Partnering for Change

I've spent the last few days in Winnipeg at a conference called Partnering for Change:  Conversations on Rights, Livelihoods, and Peacebuilding.  I learned a lot about various aspects of international development through the speakers, panel discussions and workshops.  I was challenged in my own thinking and probably left with more questions that I arrived with.  I was reminded again of just how interconnected we all are.

Part of the dilemma in such discussions is one's viewpoint.  When asked to define truth or justice or reconciliation, the answers are very different from a secular perspective versus a Christian perspective.  I would like to say that our end goal is the same, but I can't really say that.  I have collected many great quotes from Martin Luther King Jr, but I think one in particular stands out in this regard:  "All that I do in civil rights I consider a part of my ministry, because I think the gospel in its essence ministers to the whole man. It is not enough to be concerned about the soul of man; you’ve got to be concerned about the body and the environmental conditions, which may scar the soul.”