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Hello everyone,

Some happy news from Lois Johnson – her daughter Joy has been appointed President of SFU.  You can watch a clip of Joy using this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPnxWatK1ow&feature=youtu.be .

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For those of you who know Viola, some not so happy news.  She has had a second minor stroke, but seems to be doing okay. She is slated for a hip replacement soon, and would appreciate your prayers.  Right now she can barely move because of her hip, and is quite miserable.  It is hard getting older, as many of us know!!

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From the ELCIC webpage – this letter from Bishop Johnson

Lifting up Mental Health Services, Palliative Care and Climate Justice 

At the request of National Convention, Bishop Susan Johnson has written to the Prime Minister of Canada, and to the Premiers of all provinces and territories, regarding:

1.) the need for access to mental health services,

2.) equitable palliative care services for all, and

3.) the urgent need to address climate change and climate justice. Each letter to the Prime Minister can be viewed here. http://elcic.ca/From-the-Bishop/Messages.cfm

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An article from LAsource with an interview of Claire McGillvray of the Edible Garden Project. Here is part of the article. 

  “Food as a community connector The Edible Garden Project (EGP), a non-profit initiative in North Vancouver, uses food as a platform to transform community, address urban environmental, health, and social issues, and empower citizens to learn to grow their own.  “I think that the most important function of the EGP is a link to food systems that people are really disconnected from these days,” says project manager Claire McGillivray. EGP focuses on three main aspects: teaching through education in elementary schools and workshops for all ages, sharing produce grown at the Food Hub through the work of a large volunteer base spread over five satellite locations, and growing food that is sold at the farmers market so the profit can continue to support project costs. “Our hope in training kids in ecological literacy is having a way for them to expand their circle of compassion…to think about themselves as part of a system, the impacts they have on the environment and other people around them,” McGillivray explains. “The message [is] that everything is connected, that the health of the planet and everything in it is directly connected to their health and well-being, and it’s the same for adults.”

This is what I try to impart with the women of Turning Point when we are gardening.  That it is good for the earth, good for our bodies and good for our souls! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

TURNING POINT BASKETS:

I would like to put the baskets together next Thursday and have them blessed on Sunday.  If you have signed up for something, it would be great if you could bring it this Sunday.  We still have a few items that we need: 10 shower scrubbies, 10 individual pkg of Kleenex, 2 boxes of individual hot chocolate pkgs. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

KAIROS Blanket Exercise Saturday, February 22, 1:30 – 4:30 pm Gloria Dei Lutheran Church  

There is no cost to participation but registration is limited to 25.   To register please contact Pastor Vida by email at pastorgd@shaw.ca  

Paper registration (for those without electronic access) will be available after church on January 26.

The KAIROS Blanket exercise is a teaching tool that builds awareness and understanding of our shared history as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. It teaches a history of Canada that most people never learn, and participants come away with a deepened understanding of the denial of Indigenous peoples’ nationhood throughout Canadian history.

As the name suggests, the Blanket Exercise begins with blankets arranged on the floor to represent Canada before the arrival of European explorers and settlers. The participants, who represent Indigenous peoples, begin by moving around on the blankets. While the facilitator(s) reads from a script, other participants – representing the Europeans or newcomers – join and begin to interact with those on the blankets. As Indigenous history unfolds some blankets are removed and they become a metaphor for disappearing lands and relocation to reservations. Because participants learn by “experiencing,” the exercise reaches both the mind and heart and opens up possibilities for participants to learn how they can work towards reconciliation.

The Blanket Exercise was developed by the KAIROS organization in Canada in response to the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples report.

KAIROS Canada is a confederation of 10 churches and religious organizations working to promote justice and human rights.

Click here for a video to learn more about the Blanket Exercise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzXdi_RDkjc.

This initiative is made possible through the support of the BC Synod's Journey Towards Reconciliation synodical team, and the ELCIC's "Compassionate Justice Initiative.  

Peace,  

Lin