Esther’s Call

On Wednesday November 16th at 12:00pm people of faith across the nation joined hands to encircle organizations that are facing budget cuts due to the super committee and appropriations processes. In NYC we encircled Friendly Hands Ministries in East Harlem. Below is a link to a Sojourners Blog post that I co-wrote with  Sarah Rohrer, Regional Director for  Bread for the World.

Voices from Human Circles of Protection NYC

Bread for the World Coverage of NYC Human Circle

Bread for the World Nationwide Human Circle Coverage

Be Blessed!

This blog first appeared on the Poverty Initiative Union in Dialogue Blog: A New & Unsettling Force.

Below are two pieces by Poverty Initiative leaders discussing the different contexts in which they have served as chaplains and how this work is connected to the broader movement to end Poverty.  The first is a reflection by Jennifer Wilder about her work with the Union protest chaplains who have been serving in Zuccotti (Liberty) Park for the past several weeks of Occupy Wall Street.   Jenn’s reflection is followed by an excerpt from a reflection that Union alum and Poverty Initiative leader Onleilove Alston wrote about being a chaplain over the years with the Poverty Initiative, “on the field of battle for justice.”

CHAPLAINCY IN ZUCCOTTI PARK FOR ‘OCCUPY WALL STREET’

As I focused on our prayer, I could hear the Occupation Wall Street People’s Mic start not two yards away from us.  Between my eyes half-closed, I could see a camera flash, irreverent yet commonplace at Occupation Wall Street, taking a picture of the two of us.  The lady, (lets call her Glory) who now clasped hands with me in prayer in the middle of roudy Zuccotti Park, had participated that morning in her first-ever protest, which was in Harlem opposing the stop-and-frisk protest policy.  Glory told me her own humiliating experiences of being stopped, frisked, and accused of prostitution.  Glory was pregnant with twins, and she looked forward to telling them what she had done while expecting them to prepare the way for them to have better conditions.

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What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
– James 2: 14-17

Friendly Hands Ministers @ FPWA 2011 Clergy Lobby Day

At 12 noon on Nov. 16,  faith, community and non-profit leaders in New York City will come together for an hour of prayer and action, in the hope of creating a “circle of protection” around Friendly Hands Ministries.

Friendly Hands is a faith-based organization founded by Latino/a clergy to serve New York City’s East Harlem neighborhood through a feeding program, job training, childcare, health care referrals and legal advocacy for immigrants.

Many of the clergy who work with Friendly Hands are Pentecostal and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to take action in their community. In addition to providing direct services the leadership of Friendly Hands has undergone faith-based advocacy training and lobbied in New York’s state capital on behalf of their community. This organization is moving from charity to justice and having a powerful impact in East Harlem.

As we pray for Friendly Hands (which depends on federal EFSP funding from FEMA for it’s feeding program), we will also pray for all the non-profits and human services agencies throughout New York City and our nation that will be directly affected by the Congressional Super Committee and appropriations processes as our lawmakers decide which federal funding to cut and which to preserve.

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Below are words of encouragement that I shared with Lisa Sharon Harper as she moved from her position at NY Faith & Justice to Sojourners. I hope these words can encourage all sisters doing social, justice or organizing work. Be Blessed!

“You may not know it, but I am a princess in disguise. I am a child of the king.”-Amanda Smith, International Evangelist and former slave.

“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” Fannie Lou Hamer

“Truth is powerful and it prevails.” Sojourner Truth

As you continue to work for justice may you:

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