Podcasts about united nations high commission

On this Live Greatly podcast episode, Kristel Bauer sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Ross White to discuss his new book The Tree That Bends: How a flexible mind can help you thrive.  They talk about how to cultivate a flexible mind and how to go after your goals in a way that supports your happiness and well-being.  Tune in now! Key Takeaways From This Episode: A look into the book, The Tree That Bends: How a flexible mind can help you thrive The keys steps to truly thrive Why you should clarify your purpose What is the conforming zone? What is the transforming zone? What is the arrival fallacy A look into the technique the roving reporter About Ross White: Professor Ross White is an award-winning clinical psychologist who specializes in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of adults working in high-performance environments. Including elite-level athletes in rugby, football, athletics and tennis. He is also an expert in global mental health and has conducted research in collaborations with the World Health Organization and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees on interventions for reducing distress experienced by refugees in the aftermath of humanitarian crises. He is currently Professor of Clinical Psychology at Queen's University Belfast, and is a director of Strive2Thrive, a training and consultancy.  Connect with Dr. Ross White: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-ross-g-white/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rossgwhite/  Buy Dr. Ross White's book HERE About the Host of the Live Greatly podcast, Kristel Bauer: Kristel Bauer is a corporate wellness and performance expert, keynote speaker and TEDx speaker supporting organizations and individuals on their journeys for more happiness and success. She is the author of Work-Life Tango: Finding Happiness, Harmony, and Peak Performance Wherever You Work (John Murray Business November 19, 2024). With Kristel's healthcare background, she provides data driven actionable strategies to leverage happiness and high-power habits to drive growth mindsets, peak performance, profitability, well-being and a culture of excellence. Kristel's keynotes provide insights to “Live Greatly” while promoting leadership development and team building.   Kristel is the creator and host of her global top self-improvement podcast, Live Greatly. She is a contributing writer for Entrepreneur, and she is an influencer in the business and wellness space having been recognized as a Top 10 Social Media Influencer of 2021 in Forbes. As an Integrative Medicine Fellow & Physician Assistant having practiced clinically in Integrative Psychiatry, Kristel has a unique perspective into attaining a mindset for more happiness and success. Kristel has presented to groups from the American Gas Association, Bank of America, bp, Commercial Metals Company, General Mills, Northwestern University, Santander Bank and many more. Kristel has been featured in Forbes, Forest & Bluff Magazine, Authority Magazine & Podcast Magazine and she has appeared on ABC 7 Chicago, WGN Daytime Chicago, Fox 4's WDAF-TV's Great Day KC, and Ticker News. Kristel lives in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area and she can be booked for speaking engagements worldwide. To Book Kristel as a speaker for your next event, click here. Website: www.livegreatly.co  Follow Kristel Bauer on: Instagram: @livegreatly_co  LinkedIn: Kristel Bauer Twitter: @livegreatly_co Facebook: @livegreatly.co Youtube: Live Greatly, Kristel Bauer To Watch Kristel Bauer's TEDx talk of Redefining Work/Life Balance in a COVID-19 World click here. Click HERE to check out Kristel's corporate wellness and leadership blog Click HERE to check out Kristel's Travel and Wellness Blog Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are intended for informational and educational purposes only. Always seek the guidance of your physician for any recommendations specific to you or for any questions regarding your specific health, your sleep patterns changes to diet and exercise, or any medical conditions.  Always consult your physician before starting any supplements or new lifestyle programs. All information, views and statements shared on the Live Greatly podcast are purely the opinions of the authors, and are not medical advice or treatment recommendations.  They have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration.  Opinions of guests are their own and Kristel Bauer & this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests.  Neither Kristel Bauer nor this podcast takes responsibility for possible health consequences of a person or persons following the information in this educational content.  Always consult your physician for recommendations specific to you.

My guest today is Professor Ross White. Ross is award-winning clinical psychologist who specializes in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of adults working in high-performance environments. He is also an expert in global mental health and has conducted research in collaborations with the World Health Organization and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. He is currently Professor of Clinical Psychology at Queen's University Belfast, and is a director of Strive2Thrive, a training and consultancy organization.Some of the topics we explore in this episode include:- How Ross got into ACT and the inspiration for his new book, The Tree That Bends- The concept of strong intention, light attachment- The value in developing flexible mindsets- The “Get, Threat, and Rest” modes we share with trees- Transcendent emotions of wonderment, gratitude, and compassion- And how we can amplify the creative process through collaboration—————————————————————————Ross's X page: https://x.com/RossGWhiteThe Tree That Bends: https://amzn.eu/d/6UEAEqM—————————————————————————Thank you all for checking out the episode! Here are some ways to help support Mentally Flexible:Sign up for PsychFlex through the Mentally Flexible link! PsychFlex.com/MentallyFlexibleYou can help cover some of the costs of running the podcast by donating a cup of coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/mentallyflexiblePlease subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It only takes 30 seconds and plays an important role in being able to get new guests.https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mentally-flexible/id1539933988Follow the show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mentallyflexible/Check out my song “Glimpse at Truth” that you hear in the intro/outro of every episode: https://tomparkes.bandcamp.com/track/glimpse-at-truthCheck out my new album, Holding Space! https://open.spotify.com/album/0iOcjZQhmAhYtjjq3CTpwQ?si=nemiLnELTsGGExjfy8B6iw

Drew Baker and Tina Bruner have a conversation with Mark Hamilton about what the Bible really says about immigration and how Christians should respond to migrants. Mentioned in this episode: Mark Hamilton's book, "Jesus King of Strangers" Jessica Goudeau's book, "After the Last Border" and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees https://www.unhcr.org/us CGU has a vision to create and support gatherings of unity-minded Christians around the globe. Imagine the good news of these gatherings modeling the prayer of Jesus in our divided world. If you benefit from this ministry, please consider donating monthly to support the work. www.commongroundsunity.org/donate . Please give us feedback by posting your thoughts and suggestions on our Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068486982733 Please check out commongroundsunity.org to learn more about CGU, how to subscribe to the newsletter, join the Facebook group, or find the YouTube Channel. Check out our gatherings on the about page, where you can connect with other unity-minded Christians in your area. If you cannot find a gathering in your area, we can help you start one. It's not difficult or time-consuming, and we will help you out along the way. It really does, simply, start with a cup of coffee. If you want to volunteer or ask questions, please email John at john@commongroundsunity.org. Until next time, God bless, and remember, “Unity Starts With A Cup of Coffee.” The Common Grounds Unity theme music for our intro and exit for Season 4 is Anthony Catacoli's "Mambo For Jose." Download and permission to use from Sound Stripe.

In this episode, Amanda Henderson talks to Nga Vuong Sandoval, a refugee from Vietnam and United States Refugee Advisory Board Project Manager. The conversation explores the transformation of the American Dream, immigration histories and policies, and the experiences of refugees. Sandoval shares her insights on the true meaning of the American Dream, which she believes should not be drowned by materialism but rather focused on essential human aspirations such as freedom, safety, and security. The episode also investigates how immigration laws shape daily life, how global events affect personal perspectives, and the complex realities of being displaced and navigating life in a foreign country.Lastly, it presents a reflective poem reading by Mariela Saavedra Carquin on the complex realities of loss that come with displacement and resettlement in a new land.00:02 Introduction and Overview02:01 Understanding Immigration Laws and Policies03:55 The Impact of Immigration Policies05:08 Guest Introduction: Nga Vuong Sandoval06:34 Nga's Journey and Perspective on the American Dream13:53 The Influence of Capitalism on the American Dream17:53 The Global Perception of the American Dream21:20 The Role of History in Shaping Perceptions24:22 Empowering Refugees and Asylum Seekers28:27 Reflecting on Personal Experiences and the Concept of Home31:20 Closing Remarks and Preview of Next Episode Guest Bio As a Việtnamese refugee, Nga embraces her heritage and refugee experience and is empathetic to the plight and struggle of other underrepresented communities. In addition to being a TEDx Presenter, she is active in a number of advocacy roles, including being a member of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders; a founding member and public speaker with Colorado Refugee Speakers Bureau; a refugee advisor for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Refugee Advisory Group; the first refugee elected to Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains Board of Directors and Vice-Chair of the Program Services Committee; a Noble Ambassador for Christina Noble Children's Foundation; an advisory member for Denver's Little Sài Gòn Redevelopment Group; and an advisory member to the Denver Elections Advisory Committee. She previously served as a Commissioner with the Denver Asian American Pacific Islander Commission.Nga earned a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice and Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. In her free time, she enjoys meeting, learning and engaging with diverse communities, reading, writing op-eds on Medium.com, watching documentaries, traveling domestically and internationally, exploring and savoring cuisines locally and around the world and creating origami for her NVS Cre-Asian line that's sold at Ruby's Market in Denver. Want to Learn More?Hart-Cellar Act of 1965: https://cis.org/Report/HartCeller-Immigration-Act-1965The James Truslow Adams book Nga referenced that was published in 1931– The Epic of America: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1192936.The_Epic_of_AmericaMariella Saavedra Carquin, the poet who read one of her poems at the end of this episode. Her recently published book of poems confronts hard truths in this powerful debut collection, pushing through layered complexities of immigration, race, and identity to find a way forward.   https://www.juneroadpress.com/maps-you-cant-make Want to Take Action? Learn about immigration rights and how to take action in Colorado: https://www.aclu-co.org/en/campaigns/immigrants-rights Sign up for Complexified Newsletter: https://complexified.substack.com/Help Make Complexified Happen - Donate here https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E345509&id=75Contact us: email complexified@iliff.eduComplexified Website: https://www.complexified.org/

Show Notes: Carolyn Gibson, a graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe, has had a diverse and different path since graduating from the university. She initially wanted to be an ambassador, but realized that she wouldn't be a great ambassador to the United States due to her Dutch passport and not agreeing with the U.S. foreign policy. Instead, she decided to go into international aid and development. She tapped into the Harvard network to find information about Europe and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. She worked as a speechwriter for the High Commissioner herself, Madame Agata, and later landed a three-month internship with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Carolyn was encouraged to work in the field. She had been working with two Italian men from Napoli who had received funding from George Soros to start a reunification program in the former Yugoslavia. She took up the offer to start a program using CD ROMs to record the names and photographs of children displaced during the war and make them available in UNHCR offices in the war zone for parents to find their children's homes. She talks about the importance of International laws for protecting and helping refugees, and how the Harvard network can help alumni find positions.  Working in Yugoslavia during the War Carole recounts her experience in former Yugoslavia, where she helped reunite children with their parents. She experienced disillusionment with the war and the profiteering surrounding it, which led to loss of life and inappropriate media coverage. She talks about smuggling and how the role of the UN. Carolyn met her future husband, Trevor Gibson, who worked for the UN Fire and Rescue Service in Syria, which was a cowboy unit that was on the front lines, running ambulances and stopping fighting. Carolyn talks about the bias in the media and how  a lack of willingness to understand and inappropriate media coverage contributed to her disillusionment. They decided to leave Yugoslavia, and Carolyn was offered a post in East Africa helping reunite parents and their children after the Rwandan genocide. She and her husband eventually decided to return to the States in 1995, but decided to move to Scotland where her husband decided to pursue a law degree in Birmingham, UK. They found themselves in a city that was similar to the Detroit of the UK, with car manufacturers and coal mining where Carolyn worked as a copywriter for nonprofit organizations before she earned a scholarship to an MBA program from Warwick University.  Working in Consulting at Deloitte Carolyn talks about her experience of working in the management consulting practice of Deloitte. She started with Deloitte's program leadership practice and later worked with a child support agency. Carolyng and her husband decided to stay in Birmingham to settle down and have children. She then moved to a local government practice with Deloitte. They set up the first contact center for multiple local governments in one spot, and she became a specialist in setting up cross-governmental contact centers. However, the local government practice and Deloitte's public sector practice merged, which involved a lot more travel, so Carolyn decided to become a stay-at-home mom.  Writing a Book on Teaching Languages She had been home for 10 years, running the PTA and serving on the Board of Governors for a school, and she wrote a book on teaching other languages. She shares three key tips from the book: make fun, set aside time, give children exposure as much as possible to the language they find fun.  She discusses her experiences teaching their children French and moving to France for a year. They eventually moved back to Birmingham, which she has  found to be a friendly city and a great place to raise a family. She moved out of the stay-at-home mom phase and started working in a startup tech company in Coventry, which focused on strategy execution software. She worked with top Fortune 500 companies, such as Nestle, Pratt Whitney, Societe Generale, Philips, L3, and energy companies and eventually became head of consulting. However, the company struggled to translate their investment into a working financial model, and she missed the opportunity to work with public sector organizations, but she gained their support to pursue a master's degree at Oxford, which had links to the UK Government.  Working for the U.K. Defense Ministry  After completing her master's, she worked for the Cabinet Office, particularly in the Ministry of Defense. She is in their strategic supplier program, which aims to align strategic suppliers with the UK Government's goals and vice versa. She works with Rolls Royce, a company that makes engines and E power plants for their nuclear submarines, and Babcock, helping them work at a strategic level, aligning across government, and identifying problems and improving them. Carolyn talks about her accomplishments at the Ministry of Defense and her work as a consultant, where she can make specific nudges that make a big difference. She has helped resolve major contracts and ensured that the government's goals are met. Carolyn explains the culture of a military environment, and how an open door and willingness to share information is crucial, as it allows for a more open and diverse workforce.  She found that the defense industry is highly meritocratic and open to new ideas, which is important for women in the industry. Carolyn is now considering pivoting back into the nonprofit world, particularly in the area of unconditional cash transfers, which she believes is a growing area in the United States.  Influential Courses and Professors at Harvard Carolyn shares the courses and professors at Harvard that resonated with her, including a course with Stanley Hoffmann about war, and a seminar with Rena Fonseca on India-China relations. She also shares her experiences with Stanley Hoffmann, who taught her the importance of holding onto convictions and ideas, and Rena Fonseca, who taught her the importance of perseverance and adaptability in the face of challenges.    Timestamps: 05:11 How Carolyn's involvement  with the Harvard network helped her find work 10:30 Smuggling and profiteering in war-torn Yugoslavia 13:35 Media coverage of the war that was inappropriate 21:46 Working at Deloitte 24:00 Carolyn's book on teaching kids languages  28:07 Working in strategy execution software at a tech startup 31:06 Impressions at the Ministry of Defense  CONTACT: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-gibson-2579295/ Facebook: Harvard/Radcliffe Class of 1992

The Illegal Immigration Bill will withdraw the UK from the international refugee framework established after the ravages of the Second World War and the Holocaust. Dr. Peter Walsh is candid and forthright in his analysis, when this Bill becomes law, it amounts to Britain opting out of the Geneva Refugee Convention. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has called the legislation a de facto Asylum Ban and without an international court that can pronounce on the legality of this remarkable step, refugees who arrive through irregular means face the prospect of not having their claims heard, rather they will be detained and deported to either their home country or Rwanda. Dr. Walsh is clear; this legislation is designed for deterrence. Will it work? The Bill is novel, its legality is in question. The Home Secretary has conceded she's uncertain about the answer. Fantastic insight and analysis.    

