Friday, October 3, 2008

Some Background Info


Hello Folks,

By way of introduction, I am offering a re-worked version of the article I submitted to three of the newspapers in the Carnduff area...

I serve as the minister for the United Churches in Carievale and Gainsborough, Saskatchewan. I will be traveling to Israel and the Palestinian Territories for 14 days at the end of November. There I will learn about and share in the work of the Chrisitan Peacemakers Team (CPT).

Christian Peacemakers Team arose from a call for Christians to devote the same discipline and self-sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war. Participants on CPT delegations join in the on-going work of violence deterrence, accompaniment and documentation, serving as a public witness against violence and oppression. The CPT delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Territories will spend time in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron, as well as other points in the occupied territory of the West Bank.

I arrived in southeastern Saskatchewan in July of 2007, to serve the Gainsborough-Carievale Pastoral Charge of the United Church of Canada as student supply. I study with the Centre for Christian Studies (CCS, WInnipeg) in the Diploma in Diaconal Ministry program. In this current year of studies, one of the foci is to participate in a Global Perspectives Experience (GPE). The GPE provides CCS students with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of themselves through reflection on their theological convictions and their roles in marginalization, oppression and justice-making in the global context.

Upon returning home to North America, I would welcome opportunities to share the stories of this experience.

Blessings,
Rob.

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