Brewed Awakening

October 2014 - Part Two of Two- Dr. M. Thomas Thangaraj and Richard Knowles

October 2014 - Part One of Two- Dr. M. Thomas Thangaraj and Richard Knowles

November 6, 2014 - Without Borders Human Trafficking Panel with Special Guests Mike McClenahan and Juan-Daniel Espitia

"Opening the Door to a Life Restored – Living with and loving Human Trafficking Survivors" featuring Monica Boseff September 25, 2014

Ebola Hits Home: Humanitarian and Christian responses to the Ebola crisis Guest Lecturers: Lindsay Morgan, Peg Ross, and Bill Massaquoi Brewed Awakening March 17, 2015 Tom Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency is trying to contain the spread of Ebola in West Africa stressing that "an outbreak anywhere is potentially a threat everywhere." “This isn’t a natural disaster. This is the terrorism of poverty,” Paul Farmer, the Harvard professor and co-founder of Partners in Health, told The Washington Post after a recent trip to Liberia. How can we get past the media hype to a deeper understanding of Ebola and its implications for our lives and the lives of those suffering around the world? Come to explore various responses of organizations to the Ebola crisis and to have a dialogue about the means of Christian engagement for those suffering and those trying to help. What should Christians do both in West African countries and here in the U.S.? How should people here (colleagues, a university campus, local churches) respond to people who go to serve in the region and then return?

Rev. Jeanette Salguero provides leadership with Urban Strategies’ efforts to promote national health and wellness initiatives that empower Hispanic communities. She works on projects with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reduce mental health and health care access disparities in the Hispanic community. She also provides leadership in education, outreach, and communications to grassroots organizations including community- and faith-based organizations that assist underserved and underrepresented constituencies. Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, is a powerful voice on issues that affect Latino communities in the United States. Focusing on poverty, immigration, and education, Salguero’s leadership of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC) offers an important voice for growing diversity and changing demographics in our country. Salguero has been named as one of the most prominent Latino evangelical leaders by the Huffington Post, the Center for American Progress, El Diario, and Jorge Ramos’ Al Punto.

Come learn of research that represents the first comprehensive county-wide survey and analysis of San Diegans who depend on the region’s Food Bank. It draws a portrait of the people needing food assistance and seeks to understand the demographic, economic, and social factors driving that need. The FBEI Research team was led by Reaser and Economic Research Associate Dieter Mauerman, and coordinated by FBEI Manager Emily Gallentine who worked carefully with teams of PLNU students to interview 570 households at 13 distribution sites throughout San Diego County. These were a geographically representative sampling of all the communities the Food Bank serves, from coastal cities to as far north as Borrego Springs, and to the Backcountry, San Ysidro, and central San Diego. Reaser commented, “The study results will certainly dispel preconceived notions of who it is the Food Bank is helping because what we have discovered is the face of hunger looks very much like you and me.”

Border Angels are venturing to take care of some of the most marginalized people in our midst.

Every year between 100,000 to 300,000 youth are at risk for falling victim to commercial sexual exploitation with the average age of entry between 12-14 years of age. The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) is a form of sexual abuse by adults in which sexual services are exchanged for money, goods or services to the child or a third person (i.e. a pimp). CSEC may include prostitution, pornography, stripping, etc. It is a form of modern day slavery. STARS (Surviving Together, Achieving and Reaching for Success), is a program of San Diego Youth Services for teen girls between the ages of 12-17 involved with commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. STARS provides support to empower the youth to escape sexual exploitation by developing their inner strengths, building a sense of community and supporting their reintegration into mainstream society.

Green Revolution: Coming together to care for creation Ben Lowe, Evangelical Environmental Network Co-sponsored by PLNU’s Sustainability Taskforce and Students for Environmental Action an Awareness (SEA) Club

Environmental (In)Justice Where the River Meets the Sea: The Shared Ecology of the Tijuana River

"'And what does the Lord require of you?': The ministry of justice and reconciliation in relation to the missio Dei and the missio ekklesia"

Turning Swords into Plowshares: Military veterans promoting peace and opposing war - Barry Ladendorf, Veterans for Peace

"Voices from the Global South"

"Bill McKibben Plenary Session & Panel Discussion"

"Prison of the Mind" by Marion Scherer

"Welcoming the Stranger: Crossing Borders & Reconciling Perspectives on Immigration"

"Sabbath-Jubilee Economics: Putting radical Biblical economics into practice"

"Eating Justice: Food justice, food security and community based agriculture" Ellee Igoe, Community Food Security Coordinator for the San Diego chapter of the International Rescue Committee (IRC)

"Modern Abolitionists: Border interceptions in the 21st century slave trade"

"Friendship at the Border: Developing a cross-border peace park in San Diego/Tijuana"

"What’s the Color of Suffering?: Myths and facts about race/ethnicity and HIV/AIDS in the US”

“Global Warming & the Risen Lord”

"Not on the Backs of Working Families: Economic Justice through Collective Bargaining"

“Slavery in Our Back Yard: Human Trafficking in San Diego”