The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, THIS WEEK, joined the chorus of condemnation as it slammed the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill passed on Tuesday which imposes severe punishment for same-sex acts, including labeling some acts as crimes punishable by death while imposing stiff sentences for people identifying as LGBTQI+. The UN and other nations have called on President Yoweri Museveni to reject the bill warning that the legislation runs counter to Uganda's own constitutional provisions stipulating equality and non-discrimination for all. The law punishes people with up to 10 years behind bars for simply identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, or anything other than male or female. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Richard Lusimbo, an LGBTQI activist  from Uganda...

Interview Proclaimed as one of the “purest contemporary voices” by National Public Radio (NPR), Amikaeyla is a public keynote speaker, performer, educator, and author. She travels the world serving as a Cultural Arts Ambassador for the State Department and is the Founder of the International Cultural Arts and Healing Sciences Institute and co- Executive Director for World Trust Educational Services Organization. With over 25 years experience in the Behavioral Health arena, Amikaeyla has been bringing together artists and healers of all forms and specialties to promote healing and wellness through the arts & activism. Her international program of public dialogue is designed to allow different traditions and nationalities to gather together and address issues concerning our communities at large. It has been utilized by the Department of Health & Human Services, USAID, The American Psychological Association, SAMHSA, and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, taking her around the world. Appearing internationally on Television, Radio, and Film with appearances on PBS, HBO and in the Sundance Film Festival, Amikaeyla is the winner of twelve WAMMY Awards for Best Jazz, World, and Urban Contemporary Vocalist, and is the proud recipient of the United Nations Global Woman Award, the Voss Foundation Emerging Women Leaders Award, the Pioneer Award for Exemplary Leadership and Outstanding Service in Social Justice and Advocacy, and the International Hero for Peace and Forgiveness award. amikaeyla@gmail.com Social media : @amikaeyla

The back-to-back shipwrecks of migrant boats off Greece that left at least 22 people dead in a week has once again put the spotlight on the dangers of the Mediterranean migration route to Europe. Even though the number of people attempting to cross the sea has dropped, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees says Mediterranean routes are becoming more deadly than ever. - Noqbûna du keştiyên koçberan li dervayê Yewnanîstanê ku di nav hefteyekê de herî kêm 22 kesan jiyana xwe ji dest dan, careke din bal kişand ser metirsiyên riya koçberiya Derya Spî ber bi Ewropayê ve. Tevî ku hejmara kesên ku hewl didin bi rêya derayayê derbas bibin kêm bûye jî, Komîsyona Bilind ya Penaberan ya Neteweyên Yekbûyî dibêje rêyên Derya Spî her demê kujerin.

The back-to-back shipwrecks of migrant boats off Greece that left at least 22 people dead in a week has once again put the spotlight on the dangers of the Mediterranean migration route to Europe. Even though the number of people attempting to cross the sea has dropped, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees says Mediterranean routes are becoming more deadly than ever.

International Day of Peace is observed annually on the 21st of September, and this year's theme was “End racism. Build peace.” The day was dedicated to promoting a new world free of racism and racial discrimination. Refugees living in Malaysia have long faced discrimination, been denied many fundamental human rights, and have had to contend with vicious amounts of xenophobia, simply for fleeing unsafe situations in their own countries and seeking refuge here. What should be done to fix this ongoing issue, and what are the right strategies for more inclusive policies focusing on the right to obtain decent work, healthcare services and formal education? This is the focus of an upcoming public dialogue by Bait Al Amanah in collaboration with Beyond Borders, and we find out more from Mahi Ramakrishnan, the founder of Beyond Borders and Simraatraj Kaur Dhillon, a Research & Advocacy Analyst at Bait Al Amanah. We also discuss recent news including the suggestion to shut down the United Nations High Commission for Refugees' (UNHCR) office in Malaysia, the fact that as a member of the United Nations and a current member of the Human Rights Council from 2022 to 2024, Malaysia is expected to uphold human rights for all, and what is fuelling many Malaysians dislike and discontent with refugee communities in Malaysia.Image credit: Shutterstock

International Day of Peace is observed annually on the 21st of September, and this year's theme was “End racism. Build peace.” The day was dedicated to promoting a new world free of racism and racial discrimination. Refugees living in Malaysia have long faced discrimination, been denied many fundamental human rights, and have had to contend with vicious amounts of xenophobia, simply for fleeing unsafe situations in their own countries and seeking refuge here. What should be done to fix this ongoing issue, and what are the right strategies for more inclusive policies focusing on the right to obtain decent work, healthcare services and formal education? This is the focus of an upcoming public dialogue by Bait Al Amanah in collaboration with Beyond Borders, and we find out more from Mahi Ramakrishnan, the founder of Beyond Borders and Simraatraj Kaur Dhillon, a Research & Advocacy Analyst at Bait Al Amanah. We also discuss recent news including the suggestion to shut down the United Nations High Commission for Refugees' (UNHCR) office in Malaysia, the fact that as a member of the United Nations and a current member of the Human Rights Council from 2022 to 2024, Malaysia is expected to uphold human rights for all, and what is fuelling many Malaysians dislike and discontent with refugee communities in Malaysia.Image credit: Shutterstock

Episode 103: Caring for LGBTQ+ Patients. Salwa, Pat, and Dr. Arreaza explain how to care for patients who identify themselves as LGBTQ+. Answered questions include, what screenings are needed? Any special needs? Introduction: LGBTQ+ Information.  By Hector Arreaza, MD. Recently the media has been flooded with information about LGBTQ+. If you wonder what LGBTQ+ means, it means lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and the “+” sign acknowledges other orientations such as asexual, intersex, and more. June was designated as “pride month”. I think we have received more information within the last year than in the previous century. Many people consider this an overrepresentation of the calculated 3.5% to 8% of the population who identify themselves as LGBTQ+, many others consider this a revolution to promote equality in our society by reaffirming gay rights, while others consider this a part of an agenda to destroy the “American way of living” or even the US Armed Forces. You can come to your own conclusion about the origin and validity of this movement, but as medical providers, especially as family medicine providers, we must be prepared to care for any patient we encounter, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, and treat them with the same respect and compassion as any other patient. This episode was done to increase your awareness of this topic and motivate you to keep learning about it. By the way, there are now specific fellowships you can take to become more specialized on this topic, and you can find more information on the American Medical Association website.[3] This is the Rio Bravo qWeek Podcast, your weekly dose of knowledge brought to you by the Rio Bravo Family Medicine Residency Program from Bakersfield, California. Our program is affiliated with UCLA, and it's sponsored by Clinica Sierra Vista, Let Us Be Your Healthcare Home. This podcast was created for educational purposes only. Visit your primary care provider for additional medical advice.___________________________Caring for LGBTQ+ patients. By Salwa Sadiq-Ali, MS IV Ross University School of Medicine, and Pattamestrige Perera, MS IV, American University of the Caribbean. Comments by Hector Arreaza, MD. Salwa: So, I was browsing the internet as we all do these days and I came across a short film, The Clinic, by a Canada-based organization, the Get REAL movement. Have you heard about this Dr. Arreaza? Arreaza: No, I haven't, but this sounds interesting. What was the film about? Salwa: Essentially, it's about LGBTQ+ patients and how healthcare is not inclusive. The film shows two patients with the same concern, one of which is from the LGBTQ+ community. It goes on to show how they are treated differently by the physician. Arreaza: That's not how it should be. Unfortunately, healthcare disparity is very real, especially in minority groups like the LGBTQ+. One study found that 3.5% of Americans identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and 0.3% identify as transgender. They also found that these individuals are more likely to get poor care because of stigma and lack of awareness. Salwa: Exactly! And since June is PRIDE month, I thought this would be a great topic! Especially because we as students or healthcare providers don't learn too much about this in school or training. Arreaza: I think that's a great idea. I've heard a lot about PRIDE celebrations and the memorials that are held. How about we start with what exactly is PRIDE?Pat: PRIDE is a celebration, a movement. It's celebrated to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots or Uprising. The riots began after the police raided a gay club in New York City leading to almost a week of violent clashes. This event marked the beginning of the gay rights movement as we know it today. Arreaza: And today PRIDE is celebrated with parades and many hold memorials for members of the community who were victims of hate crimes. By the way, you can listen to our episode 14, “Gender Diversity”, to learn about the definitions of gender, sexual orientation, and more.Pat: As you said earlier, LGBTQ+ individuals are part of a minority group and face discrimination. Arreaza: Let's talk about the health care gaps the “community” faces. Tell us more. Salwa: Yes absolutely! Let's get into it! Did you know that LGBTQ+ youth are at a higher risk for substance abuse, STDs, cancers, cardiovascular disease, obesity, bullying, isolation, rejection, anxiety, depression, and suicide in comparison to the general population? Arreaza: The AAFP says suicide rates are 4 times higher among LGBTQ+ and even higher among trans youth compared to heterosexual youths. Also, members of the community, specifically men who have sex with men, are at a much higher risk of being affected by HIV/AIDS.Pat: In fact, family physicians, and all primary care providers, are key to providing care for the LGBTQ+ community and the special needs of the community including gender-affirming care. Arreaza: So, what should primary care providers do?Salwa: That's a great question! First, let's go back to the basics. Bedside manners are key. Being open and welcoming will open the door for you to find relevant health information. Having open conversations and being empathetic and mindful will help you build that patient-doctor relationship you want to have with your patients. I'll share a story from when I was rotating in surgery. I had a transgender patient in the clinic, male to female. That's what is called a transgender woman. When I was reviewing the chart, I couldn't tell what pronouns the patient used. The first thing I did when I got into the room was to ask, “What pronouns would you like me to use?”. Even though she was wearing a mask I could tell that her face lit up just by looking at her eyes, and she said, “Thank you, that was very kind of you to ask.” Small things like this can really make a difference. Arreaza: And that's becoming a routine question when our medical assistants encounter a patient for the first time. Their preferred pronoun is listed next to the patient's name. What about the other health issues for LGBTQ+ patients? What should we do for that?Salwa: For the other concerns – depression, anxiety, suicide, and more – follow the current guidelines for cisgender patients (cisgender patients are those who identify themselves with their gender assigned at birth). The AAFP and USPSTF have screening guidelines in place that can be utilized to help determine what someone may need further management for. Pat: The PHQ9 – a screening questionnaire for depression – will help you determine if you need to start treatment for depression or refer to behavioral health. There's a similar questionnaire for anxiety – the GAD 7. Salwa: When I was doing my psychiatry rotation, I had a transgender male patient who didn't have a support system. His family had essentially rejected him, and he was so isolated that he became depressed and suicidal. So, I'd say ask your patients about bullying, their support system, ask them about their friends. Maybe even talk to their parents if the patient is a minor, if they consent you to do so, or refer to family therapy. Pat: And of course, there is STD testing, HPV vaccination, obesity and related comorbidity screening, PAP smears for anyone with a cervix, maybe even consider an anal PAP smear when appropriate.Arreaza: Beverly Hills rotation: A gynecologist for men.People at increased risk of anal cancer:-Men who have sex with men-Iatrogenic immunosuppression (e.g., solid organ transplant recipients, long-term oral corticosteroids)-Women with a history of cervical, vulvar, or vaginal SIL (also termed intraepithelial neoplasia) or cancer-Women with a history of cervical HPV 16 infection-Individuals with a history of anogenital wartsPat: Depression is important to detect on time given the higher rate of suicide in this population, aside from following current guidelines, are there any unique health-related questions we should ask our LGBTQ+ patients? I hope you guys said yes! two common health topics are gender-affirming care and complications related to chest binding. Dr. Arreaza, have you had any patient encounters for gender-affirming care?Arreaza: Yes actually. I've had a few patients who requested gender-affirming care. It requires a multi-disciplinary care team. You must consider hormone replacement, mental health, and surgeries. At the primary care level, you are there as the patient's support system to help them navigate through everything and provide them with all the information. Hormone replacement is generally done by an endocrinologist or by a primary care provider who has been trained to do it. Of course, when appropriate, we will refer the patients to surgeons for certain procedures. Salwa: Exactly! Individuals who, from my understanding, are transgender or non-binary, as in they identify as males but tend to have female sexual characteristics such as breasts, may do something called chest binding. It involves compressing the breast tissue with a wrap to have a more masculine gender expression. Usually, individuals will use commercial binders, elastic bandages, duct tape, or plastic wrap. When you have a patient who practices chest binding, it's important to address safe practices. They commonly develop dermatological conditions like acne, scarring, fungal infections. But they can also develop other complications like chronic pain, restrictive respiration, rib fractures, syncope, lightheadedness, and heartburn. Pat: A study showed that 88.9% of participants experienced a negative side effect of binding, but only 15% sought care. Cleveland Clinic suggests that individuals use a commercial, breathable binder or a sports bra. It's also important to stay hydrated, have at least one day a week when a binder is not used, and avoid using a binder while sleeping. Most importantly, if you experienced any side effects, to get help from a doctor. Arreaza: Asylum seekers due to sexual orientation is possible. People in different parts of the world suffer persecution due to their sexual orientation. LGBTQ+ individuals are target for “killings, sexual and gender-based violence, physical attacks, torture, arbitrary detention, accusations of immoral or aberrant behavior, denial of the rights to assembly, expression and information, and discrimination in employment, health, and education in all regions around the world.Pat: So, I think we covered most of it. Do you two think we mentioned the important parts? Salwa: On that note, we want to end this podcast with a small message to LGBTQ+ individualslistening in. We want you to know that you are not alone and that you matter.And if you're listening right now and know someone who is LGBTQ+, check in on them and letthem know how much they mean to you. Pat: We encourage you to go to your PCP and talk to them about your concerns and how you're doing. And we encourage all PCPs, all healthcare providers even, to implement these principles when encountering their LGBTQ+ patients. Arreaza: If you do not feel comfortable caring for LGBTQ+ patients, you can refer them to a provider with the knowledge and skills to care for them. Available Resources:The Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity in Kern CountyPFLAG Bakersfield ChapterBakersfield LGBTQ+The Trevor Project (have crisis counselors available to help)National Suicide Hotline (1-800-273-8255)National LGBTQ TaskforceSAGE - Services and Advocacy for LGBTQ+ EldersTransgender Law Center ____________________________Conclusion: Now we conclude our episode number 103 “Caring for LGBTQ+ Patients.” Remember to screen your patients for conditions related to their gender assigned at birth but take into consideration the effects of hormones in those who have changed their gender. While caring for LGBTQ+ patients, remember to apply the same ethical principles you apply to the rest of your patients: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice. Even without trying, every night you go to bed being a little wiser.This week we thank Hector Arreaza, Salwa Sadiq-Ali, and Pat Perera.Thanks for listening to Rio Bravo qWeek Podcast. If you have any feedback, contact us by email at RioBravoqWeek@clinicasierravista.org, or visit our website riobravofmrp.org/qweek. Audio edition: Suraj Amrutia. See you next week! _____________________References:Powell, Lauren. We Are Here: LGBTQ+ Adult Population in United States Reaches At Least 20 Million, According to Human Rights Campaign Foundation Report, December 9, 2021, Human Rights Campaign, hrc.org, https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/we-are-here-lgbtq-adult-population-in-united-states-reaches-at-least-20-million-according-to-human-rights-campaign-foundation-report, accessed on June 30, 2022.  How Many People are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender? UCLA School of Law Williams Institute, April 2011, https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/how-many-people-lgbt/ National LGBTQ+ Fellowship Program, American Medical Association Foundation, https://amafoundation.org/programs/lgbtq-fellowship/ Guidelines on International Protection No. 9, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, unhcr.org, published on October 23, 2012, online at: https://www.unhcr.org/509136ca9.pdf, accessed on June 30, 2022.  The Clinic, short film. The Get Real Movement, thegetrealmovement.com, https://www.thegetrealmovement.com/theclinicfilm. Accessed on June 30, 2022.  June is LGBT Pride Month, Youth.Gov, https://youth.gov/feature-article/june-lgbt-pride-month, accessed on June 30, 2022. Stonewall Riots, The History Channel, history.com, https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots, Accessed on June 30, 2022.  Hafeez H, Zeshan M, Tahir MA, Jahan N, Naveed S. Health Care Disparities Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: A Literature Review. Cureus. 2017 Apr 20;9(4):e1184. doi: 10.7759/cureus.1184. PMID: 28638747; PMCID: PMC5478215. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5478215/ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ+) Health, American Academy of Family Physicians, accessed on June 30, 2022. https://www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/advocacy/prevention/equality/BKG-LGBTQ+Health.pdf. Creating a welcoming clinical environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients, rainbowwelcome.org, https://www.rainbowwelcome.org/uploads/pdfs/Creating%20a%20Welcome%20Clinical%20Environment%20for%20LGBT%20Patients.pdf Peitzmeier S, Gardner I, Weinand J, Corbet A, Acevedo K. Health impact of chest binding among transgender adults: a community-engaged, cross-sectional study. Cult Health Sex. 2017 Jan;19(1):64-75. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2016.1191675. Epub 2016 Jun 14. PMID: 27300085. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27300085/ Moffa, Jamie. Chest Binding: A Physician's Guide, Pride in Practice, April 6, 2019. https://www.prideinpractice.org/articles/chest-binding-physician-guide/ Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials, How to Bind Your Chest Safely, July 26, 2021, https://health.clevelandclinic.org/safe-chest-binding/ 

