A Faith Based Perspective on Poverty in Zimbabwe

 

By Tafadzwa Chikawa; reprinted with permission; first published for United Methodist Church, Church and Society

 

(Church and Society Note:  Church and Society welcomes guest writer Tafadzwa Chikawa, recent graduate of Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe and Church and Society Intern working from Zimbabwe. Tafadzwa has agreed to write a series of articles on social justice concerns in Mutare, Zimbabwe.)

 

King David United Methodist Youth take action visiting Gwese Circuit and extending support and community help.

 

Growing up in Mutare, Zimbabwe, I came to understand poverty not as a distant concept but as an everyday struggle experienced by people I knew and served. As a youth leader in the United Methodist Church’s King David Circuit, I was raised in a community that emphasized faith in action. Through this foundation, I was shaped by our church’s consistent outreach work, particularly to Gwese Circuit, a rural United Methodist congregation in Mutare Rural District.

Thirsting for Justice Under Empire

 By Kathy Kelly

Reprinted with permission; first published for World BEYOND War, June 19, 2025; https://worldbeyondwar.org/thirsting-for-justice-under-empire/

 

“To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace.” – Tacitus, recorded in Agricola, 98 AD

Here in NYC, while participating in a Veterans for Peace and Allies forty day “Fast for Gaza,” we’ve felt horror over reports of Gazans deliberately deprived, in a mass starvation campaign, of water. Even if they survive the attacks on food distribution sites and manage to obtain a box containing lentils and flour, how will they prepare food without water?

Why I Am Not a Christian Zionist

 

By Destiny Magnett

 Reprinted with permission; originally published for ChristianZionism.org, https://www.christianzionism.org/whynot-essay-magnett?;

June 10, 2025

 

 I grew up in the heartland of America – Topeka, Kansas. The landscape was a melting pot of Evangelical Christianities that steeped into the culture. I knew few people from non-Christian traditions and found myself defaulting to interpretations of the world that were the same as those around me, boiling down to an Evangelical worldview. Looking back, Christian Zionism was not an especially active force in the world I knew, but it was certainly still influential. It was not uncommon for maps to leave out the occupied Palestinian territory, or for the people around me to make conflations between Biblical Israel and the modern day nation state. This was not something I initially questioned. After all, Israel/Palestine felt so very far away.

Mapping Militarism 2025

By David Swanson, reprinted with permission; first published for World BEYOND War, May 22, 2025

 https://worldbeyondwar.org/mapping-militarism-2025/?

 World BEYOND War has just released its 2025 edition of Mapping Militarism, which uses 24 interactive maps to highlight the state of war and peace on our planet. Each map allows the viewer to spin the globe, zoom in and out, scroll the timeline back through the years, or switch from map view to list view. Try it. (Editor's Note:  the interactive maps are only available on the worldbeyondwar.org link)

Volunteering at Tent of Nations, 2025 Faith in the Face of Futility Or: the Joy of International Connection

 

By Hannah Breckbill

 

Reprinted with permission; first published Feb. 19, 2025 for Humble Hands Harvest.  See Blog: www.humblehandsharvest.substack.com

 

                                                    (Humble Hands Harvest)

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been spending my days with the same 6 fellow volunteers on a farm near Bethlehem in Palestine. Five of them are from Europe and in their 60s and 70s and the other is my age and from Australia. All of them are delightful and impressive and committed and kind. Two have lived in income-sharing intentional communities. Three are active on climate justice, participating in big direct actions in European capitols. One is a Christian theologian by training, another an electrical engineer, another an interior designer. Another spent a big portion of his life as a squatter. I am a farmer.

Vietnam, Truth, and Reconciliation 50 Years Later

 

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, April 11, 2025; reprinted with permission

https://worldbeyondwar.org/vietnam-truth-and-reconciliation-50-years-later/

 

Approaching 50 years since the end of the American War, as the Vietnamese call it, and something over 70 years since the start of it, depending when you start the clock, truth and reconciliation remain incomplete. I don’t mean for the people of Vietnam, who seem, from what little I know, in general to have a better grasp of both truth and reconciliation than the U.S. government or corporate media. I also don’t mean truth and reconciliation between governments, which really don’t traffic in either. I mean truth and reconciliation within the United States.

Palm Sunday Procession and Service for Peace Sunday, April 13, 2025 in Des Moines Metro

 By IPN Coordinator

 

What has become an annual observance, a Palm Sunday Procession and Service for Peace was held Sunday, April 13, at the New Beginnings Christian Church in Urbandale.  Walkers gathered at 2:40 pm and were given palms if they had not already brought some, and signs were offered which read different Scriptures or spiritual sayings, related to Jesus coming in peace and teaching peace.

Nonviolent Peaceforce Works All Over the World

 By Tiffany Easthom; adapted and reprinted with permission; first published for Nonviolent Peaceforce newsletter, January 2025

 I know there's a great sense of anxiety about the immense challenges we face in the world today. Every generation confronts its own crises, yet this moment feels particularly profound. Escalating conflicts, climate change, technological advancements like artificial intelligence, and shifting political landscapes are reshaping our world.

Iowa Voices on Being An Ally to Marginalized Groups

 

by David E. Drake, D.O.; reprinted with permission by author; published in the Des Moines Register, Sun., March 16 in Opinion.

 

In this chaotic, scary, even dangerous time I decided to explore the role/importance of allies to marginalized groups as they face discrimination in housing, in the work place, deportation, and family upheaval. I appreciate the definition of ‘ally’ as “a person or group that gives help to another person or group.” (Britannica Dictionary)

CPT- Palestine Film “Light” Screened in DM Sun., Feb. 23

By IPN Coordinator

 

Sunday, February 23, 2025, CPT (Community Peacemaker Teams) , IPN (Iowa Peace Network), and CPM (Catholic Peace Ministry) as well as other sponsors welcomed persons to a free screening of “Light,” a movie produced and filmed by CPT- Palestine.  It was held at the Des Moines Mennonite Church on the northwest side of Des Moines, and began at 6:30 PM.  Approximately  45 persons viewed the movie and stayed for discussion and fellowship.