Spirited Reflection: Lent, Human Identity and our Environment
March 3, 2020
In pondering Eve’s conversation with the serpent (as in Genesis) and Jesus’ conversation with Satan when he fasted for forty days in the desert (as in Matthew 4:1-11), we see these conversations as saying something about our human identity. In…
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
‘Walk with me’ – a lesson plan towards reconciliation
March 2, 2020
Education is key to reconciliation and the key to good education is a lesson plan that sticks. The Blanket Exercise is one such lesson plan. Developed by KAIROS, the Blanket Exercise is based on a method that uses participatory education to weave storytelling and land-based learning…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Supporting women’s organizations & movements – a strategic approach to climate action
February 28, 2020
“Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. They have to be part of the solution.” A strategic approach to climate actionDownload This report was created by the Nobel Women’s Initiative (NWI) and Equality Fund. .
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
The Alternative Mining Indaba: A cautionary tale of constructive engagement
February 28, 2020
While in Africa for partnership visits, I took the opportunity to travel to South Africa to participate in the Alternative Mining Indaba in Cape Town and meet with WoMin African Alliance in early February. “Indaba” is a Zulu and Xhosa…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Ecumenical Network South Sudan and the value of persistent, patient advocacy
February 28, 2020
Concerned about a lack of global interest in the welfare of South Sudan, which for years has been mired in a brutal civil war, the Ecumenical Network South Sudan (ENSS)’s annual gathering focused on enhancing international advocacy and the role…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
A women’s income generating collective in eastern DR Congo
February 28, 2020
A small collective of women is in the process of cultivating new hillside fields and planting sorghum and sweet potatoes for harvesting in June in Nayatende, South Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They have plans to…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Report from the KAIROS delegation to Palestine and Israel last November
February 27, 2020
“Equality is the precondition to justice and peace will be the fruit.” The final report from the KAIROS delegation to Palestine and Israel last November is now available. Delegates will be taking this report with them to Ottawa from March…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Middle East
Spirited Reflection: One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see
February 26, 2020
Two readings for this Lenten season coming to mind, about seeing and vision: Psalm 121, I lift up my eyes to the hills; and the story of the man born blind that is in the ninth chapter of the Gospel…
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
Wet’suwet’en: des leaders chrétiens réclament un règlement pacifique
February 21, 2020
Le conflit qui oppose les chefs héréditaires de la Première Nation des Wet’suwet’en au projet de gazoduc Coastal GasLink peut et doit se régler de manière pacifique, estime Erik Oland, le supérieur provincial des Jésuites du Canada. Dans une lettre…
Post filed in: En français, Indigenous Rights
Indigenous rights are lived responsibilities
February 20, 2020
Pipelines, mines, and projects that extract resources while compromising the earth and water are not the only solutions to escape poverty. Anyone who offers these as the only possibilities are either not thinking or lying. There are other options. Indigenous…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Spirited Reflection: Choosing Life
February 20, 2020
This week the KAIROS Epiphany resource, Listen to the Children: A Worship Resource for Justice Seekers (digital) (print) and Écoutez les enfants, highlights the responsibility of parents and other caring adults to nurture and guide children in the ways of God. The Message The Israelites have been wandering in the…
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Spirited Reflection: Children of courage
February 14, 2020
This week the KAIROS Epiphany resource, Listen to the Children: A Worship Resource for Justice Seekers (digital) (print) and Écoutez les enfants, highlights the situation of extremely vulnerable children who find and demonstrate strength and resilience. Child enslaved and saving her master The heroine of the story in 2 Kings 5:119 is a young and unnamed Israelite…
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
We stand with the Wet’suwet’en Peoples and hold our government accountable for its actions
February 14, 2020
A path that respects the human rights of Indigenous peoples does not include armed police officers, violent acts, arrests and check points that prevent Indigenous peoples from accessing their lands. A path that respects the human rights of Indigenous peoples…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Letter to the Editor: Trump’s peace plan for the Middle East should be rejected, says NGO
February 12, 2020
