Making Homelessness & Poverty Real To Youth

Check out this video about MCC Ontario's TOOLS program that was produced for 100 Huntley Street by Bridget Antwi.

O Canada: armed and ready

Canadians do not usually think about Canada as being a militarized country. We are used to the jokes about our outdated military equipment and our lack of firepower. We are accustomed to hearing that our military spending is pathetic and our contribution to global security laughable. But let’s take a closer look. The reality is quite different.

Canada's military spending is significant, it is a leading exporter of military equipment, and it has been involved in war-fighting in Afghanistan for close to a decade. 

Visit the O Canada: armed and ready website and consider what this means.

http://canada.mcc.org/peace/projects/canadaarmed

Stuff

Think of all the things you have spent money on in the last year.  Now place each of those things in one of two categories: "needs" and "wants".

My guess is that many of us end up with the "wants" category quite full.

Most of human existence has been focused on survival - filling our most basic "needs" in order to stay alive.  But many of us and our babyboomer parents haven't had to think about survival at all.  We have more than we need and our focus instead is on getting as many of our (often material) "wants" fulfilled.  What a drastic difference as compared to the rest of human history!

One of the by-products of this shift from a need-focused to a want-focused culture is a lot of stuff.  This video offers an interesting reflection and analysis of stuff.

"The last 100 years of nonviolence"

http://ontario.mcc.org/peace

Enlace Video!

service | learning | fun :: faith | leadership | global awareness

Enlace 2011 applications are now available here!  Tell your friends.

But first, check out this video.

The Enlace program is about providing 16-19 year olds with the opportunity to grow in faith as global Christians by living in community and working alongside Guatemalan partners.

Enlace's Goals

• encourage faith formation
• engage in cross-cultural learning
• foster global awareness and an ethic of service
• develop transformative relationships & leadership skills

http://ontario.mcc.org/enlace

Enlace alumniiiii!   Where you at?  Let us know what you think of the program.  Share some stories and comments for those who are interested in going this coming summer.

Great Resource on Creation Care for Young Adults

Green Revolution: Coming Together to Care for Creation, by Ben Lowe. IVP Books, 2009.

Lowe writes from the perspective of a young adult evangelical who was active in Renewal, a grassroots organization of students caring for creation.

He directly and convincingly addresses the common objections evangelicals have for caring for the environment, like whether the earth will be burned up anyway or that we should care about saving humans only and not worry about the rest of creation. Most helpful is Lowe's description of the creation care movement among young people as he describes many projects and initiatives at campuses and churches.

I would highly recommend this book for youth and young adults wanting to be inspired to make a difference in their communities.

Here's a description from the back cover:

"Activist Ben Lowe calls us to come together and care for the earth in a way that previous generations have not. Telling real-life stories from colleges, churches and communities across the nation, Lowe shows that little things make a big difference when we all work together. We now have an opportunity to show the world what it looks like when Christians care for the planet God gave us, so that future generations can live sustainably. This is our moment. This is our issue. Come join the green revolution."

"My Life is my Message"

Camp Micah (http://www.campmicah.ca/), an inter-denominational peace and justice leadership camp run the last week of August for high school students, was a new experience for us.

As Mennonites we kind of thought we had the market cornered on peace and justice work, and it was exciting and refreshing to work alongside Catholics and United Church friends to instill alternative leadership skills in youth with a focus on peace and justice. Camp Micah uses all the normal camp activities (canoeing, low-ropes, games, and campfires) to create awareness about the importance of peace and justice in our everyday lives, and to challenge us to think about how we live our lives and, ultimately, what type of message we share with others by how we live.

My life is my message...  It was a catchy phrase to put on the t-shirts for Camp Micah.

Compassion :: This Generation

Attention youth and youth leaders...

"The Gospel According to Google"

..."That raises the broader question of whether the Internet builds or erodes community. The answer is surely both." 


"We can use the Internet to promote peace and justice, but we might be indirectly putting money into the pockets of some of the worst warmongers in the world when we buy our peace-promoting techno-gadgets. That doesn’t necessarily mean we should make a collective trip to the dump, but it does mean that we need to look at both sides of the tech equation."


See more in this interesting article by Will Braun:  The Gospel According to Google.  I have struggled with how much and when to embrace/reject technology, so I appreciate the questions raised in this article.

Youth Development Committee

Usually when we promote an opportunity to get involved though this blog, we offer info on opportunities with MCC and the broader church.  But as Christians we are often (or perhaps always?) called beyond the confines of our churches (here I mean buildings, though typically when I use the word church I mean people) and church programs to engage people in the communities where we live.  I think that is where the church (people) is at its best...listening to and engaging the community beyond the church (building this time) walls.

All that to introduce an opportunity.  The provincial government is seeking youth and young adults 18-25 years old to participate in a Youth Development Committe.  It looks interesting.  I encourage you to check it out.  It would be good to have some of you who are rooted in the church bring your perspectives to this process.

How much time do you spend on facebook?

"A new study of Canadian university students suggests facebook is a magnet for narcissists and people with low self-esteem."

Read more of this interesting Globe and Mail article, Facebook a big hit with narcissists: study.

I don't really use it...  

Mutual Aid with Ben Janzen

Faith and money are very much connected, whether we like it or not. Often we try to avoid making the connections, because thinking about faith and money can lead to some pretty difficult decisions - ones that force us to think about how and how much we spend, give, and save (give and save?)...


And many of the habits that we develop (ones that you and I are developing right now) stick with us for most of our lives. Unless, of course, we are willing to consider some pretty tough questions, and also consider the possibility that we may have to change the way we spend, give, and save. And maybe even where we bank...

About 47 years ago, a group of Waterloo Mennonites got together to explore a response to what they were seeing and feeling in their churches around faith and economics. At the heart of their discussion was the concept of mutual aid, “bearing each other’s burdens”. That led to a discussion about how a faith-based credit union could be an ideal way for church members to support each other, their churches and to conduct financial business in keeping with their faith.

“Why a credit union and not a bank?” you might ask.

Here’s a video (thanks to some credit union friends in Alberta) that shows some of the reasons why:

Loneliness, Stress, Sex...and technology?

What are the some of the main issues facing youth today?

Sean McDowell (no relation as far as I know) says loneliness, stress, and sex.  Those are definitely issues that I have dealt with.  But there are some others that I have been thinking about lately as well...

A Globe and Mail article that said "9.7 per cent of kids in Grade 7 to 12, or about 327,000 students, spend at least seven hours a day in front of a TV or computer."  

Mountain-man...but no Luddite

I am no mountain-man-Luddite, but that seems a little much.  What ever happened to good ole' street hockey?  Reading books?  Enjoying the great outdoors?  Not much time for those things if you are facebook-creeping and tv-watching 7 hours a day.  If 10% of youth are consuming that much tech (and I imagine there are loads of others who are not far behind...), I would say that is an issue.  Media and technology that we consume affects us.  Deeply.