tEAm news #76 | 9.3.22
“Love is the ultimate revelation, the final sanctuary.”
A sanctuary, means a sacred place where people worship God. Over the centuries, this term is now categorised into human sanctuary, a safe place for people who seek asylum.
If we assume sanctuary is a physical place, it may be a place where the supreme holiness encounters and dispels persecuted and oppressed power. This paradox just perfectly explains why love is the ultimate revelation, the final sanctuary, that God had welcome us unreservedly into His love.
Dates
MOMENT OF PRAYER - Mondays 9-9:15: a moment to pause and pray for our work & team. All welcome!
Next week - please bring either a candle or a phone torch!
Link here (Meeting ID: 708 452 7633 Passcode: empathy)March - Women’s Day campaign is ON and see beneath.
VOLUNTEER HELP NEEDED FOR:
26-27th June: Wally Hall, Sevenoaks The Poverty Trap (TPT) day programme (also 0.5 day of Empathy Exercises)
28-29th June: Canford School, Wimbourne TPT (overnight)
30th June: Empathy Exercises, Sevenoaks School
30th June - 2nd July: Desperate Journeys (2 room version), Sevenoaks School
IF YOU ARE AVAILABLE - PLEASE LET US KNOW. Sign Up Sheets will be live in the coming weeks but an early indication would be (very!) gratefully appreciated! We’re looking to assemble 3 delivery teams.
OTHER
St Johns Primary School: Empathy Exercises (TBC)
Sept 2022: TPT: Activate Learning (TBC)
Michaelmas Term: Sevenoaks School, TPT for Year 8s (TBC)
Peace Day (around 21st Sept) Handicrafts campaign
Climate Justice Week (Nov, TBC)
Welcome to Women’s Month!
Throughout March, we want to celebrate women with you. We believe this is a great chance to highlight just some of the incredible women that inspire us across the globe, and also those who empower us, closer to home.
Launching on International Women’s Day, our aim is to recognise and celebrate those women who inspire us. She could be someone you know personally, someone you work with or someone you’ve never met but look up to; this is the time to let her know.
We’ll be focusing on two products for the campaign. More at: www.empathyaction.org/womensmonth
which we feel represent the beauty of a women in her simplest form. Whether this be the support she provides, her instinct to nurture, her generosity, her vulnerability, or your confidence to trust in her.
which stand for so much more: the power to instigate change in the face of adversity, her unequivocal resilience, her courage and bravery whether on a smaller or international scale, or her ability to fight for what she believes in.
One more thing…
EA will donate 50% of all proceeds from this campaign to go to our friends at RefugEase who are supporting current humanitarian aid efforts in and around Ukraine 🇺🇦.
You can help by:
sharing our social media posts and
encouraging people to take part in the campaign over the month.
FOR WHATSAPP SHARING (please cut and paste):
“WHO IS SHE?” Call out courage, bravery and some(!) about the women who inspire us. This month Empathy Action is running a campaign to share powerful & personal stories to help celebrate Women throughout the month of March. Choose a gift, provide some words (short stories, moments to celebrate that can be handwritten on a postcard) and an address… we’ll gladly do the rest and proudly be the messenger for these stories that we all need to say & hear to help celebrate women this month. Thank you and more here: https://bit.ly/EACelebrateWomen (also supporting Ukraine aid efforts with our friends, RefugEase)
Thank you Vanya!
Other Updates
ENORMOUS Thanks to Vanya!
She’s been a valuable part of the EA team this year preparing & sending Team News and leading the Moment of Prayer each week since the beginning of the year. She goes to study Arts & Trauma course next before heading back to Taiwan. Ben & Trevor will be taking her back this Friday…. we’ll miss you Vanya, thank you and please come back!
Do you know anyone who is getting rid of their car?
Matt Gurney (EA Co-Founder) is looking for one to replace their one which gave up it’s ghost last week. He’s asked whether we could kindly let him know if we do. Thank you!
DJ 2-Room Simulation
The 2-Room version of Desperate Journey took place last week. Trevor, Ben, Richard and Vanya presented it and three participants joined (including Pene!)
It’s been great to practice this new(er) version that is staged with less people and set.
We’ll be practicing regularly most Fridays ahead of trialing this with clients in the summer. Watch this space for callouts for participants (we’d especially to love to invite prospective volunteers or people who just ‘need to experience it’ to get a better flavour of our work.)
DESTINyATION - Experimental Refugee Workshop
On 6th March, we hosted DESTINyATION, an immersive and interactive drama workshop that is written and presented by Vanya Chung for 26 people.
The interactive drama worked really well for the group and setting from the round forum to the atmosphere and drama and scenes. 10 participants played a role in the displacement journey and there were some great performers.
The group shared some powerful responses in the time Ben led the debriefing and we sent out 25 Friendship Bracelets and encourage them to carry on befriending to the refugees who are coming to the UK.
Supporting Ukraine
We’re hearing of multiple ways that support Ukraine and hearing of communities that are mobilising support. If we hear of noteworthy efforts, we shall let you know.
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This week, Heather Williams shares the information (from her friend Jeremy Marshall’s Facebook page) about how we can support new arrivals from Ukraine:
With 1.5m refugees on the move west this is Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since 1945.... Some good news now.... Krish Kandiah has put a new initiative to “prime the pump” for individuals and churches to sponsor Ukrainian refugees to reach the U.K.
Details of the scheme have yet to be announced (please join me in writing to your MP asking them to accelerate it) so this simply flags your interest once the scheme is announced. You can do that here https://sanctuaryfoundation.org.uk/
On the website, you may find some potential ways that you could be involved include:
Welcoming a Ukrainian family to live in your community
Finding and possibly furnishing suitable accommodation
Raising of support funds
Befriending and integration support through volunteering your time
If you believe you may be able to help, please fill in your details on the form below. With this information we can encourage the government that there is public support for the project.
Or you may share it with many more people you know who care! Thank you!
“Peace is a luxury in this world, and love is the only way to achieve it.” - Vanya