Tag Archives: MSA

Mark your calendar: Living Simply with Kids Workshop

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The Revolution Starts at Home: Living Simply with Kids

This will the the first in a series of workshops and conversations related to homegrown revolution, alternative living, sustainability, cultural awareness, social justice and other holy mischievous act of resistance and creativity.

For those of us trying to live an intentional Christian life kids can be both and inspiration and a frustration. We want to live out an alternate script from what society has written for us but it often seems like when it comes to our kids we’re on our own and have to start from scratch (which of course we don’t have time for, we’re parents!)

In this conversation we will be exploring together simplicity, sustainibility, whole-life faith, justice, life-long learning, and healthy parenting. And discovering how these issues affect the way we live with our kids and in the greater community.

Facilitated by Ricci Kilmer & Eliacín Rosario-Cruz

Hosted by Mustard Seed Associates and Mustard Seed House

  • When? October 11th, 2008 | 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
  • $10 Donation | Register online
  • Soup and bread lunch provided.
  • Please come and bring a snack to share and your own drinks.

Women in the Third World

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MSA Seed Sampler for the month of July is out. This issue is focused on Women in the Third World.

Women in the Third World – Seed Sampler 08

The status of women varies enormously from one part of the world to another, but there are few places in which it is equal to that of men. Crushing poverty overlaid with long standing patterns of discrimination can create living conditions for women almost too harsh to imagine for those of us living in Western industrialized nations. Seven out of ten of the world’s hungry are women and girls. Worldwide women grow about half of the world’s food, but own only 1% of the world’s property and receive only 10% of the world’s income.

These inequalities have dire consequences for all of society, today and in the future. Women profoundly impact the well-being of their families, communities and local environment. They often have greater influence than men on population growth rates, infant and child mortality, health and nutrition, children’s education, and natural resource management. The articles in this issue of the Seed Sampler focus on the areas where women need the most help, which correspond to specific geographical areas (although the issues are not exclusive to these areas): sex trafficking in Asia, community development in Latin America, reproductive health in Africa and gender-based violence in the Middle East.

Unfortunately most development projects are targeted towards men and those that are directed at women are often small, scattered and peripheral to the main aims of development. Jesus, however, demonstrated respect for women, granting them privileged places in his life and illustrating their equal worth with men. These women have God-given dignity and worth, equal to that of men, granted at creation and deriving from the image of God which is neither male nor female. They are worthy of our concern and our ongoing commitment to see them become all that God intends them to be.

Shalom,
Christine Sine

Articles

Organizations

Agros International
MEDA
World Concern, Women of Purpose
Mercy Ships International
Grameen Bank
Not For Sale Campaign
Stop the Traffik
Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children

Books

Invitation to Celtic Prayer Retreat

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17th Annual MSA Celtic Prayer Retreat 2008

When: Saturday August 9, 2008 (some of us camp from Friday to Sunday, Aug. 8-10)
Where: Camano Island, WA (map)
There are times when we need space. . . space to breath, hear and respond, space for transformation and renewed clarity in our lives. Join us for all or part of our weekend Celtic prayer retreat on a wild piece of land on south Camano Island. On this spacious and undeveloped piece of land, we will set aside the busy clutter in our lives and greet a quiet space for prayer and renewal. Following the Celtic Christian tradition, this retreat will incorporate the rhythms of work and rest, community and solitude, prayer and biblical study.
Throughout the day, we will meditate on scripture and listen for the movement of the Spirit in our lives. Encounter God as we walk the Labyrinth and the Prayer Trail. Help us care for the land and prepare our outdoor sanctuary for worship. Spend time in community worship and sharing a pot-luck at lunch and BBQ dinner. There will be time for silent retreat and rest. The day will end with the Eucharist celebration and pot-luck BBQ. Truly, this will be a spiritual retreat to restore rhythm in our lives, rebuild our souls and renew our call out into the world.

Register Online Here

Jonny Baker reviews The New Conspirators Book

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jonnybaker: jesus’ empire of the mustard seed – tom sine is back in classic fashion


the-new-conspirators-cover1.jpgTom (Sine) maps the current new things happening with a mapping of four movements whose edges are blurred and overlap – emerging, mosaic, new monastic, and missional and he is enthusiastic about them all (i agreed with shaine clayborne’s hesitation in the foreword that the book runs the risk of making some of us young tykes look too good, better than the reality – but what a refreshing change!) weaving stories he has gleaned into the mix. he does carefully issue a few challenges on the way – for example he loves the creativity in emerging church but wonders why it tends to get focused on worship and church rather than taken outside the walls. he also wonders if those of us who like the postmodern world haven’t got our imaginations too shaped by the consumer dream of cool – these are great challenges and need to be responded to.

he follows the opening section mapping the new conspirators with conversations about culture and what the future challenges might be. woven into this is a view of god’s future that is wonderfully inspiring. in much the same way as i enthused about tom wright’s book a while back, this book also lays out a vision of a future for the earth that is healed when god’s kingdom comes. one of the things i have always found challenging and inspiring about tom and christine is their imagination. in the face of the consumer culture and the busyness and drain on resources so many of us face they suggest communal responses in relation to housing, resources, and neighbourhood. it takes courage to take these on board, but this is precisely the kind of imagining christian communities should engage in. in fact the last section of the book, taking our imaginations seriously, was definitely my favourite – story after story and idea after idea are laid out so that you can’t help feeling that as tom puts it all of life is a design opportunity to be co-creators with god. at the end of it, because the whole approach is inspired by jesus’ story of the mustard seed where something grows from a tiny seed, you think that even i could do something really really small and see what happens…

Read full review…