March with the Bishops at Lambeth TODAY!

Click here to join the "Virtual March for the MDGs" and get the Jubilee Act through the Senate!

TODAY, the more-than 600 Anglican bishops participating in the decennial Lambeth Conference marched through Central London in a Walk of Witness - a symbolic moment of solidarity and coming together for the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - to reflect to the world God's desire for justice and concern for the poor.

Scroll to the bottom of this post for video of the march from The Daily Telegraph.

Read the Episcopal News Service coverage of the march here.

See coverage of the march on the BBC's website.

Click here for BBC video of the march, including aerial photos.

As a way for Episcopalians at home to participate, the EPPN and Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation are sponsoring a "Virtual March for the MDGs" to coincide with the Lambeth Conference walk. The aim is the same. Only instead of walking through the streets of London, we'll be sending emails to Congressional offices in Washington, D.C. asking them to share our commitment to the MDGs and making poverty history.

As the bishops walk through London, the United States Senate is about to consider one of the most important bills of the last decade to focus on fighting global poverty. The Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Debt Cancellation (S. 2166) would continue the process of canceling the debts of dozens of poor countries around the world so that they can invest in achieving the MDGs. (Click here for comprehensive information about the Jubilee Act from Jubilee USA) The House has already passed the Jubilee Act, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has given the bill its strong bipartisan backing. Senate floor approval is all that remains, but with time tight on the congressional calendar for the remainder of the year, there's no guarantee that the Jubilee Act will receive a vote. That's why your voice is needed to urge action now.

The word Jubilee in the scriptures refers to periods of time in which God commands the children of Israel to free prisoners, release captives, forgive debts, and allow life to return to the equilibrium God intends for it. Today, Jubilee is something very practical for the health and wholeness of our world, as crippling debt burdens are siphoning money from the poorest countries that should be spending it on the health and critical basic needs of their people. The successful Jubilee 2000 movement – which was endorsed by the 1998 Lambeth Conference – resulted in groundbreaking but limited debt cancellation for some poor countries. It taught us that debt relief works, leading to clean water, childhood vaccinations, school enrollment, and fighting HIV/AIDS and malaria. That's why debt relief is one of the spokes of the MDGs, and why it's so important to begin canceling the debts of countries that have seen no debt relief so far and which need it to meet the MDGs by 2015.

The Jubilee Act begins this vital process. Click here to send a message to your Senators urging them to pass this vital legislation immediately.

Click here to download a pdf of the letter Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the bishops and spouses of the Anglican Communion are delivering to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today.

Click here for prayers and bulletin inserts for this Sunday to let your congregation "March with the Bishops"

Click here to email us and let us know if your congregation is participating so we can add you to the list!

The large photos in this post are courtesy of Chris Clement and Mary Frances Schjonberg of Episcopal News Service. The small photo of British PM Gordon Brown and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is from the BBC.

"Advocacy for Abundance" -- by the Micah Challenge

Today's post is from the Micah Challenge, a global Christian campaign to achieve the MDGs. Part of their mission is a weekly prayer emailing like the one you see below. You can receive it in your email box every week send a blank email to regine.nagel@micahchallenge.org with the words 'subscribe prayer' in the subject line.

Reflection

‘If Zambians work like donkeys, why is poverty so rife especially among communities where people work in the morning, at noon and evening?’ asks Lawrence Temfwe from Micah Challenge Zambia, reflecting on a recent article in the national newspaper and a song by a Zambian musician.

One of the reasons, he argues, is the lack of long-term planning: ‘most of our people work that they have food to eat at night.’

In Genesis 41: 25-38 we read of Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream and his recommendation to be good stewards of resources in the years of abundance so to be prepared for the years of famine.

Prayer

Let us pray:

*Lawrence asks us to pray for our political and civil society leaders, that they may ‘provide guidance on how we should live and perform duties in order to profit from the abundant resources God has blessed us with’.

*Next Thursday, July 24, more than 600 Anglican bishops, their spouses and other faith leaders from around the United Kingdom will march through central London on a Walk of Witness - a symbolic moment of solidarity and coming together for the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals to reflect to the world God's desire for justice and concern for the poor.

Please pray for:

*The Micah Challenge team as they help to organise this event and further participate in specific sessions around global poverty issues at the forthcoming Lambeth conference.

*A joint statement that will be issued by the Anglican Communion as a call to action towards achieving the MDGs to world leaders gathered at the UN summit in September.

*The ‘Virtual March for the MDGs’ which is organised by Micah Challenge US steering group member Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation to coincide with the Walk of Witness. The aim is to march virtually by sending emails to Washington, D.C. asking US leaders to share our commitment to the MDGs and halve poverty by 2015.

For more information and to sign up please click here.

Reflecting on the statistic below: we praise God for the progress that was made in achieving education for all by 2015. We pray for continued good national policies and a renewed effort of the international community to invest in basic education which will benefit the poorest of the poor.

Meditate on the Statistics
As you spend time in prayer and reflection, you may like to take a moment to silently understand with your heart the focus statistic we include each week (see below). Our hope is that you will find this series of statistics a useful resource in preparing presentations.

Goal 2: Ensure access to primary schooling for all children

Target 3: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling

‘Primary school enrolment rose from 647 million to 688 million worldwide between 1999 and 2005, increasing by 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and 22% in South and West Asia. As a result, the number of out-of-school children declined, with the pace of this decrease particularly marked after 2002.’

‘The cost of schooling remains a major obstacle to education for millions of children and youth despite the abolition of primary school tuition fees in fourteen countries since 2000.’

‘Illiteracy is receiving minimal political attention and remains a global disgrace, keeping one in five adults (one in four women) on the margins of society.’

‘Aid to basic education in low-income countries more than doubled between 2000 and 2004 but decreased significantly in 2005.’

Source: Education for All by 2015: Will we make It? -
Global Monitoring Report 2008, UNESCO, July 2008