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
- Hold Sudanese Human Rights Violators Accountable!
- US remarks at high-level talks on trafficking
- Three Prayer Concerns - May 16
- Three Prayer Concerns - May 9
- A New Method of Healing for a Wounded World
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Posts with category: Child soldiers
January 15, 2013Children are children, not soldiers - 11 years on
‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ – Matthew 19:14
February 12, 2013 marks the eleventh anniversary of the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.
Find worship resources, ideas for participating in the Red Hand Campaign, and suggestions for further study for this occasion. 
They may be used at any time.
UNICEF estimates that more than 300,000 children – boys and girls under the ...
January 13, 2013
Scouts say "No Child Soldiers"
On 18 December, Boy Scout Troop 351 from Shawnee, Kansas, joined the effort to end the use of children as soldiers around the world.
Each member of the "Purple Chicken" Troop made a red hand print on purple (it is their color!) paper. They added a message of hope and peace.
Thanks to the scouts and their leaders for joining the international Red Hands advocacy effort to build the consensus that will lead to the day when children are children, not soldiers. Troop 351's red hands will be sent to UN missions of member states that have yet to ...
January 2, 2013
Welcome aboard, Agape House
From Chicago they came in mid-December, a bold crew sailing the pirate ship Revenge to adventures at Turtle Bay and nearby points of interest. They made anchor at Old Bergen Church in Jersey City and clambered aboard the local trains to make their way to their berth at Jan Hus Presbyterian Church. They spent two days engaged in variety of activities with the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.
To put it another way:
On December 18 and 19, a group from the Agape House Campus Ministry at the University of Illinois Chicago drove by van to New York for ...
December 2, 2012
Actions for the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
UN Resources:
- Slavery Abolition Day
- Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking
- Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking
PC(USA) Resources:
Prayer:
Prayer (Jer. 31:15-17 adapted)
A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.
But God, you say to us:
Keep your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears;
for there is a reward for your work.
God, as you have promised, so we pray,
that exiles shall come ...
November 13, 2012
Some ideas for action: World Day of Prayer and Action for Children
Work to end the use of children as soldiers
The Red Hand Campaign calls for universal ratification and enforcement of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. The goal is for every country in the world to ratify the optional protocol by 2012, the tenth anniversary of treaty.
Call President Obama to send the Convention on the Rights of the Child to the Senate for advise and consent
The United States has signed, but not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The U ...