What: Inspirational Author to Share Stories of Sudan
When: Thursday (Sept. 30), 7 p.m.
Where: Red Bluff’s Sacred Heart Parish Hall, 2355 Monroe Street
Author and co-founder of Mercy Beyond Borders, Marilyn Lacey, RSM, will discuss her work in southern Sudan. Lacey, a Sister of Mercy with a quick wit and keen sense of observation, will tell many of the stories that inspired her book, “This Flowing Toward Me: A Story of God Arriving in Strangers.”
One such story recounts the joyous reunion in a Kenyan refugee camp of Lacey and a young Sudanese man she’d met 12 years prior, when the man was only 14 years old and living in a Sudanese camp. The young man recognized Lacey all those years later and enthusiastically recalled their first meeting when they had a shared a few hours of conversation. Lacey writes, “The lesson in this encounter is certainly not that I am memorable, but rather that refugees are rarely paid attention to. They thirst for recognition and welcome. And when someone does listen, does want to hear their story, does treat them with basic human respect, it creates a precious, indelible memory. These are small things, but oh, so important.”
Mercy Beyond Borders employs three strategies to alleviate poverty in southern Sudan: education of women and girls, providing seed capital to women, and promotion of maternal and child health.
The organization’s website recounts the story of a preteen who walked 14 hours to attend school. The young woman related that “the last 4 hours I walk uphill with my suitcase on my head. If it slips off,” she said, “it tumbles a long way down and I have to chase it and begin again.”
Lacey responds that for girls like this, “any difficulties melt away when compared to the chance of becoming literate, postponing an early arranged marriage, and developing their innate talents. Sadly, fewer than 15% of girls in Southern Sudan ever have the opportunity for schooling. Mercy Beyond Borders is working to change that.”
Lacey’s talk is free and open to the public. A voluntary offering will be collected to support the work of Mercy Beyond Borders. For more information, call Kathy at 529-4958 or visit www.mercybeyondborders.org
-from press release
A News Cafe, founded in Shasta County by Redding, CA journalist Doni Greenberg, is the place for people craving local Northern California news, commentary, food, arts and entertainment.