Amikaeyla Gaston is the Executive Director and Founder of International Cultural Arts & Healing Sciences Institute (ICAHSI). She is a force for change. Proclaimed as one of the “purest contemporary voices” by National Public Radio (NPR), Amikaeyla is a public keynote speaker, performer, educator, and author. She travels the world serving as a Cultural Arts Ambassador for the State Department and is the Founder of the International Cultural Arts and Healing Sciences Institute and co-Executive Director for World Trust Educational Services Organization. With over 25 years experience in the Behavioral Health arena, Amikaeyla has been bringing together artists and healers of all forms and specialties to promote healing and wellness through the arts & activism. She leads corporations, universities and organizations through cultural competency, restorative justice, and racial equity training designed to facilitate, engage and support people in exploring challenging conversations. She does expansive work with political refugees, war survivors and at-risk populations worldwide and is often called into difficult scenarios to offer inter-cultural literacy and deep restorative justice work in support of transformative and peaceful solutions. Her international program of public dialogue is designed to allow different traditions and nationalities to gather together and address issues concerning our communities at large. Her programming has been utilized by the Department of Health & Human Services, USAID, The American Psychological Association, SAMHSA, and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, taking her around the world doing peace work in Israel, Beirut, Amman, Damascus, Palestine, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, just to name a few. Appearing internationally on television, radio and film, with appearances on PBS, HBO and in the Sundance Film Festival, Amikaeyla is the winner of twelve WAMMY Awards for Best Jazz, World and Urban Contemporary Vocalist, and is the proud recipient of the United Nations Global Woman Award, the Voss Foundation Emerging Women Leaders Award, the Pioneer Award for Exemplary Leadership and Outstanding Service in Social Justice and Advocacy and the International Hero for Peace and Forgiveness award. Her extensive studies with traditional healers and cultural artists around the healing effects of music led to the commemorative Golden Buddha performance at personal invitation by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in India. Amikaeyla uses music as medicine to connect people and to practice cultural diplomacy. "When words defy us, music can touch our hearts in certain ways you cannot otherwise do," she says. Ami recognizes the power of art as advocacy and has used her art to build bridges by appealing to people's emotions. Her stories are powerful and I feel blessed to have had this tremendous light and change agent on the Becoming Your Best Version podcast. Amikaeyla grew up in Potomac, Maryland, and now is bi-coastal, with a home in the DC area and in California. She will be performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. this fall. You can learn more about Ami's work at www.Amikaeyla.com and follow Amikaeyla on social media at @amikaeyla and @Amikaeyla Gaston. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support

We wanted to understand public policy initiatives for Hmong people and other Asian Americans, so we decided to bring in an expert!Introducing ThaoMee Xiong: Executive Director for the Coalition of Asian-American Leaders (CAAL).This woman has dedicated her life to creating change for Asian Americans and other minority groups. Her history of policy work runs the gamut of different organizations throughout the state, including the City of Saint Paul and the Minnesota Department of Health. Her talents have been seen on an international stage as well: working for the International Organization of Migration and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.Long story short, she's a badass. We're so thrilled to bring you this episode with such a brilliant and strong Hmong woman.If you'd like to learn more about CAAL, visit their website here.-To keep up-to-date on the podcast, follow us on social media!Hmonglish InstagramHmonglish FacebookAnd be sure to follow our amazing co-hosts!Yia VangGia Vang—Produced by Gleam Tower MediaAll music courtesy of Artlist

Our guest Daniel Catone is CEO of Golden State Wealth Management. He's fascinating on a number of levels -- he's been nominated for Top 40 Under 40, he runs a variety of different businesses, he collects artifacts, he's a pilot, he's got a master's degree in theology. And before he worked in finance, he was a part of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. We get into his unique story and pick up valuable financial insights along the way.

“Growing up, I remember entertaining my friends, my cousins, my siblings with storytelling. I would stage plays. I would write the play and they would act it out. It was my first love.”Not many of us can pinpoint the exact moment our lives changed forever. For Khaled Hosseini, the New York Times best-selling Afghan American novelist, author of The Kite Runner, as well as two other novels including One Thousand Splendid Suns, and The Mountains Echoed, it was December 27 1979.As a young boy watching the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan, Khaled knew this was a momentous event. Today Dr. Hosseini is an Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) and in this episode of Into The Magic Shop he talks about his experience as a refugee, his own survivor's guilt, and why the power of stories move us to take action. “I believe in the power of storytelling, Jim, I think stories, be they in the form of plays, or films or music, or I happen to be deeply partial to literature, I think they're the single best means we have of feeling empathy for others.”So what made a successful doctor change course and become a writer, and what is Khaled's take on war and the refugee crisis?To find out more, you'll have to download and listen to this podcast.  On today's podcast: His experience as a refugee The ongoing crisis in Ukraine Making the transition from medicine to writing What we all can do to help refugees The power of storytelling Links:United Nations High Commission on Refugees

South Sudanese activists have welcomed the unification of the country's security agencies' command structure but say the parties must do more to complete the integration of forces into one army and other regular forces; Police in the Jonglei State capital Bor have confirmed the arrest of Yar Ayuen Mabior who had accused the police of arresting and stripping her naked for alleged “indecent” dressing. A police spokesperson says she will be arraigned on defamation charges; The United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Sudan is expressing concern over continued inter-communal clashes in the Darfur region where more than 100 people have been killed, and 15,000 others displaced across the region since late last month.

More than a million people have fled Ukraine into countries to the west, as Russian attacks continue. The refugee crisis has spurred an outpouring of international support, as neighbouring European countries open their borders and homes. But the support this time is strikingly different from how some countries have responded to refugees from other conflicts — like Syria and Iraq — who were kept out, in some cases with violence. The distinction is especially stark, after stories have emerged of some Black and Asian refugees fleeing Ukraine facing violence, harassment and racism at the border. This week on Nothing is Foreign, CBC's new, weekly world news podcast, we hear from people on the ground including those who have experienced discrimination and explore how governments can treat skin colour as a visa. Featuring: Tatiana, Alexandra, Nastia, Rubi, Ahmed, all refugees from Ukraine. Sara Cincurova, a journalist covering humanitarian issues at Ukraine-Slovakia border. Chris Melzer, the senior spokesperson of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Poland.

More than a million people have fled Ukraine into countries to the west, as Russian attacks continue. The refugee crisis has spurred an outpouring of international support, as neighbouring European countries open their borders and homes. But the support this time is strikingly different from how some countries have responded to refugees from other conflicts — like Syria and Iraq — who were kept out, in some cases with violence. The distinction is especially stark, after stories have emerged of some Black and Asian refugees fleeing Ukraine facing violence, harassment and racism at the border. This week on Nothing is Foreign, we hear from people on the ground including those who have experienced discrimination and explore how governments can treat skin colour as a visa. Featuring: Tatiana, Alexandra, Nastia, Rubi, Ahmed, all refugees from Ukraine. Sara Cincurova, a journalist covering humanitarian issues at Ukraine-Slovakia border. Chris Melzer, the senior spokesperson of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Poland.

Join the discussion with Dr. Lauren Moores, Head of Data Innovation at Montai Health about her work on the data advisory board of USA for UNHCR, a nonprofit organization that supports the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and builds awareness and support for the global refugee crisis. We discuss how data is utilized in that work to help address the Refugee Crisis, her take on corporations doing work for social good, AI and the issue of privacy in health tech, as well as why I won't be doing the 23 & me thing anytime soon.

Mark Potok is an internationally renowned expert on the American radical right, who, for 20 years helped lead the legendary Southern Poverty Law Center in exposing hate groups, right-wing terrorism, and the rapidly increasing infiltration of extremist ideas into the political mainstream. In that role, Potok faced numerous death threats from white supremacists and constant vilification by leaders of the far-right media — a remarkable measure of just how effective his work was. Potok has been described in one book on social justice activists as having “a reputation as the preeminent editorial commentator who follows the American radical right.” In 2018, a year after leaving SPLC, he joined the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right as a Senior Fellow. As the director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project and, later, Senior Fellow at the SPLC and Editor in Chief of its award-winning Intelligence Report investigative magazine, Potok was a key spokesman for the SPLC, a civil rights organization based in Alabama. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, the Helsinki Commission, and in other key venues. In this second half of Rachel's conversation with Mark, he shares more of his perspective on the past, present, and future of the radical right, delving into his decades of experience with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Rachel and Mark exchange their ideas about how and why people are drawn to extremist groups and explore the commonalities behind a variety of far-right hate groups. Together they discuss the possible steps of action both individually and societally that may help to quell the increase in political violence and hate crimes. Before You Go: Rachel explores the idea of hereditary hate, explaining how the impressionable nature of children makes them uniquely susceptible to indoctrination into hateful ideology. For more info on Mark's work visit: https://markpotok.net/ For more info on SPLC visit: https://www.splcenter.org/ For more info on CARR visit: https://www.radicalrightanalysis.com/ Hear Rachel's thought on the U.S. Capitol insurrection: youtu.be/9srCmRMoXnQ Thanks to all of our newest Patreon supporters! To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination shirts and tote bags, please visit: www.patreon.com/indoctrination Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link: www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION You can help the show for free by leaving a rating or review on Spotify or Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!

Mark Potok is an internationally renowned expert on the American radical right who, for 20 years, helped lead the legendary Southern Poverty Law Center in exposing hate groups, right-wing terrorism, and the rapidly increasing infiltration of extremist ideas into the political mainstream. In that role, Potok faced numerous death threats from white supremacists and constant vilification by leaders of the far-right media — a remarkable measure of just how effective his work was. Potok has been described in one book on social justice activists as having “a reputation as the preeminent editorial commentator who follows the American radical right.” In 2018, a year after leaving SPLC, he joined the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right as a Senior Fellow. As the director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project and, later, Senior Fellow at the SPLC and Editor in Chief of its award-winning Intelligence Report investigative magazine, Potok was a key spokesman for the SPLC, a civil rights organization based in Alabama. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, the Helsinki Commission, and in other key venues. In this first half of their two-part conversation, Mark shares with Rachel insights from his decades of work exposing dangerous extremist groups on the far right and beyond. Together they survey the current political landscape and offer expertise from their respective fields of study. Mark and Rachel both provide analysis relating to political movements of the past and look ahead to the worrisome political climate on the horizon. They go on to compare notes on the cultic tendencies of hate groups and far-right terrorist cells. Before You Go: Rachel reiterates the importance of learning from the lessons of history in order to seek out fundamental truths but notes taking action as equally important. Reminding us that even advanced civilizations are vulnerable to the folly of human nature. For more info on Mark's work visit: https://markpotok.net/ For more info on SPLC visit: https://www.splcenter.org/ For more info on CARR visit: https://www.radicalrightanalysis.com/ Here's a link to Mark's booklet on conversion therapy, “Quacks: ‘Conversion Therapists,' the Anti-LGBT Right, and the Demonization of Homosexuality”: https://www.splcenter.org/20160525/quacks-conversion-therapists-anti-lgbt-right-and-demonization-homosexuality Hear Rachel's thought on the U.S. Capitol insurrection: https://youtu.be/9srCmRMoXnQ Thanks to all of our newest Patreon supporters! To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination shirts and tote bags, please visit: www.patreon.com/indoctrination Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link: www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION You can help the show for free by leaving a rating or review on Spotify or Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!

