On Fathers Day We Need to Bring Peace

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Refugees aren't numbers

You matter

Quoted from Seth Godin's Blog
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/you-matter.html

1. When you love the work you do and the people you do it with, you matter.
2. When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself, you matter.
3. When you leave the world a better place than you found it, you matter.
4. When you continue to raise the bar on what you do and how you do it, you matter.
5. When you teach and forgive and teach more before you rush to judge and demean, you matter.
6. When you touch the people in your life through your actions (and your words), you matter.
7. When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.
8. When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.
9. When you inspire a Nobel prize winner or a slum dweller, you matter.
10. When the room brightens when you walk in, you matter.
11. And when the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime, you matter.

Letters of John Newton

A friend sent me this article today and thought it might be of encouragement to you. . .this is written by the man who wrote "Amazing Grace."

Thank God our redemption is in His unfailing hands.

"I will put My fear in their hearts--so they will never turn away from Me." Jeremiah 32:40

Jesus, to whom I have been led to commit myself, has engaged to save me, absolutely, and from first to last. He has promised not only that He will not depart from me--but that He will put, keep, and maintain His fear in my heart--so that I shall never finally depart from Him! And if He does not do this for me--I have no security against my turning apostate! For I am so weak, inconsistent, and sinful; I am so encompassed with deadly snares from the world; and I am so liable to such assaults from the subtlety, vigilance, and power of Satan--that, unless I am "kept by the power of God," I am sure I cannot endure to the end!

I do believe that the Lord will keep me while I walk humbly and obediently before Him; but, were this all--it would be cold comfort! For I am prone to wander--and need a Shepherd whose watchful eye, compassionate heart, and boundless mercy--will pity, pardon, and restore my backslidings!

For, though by His goodness and not my own--I have hitherto been preserved in the path of holiness; yet I feel those evils within me, which would shortly break loose and bear me down to destruction, were He not ever present with me to control them.

Those who comfortably hope to see His face in glory--but depend upon their own watchfulness and endeavors to preserve themselves from falling--must be much wiser, better, and stronger than I am! Or at least they cannot have so deep and painful a sense of their own weakness and vileness, as daily experience forces upon me. I desire to be found in the use of the Lord's appointed means for the renewal of my spiritual strength--but I dare not undertake to watch a single hour, nor do I find ability to think a good thought, nor a power in myself of resisting any temptation! My strength is perfect weakness--and all I have is sin.

In short, I must sit down in despair--if I did not believe that He who has begun a good work in me, will carry it out to completion.

"Hold me up--and I shall be safe!" Psalm 119:117

Ride for Refugees to offer 'Spring RIDE Date' in 2010

May 16, 2009 - For cities in Canada, USA and Australia who prefer to host the Ride for Refugees event earlier in the year, International Teams Canada recently announced a May 15th, 2010 Spring RIDE date.

Mika Takamaki, Director of RIDE site development commented on the new offering in a recent phone discussion:

"The RIDE date in October has worked very well and many of our site locations prefer that timing. But, this May 15th date will give more cities the flexibility to chose a date that works best for them. Fall or Spring - they can choose. Cities like Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary will embrace the warmer weather I'm sure."

For 2009 the RIDE changed its date from the third to first Saturday in October. For a number of years the event had skirted some bad weather issues and organizers didn't want to wake up to the snow they faced during the 2006 RIDE or the cold wind during the 2007 event.

Takamaki talked about the decision to move the date this year:

"I was talking to Brian, our RIDE Chair and I said to him, 'The fact is, if there is bad weather on October 3rd most people will shrug it off and chalk it up to poor timing; but if the weather is bad on October 18th, they'll look at us and ask what were we thinking!' "

For more information go to www.rideforrefugees.com

Giving to the refugee, orphan, widow

When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this.

Deuteronomy 24:20-22

The Buzz of Learning

Still having a great time learning, I am getting such a buzz from it all.

Had an academic and an author talk to us the other day, and he referred to
some very fascinating people. One of whom was Paulo Freire.

