How One Person Can Make a difference by Beth Reilly, member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church Fort Wayne, Indiana
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How One Person Can Make A Difference... by Beth Reilly, member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church Fort Wayne, Indiana Whether Working Individually, Building a Coalition, or Working Within a Coalition -- You Can Make a Difference How One Person Can Make A Difference... by Beth Reilly, member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church Fort Wayne, Indiana Whether Working Individually, Building a Coalition, or Working Within a Coalition -- You Can Make a Difference Working Individually Examples of what you can do include: Write letters to your Congress Member http://www.house.gov/zip/ZIP2Rep.html or Senator http://www.opencongress.org/person/senators Write letters to the editor and calling the newspaper to ask for more coverage Write in your church/conference newsletter Speak to groups about Darfur & encourage additional letter-writing Participate in online advocacy with organizations like Save Darfur
"To keep us in the fight we need a culture of active discipleship, a community that nourishes sustained engagement with the world around us." That was very true for me. I knew I needed a community for support and sustained engagement, so connecting with others became very important to me as I was working individually. I also knew that a community would be able to send a stronger message. I knew that one letter to Senator Lugar (R-IN) was good; 100 would be better; 1000 would be best, so building a coalition became a priority. Examples of what one person can do to begin building a coalition: 1. Talk about Darfur, ask questions about what is being done/what can be done 2. Push open doors to see which ones will lead somewhere 3. Send letters, contact state religious leaders, call other congregations 4. Begin connecting interested individuals & initiate planning 5. Keep up with the latest information about news from Sudan and advocacy 6. Commit to getting it done (stuffing envelopes, calling the media, meeting with a staffer) 7. be persistent, to continue setting goals and working towards them 8. be persistent to continue connecting and building the coalition, so that the message to help Sudan will become stronger and stronger My initial connection was with my pastor, then with several other ministers, including the Methodist Communications Person in Indiana. These connections led to connecting with the Jewish community, the Darfurians, students… and we became a diverse coalition.
Examples of what we did as a coalition included: ACTION-Worship service for Darfur with petition RESULT-Local Representative in Congress became very supportive at that point ACTION-Prayer vigil concluding with a visit to Senators' offices RESULT-This got Senator Lugar’s attention ACTION-We had a phone conference with Senator Lugar's expert on African affairs RESULT-got his contact info and was able to continue dialogue with him
One of the biggest challenges for me, because I wasn’t comfortable taking on this role as the Companion states: "Must become a willing spokesperson, trusting God that you will find the self-confidence to rise to the occasion to speak up confidently, sincerely and persuasively." Hosted speakers to raise awareness / participated in the Million Postcards campaign Coordinated State-wide call-ins in favor of national legislation for Darfur. Senator Lugar was Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and the coalition was able to work together to move legislation Organized phone conference with Sudanese Ambassador and religious leaders about concern for Darfur and the will to divest Worked with state legislators to move divestment through the General Assembly Held a State-wide rally in Indianapolis at the State House (800) with speakers and petition-signing and press RESULT-Created pressure to pass divestment legislation RESULT-Organized a Face to Face meeting between Senator Lugar and state religious/community leaders in Indiana RESULT-Clear message to Senator Lugar that Darfur is an important issue for religious leaders in his state. So whether you are working as an individual, or you are building a coalition, or you are working with a coalition, hopefully this will give you some ideas about what you can do, because one person can make a difference. Directory: files files -> The United States and Post-Castro Cuba files -> Fighting Fit: Exploring Military Medicine (1850-1950) files -> Original: English files -> Socials 11: Provincial Exam Review Preparation Essay Component files -> 9. 5 Political Powers and Achievements Tom Burns- beacon High School files -> Indiana Academic Standards Resource Guide World History and Civilization Standards Approved March 2014 files -> On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness” “Ozymandious” Arthur Guiterman (1871-1943;1936) Author files -> Understanding Diversity What is Diversity? files -> Sscg: 16 Unit 7: Judicial Branch Share with your friends:
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