray in your Holy Name. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston Executive Director, Disciples Center for Public Witness, 
DOC Justice Advocacy Consultant and Public Policy Advisor, Office of the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (DOC) 
Director, Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN) Hunger and Poverty Read more!

Justice Devotional - Greatness of a Nation

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Greatness of a Nation
Psalm 72:11-14

Make other rulers bow down and all other nations serve him. Do this because the king rescues the homeless when they cry out, and he helps everyone who is poor and in need. The king has pity on the weak and the helpless and protects those in need. He cares when they suffer, and he saves them from cruel and violent deaths. (Psalm 72:11-14, Contemporary English Version).

This Scripture teaches us two things: (1) that the greatness of a nation depends on how it treats the poor, vulnerable and needy; and (2) that the government (here represented by the king as sovereign) has a God-given responsibility for the life, health and well-being of all who suffer and are in need. In a democratic society where the people are sovereign, it is now our responsibility to work together through our government to fulfill this sacred obligation for political leaders in all nations.

Just and merciful God, you are the Giver of all good things and the Judge of all nations. Have mercy on the nations of the world, including our own, bless us with good and wise and compassionate leaders, and help us always to remember that the greatest among nations is the one that does the most to lift up the least of its people, especially those who are poor and hungry. In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston Executive Director, Disciples Center for Public Witness, DOC Justice Advocacy Consultant and Public Policy Advisor, Office of the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (DOC) Director, Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN) Hunger and Poverty Read more!

Justice Devotional - God Gives Freely

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

God Gives Freely
2 Corinthians 9:9-11

God freely gives his gifts to the poor and always does right. God gives seed to the farmer and provides everyone with food. He will increase what you have so that you can give even more to those in need. You will be blessed in every way, and will be able to keep on being generous. (2 Corinthians 9: 9-11, Contemporary English Version).

In God’s good creation, God has provided enough for everybody to have their basic needs met. If we have been blessed with stewardship over a part of God’s abundance for all, then we, as people of faith and conscience, have both the responsibility and the privilege to share these blessings with others, especially those most in need, through our personal giving, our community involvement, and our advocacy for public policies consistent with this understanding of God’s purposes.

O God of abundance, you have blessed your children with enough and more than enough to meet all of our needs. So fill us, we pray, with such an abundance of gratitude that we will freely share our blessings with others and do our part to ensure that, in all areas of life, your abundance is more equally shared, leaving no one poor or hungry or homeless. This we pray in your Holy Name. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston 
Executive Director, Disciples Center for Public Witness, 
DOC Justice Advocacy Consultant and Public Policy Advisor, Office of the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (DOC) 
Director, Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN) Hunger and Poverty Read more!

Justice Devotional - Taking Faith Seriously

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Taking Faith Seriously

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

On World Refugee Day this year, I was at the courthouse supporting a man from my church as he became a U.S. Citizen. His people, the indigenous Bunong people — also among the handful of tribes known as Montagnard — are refugees for many reasons. There is racism, there is the political lashing out against those who fought alongside the Americans during the Vietnam War, there is the Christian faith that now defines life for so many Montagnard people, and there is the inconvenience of these hill tribes of indigenous people living for generations on mineral rich soil that can be harvested and exploited for profit if only all these people would disappear.

Most refugees have left their homeland for a few of these reasons. Montagnards are in the unique position of being refugees for ALL the reasons persons might become refugees. The one that has hurt the deepest, they tell me, is that they are hunted for their faith. When their churches burned down, they have gathered for worship in homes; when they were told that celebrating Christmas would be a punishable offense, they have gathered for Christmas anyway and endured the resulting beatings and torture; when they were told that public gatherings like baptisms would get them fined and arrested, they have baptized in rivers under cover of darkness. These are a people who take their faith seriously. I am awed by what they have lived through for their faith in Jesus.

The man who now pledged allegiance to the flag had passed through the waters, through the fires, through the floods. Now he decided to put his lot in with the country that had become his home. As it turns out, wherever he has gone, he has carried Jesus with him. In this land or that one, living in a traditional Bunong village, or in a suburban Charlotte home, he and others like him have carried hope in Christ like a light to show them the way.

I marvel that, on the Sundays when it's too rainy to go out and people stay home from church; on the Sundays when it is too lovely to be inside and people opt to do something other than church; on the holidays when all the extra family and celebrations crowd out church; Montagnards in Vietnam and persecuted people around the world are risking their lives to gather together, to worship, to share a little of the light they have found that will, one day, lead them to their true home.

Rev. Jolin Wilks McElroy: Pastor First Christian Church, Charlotte,

NC Immigration and Refugees Read more!