Freire wrote this:

"The Right in its rigidity prefers the dead to the living; the static to the dynamic; the future as a repetition of the past rather than as a creative venture; pathological forms of love rather than real love; frigid schematization rather than the emotion of living; gregariousness rather than authentic living together; organization men rather than men who organize; imposed myths rather than incarnated values; directives rather than creative and communicative language; and slogans rather than challenges"

(Freire, Paulo. Cultural Action and Conscientization pp.72-73).

I found this statement very challenging and very confronting but very
helpful. Just wanted to share it with you.

Wikepedia has a section on Freire, very interesting character.

Andrew Collins
Enjoy your journey

International Teams Program Approach

International Teams Canada is a Christian mission organization that has a program and project approach to serving the poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable in our host countries: Canada, Ecuador, Romania, the Philippines, Rwanda, Uganda, Southern Sudan and Kenya. We focus on refugees, street children and orphans, along with marginalized women.

We operate by partnering with local churches who get involved by sending short term teams and by going deeper with a 3-5 year commitment to become engaged in a program.

The programs are led by host country program leaders who are involved in all decision making.

Our Canadian support teams consist of staff and high capacity volunteers, who play an important role, fundraising and working with the host country leadership teams to make it all happen.

Our short term teams play a significant role as well. They are often the hands, feet and face of International Teams. They roll up their sleeves, cross the time zones and pour their love and energy into the lives of the people we serve. Often they return home with a new vision and an infectious passion for serving God and serving the poor.

Gary Sharpe, P.Eng. Director, International Programs gary.sharpe@iteams.org

We accomplish our goals by setting specific plans, budgets and measurable objectives for spiritual and social renewal, and strive to achieve them together as a team. We are accountable to report on our progress every six months.

Our resource partners are individuals, churches, businesses, teams, foundations and other funding sources such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). International Teams events like the RIDE for Refugees are another source of funding for our refugee related programs.

Together, we are passionate about serving God and serving the poor.

VALUES CLARIFICATION

VALUES affect so many decisions and actions in our lives, it is best that we understand them and that we align our choices, behaviour and actions with our values. When we make an effort to understand our values, it is easier to keep our priorities in the right order and our actions in line with our beliefs.

Values clarification is a process a person might go through to discover and clarify their values and to bring his/her values in line with behaviour.

Clarify Values

1. Ask yourself, “If I only had 24 hours left to live, how would I spend them?”

2. List twenty possible values and rank them from most to least important for you.

3. Make a pie chart of your top fine values and compare it to your calendar. Are you really spending as much time as you would like on your values?

4. Associate consistent and inconsistent behaviour with each of your top five values.

Identify Full Values

A FULL VALUE is one which is truly and entirely held by a person. Raths, Simon & Harmin (1996) developed seven questions to help identify full values. By taking a value and answering yes to all seven questions, one would define a full value. Please take each of your top values and identify if they are full values.

1. Was the value freely chosen?

2. Was the value chosen from alternatives or was it the only choice?

3. Was the value chosen after considerations of the consequences of this value?

4. Do you cherish the value? Does it make you happy?

5. Are you willing to publicly affirm this is a value to hold?

6. Are you acting on the value (or is it something that is said)?

7. Do you display this value repeatedly and consistently?

Sample Values List

Accuracy	Choice	Tranquility
Adventure	Growth	Resilience
Authenticity	Harmony	Results
Independence	Humor	Risk
Beauty	Honesty	Romance
Nature	Fitness	Success
Aesthetics	Wellness	Security
Collaboration	Freedom	Spirituality
Commitment	Joy	Tradition
Service	Fun	Self-expression
Creativity	Integrity	Trust
Directness	Justice	Vitality
Elegance	Leadership	Zest
Empowerment	Nurturing	Recognition
Mastery	Order	Power
Excellence	Peace	Learning

Article adapted from a content session at the "Milestone April 09", A leadership course offered at the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics. http://www.soderquist.org/