Authorities in South Sudan confirm an Amnesty International report indicating that war crimes were committed in Tambura County of Western Equatoria State between June and October 2021; Civil servants in Jonglei State have boycotted work today to protest low wages; An official with United Nations High Commission for Refugees says the agency is working with Sudanese authorities to release 500 South Sudanese detainees who were arrested as they tried to illegally migrate to Europe

Don Mirra was born in Nuremberg, Germany to American parents with heritage ties to Scotland and Sicily. He holds a Bachelors of Science in International Business and extensive study in comparative theology. Beginning his career as a photojournalist focusing on overlooked social issues, often immersing himself in the country and culture of his subjects to find the deeper story. Having traveled to over 62 nations, his appreciation of diverse cultures began the process of focusing more attention on the power of women as subject matter. His playful approach and flowing candor enables him to create images that bring out a deeper emotion when looking at his work. A large part of his creative passion is fueled by his philanthropic work. In addition to his personal projects, Don has photographed for organizations such as Agros International, VOSH International, Project Medishare and The United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Don is dedicated to capturing moments that are powerful, full of depth, and ripe with unique perspectives. The Travelers Art - Podcast www.thetravelersart.com thetravelersart@gmail.com   ***Head on over to Creatrix Compass and explore our many offerings from free inspiration to get your creative juices flowing to creativity classes to creativity coaching and life coaching for creatives.  It can all be found at: https://www.creatrixcompass.com Your donation helps us continue to spread creativity throughout the land.  Thank you! https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=2PM3V82XDS7GA  Music: Good Friends Inc by Jonathan Boyle 

While some of us have watched helplessly at those harrowing images from Afghanistan, award winning artist and social commentator Ben Quilty has stepped up to help the plight of the Afghan people. Once Australia's official war artist in Kabul, in this episode Ben offers a unique perspective on the plight of the Afghan people in the face of the Taliban. Also in discussion is his time at the Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley for World Vision. In the second half of this episode Ben talks about his wonderful relationship with Margaret Olley, including a story involving a hospital, all the flowers, cigarettes and Margaret being very inappropriate, and later Ben reflects on his relationship with Myuran Sukumaran who at the time of his death described Ben as the "second best artist in Australia."  Episode notes -  Ben Quilty has kicked off a fundraising campaign for UNHCR - the United Nations High Commission for Refugees - to try and help the people he lived with, worked alongside and shared in their remarkable stories of survival. Search Ben Quilty Afghanistan Raisely or click on this link -  www.crisis-in-afghanistan.raisely.com/ben-quilty You can find Stellar magazine in print every Sunday, pick up the latest copy inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), the Sunday Herald Sun (Victoria), The Sunday Mail (Queensland), Sunday Mail (SA) and Sunday Tasmanian (Tasmania).    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thawj Nyiaj Yaj (Issara Yangsirisuk) qhia tias vim li cas nws thiaj sau phau ntawv txog nws cov kev ua hauj lwm nrog United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) thiab qhia tias yog koj xav ua hauj lwm nrog pej kum haiv te koom haum koj yuav tsum tau npaj koj tus kheej li cas.

One of the most well-known and well-respected professionals in the real estate business joins us on the podcast today for a highly insightful and motivating chat. Listen in as MaryAnne Gilmartin, founder and CEO of MAG Partners, walks us through the process of their latest project, 241 West 28th St, a new-construction, residential building in Chelsea, Manhattan. This building was the only major development in the city to break ground last year during the Covid-19 pandemic. Tune in to learn more about the strategy behind this feat, the importance of building with health and sustainability in mind, and what can be done to dissolve the taboo narratives around the real-estate industry. You're not going to want to miss this! About MaryAnne: MaryAnne is the founder and CEO of MAG Partners, a real estate development company based in New York City. Formerly, she was the Board Chair and Interim CEO of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation and the President and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies. She is one of the most well-known and well-respected professionals in the real estate business, with 7 million square feet, 2,000 housing units, and $4.5B of building value created under her leadership.About your host: Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of REDIST, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.Resources mentioned: Connect with MaryAnne on LinkedInLearn more about MAG PartnersFollow MAG Partners on LinkedInDONATE to United Nations High Commission for RefugeesDownload 7 Tips on How to Stand Out in Your FieldCheck out Michael Graves Architecture and DesignSubscribe to the Michael Graves Youtube Channel

Two of the world's largest refugee camps are now facing the prospect of closing down. The Kakuma and Dadaab camps in Kenya are home to 430,000 refugees, primarily from Somalia and South Sudan. Many of the refugees have lived there since the camps were established three decades ago. Over half of the refugee population are children, many of whom have never known life outside the camps. In March, the Kenyan government issued an ultimatum to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to present a plan for closure of the two camps within two weeks or the Kenyan government would begin repatriating the refugees. UNHCR and the Kenyan government came to an agreement to close the camp by next June. Refugees who live in Kakuma are worried about the impending closure of the camp. Here's the story of Jelly Naomi, a mother of four, filmed by refugees who also live in Kakuma.

On this episode of Free Thinking, Montel chats with Jerome Foster II, an 18-year-old climate justice activist, voting rights advocate, and emerging technology developer. His work as a leader in the youth climate movement has been recognized on the international stage. He serves as the youngest member of the Biden White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. He's the Executive Director & Founder of OneMillionOfUs, which is mobilizing a new generation of young people to register and turnout to vote. He is the Founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Climate Reporter, an international youth-led climate-focused news outlet. He has spoken at the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, met with world leaders, and has helped to pass the Clean Energy DC Act which is one of the most aggressive and comprehensive decarbonization bills being implemented in the nation. He was awarded the World Series of Entrepreneurship and has been featured in TIME Magazine, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The Washington Post, New York Times, and many more. He has also been awarded the Amnesty International Ambassadors of Conscience Highest Human Rights Award alongside Greta Thunberg and other youth climate leaders. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

On this episode of Free Thinking, Montel chats with Jerome Foster II, an 18-year-old climate justice activist, voting rights advocate, and emerging technology developer. His work as a leader in the youth climate movement has been recognized on the international stage. He serves as the youngest member of the Biden White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. He's the Executive Director & Founder of OneMillionOfUs, which is mobilizing a new generation of young people to register and turnout to vote. He is the Founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Climate Reporter, an international youth-led climate-focused news outlet. He has spoken at the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, met with world leaders, and has helped to pass the Clean Energy DC Act which is one of the most aggressive and comprehensive decarbonization bills being implemented in the nation. He was awarded the World Series of Entrepreneurship and has been featured in TIME Magazine, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The Washington Post, New York Times, and many more. He has also been awarded the Amnesty International Ambassadors of Conscience Highest Human Rights Award alongside Greta Thunberg and other youth climate leaders. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Dr Alice Edwards is a diplomat, skilled activist, lawyer and thought leader with over two decades of professional experience in human rights. This is not a career for the faint hearted and you certainly need pure grit and resilience when you’re doing your part to save humanity! Alice has a doctorate in public international law and she has published over 30 books, articles and reports. She is truly the most intelligent and compassionate human, selflessly fighting for justice for innocent victims, survivors and refugees of war torn countries like Rwanda, Bosnia and Mozambique. She’s proudly Tasmanian but lives in Geneva where the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and other UN agencies are based. Alice is presently Head of the Secretariat of the Convention against Torture Initiative, an inter-governmental project of six governments (Chile, Denmark, Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia and Morocco) aspiring – through quiet diplomacy and technical assistance – to reduce the risks of torture worldwide. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this final episode in this series supported by the European Cultural Foundation, I'm in conversation with Dr S Chelvan, a globally recognised legal expert on refugee and human rights claims based on sexual or gender identity and expression. His Difference, Stigma, Shame and Harm (‘DSSH’) model is a positive tool to determine an LGBTQ asylum claim, which is now used globally and is endorsed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. In 2014, Newsweek Europe described the DSSH model as ‘a simple starting point that cuts across borders’. We explore Dr Chelvan’s entry point into the UK and into law, and he shares with us his motivations for defending the human rights of LGBTQ asylum-seekers. He discusses his adolescence – a young brown man encountering his sexuality in the age of Section 28, his role as storyteller and translator, the development and importance of the DSSH model and how he’s learned to be human from those he empowers and serves. This conversation forms part of and concludes a special series funded by the European Cultural Foundation to explore queer Black solidarity across Europe during the Covid-19 crisis. Thank you for investing in our stories. A special thank you to our newest funding partner, myGwork – the LGBT+ business community. Thank you to our community partners: UK Black Pride, BlackOut UK,

Producer/Host: Amy Browne We’re continuing our series on hate groups this month, with a talk by Mark Potok sponsored by the Maine Jewish Film Festival, the Jewish Community Alliance, the Maine Jewish Museum and the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine. He spoke about hate groups in the US and the current political climate on October 7th, 2020. An excerpt from Mark Potok’s bio: “Mark Potok is an internationally renowned expert on the American radical right who for 20 years helped lead the legendary Southern Poverty Law Center in exposing hate groups, right-wing terrorism, and the rapidly increasing infiltration of extremist ideas into the political mainstream. In that role, Potok faced numerous death threats from white supremacists and constant vilification by leaders of the far-right media — a remarkable measure of just how effective his work was. Potok has been described in one book on social justice activists as having ‘a reputation as the preeminent editorial commentator who follows the American radical right’ In 2018, a year after leaving SPLC, he joined the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right as a Senior Fellow. As the director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project and, later, Senior Fellow at the SPLC and Editor in Chief of its award-winning Intelligence Report investigative magazine, Potok was a key spokesman for the SPLC, a civil rights organization based in Alabama. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, the Helsinki Commission, and in other key venues. An acclaimed and dynamic speaker, he has given scores of keynote talks in university, government and other settings throughout the United States and Europe. They include such prestigious forums as the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.” Potok was featured in the award-winning 2018 film “Alt-Right: Age of Rage” Barbara Merson, Executive Director of the Maine Jewish Film Festival was the moderator About the host: Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices and Maine Currents, she also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and the First Place 2017 Radio News Award from the Maine Association of Broadcasters.

Producer/Host: Amy Browne We're continuing our series on hate groups this month, with a talk by Mark Potok sponsored by the Maine Jewish Film Festival, the Jewish Community Alliance, the Maine Jewish Museum and the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine. He spoke about hate groups in the US and the current political climate on October 7th, 2020. An excerpt from Mark Potok’s bio: “Mark Potok is an internationally renowned expert on the American radical right who for 20 years helped lead the legendary Southern Poverty Law Center in exposing hate groups, right-wing terrorism, and the rapidly increasing infiltration of extremist ideas into the political mainstream. In that role, Potok faced numerous death threats from white supremacists and constant vilification by leaders of the far-right media — a remarkable measure of just how effective his work was. Potok has been described in one book on social justice activists as having ‘a reputation as the preeminent editorial commentator who follows the American radical right’ In 2018, a year after leaving SPLC, he joined the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right as a Senior Fellow. As the director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project and, later, Senior Fellow at the SPLC and Editor in Chief of its award-winning Intelligence Report investigative magazine, Potok was a key spokesman for the SPLC, a civil rights organization based in Alabama. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, the Helsinki Commission, and in other key venues. An acclaimed and dynamic speaker, he has given scores of keynote talks in university, government and other settings throughout the United States and Europe. They include such prestigious forums as the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.” Potok was featured in the award-winning 2018 film “Alt-Right: Age of Rage” Barbara Merson, Executive Director of the Maine Jewish Film Festival was the moderator About the host: Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices and Maine Currents, she also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and the First Place 2017 Radio News Award from the Maine Association of Broadcasters. The post Maine Currents 11/3/20: Mark Potok on Hate Groups in the US first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

For many years the world has been facing the biggest mass movement of people since the second world war. Destabilized countries like Syria, Yemen, and Libya have seen millions seeking safety in neighbouring countries and beyond ethnic violence continues to be a driver of displacement in places like Myanmar.In previous episodes we've looked at the topic of seeking asylum in Australia and for anyone interested in that I recommend going back and listening to Episode 42 with Hazari refugee Hedayat Osyan. But today we're looking at the specific issue of how the world can provide safe resettlement for officially recognised refugees such as those in UNHCR camps. That peak body, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, reports that 1.4 million people are in need of urgent resettlement right now. Global resettlement needs to increase by 1% globally in 2020. So how might that happen? How are policy makers looking to innovate the idea of refugee resettlement to provide more people with access to a safe community to live their lives and raise their families?In this episode, we bring you Caspar's conversation with 29 year old Refugee Research and Policy Analyst Dr Jaz Dawson. Jaz has studied international relations, and refugee law and policy in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the UK, the Netherlands, and Canada. She has volunteered with refugee populations in Lesvos, Greece and Sangkhlaburi, Thailand and now works with the Refugee Hub incubating and growing ideas that have the potential to transform the refugee resettlement landscape. Prior to this, Jaz completed her PhD on queering refugee law and international relations from the University of Melbourne, Australia. During this time, she was also a director of Kaleidoscope Human Rights Foundation, an LGBTI non-profit based in Australia and a member of the Commonwealth Equality Network, the first accredited LGBTI organization in the Commonwealth.As you can tell, Jaz is extremely well qualified on this topic and brings a wealth of both academic and first hand knowledge to our conversation. In the podcast they discuss the broad legal landscape of refugee law globally and domestically. Jaz outlined how refugee resettlement is currently practiced in various countries and particularly in commonwealth nations such as the UK, Canada and Australia. She talked about the option of using skilled migration programs for resettlement - recognising that many refugees are highly skilled engineers, doctors, and other sought after workers. Jaz shares the promising model of community sponsorship, which allows individuals or groups in a community to take on the responsibility of resettlement directly. She also covered the particular issues around how queer asylum seekers are assessed for refugee status and the biases and assuptions that exist around what is means to be same-sex attracted.This episode was produced and edited by Nina Roxburgh and features music by Big Gigantic.Brought to you by PRISM Coffee. Visit prismcoffee.com.au and enter the code "BingeThinkCoffee" for 10% off. Free delivery Australia-wide for orders over $50. Get a cup of prism and soon you'll be the sexy barista in your household.

