Resources for Good Practice
Update June 2013
Member Care in Mission/Aid
Making History Better
Stay updated with key member care resources for your work in mission/aid.
Spread the word—share this Update with your colleagues and networks.
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This month marks the 50th Resource Update. It is a good time to celebrate and to reflect. We thus begin with two items that highlight many historical milestones in member care over the past several decades (resource area one). Next we include three items that help us to critically understand the history of humanitarian aid as well as global history in general (resource area two). The final section presents a challenging quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. about human progress, written from prison 50 years ago. We encourage us all to review and use these resources in our efforts to positively influence the course of history—to help make a better life for humans everywhere.
Warm greetings from Geneva,
Kelly and Michèle O’Donnell
Illuminated drawings from the Book of Kells, representing Christ in the four gospels.
Christian faith also views Christ as the central figure of history. (circa 800, Ireland)
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Enjoy the miusic video about Chi-Ro, by Iona
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFFv6ZePDG0
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Resource Area One:
Learning from Member Care History
Celebrating Global Member Care History
“Let’s go on a short, fascinating trip to explore highlights of member care history. On this journey we will review examples of the foundations, thinking, writing, and practices for our interdisciplinary and international field….I summarize five decades of member care activity with some core “notes and quotes” about member care. We start in the 1970’s and travel into the 2010s. I also include links to creative video clips that artistically reflect the trends of each decade. Reviewing the past helps to guide our current and future practice of member care…and address the grand challenges facing humanity.” [in Member Care in India: Ministry Call to Home Call (2012)--Click here to read the article]
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Global Letters for a Global Community —Friendships and Consultations
“Where were you in September 1998?…Twelve international colleagues met in Oxford, UK for three days to discuss the development of member care. Participants were from seven countries and four continents. One key outcome…” [CORE Member Care: Reflections, Research, and Resources (24 January 2012)--click here to read more and to view several historical photos]
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Resource Area Two:
Learning from Global History
New Players through Old Lenses: Why History Matters in Engaging with Southern Actors
“The formal international humanitarian system has reached a critical juncture: the importance of Southern humanitarian actors has been widely recognised but reactions to their presence have been varied. It is important that the international system seek to understand and be open to the diverse cultural, political and contextual forces that have shaped these actors. Greater attention to the past will facilitate sharper reflection on the current system and clearer understanding of key stakeholders within and beyond it.” [Eleanor Davey, Humanitarian Policy Group, HPG Policy Brief 48, July 2012—click here to read this Policy Brief]
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Teaching Global History (short online modules by Alan Singer)
“Activity 3. Events (or People) that Changed the World. Instructions: At the end of the 1990s, in preparation for celebration of the start of a new millennium, many groups and individuals created lists of the most important or significant people and events in human history. Life magazine published a list of the “Top 100 Events of the Last Millennium” (http://www.tostepharmd.net/hissoc/top100events.html) accessed June 6, 2010). The top ten events from the list are included here. Students can research these events and evaluate their impact on human history...and explain why certain groups of people (e.g., women) and regions of the world are over or under represented.
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Life Magazine List
1. Gutenberg prints the Christian Bible, Germany, 1455
2. Columbian Encounter, Spain and the Americas, 1492
3. Luther launches Protestant Reformation, Germany, 1517
4. James Watt patents the steam engine, England, 1769
5. Galileo establishes sun-centered solar system, Italy, 1610
6. Robert Koch develops germ theory of disease, Germany, 1882
7. Gunpowder first used in weapons, China, 1100
8. Declaration of Independence, United States, 1776
9. Hitler and Nazis come to power, Germany, 1933”
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A Primer for Teaching World History: Ten Design Principles, by Antoinette Burton, 2012 [Click here to read a review in the IBMR, January 2013; note you need to register to access the journal online—it is easy and free]
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Final Thoughts
Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability;
it comes from the tireless efforts of [people] willing to be co-workers with God,
and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963 (50 years ago)