Disciples Justice Ministries Retreat: Blue Flags and Everlasting Hope

I recall a time in my life when I was at the border between the municipality of Nogales in the Mexican state of Sonora and the city of Nogales, Arizona, United States. In the middle of the desert, immigrant advocacy organizations shared with me some of the practices to preserve the lives of those who arrived at the borders on a dangerous journey. One of the measures they took to warn immigrants about water and food availability consisted of raising blue flags on very high flagpoles. They explained that the flags were blue because the color can help guide people through a desert. Blue color can stand out against the sandy, beige landscape of the desert, making it easier to spot individuals or places from a distance.  

The experience that eight justice ministries associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, together as the Disciples Justice Ministries Group (DJMG), had at our recent retreat could very well be classified as a “blue flag signal” amid our droughts, challenges, and weariness in the affirmation of peace, justice, and reconciliation. The meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, was a collective experience of identifying high blue flags standing out in the visibility of our emotional health and well-being and the need to envision paths of unity from our respective ministries. It was a necessary pause on the road to the Promised Land.  Mark Anderson, NBA´s President and CEO, Joselyn Spence, Director of the Mental Health and Wellness Program, and Hector J. Hernández Marcial, Director of Community Engagement, served us as companions through this walk.   

The first day of the retreat was dedicated to self-care and wellness, emphasizing the importance of maintaining our well-being while working towards social justice. We learned how to sustain ourselves as “agents of change” without falling into a sense of “martyrdom.” Working for justice can be overwhelming, especially when we face deeply entrenched injustice in history, culture, and everyday behavior in society. We explored how to balance self-care and our commitment to social change. How can we keep that necessary balance, maintaining self-care while working on our agendas and questioning the status quo? How do we achieve the right balance between commitment to social change and taking care of our health?  Joselyn Spence guided us through reflections, meditations, introspection, testimonies, and exercises to help us achieve this balance. We concluded the day with a visit to the International Civil Rights Museum in Downtown Greensboro.  There, we experienced, among other things and, vast information, a virtual recreation of the Woolworth counter sit-ins of the 1960s, highlighting the struggles against racial segregation and the triumph of non-violence and affirmative action in the fight for equality. 

On the second day of our retreat, we had the opportunity to listen to each other and share our training experiences related to the pursuit of social justice. We used a method developed by Marshal Ganz called “building a public narrative.” This involved combining our personal experiences, identifying common values that align with our shared work purpose, and addressing the pressing needs that call us to pursue justice as DJMG members.  We discussed the circumstances, contexts, and mentors who have helped us become more aware of the realities faced by our neighbors, empowering us to question unjust structures along our walks of life. We also reflected on the steps we took from our own experiences or awareness and urgency for change. Through this process, we identified common points that showed where our experiences intersected and highlighted the values that serve as the foundation for our daily efforts to promote justice. 

Some of the core values that we recognized in our journeys toward a sense of community include the urgency to deepen our common challenge to transform the existing system, the ability to discern the conditions of injustice affecting our community at large while also recognizing specific issues, the importance of embracing our social diversity, the need for imagination to envision a new world and reality, the importance of multiplying our impact through justice campaigns and actions, the significance of standing in solidarity with communities, and the cultivation of a conscience that drives us to take action.  This sense of community and solidarity is essential in our collective pursuit of social justice. 

The group discussed urgent issues related to the concrete impact of political, social, and economic decisions. This includes the exercise of democracy in the United States in the face of the advancement of Christian Nationalism and the need to strengthen democratic processes and increase voter participation.  We also discussed the need for ministries to work on common agendas and projects.  One matter brought into our discussion is how to develop a sense of accountability and follow up on decisions made in General Assembly Resolutions. Other possibilities for joint work addressed the upcoming common workshop we will conduct collectively through the next General Assembly, creating a “database for hope” to contain successful experiences and organizations and possibly organizing marches and vigils. Some themes need further exploration, such as the housing crisis, land use, racism, immigration, global warming, and the need for more work with Indigenous communities. In summary, as Rev. Dr. April Johnson, Executive Director of the Ministry of Reconciliation, said, it is about “creating the transformation that we want to achieve together.” 

In a sense, I felt myself returning to that desert from years ago.  The physical thirst of those days, combined with long walks and trying to identify places to create an oasis for immigrants, was exhausting.  It is fair to say that I arrived in Greensboro as somebody wandering in the desert of assuming causes and looking for air to breathe.  From the experience of this retreat, I think we all shared our joint thirst for finding a place to rest, renew, and inspire us to keep working for justice. The task is challenging, and we have encountered many obstacles. However, we can say that we were thankful to intentionally find a time and a space to look for our blue flags and walk into a place of sustenance and guidance along our journey. How crucial it is to develop that awareness! It is essential to acknowledge that this is a long journey, and we must be fully equipped to embrace it in the best way possible! My hope is for us to continue following this path.