News from the Field

My hope is that your congregations are not just buildings that just happen to be there, but churches that seek the flourishing of your neighborhoods and the neighbors that call it home.

“Some of our elders died of broken hearts, far from their homes,” said Dionysio Brown, Miskito leader and cultural expert. He was speaking of the forced relocation of his people from their homes along the Rio Coco to inland communities by the Nicaraguan government in the 70s, during Nicaragua’s conflict between the ruling sandinistas and the US-backed contras . We were standing in his dimly lit, one-room museum on his Indigenous Miskito culture, among the dictionaries, Bible translation, postcards, and Miskito clothing that represent his life’s work.

There is a lie that our culture continually perpetuates. It is the lie that life is only as valuable as its circumstances. We see it in films or books that romanticize assisted suicide and euthanasia, that reduce abortion to a decision over whether one can afford a child, or that imply that people with disabilities are burdens, or that some people are more violent than others because of their race or ethnicity. These lies are deeply offensive on a variety of levels, but they are also all around us.

You’ve likely heard a lot lately about the Paris climate talks that wrapped up a few weeks ago, and you’ve likely been left wondering what it’s all about. The follow up from Paris has seen lots of high talk from government officials and lots of complicated jargon, but little plain-English explanations of what the agreement actually says and what it means.

So in case you’ve been wondering what this whole Paris Agreement is all about, here are five things you need to know:

We’re happy to say that we’ve rarely been more hopeful after almost a decade of partnership, research, education, mobilization, and advocacy for reconciliation and justice.We’re happy to say that we’ve rarely been more hopeful after almost a decade of partnership, research, education, mobilization, and advocacy for reconciliation and justice.We’re happy to say that we’ve rarely been more hopeful after almost a decade of partnership, research, education, mobilization, and advocacy for reconciliation and justice.

More than six thousand people have died on the border since 1994. The sanctity of human life is violated on the border every single day.

And I thought I with much moved in to bless my neighbors with little. Oh how little I understood God’s ways! He uses the least of these to bless, to teach, and to showcase His glory.

I want to beg them to put down their signs and instead invest that time in helping vulnerable women and their children. 

This is the 7th post in our "What Being Pro-Life Means to Me" series! What does being pro-life mean to you? Over this fall, we'll hear various writers respond to that question. Learn more and subscribe for weekly email updates. 

Two weeks ago, I think there was a celebration in heaven. The Bible speaks of a God who expresses anger, sadness, and joy; a God who rejoices in creation, in us, and in life – and in the acts of truth, hope, and creativity of which human beings are capable.

Refugees are in the news these days, and Christians are responding. We hear about the crisis and we want to help. Almost every day I'm asked by people who know I work with refugees, "When will the Syrians come here? And how many will we get?" They want to help...give money, make a phone call. We're good at responding to a crisis. I'm glad about that, but I also wonder how long it will last—only as long as the media keeps reporting it? And after we've responded by allowing more refugees in and helped them get started, who will be their friends?