Pax Christi: Give gift of prayer for peaceful Bethlehem Christmas!

This Advent, we remember Bethlehem, where Christians have revered the place of the Christ Child's birth for the last two thousand years. They are the so-called living stones of the Church in the Holy Land. They are the men and women native to this land who have faithfully carried on Christ’s mission and witness through conflict and strife through so many ages.

In a sign of solidarity and encouragement to our fellow Christians in the land of Jesus’ birth, the international Catholic peace organization, Pax Christi, has organized a “prayer and good wishes” campaign to celebrate Advent and Christmas with the Christian community in Bethlehem. Anyone can be a part of it! All you need is a computer and the internet and you can give the gift of prayer and hope to someone who needs it most…

Tracey McClure spoke to the Senior Policy Advisor for the international Catholic peace organization Pax Christi, Fr. Paul Lansu about the initiative, on its 11th year. He explains how you can send your prayer of peace to the Holy Land's Christians!

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SHARE THE STORY: Volunteering for the MDGs

Dear volunteers, colleagues, friends, and partners,

Today we are starting a global discussion (www.facebook.com/unvolunteers) to Share the Story about volunteering to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We can meet the Goals, but only if we complement essential government action with the engagement of millions of people through volunteer action. Already, individuals are contributing their expertise; communities are taking steps to improve their lives; and decision makers are increasingly realizing the value of volunteerism. These stories don’t make the news, but they are changing the world. We invite you to join volunteers and others in the volunteer movement as they share their experiences and challenges in tackling some of the world’s big issues related to environment, hunger, education, maternal health and HIV/AIDs.

The discussion we start today on www.facebook.com/unvolunteers will culminate in a 24-hour, online film festival (4 December) that will showcase the best video stories we have received from volunteers, communities, civil society, non-governmental organizations and United Nations partners. We are extremely grateful to the UNV volunteers filming in around 30 countries who have volunteered to be a part of this initiative. Their diverse stories will give us a unique insight into the daily realities of volunteering. To enable a truly inclusive discussion, along with their stories, we also invite other colleagues and partners to share stories of their own. We welcome these contributions, both as final video pieces and as part of the online discussion.

The festival will run for 24 hours, so that no matter where you are in the world you can participate. To celebrate International Volunteer Day (IVD), on 5 December 2010, a number of UNV field colleagues will also showcase the films and the discussion as part of their events.

But the story does not stop with the last film of the festival. As with all the best stories, it will inspire debate and dialogue next year when we mark the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10) and continue all the way to 2015, the globally-agreed deadline for achieving the MDGs. It is your collective contribution to this global initiative that we start today which will enable substantive dialogue on how volunteering is changing our world, for the MDGs, for each other and for our future.

It's your story, it's our story, so let's share it.

Join the discussion and Share the Story today.

Flavia Pansieri
Executive Coordinator
United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme


Campaign Contacts:

About the campaign: sharethestory@unvolunteers.org
About the videos: video@unvolunteers.org

Share the Story
Visit www.facebook.com/unvolunteers

Phone: +49(0)2288152220