Swords into plowshares
About this blog
Swords into Plowshares is the blog of the Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations of the Presbyterian Mission Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Seeking peace. Striving for justice. Together.
Recent posts
- Summer 2013 intern at the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations – Onaje Crawford
- Remarks by Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, U.S. Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs at the United Nations, at a Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict, June 17, 2013
- Together, We Have the Power to Protect the Ocean
- 1 is too many
- A prayer for World Refugee Day
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Summer 2013 intern at the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations – Onaje Crawford
I am Onaje Crawford, a senior at Princeton Theological Seminary who comes to the Presbyterian Church’s UN Office as a Field Education Intern. After graduating from The Taft School, a college-preparatory boarding school in Connecticut, and Boston University, where I a received a Bachelors of Science on Political Science, I returned to my hometown of Newark, NJ in 2004. Since returning home, I have served my community by working in education reform. From 2004 until 2007, I helped plan, open, and operate University Heights Charter School, an award-winning, K-8 school in Newark’s Central Ward. In 2007, I began working with NJ LEEP, the New Jersey Law and Education Empowerment Project. NJ LEEP is a college prep program that introduces students to the study of the law to help them gain admissions to and graduate from the nation’s best colleges and universities. Upon returning home in 2004, I also began preaching at my childhood church, Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, and last July, I was licensed as a minister and pastoral assistant. I am also a newlywed as, in September 2012, my wife, Tahirah, and I were married. Through this field education placement, I hope to learn more about global affairs and and the role the church plays in bringing conflicts to peaceful resolution. Also, by gaining a broader perspective on how the Holy Spirit is moving throughout the world, I hope to gain direction and insight into the future of my ministry and service to God and humanity.
June 17, 2013
Remarks by Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, U.S. Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs at the United Nations, at a Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict, June 17, 2013
This was originally posted by the U.S. State Department.
Thank you, Mr. President, for hosting today’s debate on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC). And thank you, Under-Secretary General Ladsous, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Brandt and Save the Children Associate Vice President Ramm for your remarks. We are also grateful to Ambassador Lucas for her leadership as Chair of the Security Council Working Group and deeply appreciate the devoted work of Special Representative Leila Zerrougi and her team to advance this agenda. And I thank her for her briefing this morning as well.
The United States remains determined to ...
June 17, 2013
Together, We Have the Power to Protect the Ocean
by Anna Folz
UN Conference on World Oceans Day - 8 June 2013
If we are to fully benefit from the oceans, we must reverse the degradation of the marine environment due to pollution, overexploitation and acidification.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Many countries celebrated World Oceans Day following the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly decided that 8 June would be officially designated as “World Oceans Day”. According to the UN website, “The official designation of World Oceans Day is an opportunity to raise global ...
June 17, 2013
1 is too many
We must work together to mobilize the political will and leadership to prevent and end the conflicts that trigger refugee flows. ... Despite budget constraints everywhere, we must not turn away from those in need. Refugees leave because they have no choice. We must choose to help.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
For more than a decade now, cities, states, and countries have celebratedJune 20 is World Refugee Day. Find a prayer by Sera Chung, a prayer by Mark Koenig, and resources from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, invites us to take 1 minute to support a family that has ...
June 16, 2013
A prayer for World Refugee Day
June 20 is World Refugee Day.
Here are resources from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
Here's a prayer:
God of the journey,
We remember that Mary and Joseph
Had to flee to Egypt,
Taking Jesus to safety,
Leaving home behind.
Remembering,
We pray for sisters and brothers
Around your world
Who are forced to leave their homes.
We pray for brothers and sisters who are
Driven from home by natural disasters.
We pray for sisters and brothers who are
Driven from unnatural acts of violence and persecution.
We pray for brothers who are
Driven from home because of inadequate responses to ...
June 16, 2013
A prayer for refugees
A Prayer for Refugees
Almighty and merciful God,
whose Son became a refugee
and had no place to call his own;
look with mercy on those who today
who are fleeing from danger,
homeless and hungry.
Bless those who work to bring them relief;
inspire generosity and compassion in all our hearts;
and guide the nations of the world towards that day
when all will rejoice in your Kingdom of justice and of peace.
Help us in your work, to take the side of the lowly,
to defend the newcomer, to welcome the stranger.
Help us now to befriend the ...
June 13, 2013
Education for Peace: 2013 International Day of Peace
September 21 marks the International Day of Peace this year's theme is Education for Peace.
"It is not enough to teach children how to read, write and count. Education has to cultivate mutual respect for others and the world in which we live, and help people forge more just, inclusive and peaceful societies."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
100-day countdown message to the International Day of PeaceEach year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within ...
June 12, 2013
Three prayer concerns - June 12
Syria
Pray for the people of Syria, where by the end of the year, millions will have been forced to abandon their homes; becoming displaced persons or refugees without access to adequate shelter, food and water. Pray that the UN will receive the money it needs from its member countries to provide aid to suffering Syrians, and that peaceful resolutions to the conflict will soon be found
Haiti
Pray for the people of Haiti, where the cholera continues, having caused the deaths of over eight thousand people and suffering of hundreds of thousands to date. Pray that the global community ...
June 11, 2013
When I was younger ...
by Marissa Costello
When I was younger, I use to joke with my parents that they were forcing me to do child labor for them by carrying two heavy loads of laundry or soda packages.
But child labor is really not something that should not be taken lightly when so many children in the world are deprived of an education and childhood.
On June 12 is World Day Against Child Labour, a day created by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2002. This day is meant to grow worldwide attention to this issue while also reminding us that children around ...
June 11, 2013
Welcome Bryce Wilson
We are pleased to welcome Bryce Wilson to the staff team of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. Bryce graduated from Hope International University in Fullerton, California in 2009 with a Bachelor's degree in Cross-Cultural Business Administration. He writes, "while studying and planning a career in the international nonprofit sector, I began to really question what it meant to be a disciple of the Prince of Peace in a world torn apart by war and violence. It was during this time that I began to feel God calling me to be a peacemaker. After school, my wife and I were married ...