Re: “Trudeau should leave the fake diplomacy to Donald Trump,” (The Hill Times, Feb. 3, p. 4). KAIROS Canada urges the prime minister to publicly reject the U.S. president’s “Peace to Prosperity Plan” for Israel and Palestine, which contravenes international…
Post filed in: Middle East, Op Eds
MERE Hub Wants YOU
February 6, 2020
KAIROS is developing the Canadian phase of Mother Earth and Resource Extraction: Women Defending Land and Water (MERE Hub), a digital platform on the gendered impacts of resource extraction. MERE Hub is being created for and in consultation with women land defenders from across the globe who are mobilizing around large-scale resource…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
KAIROS, member churches and partners call on Canada to publicly reject the U.S. administration’s “Peace to Prosperity Plan”
February 6, 2020
KAIROS joins member churches and ecumenical partners around the world in denouncing President Trump’s “Deal of the Century” or “Peace to Prosperity Plan” as a flagrant violation of international law that will entrench occupation and lead to greater suffering of…
Post filed in: Middle East
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines has issued a statement condemning the attack against the Lumad Indigenous people
February 5, 2020
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), a KAIROS partner, has issued a statement condemning the attack, harassment and intimidation against the Lumad Indigenous people seeking refuge in the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) –…
Post filed in: Asia-Pacific, Indigenous Rights
Spirited Reflection: Become like children
February 5, 2020
Continuing with the KAIROS Epiphany resource, Listen to the Children: A Worship Resource for Justice Seekers (digital) (print) and Écoutez les enfants, this week we note the importance of the community in overseeing and advocating for children’s development and well-being….
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
KAIROS wish list for 2020
February 5, 2020
In 2020, KAIROS Canada wishes the following….
Post filed in: Calls To Action, Indigenous Rights
Canadian ecumenical response to attacks on the Lumad evacuees in Mindanao
February 3, 2020
KAIROS joins churches in Canada in signing the following ecumenical statement condemning the attacks against Indigenous Lumad evacuees at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines-Haran (UCCP-Haran) evacuation centre in Davao, Mindanao. In September 2019 KAIROS staff visited the…
Post filed in: Asia-Pacific, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Indigenous Rights
Recognizing International Women’s Day in prayer
January 31, 2020
Just as we remember Sarah and Hagar, Tamar and Esther, and the stories of their ancient struggles for gender justice, now we remember Gloria Chicaiza, Berta Cáceres, Tina Fountaine and so many more in the ongoing struggles for justice and…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Learning history through participation – The KAIROS Blanket Exercise
January 31, 2020
The KAIROS Blanket Exercise program was held in Weyburn on Wednesday, January 29th, brought here by South East District in partnership with Weyburn Arts Council, Southeast Regional Library, PLURA Churches, and Canadian Mental Health Association, Weyburn Branch. While I’ve read and heard…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Solidarity with members of the Chinese community who are experiencing a deepening of racism
January 29, 2020
As the news is filled with regular updates on the Coronavirus, we want to express our solidarity with those who are directly impacted by the illness and their families. We share our grief for those who have died, and our…
Post filed in: Uncategorized
Spirited Reflection: Jesus heals and blesses children
January 28, 2020
Continuing with the Epiphany resource, Listen to the Children: A Worship Resource for Justice Seekers (digital) (print) and Écoutez les enfants , this week we see how Jesus included children in his teachings. Throughout his ministry, Jesus speaks about a…
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
Sharing an Indigenous point of view at KAIROS Blanket Exercise
January 28, 2020
Seeing, hearing for yourself, and experiencing the relationship between Indigenous and non-indigenous people in Canada is something that a group of people in Strathmore practiced last night at the KAIROS Blanket Exercise. The free public education session was held at…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Spirited Reflection: Children as prophets, servants and leaders
January 24, 2020
Today, as with Scripture, we find news and stories of children and youth as prophet, servant or leader. From Isaiah 49:1-7: the servant’s role is to turn God’s people back to God, to make them a “light to the nations,”…
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
Spiritual Reflection: Grief and a season to find connection
January 24, 2020
When I reflect on community, it is often with a sense of grieving for the connections once found at this time of year. Certainly, traditional communities were communal and intergenerational in their caregiving, with many navigating the harshest stretch of…
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