A statement from Christopher: “This piece was created a couple days ago during the Global Pandemic and quarantine day number 3.457.... This image of The Rim of The Wound came to me during a mediation. This time at home has been a time to really see myself and heal and not distract myself from that healing. As the piece says ‘Place me at the rim of the wound. The tender holy space. The space where it meets health and possibility and begins to heal. A trembling space that meets, sees, needs, and must bring everything into harmony: rock, story, myth, spirit, death, disease, fear, water, fire. Purifying and integrating itself with everything. Eventually becoming flesh, becoming one.' We are all - ALL - experiencing something completely unique and powerful and it is a vital time to reimagine what is healing and what is normal and how do we integrate as we move forth into a new world.” Christopher Rivas is a Rothschild Social Impact fellow. He's a two-time Moth winner, published writer (NYT's Modern Love, SwipeLife, Level), actor (GLOW, Grey's Anatomy, For the People, SEAL Team, Shameless, Rizzoli & Isles, 2 Broke Girls, Rosewood), educator and speaker. His mission is to create and share powerful stories that move us forward, blend boundaries, and encourage dialogue. As a speaker and facilitator, he has worked with organizations all over the world using the power of storytelling to craft messages that inspire and set us free. He's developed storytelling workshops for The WWE, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Safe Place for Youth, LAMP on Skid Row, The Museum of Broken Relationships, The Skirball Cultural Center, UCLA, CalArts, Upworthy, and SoulPancake to name a few. He's also currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Expressive Arts for Global Health & Peace Building from The European Graduate School. Find more of Christopher:  Instagram: @christopher__rivas https://www.christopherrivasstorytelling.com   https://christopherrivas.com  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Created during a time of quarantine in the global Coronavirus pandemic, A Moment Of Your Time's mission is to provide a space for expression, collaboration, community and solidarity. In this time of isolation, we may have to be apart but let's create together.  Created by CurtCo Media Concept by Jenny Curtis Theme music by Chris Porte See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is widely known that Malaysia is not a signatory of the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention. That means the refugee status is not recognised in the country, and refugees are seen as undocumented or illegal immigrants. This has wide implications on the health of refugees, especially on their access to healthcare services in the country. To help us understand more about the situation on the ground, we’re speaking to child rights activist Datuk Dr Hartini Zainuddin, and Dr Susheela Balasundaram, head of the Public Health Unit at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia.

It is widely known that Malaysia is not a signatory of the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention. That means the refugee status is not recognised in the country, and refugees are seen as undocumented or illegal immigrants. This has wide implications on the health of refugees, especially on their access to healthcare services in the country. To help us understand more about the situation on the ground, we’re speaking to child rights activist Datuk Dr Hartini Zainuddin, and Dr Susheela Balasundaram, head of the Public Health Unit at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia.

For many of us, travel is about vacations and special occasions. For 71 million refugees and displaced people around the world, travel is about survival. Susan McPherson, a board member for USA for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, shares what she's witnessed in such global hotspots as the border of Venezuela and Colombia and the camps in Jordan — and gives us reasons for hope and strategies to help. Find more info about this episode at Fathomaway.com. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The power of masculinity is seen wholeheartedly in this episode and is the precipice for conversations that have to start happening within our families, communities, and globally. Today, I welcome, Paul Simard. He is an intrepreneur and an entrepreneur, currently in the role of Director of Community and Impact Partnerships for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Canada. He is the founder of huMENity – a peer-supported platform that creates brave spaces, both real and virtual, for men of all ages to come together and grow through an openness to be vulnerable, share and support each other, based on the African greeting of Sawubona, "I see you, and I am here for you to be seen." He runs orange ecosystems design – a Montreal-based boutique consulting firm. His three beautiful daughters are the motivation behind all he does. There is so much I love about this conversation. Learn more about Paul here: TedX Talk and the movement HuMENity --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/in-the-bedroom-soul-chats/message

With unprecedented numbers of displaced people, what are the opportunities and challenges for refugees globally, and in Australia?We are now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record, according to the United Nations. An unprecedented 70.8 million people around the world have been forced from home.In this Brotherhood Talk, a range of Brotherhood of St Laurence managers and staff provide perspectives and insights based on their rich professional and lived experience.Executive Director Conny Lenneberg draws on her extensive international development experience in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.Principal research fellow Dr Dina Bowman leads our Research and Policy Centre research on economic security and employment, and explores the current labour market landscape. And staff from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, with professional and lived experience, share their insights in a panel discussion:Joseph Youhana is Settlement, Youth and Families manager and supports the work of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the UN Human Rights Council;Heikma Siraj is a recruitment and field officer with Given the Chance, a program which supports disadvantaged jobseekers including people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds;Noura Hachem is a recruitment and employer engagement coordinator with Given the Chance; andMubarek Imam is a youth coach in our Broadmeadows youth employment program.This public talk was hosted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence Research and Policy Centre in June 2019 to mark World Refugee Day.Duration: 40 mins 47 secsPublished/Broadcast: September 2019Producers: Aysha Zackariya and Sharon LeeMusic: Lee RosevereTranscript: Refugees in 2019 podcast transcript (55KB PDF)Brotherhood Talks is a podcast by the Brotherhood of St Laurence, a community organisation working towards an Australia free of poverty. Listen to experts discuss a wide range of issues of key importance in overcoming the challenge of poverty and disadvantage in Australia.Find us online at www.bsl.org.au/brotherhoodtalks, subscribe for more episodes and join the conversation on social at #BSLtalks.

PAYCE Fellow Maddie Bjork explores the issue of women’s empowerment through the story of Ruba Ahmad. Ruba uses her anger and passion to create change and bring into sharp focus what she sees as imperatives for women and refugees. Ruba and Maddie discuss Ruba's work as a policy assistant at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, wearing the hijab, and the need to elevate the voices of women refugees

Michelle and Nima discuss Dreams, Disappointment and giving up. Aron Kader Raised in a typical political Mormon/Palestinian family from Utah and Washington DC Aron moved to LA to pursue a life in the arts. He has been seen and heard in many national publications and news shows for being one of the first Arab Americans on television doing stand-up comedy. He does a lot of political satire and can be considered smart because he understands the middle-east and even read a book or two. He tours N.America & the middle-east often as well as hotel ballrooms where he gets paid to entertain various Arab organizations in a blazer.  Twitter: @aronkader Julia Pels is an LA based stand up comedian, storyteller, producer & LGBTQ activist. She was recently featured in WhoHaHa as one of the TOP 35 LGBTQ creators in the nation. Instagram/Twitter: @Queercomedian Christopher Rivas is a 2018 Rothschild fellow, an award-winning storyteller, published writer, social entrepreneur, film/television and theater actor. Chris’s artistic mission is to create and share powerful stories that move us forward, blend boundaries, and encourage dialogue. As a storyteller, he has developed and facilitated storytelling workshops for The WWE, Upworthy, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Hollywood Heart Foundation, SoulPancake, Safe Place for Youth, Museum of Broken Relationships, CalArts, UCLA, and many more. Born and raised in NYC. A proud graduate of CalArts and currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Expressive Arts for Global Health & Peace Building from The European Graduate School. Twitter: @lifestyledezine Instagram: @christopher__rivas   www.breakerbroken.com  

If the Statue of Liberty could sing, this is what she would sing… “Everyone Comes from Somewhere" Unforgettable Music Video with a Powerful Message, from Don Arbor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AAAHX5w7S0 NOW AT A MINDBLOWING 92k FACEBOOK LISTENERS, IN TWO MONTHS Don Arbor's "recent composition, 'Everyone Comes from Somewhere,' is a pro-immigrant tune that's a perfect antidote to the current administration's xenophobia." J. Poet, East bay Express, June 27-July 3, 2018. https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-1/p100x100/27545522_1974513892789915_2315738391676336840_n.png?oh=894b3127949e2059979e9adca8f3d708&oe=5B0C9FE5 Don’s grandparents had a dream. The American dream. From phenomenal responses to this song, it’s obvious this dream is still alive. And I hope you realize that when we stand together, our grassroots energy can change the world. PeaceChannel.com with the United Nations’ World Refugee Day Webcast requested multiple-award winning musician DON ARBOR as a spokesman for the dire conditions faced by the massive diaspora of refugees fleeing unspeakable horrors in their homeland. This great honor was bestowed on Don because his powerful, award-winning song “Everyone Comes from Somewhere” offers understanding and encouragement to those forced from their homes. . It highlights the work of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) .Also chosen as spokespeople for UNHCR: Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, Liam Neeson, Brian Eno and more. San Francisco’s Don Arbor is a multiple award-winning musician, songwriter, lawyer (with Greg Palast on Voter Suppression) and video maker from Berkeley, CA. Don's new music video, "Everyone Comes from Somewhere," acknowledges the struggles of immigrants, past and present, to become part of the fabric of American society. As the grandson of European immigrants, Don wrote this song to honor his own roots, and to highlight the importance of immigration to our culture. "Everyone Comes from Somewhere" received dual Gold awards for Music Video and Original Song, from the International Independent Film Festival for Winter 2018. https://s.yimg.com/vv/api/res/1.2/2mkaY8ALzlwG_0dufzeSyg--~A/YXBwaWQ9bWFpbDtmaT1maWxsO2g9MjAwO3c9NDAw/https:/www.laprogressive.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/don-arbor-720.jpg.cf.jpg - Description: https://s.yimg.com/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV2/12/overlay-tile.png An Anthem From the Sanctuary State Lance Simmens: I had t

A/Prof Al Muderis is an Australian trained Orthopaedic Surgeon and a Squadron Leader in the Australian Air Force Reserve. He is also an Ambassador for the Australian Red Cross, human rights activist and a refugee.  Born in Baghdad, at the age of 27, Munjed had to flee Iraq as a young Doctor having refused the orders of Saddam Hussein to mutilate army deserters' ears. Munjed endured a life-threatening journey to Australia. After spending 10 months in Curtin Detention Centre, upon his release, he embarked on a mission to become an Orthopaedic Surgeon. He is now one of three surgeons world wide pioneering a revolutionary technology known as Osseointegration. As a leading surgeon in this complex reconstructive and robotic surgery, Munjed has helped more than 450 amputees from around the world to improve mobility, reduce pain and overall enhance their quality of life. Munjed's day-to-day work as an Orthopaedic Surgeon involves hip and knee arthroplasty and major reconstructive surgery. He teaches at Notre Dame and Macquarie Universities, trains local and international surgeons, registrars and medical students. Apart from his academic and clinical roles, Munjed is heavily involved in humanitarian work volunteering his time as a surgeon and as a human rights advocate. He has affiliations with Amnesty International, United Nations High Commission. To Learn more:  http://www.osseointegrationaustralia.com.au/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPrR7TIRp3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw3YLEYz6R8

Don Mirra was born in Nuremberg, Germany to American parents with heritage ties to Scotland and Sicily. He holds a Bachelors of Science in International Business and extensive study in comparative theology. Beginning his career as a photojournalist focusing on overlooked social issues, often immersing himself in the country and culture of his subjects to find the deeper story. Having traveled to over 62 nations, his appreciation of diverse cultures began the process of focusing more attention on the power of women as subject matter. His playful approach and flowing candor enables him to create images that bring out a deeper emotion when looking at his work. A large part of his creative passion is fueled by his philanthropic work. In addition to his personal projects, Don has photographed for organizations such as Agros International, VOSH International, Project Medishare and The United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Don Mirra was born in Nuremberg, Germany to American parents with heritage ties to Scotland and Sicily. He holds a Bachelors of Science in International Business and extensive study in comparative theology. Beginning his career as a photojournalist focusing on overlooked social issues, often immersing himself in the country and culture of his subjects to find the deeper story. Having traveled to over 62 nations, his appreciation of diverse cultures began the process of focusing more attention on the power of women as subject matter. His playful approach and flowing candor enables him to create images that bring out a deeper emotion when looking at his work. A large part of his creative passion is fueled by his philanthropic work. In addition to his personal projects, Don has photographed for organizations such as Agros International, VOSH International, Project Medishare and The United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Get full access to Writing by Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

An official information request submitted to the New Zealand government by one of our supporters has revealed evidence of the institutional discrimination against Syrian Christian refugees by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Chaotic flows of refugees and migrants – the most since World War II – have challenged leaders in Western Europe and North America. “The reactions to those big flows are undermining our institutions in important ways and degrading our politics,” says Wilson Center Fellow Joseph Cassidy in this week’s podcast.   Before joining the Wilson Center this summer, Cassidy spent 25 years in the U.S. Department of State focusing on humanitarian and human rights issues and multilateral diplomacy. In a Wilson Council briefing taped before the close of the U.S. presidential election, Roger-Mark De Souza, director of population, environmental security, and resilience, talks with Cassidy about current humanitarian challenges.   The inability of governments and institutions to effectively cope with the influx of displaced peoples has caused the politicization of what was once a bipartisan issue, says Cassidy. We have seen “the rise of demagogues who have identified refugees and other migrants as people worth resenting and fearing.” As a result, it has “coarsened” our politics.   Anti-immigrant sentiment is not new, but Cassidy says it can be “mitigated by smart policies and principled politicians, [or] it can be exaggerated by bad policies and unprincipled politicians.”   Part of the problem is an aging legal regime that needs updating. The UN Refugee Convention was adopted in 1951. The nature of conflicts has changed, as have the armed groups involved, the extent to which civilians are targeted, and the opportunities for victims to flee. Additionally, the Refugee Convention does not provide legal protections to particularly vulnerable groups that any modern negotiations would address, says Cassidy, namely women, children, indigenous people, LGBT individuals, or the disabled. Nor is climate change considered.   However, many experts are concerned that re-opening the Refugee Convention in the current atmosphere of anti-immigrant sentiment would degrade the existing rights of victims, such as they are, and reduce the responsibilities of states. While acknowledging the risks, Cassidy noted there are numerous other frameworks to influence state behavior, including, international guidelines, regional arrangements, and national laws.   According to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, there are three main reasons for the current increase in refugee populations: 1) protracted conflicts, 2) an increased frequency in the prevalence of conflicts, and 3) a decreased capacity to accommodate refugees and internally displaced individuals.   To reduce the number of displaced people and ultimately the pressure on Western institutions and politics, Cassidy believes “we we need to smooth the transition from humanitarian assistance to development assistance” and bring the two fields closer together. Many humanitarians worry development workers don’t take protection seriously enough, while development workers worry humanitarians do not think long term.   Asked about his expectations for the tenure of new UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Cassidy noted five major questions to watch. Humanitarians are excited to have a long-time high commissioner for refugees at the helm, someone who is “well respected for his competence and his principles,” he says. The international community, in general, does not do enough to “identify…enhance…and utilize refugee value.” Guterres may help change this, bringing attention to refugee conditions and humanitarian needs.   In September, the United Nations hosted two summits, the first of which launched a two-year negotiation aimed at addressing outstanding humanitarian problems, and the second of which collected pledges to increase humanitarian funding, refugee resettlement, and education and occupational opportunities. During his fellowship, Cassidy will be watching these processes closely and engaging with colleagues in related fields like environmental protection, economic migration, and conflict resolution.   Joseph Cassidy spoke during a Wilson Council briefing on November 1, 2016. Friday Podcasts are also available for download on iTunes and Google Play.

