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How to Avoid Rape

There is no one right or wrong way to behave to avoid rape. But there are some things a woman can do that may make her less likely to suffer some kinds of rape. What a woman does depends on how well she knows the man, how afraid she is, and how much danger she thinks she is in. Remember, if a woman is raped, it is not because she failed to avoid the rape, but because  someone stronger forced himself on her. These ideas may help any woman avoid rape Protect yourselves. Work with others. Do your work with other women. You will be safer and stronger if you work together in groups Do not let anyone who makes you feel nervous into your home. Do not let him know if you are there alone. Try not to walk alone, especially at night. If you must go alone, hold your head up and act as though you feel confident. Most rapists will look for a woman who looks easy to attack. If you think you are being followed, try walking in another direction, or go up to another person, a house, or a store. Or, turn
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Tips to keep relationships healthy while sheltering in place

Take care of yourself. If you are well-cared for, you will be a better partner, parent, sibling, caregiver, roommate, etc Turn off the media. While keeping informed can be helpful, too much media consumption can create emotional distance in relationships. Communicate ways you’d like to receive safe, nurturing touch. If you live alone, consider bubble baths, fuzzy blankets, or using a muscle roller massage stick or back scratcher for sensation on your skin. Take turns deciding which game to play, movie to watch, route to take on your walk, what to bake, etc. Share love in as many ways as you can. Tell the people you love that you do. Loving increases love in the world! Find ways to have alone time. Some people need more than others. Institute a daily spiritual practice or quiet time for reflection and rest. Use online meeting platforms such as Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts to connect with loved ones on a regular basis. Take time for honest check-ins about how you are feeling.  Focus o

Beginnings and Endings During a Pandemic

Ministry transition is always a difficult and complicated time for both authorized ministers and ministry settings. Such times always present needs for getting to know one another or for saying goodbye in the most faithful ways. But in this current season of COVID-19, many of the usual in-person events of welcome or farewell that one may hope for or expect are not possible or advised against. Ministers and ministry settings may naturally wonder how they can most effectively navigate these moments in such unusual circumstances.   Ministry transitions will still happen during this season. A minister may still discern that it is time to follow a new call, and a ministry setting may still need to address transitional needs. The potential feelings of anxiety and grief surrounding a ministry transition may be heightened under our present conditions. Addressing and honoring such feelings will be an important component of how both partners in the ministry relationship shape what they choose t

Digital Pastoral Care for Grief: Individual & Collective

Goal : Gather and give pastoral care digitally. Provide resources from those of us deeply familiar with digital platforms and uses. Provide thoughts for collective & individual greif.  Some Digital Platforms : Zoom-   -This is a way to gather digitally, and one of the primary tools out there right now. You can set up on a computer, where video is possible, on smartphones, where video is also possible, as well as give people a call-in number. Pro accounts are recommended for congregations to be able to host everything. TechSoup offers this at a discount. -As a zoom “host,” it works best if you have a meeting leader, usually the pastor, and another person who is also “host” who can help with some of the digital engagement. Oftentimes, especially for people who are not familiar with zoom, someone will have to manually “mute” people so that there is not background noise. (there are a whole bunch of options when you make a meeting, including “Mute people upon entry” and “automatically r

Enough. Let’s respond and make George Floyd’s death be our light

It takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for sunlight to reach the Earth. In that time, under its warm touch, the world saw George Floyd go cold under the bended knee of injustice and inhumanity. We stopped, still granted the gift to breathe, trying not to stare, but unable to look away. Then the tears flowed and the temperature rose. The glistening streets became thoroughfares of protest until buildings burned under the recklessness of justifiable outrage and hopelessness. Nothing had changed. We had once again ignored the disinfecting power of the sun. We had silenced the voices of a people because their peaceful pleas were not made at the right time, at the right place, in the right way. We were told once again to wait. Even when Martin Luther King Jr. implored us in his  Letter from A Birmingham Jail  that “this ‘wait’ has almost always meant ‘never.’ ” And the face of smug indifference cast its shadow with self-serving and willful ignorance, defiantly staring into the heart of the sun u

GOD OF BETHEL (Gen. 31: 13)

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land. Bethel is a combination of two words i.e. Beth which means house and el meaning God. Beth- el = house of God. It was the place where Jacob had his reported first encounter with the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac (Gen. 28: 10ff). It was where he received inspiring promises that energized him to work very hard wherever he went without minding the rigors involved, which actually led him to greatness in life. Bethel was an important place as far as Jacob was concerned. We should not forget that this January is our month of emancipation when we are encouraged to move from slavery to liberty, from poverty to prosperity. Bethel provided Jacob an experience that would last forever yet he, at a time, forgot about the place. Why? We saw in the story of his sojourn in Haran where he had gone to get a wife for himself that he met with another cheate

GOD OF BETHEL (Gen. 31: 13)

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land. Bethel is a combination of two words i.e. Beth which means house and el meaning God. Beth- el = house of God. It was the place where Jacob had his reported first encounter with the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac (Gen. 28: 10ff). It was where he received inspiring promises that energized him to work very hard wherever he went without minding the rigors involved, which actually led him to greatness in life. Bethel was an important place as far as Jacob was concerned. We should not forget that this January is our month of emancipation when we are encouraged to move from slavery to liberty, from poverty to prosperity. Bethel provided Jacob an experience that would last forever yet he, at a time, forgot about the place. Why? We saw in the story of his sojourn in Haran where he had gone to get a wife for himself that he met with another cheate