Earth Day Sunday: Next Generation Rising

Each year, Creation Justice Ministries offers Christian education materials to equip faith communities to protect, restore, and more rightly share God's creation.

Our 2019 theme is "Next Generation Rising" and focuses on children and youth leading the way for creation justice. This resource will feature stories such as that of the youth who brought the Our Children's Trust climate change lawsuit against the federal government.

​To connect with others who are planning Earth Day Sunday activities, join the Earth Day Sunday 2019 Facebook Event.

Special thanks to our team that made this resource possible, and a special thank you to the team coordinator who organized and invested countless hours in making our resource a possibility this year. Thank you Kathy Smith of the Baptist Creation Care Initiative.

DOWNLOAD RESOURCE

TAKE ACTION
Let us know if you take action: info@creationjustice.org

FEATURED ACTION
The Justice for #EachGeneration campaign calls for more than a thousand sermons in solidarity with the 21 youth who have taken our federal government to court over climate change.

Clergy and youth are encouraged to make a pledge to preach a sermon in the coming months. 

Liturgical resources and updates are provided. Help us spread the word about the challenge on social media. It is a ongoing campaign throughout 2018.

Learn More at www.eachgeneration.org

WAYS TO TAKE ACTION WITH THE YOUTH YOU KNOW

1. Write Letters to a young person in your life. Encourage them to express their commitment to addressing environmental issues and share those letters in worship.
2. Make a Video with the youth of your congregation urging others to take action.
3. Plant a Tree in your backyard or even organize a tree planting ceremony for the community surrounding your church.
4. Send a Kid to Camp so they can learn to care for the earth through gardening and animal husbandry.

How to Teach Teens About Human Trafficking

Victims of human trafficking – modern slavery – perform labor or commercial sex acts by force, fraud or coercion. Many victims are children.

While human trafficking occurs nationwide and to people of all socioeconomic levels, runaway and homeless youth are among the vulnerable, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

"Numerous exploiters have talked about the fact that they do target schools," says Jeneé Littrell, administrator of safe and supportive schools for the San Mateo County Office of Education in California. "It's a place where young children are, and young children are vulnerable."

Teens can go through many typical stages that could put them at risk, like starting to seek external validation as well as independence from the family, says Littrell, who was the lead author of "Human Trafficking in America's Schools," a 2015 guide from the Department of Education.

It's critical for schools to educate staff and students about human trafficking, Littrell says. There could be student victims or others being recruited. Schools are filled with caring adults who have relationships with students who can help young people in need of assistance, she says.

High school officials can use the following strategies to build awareness of human trafficking.

1. Make sure staff understand human trafficking: Teachers don't need to be human trafficking experts, but they should know what modern slavery is, how it happens in their community, what to look for and who to turn to if there is a student they are concerned about or a victim comes forward.

Some of the warning signs: Students with bruises, tattoos or branding and unexplained trends in absences. For example, if a student is often absent on Monday and Friday it may be because their exploiter is making them travel to different locations.

2. Integrate human trafficking education into the curriculum: Modern slavery lessons naturally fit into a lesson about the history of slavery, says Littrell.

She recommends educators check out the following organizations that deal with human trafficking education: the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, 3Strands Global Foundation, Protect and Love146.

When looking for outside organizations or experts to bring in to discuss this issue, school officials should look for individuals and groups with a service provider background, who know how to use appropriate terminology, are mindful of students who have experienced trauma and strive to create a safe environment.

3. Be aware of school culture when discussing human trafficking: Educators don't want to unintentionally increase the risk for young people on campus when discussing human trafficking, says Littrell.

Always be mindful of physical and emotional safety when discussing this topic, she says. There could be networks on campus and often human trafficking is related to gang activity.

For example, say there is a student who is a victim of trafficking and people on campus know. A teacher might have a seemingly innocent conversation with the victim, but the exploiter might learn of this and the student could then face retaliation. 

Littrell got involved with human trafficking education a number of years ago while working for a school district in the San Diego area. School staff started to notice that local students were being recruited into human trafficking rings and being exploited.

Human trafficking education should be tailored to the community and not just involve a one-off lesson or assembly, she says – it needs to be a whole-school approach.