Quantification is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when hearing or reading about the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR). Yet in the 21st century, a wide range of policy and advocacy agendas begin with numbers. Those numbers become indicators, composites, standards, and measurement tools, which then get adopted in advocacy rhetoric or policy practice. In The Seduction of Quantification: Measuring Human Rights, Gender Violence, and Sex Trafficking (University of Chicago Press, 2016), Sally Engle Merry combines ethnography, human rights, and science and technology studies to explore how people living in vulnerable situations across the globe are represented by the numbers designed to both name and support them. While numbers do not have agency, and cannot help or hurt on their own, Merry dedicates most of the book to untangling the politics and practice of developing standards and indicators, and interpreting the realities that come with “governance by numbers.” The genealogy of these indicators and standards are given as much space as their application, as Merry describes their highly political origins and a process of their subtle acceptance as normalover time. With roots in colonial authority and population management, indicators have been developed and used for a range of purposes in governance: to manage people, resources, planning, dissent, and reputations among others. Merry explores indicators and indices from legal, anthropological, historical, and genealogical perspectives, describing a range of unexpected stewards from short-term United Nations consultants to U.S. State Department officials to computer algorithms. While the book focuses on the globalization of definitions, measurements, and management techniques, it simultaneously explores the widely varied phenomena of gender violence, human rights, and human trafficking. On a set of topics that have been broadly fetishized, the overlay of quantified assessments and accompanying responses to them raises many questions about voice, politics, and international policy-making among many other topics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quantification is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when hearing or reading about the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR). Yet in the 21st century, a wide range of policy and advocacy agendas begin with numbers. Those numbers become indicators, composites, standards, and measurement tools, which then get adopted in advocacy rhetoric or policy practice. In The Seduction of Quantification: Measuring Human Rights, Gender Violence, and Sex Trafficking (University of Chicago Press, 2016), Sally Engle Merry combines ethnography, human rights, and science and technology studies to explore how people living in vulnerable situations across the globe are represented by the numbers designed to both name and support them. While numbers do not have agency, and cannot help or hurt on their own, Merry dedicates most of the book to untangling the politics and practice of developing standards and indicators, and interpreting the realities that come with “governance by numbers.” The genealogy of these indicators and standards are given as much space as their application, as Merry describes their highly political origins and a process of their subtle acceptance as normalover time. With roots in colonial authority and population management, indicators have been developed and used for a range of purposes in governance: to manage people, resources, planning, dissent, and reputations among others. Merry explores indicators and indices from legal, anthropological, historical, and genealogical perspectives, describing a range of unexpected stewards from short-term United Nations consultants to U.S. State Department officials to computer algorithms. While the book focuses on the globalization of definitions, measurements, and management techniques, it simultaneously explores the widely varied phenomena of gender violence, human rights, and human trafficking. On a set of topics that have been broadly fetishized, the overlay of quantified assessments and accompanying responses to them raises many questions about voice, politics, and international policy-making among many other topics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quantification is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when hearing or reading about the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR). Yet in the 21st century, a wide range of policy and advocacy agendas begin with numbers. Those numbers become indicators, composites, standards, and measurement tools, which then get adopted in advocacy rhetoric or policy practice. In The Seduction of Quantification: Measuring Human Rights, Gender Violence, and Sex Trafficking (University of Chicago Press, 2016), Sally Engle Merry combines ethnography, human rights, and science and technology studies to explore how people living in vulnerable situations across the globe are represented by the numbers designed to both name and support them. While numbers do not have agency, and cannot help or hurt on their own, Merry dedicates most of the book to untangling the politics and practice of developing standards and indicators, and interpreting the realities that come with “governance by numbers.” The genealogy of these indicators and standards are given as much space as their application, as Merry describes their highly political origins and a process of their subtle acceptance as normalover time. With roots in colonial authority and population management, indicators have been developed and used for a range of purposes in governance: to manage people, resources, planning, dissent, and reputations among others. Merry explores indicators and indices from legal, anthropological, historical, and genealogical perspectives, describing a range of unexpected stewards from short-term United Nations consultants to U.S. State Department officials to computer algorithms. While the book focuses on the globalization of definitions, measurements, and management techniques, it simultaneously explores the widely varied phenomena of gender violence, human rights, and human trafficking. On a set of topics that have been broadly fetishized, the overlay of quantified assessments and accompanying responses to them raises many questions about voice, politics, and international policy-making among many other topics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quantification is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when hearing or reading about the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR). Yet in the 21st century, a wide range of policy and advocacy agendas begin with numbers. Those numbers become indicators, composites, standards, and measurement tools, which then get adopted in advocacy rhetoric or policy practice. In The Seduction of Quantification: Measuring Human Rights, Gender Violence, and Sex Trafficking (University of Chicago Press, 2016), Sally Engle Merry combines ethnography, human rights, and science and technology studies to explore how people living in vulnerable situations across the globe are represented by the numbers designed to both name and support them. While numbers do not have agency, and cannot help or hurt on their own, Merry dedicates most of the book to untangling the politics and practice of developing standards and indicators, and interpreting the realities that come with “governance by numbers.” The genealogy of these indicators and standards are given as much space as their application, as Merry describes their highly political origins and a process of their subtle acceptance as normalover time. With roots in colonial authority and population management, indicators have been developed and used for a range of purposes in governance: to manage people, resources, planning, dissent, and reputations among others. Merry explores indicators and indices from legal, anthropological, historical, and genealogical perspectives, describing a range of unexpected stewards from short-term United Nations consultants to U.S. State Department officials to computer algorithms. While the book focuses on the globalization of definitions, measurements, and management techniques, it simultaneously explores the widely varied phenomena of gender violence, human rights, and human trafficking. On a set of topics that have been broadly fetishized, the overlay of quantified assessments and accompanying responses to them raises many questions about voice, politics, and international policy-making among many other topics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quantification is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when hearing or reading about the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR). Yet in the 21st century, a wide range of policy and advocacy agendas begin with numbers. Those numbers become indicators, composites, standards, and measurement tools, which then get adopted in advocacy rhetoric or policy practice. In The Seduction of Quantification: Measuring Human Rights, Gender Violence, and Sex Trafficking (University of Chicago Press, 2016), Sally Engle Merry combines ethnography, human rights, and science and technology studies to explore how people living in vulnerable situations across the globe are represented by the numbers designed to both name and support them. While numbers do not have agency, and cannot help or hurt on their own, Merry dedicates most of the book to untangling the politics and practice of developing standards and indicators, and interpreting the realities that come with “governance by numbers.” The genealogy of these indicators and standards are given as much space as their application, as Merry describes their highly political origins and a process of their subtle acceptance as normalover time. With roots in colonial authority and population management, indicators have been developed and used for a range of purposes in governance: to manage people, resources, planning, dissent, and reputations among others. Merry explores indicators and indices from legal, anthropological, historical, and genealogical perspectives, describing a range of unexpected stewards from short-term United Nations consultants to U.S. State Department officials to computer algorithms. While the book focuses on the globalization of definitions, measurements, and management techniques, it simultaneously explores the widely varied phenomena of gender violence, human rights, and human trafficking. On a set of topics that have been broadly fetishized, the overlay of quantified assessments and accompanying responses to them raises many questions about voice, politics, and international policy-making among many other topics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quantification is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when hearing or reading about the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR). Yet in the 21st century, a wide range of policy and advocacy agendas begin with numbers. Those numbers become indicators, composites, standards, and measurement tools, which then get adopted in advocacy rhetoric or policy practice. In The Seduction of Quantification: Measuring Human Rights, Gender Violence, and Sex Trafficking (University of Chicago Press, 2016), Sally Engle Merry combines ethnography, human rights, and science and technology studies to explore how people living in vulnerable situations across the globe are represented by the numbers designed to both name and support them. While numbers do not have agency, and cannot help or hurt on their own, Merry dedicates most of the book to untangling the politics and practice of developing standards and indicators, and interpreting the realities that come with “governance by numbers.” The genealogy of these indicators and standards are given as much space as their application, as Merry describes their highly political origins and a process of their subtle acceptance as normalover time. With roots in colonial authority and population management, indicators have been developed and used for a range of purposes in governance: to manage people, resources, planning, dissent, and reputations among others. Merry explores indicators and indices from legal, anthropological, historical, and genealogical perspectives, describing a range of unexpected stewards from short-term United Nations consultants to U.S. State Department officials to computer algorithms. While the book focuses on the globalization of definitions, measurements, and management techniques, it simultaneously explores the widely varied phenomena of gender violence, human rights, and human trafficking. On a set of topics that have been broadly fetishized, the overlay of quantified assessments and accompanying responses to them raises many questions about voice, politics, and international policy-making among many other topics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr Phil Orchard gives a talk for the Refugee Studies Centre podcast series. In the past two decades, global policy on internal displacement has become a discernible area of activity for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and a range of other international and non-government organizations. It is an area of policy which operates in parallel with global refugee policy, alongside but separate as it is neither as strongly legally or institutional anchored. Its development has been far more ad hoc, incremental, and divided than refugee policy. And yet global policy on internal displacement as both process and product is clearly identifiable. This is reflected in legal developments including the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the African Union's Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (the Kampala Convention). But it is also reflected in practice within the United Nations, including the development of the cluster approach to provide protection and assistance to the internally displaced, and in the basic working processes not only of UNHCR, but also of the Security Council and the General Assembly. This suggests that incremental processes can have long term effects on global policy generally.

Seminar given on 26 November 2014 by Dr Katy Long (Stanford University and University of Edinburgh), part of the RSC Michaelmas term 2014 Public Seminar Series. Katy Long is Lecturer in International Development at the University of Edinburgh, where her work focuses on migration and refugee issues. In addition, she researches the sale of citizenship in both legal and black market contexts at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. She is also a former RSC Research Associate and post-doctoral fellow. Dr Long received her doctorate from Cambridge in 2009, and afterwards worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre in Oxford and as a lecturer at the London School of Economics, before joining the department in September 2013. She has also worked extensively with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees on a number of projects, including investigating the role migration could play in solving refugee crises, the use of voluntary repatriation and refugees' political participation, and emergency responses to border closures. To date, her research has looked in particular at refugee movements and international "solutions" to forced migration crises. Most recently, her fieldwork has focused on migrations from and crises in the East, Horn and Great Lakes regions of Africa, but she's also worked in Guatemala and Mexico and is increasingly interested in understanding immigration policy here in the West.

Growing up African American in segregated Arkansas in the 1950s, Barbara Hendricks witnessed firsthand the painful struggle for civil rights. After graduation from the Juilliard School of Music, Hendricks immediately won a number of important international prizes, and began performing in recitals and operas throughout the world. A Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, she is as devoted to humanitarian work as she is to her music. Always the anti-diva, Hendricks is a down-to-earth and straightforward woman, whether singing Mozart or black spirituals. She challenges stereotypes and puts the music first and presents a warm, engaging, and honest self-portrait of one of the great women of music. Barbara Hendricks is an operatic soprano and concert singer. She has sold more than 14 million copies of more than 80 records, and has appeared in major opera houses throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She was named Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1987 and founded the Barbara Hendricks Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation in 1998. Kofi A. Annan served as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006.

Tim Finch of the Institute of Public Policy Research asks if it is time for a fundamental rethink of the way we deal with refugees. He investigates the history of asylum as a political issue, the way asylum policy is implemented in the UK today, and discusses various views on how refugees could be handled in the future. Our current system was introduced in the early 2000s in response to public anger over allegations of bogus asylum seekers. Earlier this year responsibility for assessing asylum claims was removed from the UK Border Agency to the Home Office, amidst claims that the system was not fit for purpose. Why does asylum continue to be such a vexed issue? CONTRIBUTORS Tua Fesefese, currently seeking asylum in the UK David Blunkett MP, Home Secretary 2001 - 4 Zrinka Bralo, Executive Director of the Migrant And Refugee Community Forum Oskar Ekblad, Head of Resettlement at the Swedish Migration Board Mark Harper, MP for Forest of Dean and Immigration Minister 2012 - 14 Roland Schilling, United Nations High Commission for Refugees Representative to the UK Rob Whiteman, Director General of the UK Border Agency 2011 - 13 Producer: Luke Mulhall.

