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minute for mission
The words of Isaiah 55 convey a profound message to us during A Season of Peace: For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace.
“If we learn how to listen, we can hear in the voice of Creation a kind of dissonance. On the one hand, we can hear a sweet song in praise of our beloved Creator; on the other, an anguished plea, lamenting our mistreatment of this our common home.”
On the last day of Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) orientation, we are sent off to be commissioned at churches in the area. Several churches in the area agree to host small groups of YAVs for worship where we are commissioned for our year of service, followed by a meal and conversations. We as YAVs come as we are, bringing our whole selves, exhausted from the past week of orientation, to a table of strangers, to share our intentions for our year of service and what we have already begun learning during the first week.
In the middle of the chaotic summer of 2020, I find myself one early Saturday morning at the recently opened pool that we use in the summer. Perhaps due to my vocation (youth ministry), I really enjoy and learn from observing and listening to young people.
This is the No. 1 question I receive from congregants, pastors, parents, high school youth and college students across the country. Often, the person means, “What does UKirk stand for?” UKirk stands for University-Kirk (the Scottish word for Church) and is the name for the network of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and Presbyterian-connected ministries (like United Campus Ministry or other Christian college groups that are supported by two or more denominations). The UKirk Network includes over 200 ministries at state, private and Presbyterian-related colleges and universities across the country.
On Aug. 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first of two atomic bombs on Japan during World War II. The first was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. The second bomb would be dropped a few days later, on Aug. 9, on the city of Nagasaki. It’s estimated that 70,000 to 135,000 people died from the first bomb and 60,000 to 80,000 people died from the second.
“We still have more to offer,” said Stevanie, a young-adult DACA recipient and member of Marturia Presbyterian Church. As the Supreme Court deliberates on how protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will continue, we are reminded of the millions of people who are in the United States under temporary immigration statuses.
Today, June 25, marks 72 years since the Korean War broke out. Throughout that June, skirmishes along the division border led to North Korean forces crossing the border en masse on the 25th. Most U.S. Americans believe the war then ended in 1953; however, only an armistice agreement was signed at that time. This means outright fighting in the war has paused, but the state-of-war itself has continued for 72 years.
June 20 is World Refugee Day. Displaced from their homes amid unimaginable circumstances, refugees’ journeys are long and difficult.
Juneteenth, the official freeing of enslaved people on June 19, 1865, in Texas, is one of the most important events in American history — but most students haven’t even been taught it. Maybe that will change now that Juneteenth is a national holiday.
