Nelson Mandela's birthday - BBC News

South Africa celebrates Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday

South Africans are celebrating former President Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday.

His foundation urged people to do 67 minutes of voluntary work on the day - to represent the 67 years he devoted to South Africa's political struggle.

The anti-apartheid icon spent the day with family in his home village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape, where he was also visited by President Jacob Zuma.

[...]

"He showed us that despite the divisive racial oppression and hardships that this nation had gone through, it is not only possible, but necessary to embrace one another and to reconcile the South African people," the president said in a statement.

(the entire article can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14180630)

International Day of Peace

"My experience of conflict is that those who are involved in it long for even a day of peace. To have a day of cessation of violence, that to me is an idea whose time has come." 

Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Today is the International Day of Peace.

(www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/2010/) 

How do we attain it? How can we get to the point where all have a chance to experience peace? And not just temporary, but long-lasting and real peace?

How can we get past just talking about peace and how much we want it (I keep thinking about Miss Congeniality, a movie which shows Miss USA contestants and their brainless answers to the thing that society most needs - see the video!), to finding ways of reaching it? What can we, what can I do, to help all of us experience peace? And what does peace really entail?

Without God our attempts and hopes for peace will be in vain... True peace with ourselves, with others, can't come by our own doing... But it should start with us. God help us. It only comes from Him. 

Article on UCBC and Dr. Kasali

Hi everyone!

Here is a brief article about UCBC and Dr. Kasali that was written by a Duke Divinity professor. It was just published last week and I hope you'll check it out!
http://faithandleadership.com/blog/08-11-2010/jason-byassee-university-presidents-the-congo#comment-2110
Thank you!

Love,
Bethany