Original article posted on US News and World Report

Living Laudato Si

Christmas reminds us of a creator God who needed the warmth of his creation.  Christmas is a time of gathering, exchanging hugs, love, and tenderness.  For that reason, the youth of the parish Reina de los Cielos in Los Olivos (Lima, Peru), organized a Recycling Campaign for Christmas.  Energized by Pope Francis, the youth from the nine different youth groups which make up the youth ministry, invited the entire community to participate with simple acts of recycling, reducing, and reusing. 

Last year, through studying the encyclical Laudato Si, many youth leaders were asking how they could apply the recommendations of Pope Francis within the parish community.  I remember that there were a lot of ideas presented, but one of the most concrete was to do a “collect everything” (aka recycle).  So that’s what we did, and it went really well!  This action was even stronger this year, since Pope Francis incorporated the care of creation as the eighth work of mercy. 

While this work challenges us, I can also say that it offers us a true opportunity for hope.  To see the youth recycling and saying “this can be recycled” is amazing.  It offers a living witness.  How wonderful it is to watch them taking the care of creation into every decision, living it out in their youth events where they are reducing the use of non-recyclable materials.  There is still a lot of work to do to restore our relationship to the planet, and that includes in the parish, but it is really beautiful to see the youth saying, “Laudato Si,” when they choose to recycle, reduce, or reuse! 

I would like to thank each member of the youth communities of Eje San Martin, Vida en Cristo, Nuevo Amanecer, Lumen Gentium, JAE, Eje Villa Sol, San Francisco, Caphonu y Juventus for having started an honest commitment to protect God’s creation.  It is also worth mentioning that the funds from the sale of the recycled materials collected in this campaign will be used to help provide Chocolatadas (Christmas parties) provided for children and the elderly in various marginalized communities throughout Lima.   

By Sr. Katty Huanuco

Sister Story Highlight: Sr. Mary Kay McKenzie

This month’s featured sister is our dear Sr. Mary Kay McKenzie.  Sr. Mary Kay joined the Congregation in 1958.  She grew up in Normandy, MO less than two miles from where she currently lives.  Sr. Mary Kay was educated as a math teacher, and served in that capacity for the majority of her life.  She has taught high school math at Chappelle High School in New Orleans, St. Mary’s High School in Amarillo, TX, Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis, MO, and taught 10 years at the University of Missouri St. Louis (UMSL).  After a long teaching career she worked with Habitat for Humanity in St. Louis as their project manager for five years, and then did similar work in East St. Louis for another five years. 

Given her long history teaching in high schools it is no surprise when Sr. Mary Kay says that she loves teenagers.  She especially loves working with teenagers who initially feel defeated, and she can accompany them in building up their self-esteem and creating a bigger vision for their lives.  Although Sr. Mary Kay is officially retired, she still dedicates four days a week to working with teenagers as a math tutor.  Two days a week she is at Incarnate Word Academy and two days a week she is at Innovative Concept Academy. 

Innovative Concept Academy is a high school created by Judge Jimmie Edwards as an alternative for youth who have gotten in trouble with the law rather then send them to jail or juvenile detention.  This is concrete response to mass incarceration and the school to prison pipeline.  Those who are kicked out of traditional schools have the opportunity to continue their education instead of entering the criminal justice system.  Speaking about her work at ICA she shares, “I enjoy helping where it’s really needed.  I love when these kids who’ve been put down in school their whole lives start catching on and realizing how smart they really are when they get the right support and encouragement.” 

Sr. Mary Kay has also been a member of the International Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Committee for the past three years.  She enjoys the opportunity this provides her to build and strengthen relationships with members of the Congregation in Mexico and Peru as well as practice her Spanish.  Outside of the JPIC Committee she gets to do this work as an English tutor when Mexican and Peruvian sisters come to St. Louis to learn English.

As a member of the JPIC Committee Sr. Mary Kay was a lead organizer for the St. Louis workshops on Laudato Si and Sustainability last year, as well as the workshop on Human Trafficking two years ago.  She also helps set the goals of the JPIC Committee each year and supports the JPIC Office in meeting those goals.  Inspired by Laudato Si, Sr. Mary Kay is working on building her own rain barrels to collect and save water, and assisting other sisters who are interested in doing the same.  

As you can see, her passion for helping where it’s needed extends beyond the classroom to the various JPIC projects of the Congregation.  She is a gift to all who know her and are blessed to work with her, and we are grateful for her service on behalf of young people and on behalf of JPIC throughout the world!