A Great Moral Hunger Chair of the board of Death Penalty Focus, Farrell is also spokesperson for Concern America, an international refugee aid and development organization, and co-chair emeritus of the California Committee of Human Rights Watch. He has also been a Good Will Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Known by millions as B.J. Hunnicutt from M*A*S*H and from NBC-TV's Providence, Farrell will share his journey as actor and activist.

Introduction As we come to Isaiah 15 and 16, I acknowledge here before you the challenge of expositional preaching. It is quite possible that there’s no congregation on the face of the earth that has had Isaiah 16:4 projected up on the walls as we did this morning, talking about fugitives from Moab and finding refuge in Christ. That’s the challenge of exposition and the joy as well. “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” (2 Tim 3:16) Amen. Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Mt 4:4) Now, my brother and good friend, Andy Winn, had John 3:16 last Sunday. I get Isaiah 15 and 16. He did a wonderful job and I was greatly encouraged. But frankly, the more I studied these two chapters that we’re looking at today, the more relevancy I saw in my own personal life. I don’t know that this is something where you’re necessarily going to take a verse from it and memorize it, or something like that. Yet, it is the word of the Lord to us today. And I pray that God will enable me to preach it with power and with conviction so that our lives might be transformed. I’ll never forget the summer of 1987, when I had the privilege of ministering to refugees who had fled from the invading Russians in Afghanistan. They were across the border in Pakistan, and we went to the city of Peshawar and we ministered to them. They were the most miserable and destitute people I’d ever seen in my life. And it’s still the case. I’ve seen some poverty in Asia, in India, in Haiti, but I’ve never seen the kind of misery and pain that I saw etched on the faces of these people that had run for their lives from Russian helicopter gunships. Many of them had seen relatives and friends killed before their very eyes. Their prospects were limited. They were not incredibly welcome in Pakistan. They were safe, at least for the time being, but their prospects economically were dim. Very few people were ministering to them. They had a hard time eating and caring for themselves. And again, the future looked dim. What a joy and privilege it is to go into a situation like that and minister the gospel of Jesus Christ! Amen! To be able to bring hope where, other than the ministry of the Gospel, there would be no hope. But the 20th century really was a century of refugees. Look at World War I. Look at World War II. Look at grainy old black and white photos from World War I and footage of German dive bombers, strafing columns of refugees that are fleeing from Belgium, or fleeing from Poland, or fleeing from Russia or Ukraine. You can see a picture in your mind of what it is to be a refugee. It’s a terrifying situation to be in, to lose everything that you have except what you can carry with you. I remember a picture of an elderly French woman. She’s got a mink stole on and she’s got an evening gown and a valuable painting. She’s got it in a baby buggy and she’s pushing it down a muddy road. It’s all she has left of a former way of life. Everything that she has, she’s carrying with her. You get the sense that it won’t be much longer and she won’t even be pushing that baby buggy. She’ll be stripped of everything. So it is to be a refugee. The more I meditated on Isaiah 15 and 16, the more I saw the relevance to our lives. I don’t know that any of us will ever be refugees. I do know that the United Nations High Commission on Refugees said there were sixty-five million displaced persons in 2007. So there’s a lot of refugees around the world. There’s an opportunity for us as a church of Jesus Christ to minister. We had an opportunity to minister to some refugees who came to us from Vietnam. What a great privilege that was! We may well have a practical ministry to refugees. It could be that, if we are in fact the final generation, and some of the events that are recorded in the Book of Revelation take place, then we will actually know what it means to flee for our lives and to dwell in caves, and to look for a place of refuge from an encroaching terror that’s coming to hunt us down. We may know that. If the Lord tarries, we may never know that. But there are people, even brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Sudan and other places in the world, that are actually going through this right now. So at the physical level, I think there’s a relevance to this text. But I also see a spiritual connection. I don’t think it’s hard to find because what happens in this text is a judgment on Moab. Some unnamed invader comes into their country and the people of Moab have to run for their lives. Their military strength is gone. They have nothing left. Their religious strength is gone and they run for their lives. They actually turn, at that point, to their former enemies in Judah, the Jews. They want to see if it’s possible that they might take them in. As a matter of fact, Isaiah the prophet says that it’s the only refuge they’re going to have. I’m going to talk about who the invader could be. We don’t really know who it is. But if in fact the invader was Assyria, and if they came in during a certain time, it could be that, literally, physically, the only refuge there could be would be in Zion, in Jerusalem, with godly King Hezekiah. This, in the end, becomes a picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus, the descendant of David, the King, the Davidic King, mentioned in the middle of Isaiah 16, is in fact the only refuge there is from the coming judgment. So there is a beautiful spiritual picture of the gospel as well. The Bible does this over and over. Oh, how the Lord wants us to flee to Christ! How many different ways does it give us incentive so that we would run for our lives, run to the only refuge there is, the refuge of Jesus Christ? There are pictures again and again in the Old Testament of a place of refuge. If you go there, you are going to be safe from the coming judgment and the coming wrath. But, if you go outside of it, you’re going to be killed. You’re going to perish. Noah’s ark is a picture of that. If you’re on the ark, you’re safe. If you’re outside the ark, you are lost. Also, during the time of Passover when the Jews painted the blood of the sacrificial lamb over the door posts, the angel of death passed over. If he saw the blood on the house, everyone inside the house was safe. But if you were outside the house, your blood was on your own head. That meant you were going to die. So there’s a place of refuge, a place of security and safety, and outside there is none. Or again, we have Rahab’s house nestled in the walls of Jericho. The promise of a scarlet cord hanging down was that she and all of her relatives would be safe if they stayed in the house. But if they went outside the house, their blood would be on their own heads. They would die. It is also a picture of a place of refuge, which you have to be inside. That’s where the refuge is. Outside there is none. In the Law of Moses, there is a provision for cities of refuge where, if you accidentally kill somebody, you can run for your life. If you get there before the avenger of blood comes, you’ll be safe. They’ll protect you and keep you safe until the death of the high priest. It was a picture, again, of a place of refuge. Don’t you see how all of these are pictures of Jesus Christ? Don’t you see Christ in all of this? Don’t you see the need to run for your life? Don’t you see that there is a judgment coming, worse than the flood of Noah? It’s an eternal judgment, an eternal fire. What we stand to lose is not just our mortal lives, but our souls. We are encouraged again and again and again to run for our lives to the place of refuge, and that is Jesus Christ. So there you have it. There’s the sermon in a nutshell. What we have is a current event that’s not so current. Moabite Refugees Fleeing in Terror Prophecies Against the Nations We have, in this section of Isaiah, the oracles against the nations. Isaiah the prophet is giving an oracle, or a saying, a prophecy concerning Moab. From Isaiah 13 through 23, one nation after another is addressed through the prophetic voice. Isaiah the prophet is speaking here to the little country of Moab. We’ve had oracles against great nations like Assyria and Babylon. Last time, we looked at an oracle against the Philistines, a smaller nation. Here, the Moabites were even smaller. The Sovereign God who rules over all the earth is orchestrating the events of all the earth. He speaks an oracle through his prophet to the people of Moab, the Moabites. Who are the Moabites? Now, who were the Moabites? They were descended from Lot, Abraham’s nephew. When, in another picture of refuge, Lot fled from Sodom and Gomorrah to the little town of Zoar, he was able to survive the fire and brimstone. This is a picture, again, of refuge, fleeing for your life. But then, thinking that it was the end of the world, they took up refuge in a cave. Lot was there with his two daughters. And the daughters, thinking that they wouldn’t know any more people on the face of the earth, perhaps with the memory of the flood still very fresh in their minds, induced their father through wine to lay with them. Each of them had a son by their own father and from this came two peoples, the Moabites and the Ammonites. The Moabites took up residence on a tiny piece of land east of the Dead Sea, stretching from the Arnon River, which dumps into the Dead Sea, to the Zered River, on the border with Edom. It’s a small piece of land, thirty miles by thirty miles. It’s really small. The Moabites were not a mighty and significant people. They were usually enemies of Israel, usually in opposition to the people of God. They would fight against them. For example, during the Exodus, they would not allow the Israelites to pass through their territory, they had to go around. They hired Balaam to curse Israel, and you remember what happened with that. The Moabite women seduced the Israelite men to worship Baal of Peor through sexual immorality. It was the Moabite women that did that. As a result of all of these things, the Law of Moses forbad any of them to enter the assembly of the Lord down to the tenth generation. They were forbidden to enter. During the time of the Judges, God gave Israel over to a Moabite king, Eglon, the fat man. Eglon was murdered by one of the judges, Ehud, a left-handed man. These were the Moabites. They were the enemies of the people of God. It was Moabite wives that seduced King Solomon to worship foreign gods, to worship Chemosh, their detestable god. They occasionally organized armies to fight against the Jews, and they usually lost. They were the enemies of God’s people. By the end of Kings and Chronicles, Moabite raiders were still plundering Israel. Yet, for all of that, it was a godly Moabite woman, Ruth, who said to Naomi, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God… May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” (Ru 1:16-17) From Ruth came David, and through David, ultimately, came our savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, we see the grace of God in dealing with pagan people. We also see God’s saving intentions to the Gentiles and to every tribe and language and people and nation, everyone on the face of the earth. Why are They Fleeing? These are the people, the Moabites, who are running for their lives in these two chapters. It’s the Moabites who are running now. Why are they fleeing? Look at Isaiah 15:1, “Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!” By the way, if you see Keith Pendergraff, thank him for that reading. There’s something like twenty proper nouns in that. He did a phenomenal job. I don’t know that I’m going to do as well. I was adjusting my pronunciation as I listened to him read the scripture. So thank you, Keith. We thought about that at our staff meeting, “Now, who’s going to do this reading? Please urge them to practice ahead of time.” But what is going on in Isaiah 15:1? Well, these are two cities in Moab, Ar and Kir, and both of them are destroyed in a night. They’re gone. These are their strongholds, their high places, their walled fortresses. They are nothing to the unnamed invader. In a single night, they are gone, both of them have fallen. Furthermore, their religion has proven to be empty. They turn to their high places. Verse 2 says, “Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep.” If you look all the way over to Chapter 16:12, it says, “When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.” Chemosh cannot help them. You know why? Because Chemosh does not exist. He’s an idol of their own imagination and Chemosh cannot save them. So they are running for their lives. They are fugitives. Look at Isaiah 15:5, “Her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.” You see a picture of a train of refugees, crying, running, leaving possessions behind, stuff strewn along the roads. That’s what’s going on. The Moabites are running for their lives. Like all refugees, they try to carry whatever they can of their possessions. Verse 7 says, “So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.” They’re going to carry their gold and silver with them. Well, how long is that going to last? It’s heavy. There comes a point where they will leave it behind. The army that’s going to come after them will pick it up and plunder them. So that’s what is happening. These are refugees leaving behind their old way of life, and the slaughter is terrible. Look at Isaiah 15:9, “Dimon’s waters are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon – a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land.” Whether it’s a literal lion or it’s just more military conquest coming on this straggling line of refugees, it doesn’t matter. The fact of the matter is, it’s just a miserable, horrible time for these Moabites. The rivers are filled with blood. You see the image of their women in 16:2, “like fluttering birds, pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of Arnon.” As they’re trying to cross this river, they are panicking and weak and defenseless, a picture of the refugee. Turning to Judah for Help At this point, they turn to Judah for help. This is the only place they can turn. Frankly, this is what Isaiah wants them to do. If you look at Isaiah 16:1, it says, “send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert.” Where? “to the daughter of Zion.” Reach out to the Jews. Why? Because salvation is from the Jews, your ancient enemies. Reach out to the daughter of Zion. That’s the advice that Isaiah’s giving. It’s really that God is giving it. Reach out to the Jews in your moment of distress. Historical Details Now, I have no idea, historically, what this is referring to. Nobody really knows. I have a sense of what’s going on, but nobody really knows. Of course, the big bully of the time was Assyria. It could be that in 715 BC, the Assyrians were coming down and dealing with some Arabian raiders that were making commerce difficult. As they did, they passed through little Moab. And what do the Assyrians do when they pass through somebody’s land? They do this kind of thing, this kind of conquest, this kind of bloodshed, this kind of plundering and pillaging. It could be that’s exactly what was going. The end for Moab is quite near. The End is Near Look at the end of our reading for today. Isaiah 16:13-14 says, “This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. But now the Lord says: ‘Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.” It’s a time table, three years as for a servant bound by a contract, meaning counting the hours. It’s going to be very accurate. Within that time, three years, Moab will be finished. That’s what’s going on. Look at Isaiah’s reaction, weeping for the refugees. Weeping for the Refugees God Does Not Willingly Afflict People I find it fascinating, the emotional response of Isaiah to these, who are supposedly his enemies. I tell you that God does not willingly afflict anyone. He doesn’t willingly bring suffering on anybody. So says Lamentations 3:32-33, “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.” The consistent teaching of scripture is that it is, in fact, God that brings these disasters. There’s not a subset of disaster that didn’t come from God and had nothing to do with God. He does everything. He’s King of the Universe, but He doesn’t delight in bringing suffering. That’s not what He’s doing. It’s called in Isaiah 28:21, “His strange work” and “His alien task.” It’s not his home base. He does it for a reason, for a purpose. I believe He afflicts the nations to get them up out of their self-satisfied, self-worshipping rut, and to cause them to seek a Savior, who they would never seek if God didn’t afflict them. As King Hezekiah says as he is recovering from his illness, “Surely it was good for me to have been afflicted.” It’s a good thing, then, to be afflicted if, in the end, it means salvation for your soul. And I think that’s what’s going on here. God brings these kinds of afflictions because there is no way the Moabites will seek a Savior from the descendants of David, unless they are desperate and running for their lives. Isaiah Weeps for the Nations God brings this kind of affliction into lives, but you see the emotion, you see the compassion of God through His spokesman Isaiah. You see Him weeping for them, and it’s really quite surprising. Look at Isaiah 15:5. He says “My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.” He’s weeping for them. He has compassion for them. In chapter 16:9-11, it says, “So I weep, as Jazer weeps… the shouts of joy… are stilled. Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out the wine at the presses, for I have put an end to the shouting. My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.” This is Isaiah. Isaiah is speaking. He is a man. He is reacting to his own prophecies. He’s reacting emotionally to what he is writing. But in so doing, he is God’s mouthpiece, and it is really God’s own reaction to what the Moabites are going through. That’s quite remarkable. You have to look carefully, but look at verse 10, and then on into verse 11 of Chapter 16. It says, “Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out wine at the presses.” Why? “For I have put an end to the shouting.” Do you see that? The word “I?” Isaiah didn’t do that. It’s not Isaiah’s work that put an end to anything. He’s an announcer. He’s a messenger. This is God speaking. Therefore, the very next verse is God speaking as well. “My heart laments for Moab.” This is the nature of our God. He brings the affliction, but He weeps at the effects. Surely, God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. They are so infinitely high above us, what God is doing in the world. But I believe He does it out of compassion. I believe He does it so that people will turn from their sins and cry out to a Jewish Savior, cry out to Christ and be saved. That’s why He does it. And unless some harsh treatment comes in most of our lives, if not all, we will never do it. We will never do it. Christ Wept for His Enemies Christ wept for His enemies, didn’t He? Didn’t Christ stand over Jerusalem and weep for the coming judgment that would come on that city? Didn’t He say, concerning the men that were murdering Him, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) Do you see His heart there? The Apostle Paul Wept for His Enemies Do you see the Apostle Paul, in Romans 9, testifying that he has a great sorrow and unceasing anguish over the Jews who are making his life utterly miserable and who would love to kill him as well? He testifies solemnly that he would trade his salvation for theirs, if he could. Amazing compassion! Do We? What about us? What about me? Every time I come to the issue of my level of compassion for the lost, I’m brought up short and convicted. I realize that I have to cry out against the stoniness of my own heart and I realize that I just don’t care enough about fugitives, refugees. I don’t care enough about the lost, the idolaters around me. I don’t care enough. And I have to fan a little ember into a flame, by a biblical meditation on what hell is actually going to be like. I have to do it. The scholarly pastor Andrew Bonar, in Scotland, lay on his bed Saturday nights. Down in the street, below his window, he could hear revelers tramping back and forth, going to the bars and the shows, an empty searching for something. He used to get out of his bed and weep over their souls and cry out, “Oh, they perish, they perish!” He would weep for them. Oswald J Smith, who brought the Gospel to over 50 countries, this is what he said, “Can we travail for a drowning child, but not for a perishing soul? It is not hard to weep when we realize that our little one is sinking below the surface for the last time. Anguish is spontaneous then. Nor is it hard to agonize when we see the little casket containing all that we love on earth borne out of the home. Ah, no; tears are natural at such a time! But oh, to realize and to know that souls, precious, never-dying souls are perishing all around us, going out into the blackness of darkness and despair, eternally lost, and yet to feel no anguish, shed no tears, know no travail! How cold are our hearts! How little do we know of the compassion of Jesus!” I take solace from the fact that you can even see that Oswald J Smith, who brought the gospel to over 50 countries, saw that weakness in his own heart. It’s not natural for us, but we ought to weep over the kind of judgments that come on the lost. We ought to travail for their souls. We see the sorrow of Isaiah and, really, the sorrow of God over the affliction necessary to save them. The Great Advantage of Refugees Advantage? How Can It Be? We also see the great advantage for these refugees. Now, you might say what advantage can there be in being a refugee? Well, on an earthly basis, at a purely secular level, I can’t possibly see any advantage. As I said, these were the most miserable people I’d ever seen on the face of the earth. I don’t mean that in terms of their emotional state. I just mean in terms of their circumstances. As I look at the hierarchy of suffering, the only think that I think is worse than running for your life before an invading army is being captured and held by a malicious tyrant who loves to torture you, with no escape or death. I think that’s probably the worst earthly circumstance you could be in. Of course, none of this compares to hell, because there is always some escape from any misery here on earth. But there is no escape from hell. Still, I think being a refugee is a horrible situation. Yet there is an advantage if, in the end, you come to your senses and come to faith in Christ, if you realize you’re really running for your life. And by that, I mean your eternal life. If you realize that your ordinary way of life was only going to lead you to hell, and something caused you to get out of that rut that was drawing you right down into hell, to get up out of that and say, “Where am I going?” If you then come to your senses and say, “I need a savior,” then it’s worthwhile. Foundations Removed There’s some advantage, then, in being a refugee. Foundations are removed. All the things you counted on and relied on are taken away. You have to think about everything anew and afresh. Everything’s been tossed up for grabs. Pride Removed Pride has been removed. Oh, that’s important. Look at Isaiah 16:6. It’s mentioned right there, “We have heard of Moab’s pride – her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and her insolence – but her boasts are empty.” Oh, they’re empty now! Now whoever it is has come in, the Assyrians, let’s say. Oh, there’s nothing left to be proud of now! Now they’re beggars looking for some place of refuge. Actually, that’s good, because Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:3) It’s good to get to the point where you realize you have nothing in your hands to give to the king. You’re just begging for a place of refuge. That’s a good thing. Pride has been destroyed. It’s amazing how proud we are, isn’t it? But what do we have to be proud of, really? We’re just created beings. Everything we have we receive from God. What do we have to boast about? Yet it’s in there, that worm of pride. It’s so ugly when you see it in someone else, isn’t it? It’s so ugly when you see it in another person, but it’s ugly if you can see it in yourself too. I was reading a quote by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. I can scarcely read this without feeling a curdling effect in my stomach. He said openly what most people would never parade. Pride is just oozing from this paragraph. Listen to what he said: “What could your miseries have in common with mine? My situation is unique, unheard of since the beginning of time. The person who can love me as I can love is still yet to be born. No one has ever had more talent for loving. I was born to be the best friend that ever existed. Show me a better man than me, a heart more loving, more tender, more sensitive. Posterity will honor me because it is my due. I rejoice in myself. My consolation lies in my self-esteem. If there were a single enlightened government in Europe, it would have erected statues to me.” Wow! Listen, bro. Let’s sit down and have a conversation. Let’s get the scripture and find out what the truth really is. What’s so sad is that we’re like this, though we don’t admit it. We’re not going to bring it this far, but we think, “Has anybody ever suffered like me? Nobody loves like I love. If I really got what I deserved, they’d be erecting a statue.” I don’t know if we carry it that far, but the pride, it’s really laughable. It’s actually good to laugh at yourself. But, you know, to actually get cured from it, sometimes it takes this level of affliction. To run for your life strips you of pride. What do you have left? Where then is your resume? Where then are your possessions? Where then is your glorious future? You’re running for your life, and that’s what it’s done. So there’s a great advantage to being a refugee. The Only Safe Refuge: Christ An Invitation for Refuge It’s good if you know the refuge. Amen? If you know where to run to, now that’s a benefit. And I say to you, the only safe refuge is Jesus Christ. He’s mentioned in the text, though indirectly. With their pride stripped, the Moabite refugees have nowhere to turn but to Judah. As we already mentioned in Chapter 16:1, they’re urged to “send lambs as tribute to the… mount of the Daughter of Zion.” That’s Jerusalem. They begged for help from the Jews. Verses 2-4 of Chapter 16 say, “Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. ‘Give us counsel, render a decision. Make your shadow like night – at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.’ The oppressor will come to an and, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.” A Stunning Prophecy: A Ruler from the House of David Here we have a stunning and beautiful prophecy: a ruler from the house of David. Look at verse 16:5, “In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it – one from the house of David – one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.” Oh, how sweet is that promise of Jesus Christ! This isn’t any one of the Davidic kings. Yes, Hezekiah was a godly man, but he was no final refuge. He’s a picture of A refuge, but he’s not The final refuge. Oh no. The final refuge is Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. He’s the refuge. Therefore, Isaiah predicts the establishment of a Davidic throne that will reign in righteousness. This Davidic king will bring justice to the nations. It is Jesus Christ then at last, who is every refugee’s place of safety. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and find refuge. Jesus is the name of the Lord. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. You run to Him and you find refuge. What refuge is there? The foot of the cross, where Jesus shed His blood for sin. The real danger is not the Assyrian army or any army. The real danger is the wrath of God. “’Do not fear those who kill the body and after that can do nothing to you. I’ll tell you the one to fear,’ said Jesus, ‘fear the one who has the power to destroy both soul and body in hell.’” We need a refuge from hell. We need a refuge from the judgment of an all-seeing God. We need a refuge from judgment and wrath. That’s what we need. Jesus Christ is the place of refuge, amen? We can flee to Him and find safety. There is no other, there’s no other place. God didn’t ordain that Noah and five other people each build an ark. There was one ark, there was one place of refuge. And so it is with Christ. In the Old Covenant, the Moabites were excluded to the tenth generation. Oh, but praise God for the New covenant, Amen? In the New Covenant, anyone who repents and believes is welcome. “All that the Father gives me will come to me,” said Jesus, “and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” (Jn 6:37) There is your welcome. There is your place of refuge. Jesus Christ is saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28) So He is the place of refuge mentioned right here in Isaiah 16:5. Someday the Whole World Will Become Refugees What’s the connection to our lives? Are we ever going to be refugees? Well, I can’t say. I cannot say. I do know, though, there will come a time when every nation on earth will run for their lives. If you’re alive at that time, you’ll run too. You will run too. That’s all you can do. This is what the Lord says in Isaiah 13:13-14, “Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of his burning anger. Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.” Haggai 2:6-7 says, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations.’” Isaiah 30:27-28 says, “See, the name of the Lord comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire. His breath is like a rushing torrent, rising up to the neck. He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction.” Hebrews 12:26-27 says, “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words “once more” indicate the removal of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” God himself is going to shake the nations in a sieve of destruction. All the nations that live at that time will run for their lives. So you will be a fugitive if you live in the final generation. It is your future and mine if the Lord tarries. It is a terrifying thing. The prediction is plain in Revelation 6:12-17, “I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” Run for your lives! It’s going to be literal at that point. But the real danger is nothing on earth, friend. No, the real danger is Judgment Day. That’s the real danger. When you stand before Him who knows everything you ever said, everything you ever did, who knows the inclinations of your heart, who remembers everything perfectly, that’s the danger. As John the Baptist said to his Jewish enemies, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” Has anybody warned you to do that, to be a refugee from the coming wrath? Have you learned to do that? To flee from the wrath to come? Christ is the Only Refuge for Spiritual Refugees Jesus Christ is the only refuge from that wrath to come. It says in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, “Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” Amen? He is a safe refuge from the coming wrath. It says in 1 Thessalonians 5:9, “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” So run for your lives! In the beginning of Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian realizes that he actually lived in a place called the City of Destruction. He started to be worried about the future. Wouldn’t you if you lived in a place called the City of Destruction? He’s reading about it in the book, in the Scriptures, and he has a terrible burden on his back, a sense of guilt for his own sins that are going to press him down to hell. He talks to his wife, but she doesn’t believe. She thinks he’s crazy. The children don’t believe, they think he’s crazy. His neighbors think he’s crazy. Then Evangelist tells him to go to a wicket gate and to a flashing light, and he begins to run there. He’s running, and he’s got his fingers in his ears so he doesn’t listen to the cries of his unbelieving family and his mocking neighbors. He runs and runs for the distant salvation, running for that gate, so that his soul can be saved. Run for your lives. Do you live in the City of Destruction? Yes, you do. So do I. So we’re called on to run this race with endurance, to keep running until we’re done, to run for our lives spiritually. Applications Nothing Here is Eternal… So Flee Every Day to Christ What application do we take from this? First, nothing you see around you is eternal. Don’t be deceived. Did you say, “What? We heard a strange sermon today on being a refugee for Christ. I don’t think that’s going to happen to me.” Well, be careful, friend. Be careful, because someday you’re going to lose it all anyway. You are. And it’s good to know it. I don’t know the specific political and military situations, or earthquake, or hurricane that will cause you to be a displaced person. I don’t know whether that will ever happen to you. But I do know this, you ought to live with that kind of mentality. Live as an alien and a stranger on earth, looking ahead to a city with foundations whose builder and maker is God. Run for that place, the celestial city. Nothing will ever remove that. It cannot be shaken. Run for that. Live a Holy Life Worthy of Our Future Home… Personal Holiness Hold on to your possessions loosely. Live a holy life worthy of that final day, since is says in 2 Peter 3:11-13, “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” So live a holy and godly life. 1 Peter 2:11 says, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in this world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” Cry Out Over Our Hardness of Heart Thirdly, I would urge you to cry out over your own hardness of heart, as I do over mine. Cry out that you don’t care about the plight of the lost. Be like God. Be like Paul. Be like Andrew Bonar and Oswald J Smith. Be like these men and women who learned to weep over the condition of lost friends and relatives and co-workers. If you don’t care much, know that God knows you don’t care. He knows, however, if you’re a believer, that you want to care. You want to be healed from your hardness of heart. You want to care about the poor and the needy. Go to Him and ask Him for it. Be a spiritual beggar for that, too. Say, “Lord, change my heart. Give me tears to cry over lost people.” And stay there until He does. Meditate in depth on passages about hell. That might help you. Consider Ministry to Refugees Finally, consider in a practical way a ministry to refugees. We’ve already had some in this church that have sacrificially given to refugees from Vietnam. It’s been a sweet experience for them and for the church. You can give money to Persecution Project, which ministers to Christian refugees in the Sudan, especially in Darfur. You can minister to refugees that are non-Christians, as we did in Pakistan. Those were Muslim refugees. Perhaps God might call you to that kind of a practical ministry. In any case, whatever God calls you to do, live your life as a refugee here on Earth until God takes you to heaven. Close with me in prayer.

Peter Warshall The Spiritual Labor of Earth Healing Join Michael Lerner in conversation with ecologist, activist, and essayist Peter Warshall, editor of Whole Earth Review, and teacher at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa Institute. Peter Warshall Peter was an ecologist, activist, and essayist whose work centered on conservation and conservation-based development. After receiving his A.B. in Biology from Harvard in 1964, he went on to study cultural anthropology at l’École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris with Claude Lévi-Strauss, as a Fulbright Scholar. He then returned to Harvard where he earned his Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology. Warshall’s research interests included natural history, natural resource management, and conservation biology. He worked as a consultant for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Ethiopia; for USAID and other organizations in ten other African nations; and he worked with the Tohono O’odham and Apache people of Arizona. Warshall was an editor of one of the later editions of the Whole Earth Catalog series, and served as an editor of its spin-off magazine, Whole Earth Review. He taught at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa Institute. Warshall died in 2013. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.