We are marching in the light of God

Yesterday was our last day together as a delegation, and leaving this group was so sad. I never expected for our group to develop so much trust and love in such a short period of time. I'm going to miss hearing everyone's reflections and stories and laughter (so much laughter). I'm going to miss being able to absentmindedly sing "Siyahamba" and have an entire group reply with "ekukhanyen kwenkhos", even if we're on the subway or walking down the street. I feel so grateful and blessed to have shared this experience with these people. They taught me a lot, and I'm excited for the future of the Episcopal Church.

I'm having difficulty processing the content of this week because of the emotion of leaving, but here are some parting thoughts:

1) One thing I realized from both sessions I attended and conversations I had with our delegation was that simply sharing stories can be an incredibly empowering experience. I attended one panel on women's tribunals on climate change and poverty, at which women from Botswana, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Nepal told us about women's tribunals in their countries organized by the GCAP Feminist Task Force. They all emphasized how excited women were to give their testimony. The women were able to see similarities in their experiences and join together to search for solutions. I noticed a similar spirit of solidarity amongst our delegation--we were very open with each other and acted as allies for each other. I felt affirmed and empowered in all of my identities when sharing my story and hearing the stories of others.

2) We shouldn't address women's rights in a vacuum. There's a tendency for people to roll their eyes at "women's issues", but women's issues are issues of poverty and violence and environmental degradation, which affect us all. Prostitution is often more of an issue of demand than of supply. Maternal health affects entire families. Governments with low representation of women miss out on the skills and intelligence of half their population. If we are concerned about the state of humanity, we should be concerned about the state of women.

3) Dignity should be at the heart of every policy. So many speakers used the word dignity, including Bishop Katharine.

4) Being part of a Christian community (and an Episcopal community within that) was very powerful for this sort of event. It grounded us, reminded us of our obligations to one another and to God, and helped us remain optimistic in the face of formidable challenges.

This is really cheesy, but I feel like one of the songs we sang during the Young Adult Delegation-led worship sums up this experience well:

I am one voice and I am singing
I am one voice and I am singing
I am one voice and I am singing
I am not alone
We are two voices, we are singing
We are two voices, we are singing
We are two voices, we are singing
We are not alone.
We are one church and we are singing
We are one church and we are singing
We are one church and we are singing
We are not alone.
We are one world and we'll keep singing
We are one world and we'll keep singing
We are one world and we'll keep singing
We are not alone.

Amani iwe nyani,
Brede