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I want my MDG!
If you go to iTunes.com today, you can download
rapper Jay-Z's latest CD. But if you go to MTV.com you can watch
him addressing -- the global water crisis??
That's right. MTV's Think section has Jay-Z
introducing the work of Water for Life -- and
that's just the beginning of the MDG video resources
available online.
YouTube alone
is a virtual MDGTV station. Start out by checking
the Rev.
Matthew Moretz' (curate at St. Paul's in Yonkers,
NY) videoblog take on the MDGs with a great
candybar demonstration of how much 0.7% really
is.
Then take a look at this
one from Postive Foundations, a MDG awareness
student group at Brandeis University, and this video from the Voices of the Youth
Network at the MDG summit.
One of the great things about YouTube is that you
can respond to a video with a video of your own! This
video and this video about the Stand Up
Against Poverty
event elicited this response and this
one.
Looking for some Episcopal faces? Alex Baumgarten of EPPN/ONE
Episcopalian and Brian
Grieves of Peace
& Justice at 815 are on there, too -- and of
course there's Jeffrey
Sachs.
You can even find an instrumental remix of the ONE Campaign "Click"
ad and this MDG video from the Philippines.
The
Millennium Campaign has a whole page of "Only
With Your Voice" videos with celebrities talking
about the MDGs. And MakePovertyHistory.org
has some great short films, too.
DroppingKnowledge.org
asks people around the world
for their most pressing questions. Look at these
submissions from 4
young women and a general practitioner who live in a slum in
Mumbai, and from two people in Namibia.
Our ELCA friends have a
videoblog of their trip to film a documentary in
Northern Uganda.
Two websites (Big-Picture.TV and LinkTV.net) provide
alternative TV programming that gives plenty of
in-depth, interesting coverage to the MDGs (you
could spend hours on each of those sites). And don't
miss the finalists in the Virtual Slam
Poetry Contest sponsored by Citizens for Global
Solutions.
But don't just watch. Pick up a video camera. Fire
up iMovie.
Make your own MDG video or Powerpoint or FlashMovie
-- then send it to us at EGR, so we can share it
with the world!
| What One Person Can Do |
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Simple ways to commit to the MDGs
in your life. Put 'em in your service leaflet. Stick
'em on your website? Got some of your own? Send 'em to us
so we can share the wealth:
*Pray a MDG a Day. Take MDG 1-7 and assign a
different day of the week to each, then spend time
in your daily devotions in prayer for it. What
about #8? That's the one that makes all of them
happen - so as you pray for your MDG each day lift
up our hope that God will draw us together in new
and wonderful partnerships to make this happen.
*Point and click. First thing every morning, go
to The Hunger
Site. Every unique click each day helps feed the
hungry with the value of 1.1 cups of staple
food.
*Throw a party! Making Poverty History can
be fun! Throw a Bead for Life
party. Host
a ONE Campaign event. Invent an occasion and use
it to educate and energize your friends about the MDGs.
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| Quote of the Week |
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"I never would have imagined that the hottest
ticket at General Convention last summer would be
the hearing on the Anglican Communion. I take that
as a postive sign. We are discovering a deeper
understanding of communion. God has given us such an
opportunity to serve. Of course, the Devil is going
to try and pull us apart.... Look at where the
Anglican Communion has been at its best, helping
end apartheid in South Africa, working for debt
relief legislation, the Decade of Evangelism, and
now holding governments accountable to the U.N.
Millennium Development Goals."
-The
Rev. Dr. Ian Douglas, vice-president of the
board of EGR and member of
Executive Council, at the EC meeting last week.
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Farewell to a friend |
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We were shocked and saddened last week to learn of
the death
of Michael Bryant. Michael was a member of
the EGR
board, a tireless worker and advocate for
the poor and disenfranchised, but most of all,
Michael was a friend.
He was only 62 when he died suddenly while working
in the yard of his Jacksonville-area home on
November 11, but his energy and passion made him
seem even younger than that. For the past 11 years,
he worked for FreshMinistries,
where he was vice
president of domestic programs. He also served on
the MDG committee for the Diocese of Florida and the
Episcopal Network for Economic Justice.
In his work with EGR, Michael continually emphasized
the need to let youth and young adults be at the
center of the MDG movement in the Church -- and to
find any way we could to let their energy flow into
and through this mission.
But more than that, Michael was a source of strength
for us -- a solid, faithful voice and presence. His
calm demeanor helped steady the ship of a young
organization and his subtle humor lightened our
load.
Michael was in all things a faithful servant -- and
like all faithful servants, therein was his joy. We
will miss him dearly, even as we rejoice that in
Christ we will never be separated. We will strive to
live up to his model of faithfulness, passion,
compassion and joy.
Thanks, Michael. Thank you for all you did. And we
thank God for all you were and are.
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