Susquehanna LINK - April 2015


Society of St. Andrew names top contributors By United Methodist Men


NASHVILLE, Tenn.––UM Men of the


Virginia Annual Conference contributed $21,713 to the Meals for Millions Fund of the Society of St. Andrew, the highest total of all U.S. annual conference organizations. Wade Mays, national coordinator of the Meals for Millions Fund, listed the top ten contributors to the 17-year-old fund, during a March 7 meeting of conference presidents of UM Men and conference prayer advocates. Detroit Conference finished a close


second with $20,351. Northern Illinois Conference followed with gifts totaling $19,171. Indiana Conference finished fourth $18,896;


with Baltimore/Washington


Conference was in fifth place with $13,842, followed by Missouri


from 2013; the


Conference with $12,108. Susquehanna Conference finished in


7th place with $9,250 and it was awarded the “Bud the Spud Award” for highest increase


increased funding by a whopping 311 percent.


North Carolina was in 8th place with $5,707, followed by Iowa Conference with $5,205, and Upper New York Conference with $5,080. The


fund establishes gleaning


networks, raises awareness of the extent of hunger in America, and funds hunger relief advocates in 18 annual conferences. In 2014, hunger relief advocates led


2,320 volunteers into farmer’s field to pick up 748 pounds of produce. Gifts to the Meals for Millions Fund provided another 8.2 million servings of fresh produce to the hungry.


“Traffickers fish in pools of vulnerability.” UNICEF Official


By Christine Caffrey Johnson, First Church, Williamsport


T


he Susquehanna Conference Mission and Outreach Team sent a delegation to the General Board of


Church and Society (GBCS) on February 9-11 for a targeted seminar on human trafficking.


Over the two and a half days, Aimee Hong (Director of UM Seminar Program) and her colleague Dave Johnson (UM Seminar Designer/US-2 intern) led us expertly through nine sessions teaching us to connect God’s Word and the United Methodist Church’s Social Principles with human trafficking. We listened, wrestled, engaged, and were equipped to advocate. Human trafficking is now considered


the second largest and fastest growing illegal criminal activity in the world, with an estimated total market value of $32+B (U.N. 2008), and impacts at


least 27


million people globally. In addition to sex trafficking, human trafficking (or modern day slavery) includes labor trafficking (i.e. agriculture, domestic, hospitality) as well as land grabbing and child soldiers. The number of children versus adults being trafficked is on the rise (1 in 3) and overall 75-80% of all trafficked victims are female. We learned there


are many causes including,


poverty, power, greed, and our prevailing rape culture (pornography, abuse, and exploitation).


Rev. Neal


Christie (Assistant Gen. Sec. for Ed. & Leadership Form.) challenged us to live out our principles. Taking us through the Social Principles, we saw how human trafficking resulted from sin against the natural world and the breakdown of community (nurturing, social, economic, political, and world). Susan Burton (Dir. Of Women’s and Children’s Advocacy) and Abby McGill (Int’l. Labor Rights Forum) expanded our view beyond sex trafficking to labor trafficking. We were given homework


to determine how many slaves we each individually had working for us (www.slaveryfootprint.org). After our astonishment, the reality that we can’t even reduce our numbers due to a lack of transparency about sourcing gave us pause as to the scope of the problem. And if counting


our slaves were


not enough, a photo on the screen became a person in our classroom. The documentary (now available via Amazon) “Not My Life” is a thorough overview of the breadth of human trafficking, and its desperate depths of despair by women and men, girls and boys, all over the world who are voiceless. And while up on the screen one might be able to feel distance, when we came face to face with Barbara Amaya, an adult ‘thriver’ (not mere survivor) of sex-trafficking (leaving her abusive upper middle class home at age 12) all bets were off. On our final morning in DC on Capitol Hill we met with staff from Senator Casey’s office. We had received training and we had practiced our plan. Then our small delegation met with two (foreign and domestic) staff that led us into a conference room. We shared from the heart four stories and made four requests for action. We left the Seminar program with a


better understanding of human trafficking. The presentations and stories challenged us to work for justice in the areas of sex and labor trafficking. Advocating for: better law enforcement training so victims are not treated as criminals, stronger support systems for victims, a national transparency act so we can combat slave labor for the goods we buy, advocating for a “safe harbor law” for victims in PA, and encouraging our legislators to support existing proposed laws are all things we can do as individuals and as congregations. The delegation left challenged, but inspired to


tackle the


problem of human trafficking as a witness to our love for God and the challenge to love our neighbor.


