Did you know? Nations Journal Vol. 3 is heading to the printers next week, and it’s a beauty! We’re thrilled to share stories with you about downward mobility, spiritual imagination, stubborn hope, and solidarity in community.
The stories and photos in this volume traverse the globe, from India to the Southside of Chattanooga. We traveled to Moldova, Germany, and Southern Mexico to speak with community leaders, displaced people, and subsistence farmers. We interviewed Shane Claiborne, a new monastic, and Eric So, a pastor who moved in with refugees. And we learned the power of witness from an ISIS survivor who uses her voice to free others.
We can’t wait to put a copy in your hands in two weeks. Read on for a sneak peek into the issue. (And if you haven’t pre-ordered—what are you waiting for? Purchase Nations Journal HERE .)
On dreaming toward the kingdom:
“‘I think we are called to live with imagination. We’ve been given gifts for a reason—to use them in ways that liberate and speak life to other people, whether we’re a carpenter, schoolteacher, gardener, or nurse. …I think that’s also what it means to seek first the kingdom of God as Jesus talked about. We’re not just trying to find the job that pays the bills, but we’re actually trying to do something redemptive with our gifts and living for something that’s bigger than us.’”
– Prophetic Imagination: An Interview with Shane Claiborne
On downward mobility:
“Often we are climbing ladders in pursuit of righteousness while Jesus beckons from below to come back down. I think the invitation is this: to posture ourselves next to Him in places of pain and hardship.”
– Letter from the Editor
On restoring dignity to rural communities:
“The God who breaks the yoke of emigration, poverty, and shame is the God who renews all of creation, down to the seedlings pushing up through the earth. Promoters like Alier have rescued manual farm work from its stigma. Instead of toiling as migrant laborers in fields thousands of miles away, they are building a life from their own soil, putting down roots, and calling the work beautiful. ‘We are making that link between creation, between God’s Word, and nature. We are stewards of His work,’ says Alier.”
– No One Will Make Them Afraid
On speaking out of suffering:
“With such a potent testimony, it’s risky for Ekhlas to speak out in a public space; her voice has engraved a target on her back in the eyes of ISIS. Yet she continues to speak. ‘I do understand that is can be dangerous, but I have a responsibility now because I represent a people. I represent those who are kidnapped still in captivity. My faith has taught me not just to defend myself, but to defend others as well. I will never surrender, no matter what happens.’”
– Courage to Witness
On the long road of reconciliation:
“What is needed for true reconciliation is something greater than physical relocation; what is needed is solidarity. Reconciliation requires embracing empathy with all of its baggage. Reconciliation is a grind, not a fad or multiplicative tactic.”
– Solidarity in the Southside
Your support makes it possible to lift up the voice of reformers around the world. Thanks for reading Nations Journal.