The Susquehanna Conference delegation to the General Board of Church and Society’s seminar on Human Trafficking, held in Washington, D.C., in February, were challenged, inspired, and equipped to advocate for the voiceless millions who are oppressed, abused, and exploited through human trafficking.


2017 conference


Iron Shepherd: Meeker looks back on her two years as 1st Armored Division chaplain


By David Burge, El Paso Times Reprinted with permission


A


s Chaplain Lt. Col. Karen Meeker sees her time at Fort Bliss rapidly coming to a close, she can’t help but feel some mixed emotions. It has been a privilege to serve as the 1st Armored Division chaplain and to serve soldiers and their families here at Fort Bliss, Meeker said. But she also knows she will terribly miss all her friends she has made here. “This has been an extraordinary two years,” said Meeker, a 47-year-old native of Shickshinny, Pa. “It has exceeded my expectations in every regard. I will really miss the people of El Paso, their kindness, their friendliness. El Paso and Fort Bliss are a great place to serve.” Meeker became the division chaplain — with the call sign of Iron Shepherd — on Jan. 22, 2013 and she will leave the job during a “Change of Stole” ceremony at 11 a.m. on Feb. 5 at the 1st Armored Division Chapel, 11272 Biggs St. She will be succeeded by Chaplain Lt. Col. Thomas S. Helms III. Helms, an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, most recently served as the action officer for Force Management with the Office of the Chief of Chaplains in Washington, D.C. When Meeker leaves Fort Bliss, she


will deploy to the Middle East this spring for several months and will return to the United States this summer to attend a yearlong fellowship program at the Institute of World Politics in Washington. As the division chaplain, she has overseen 48 chaplains and 48 chaplain assistants who serve in the 1st Armored Division. She has also worked closely with chaplains both at Beaumont Army Medical


Center and with Garrison


Command. Meeker, an ordained [elder from the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist


Church], has some serious


accomplishments both in the Army and athletically that make her stand out. She has completed five Ironman since 2004; climbed


Triathlons Mt.


Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, in December 2012; and has been a pioneer for women in the Army. She is the only woman division chaplain


now in the Army and only the third overall. She was also the first woman chaplain to serve in Special Operations and to qualify as a Jumpmaster and Pathfinder. Her duties at Fort Bliss have kept her pretty busy during the past two years. She did run in the Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range both years she’s been here. She called it “one of the hardest marathon courses in the country.”


One thing she has emphasized is being a mentor and guide for female soldiers, who have seen many combat-related jobs open up in the last two years. “It’s been great to be able to encourage


11


PHOTO: VICTOR CALZADA — EL PASO TIMES. USED WITH PERMISSION


1st Armored Division Chaplain Lt. Col. Karen Meeker will be leaving Fort Bliss in February for a new assignment. She is shown with an image of St. George battling a dragon. St. George is the patron saint of armor.


the next generation to go for those doors that are now open to them, give it shot and break some glass ceilings,” Meeker said. During the past year, she has overseen


and facilitated a program called Sisters in Arms, a networking and mentoring program for female soldiers that was started at Fort Bliss under Maj. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard in 2012. She also helped to organize the first military-only devotional hike up Mount Cristo Rey on Holy Thursday in 2014. There are plans to make it an annual event, she said.


She also remembers Chico, the mascot


for the El Paso Chihuahuas baseball team, and members of the team’s marketing staff showing up at 3 a.m. to greet troops returning from Afghanistan. That exemplifies the incredible bond between El Paso and Fort Bliss, a connection she hasn’t seen at other installations, Meeker said.


“I will miss the people,” Meeker said.


“I made a lot of great friends, but I know a lot of these relationships will endure beyond this.” Chaplain


Maj. Michael Hart, the


division’s Family Life chaplain, said Meeker “has had a profound impact.” “If you talk to anyone in this building (division headquarters), her enthusiasm and her positivity are contagious,” Hart said. “She literally lights up a room.” ____


Chaplain Lt. Col. Meeker


• Education: bachelor’s degree in classics from Bucknell University; a master’s in divinity from Harvard Divinity School.


• Awards: Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal (two oak leaf clusters); Army Commendation Medal (one oak leaf cluster); Joint Service Achievement Medal; Army Achievement Medal (three oak leaf clusters).


Authentic Space is a video resource created by the Young People’s Ministry to equip local congregations to engage young adults in meaningful conversation and inspire faithful young adult ministry. Find it at www.igniteyoungpeople.org


Implement the new Ministry Plan and Initiatives as adopted by the 2012 Annual Conference Session Adjust the structure as necessary to achieve desired results


Begin regional deployment of resources to empower local churches to respond to the plan’s focus


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