At our last Regional meeting In California we gave Kanthi Salgadu a blessing for her upcoming trip to Ireland for our human trafficking meeting. Kanthi belongs to the Women’s Survivor Caucus, which is part of CAST, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking. She wrote a play ‘Letters from my Mother‘ which we hope will be performed in Dublin this summer. Our 2013 General Chapter vision was woven into our blessing prayer:
We thank you, Gracious God, for Kanthi and for her many gifts and talents.
We thank you for her strong voice for justice.
Kanthi, we need your voice at our table!
We thank you for her gifts of sensitivity, courage, love and commitment.
Kanthi, we need your presence at our meeting!
We thank you for stirring up creativity within her so that she can draw and write a play!
Kanthi, we need your creative voice at our table.
In your Providence, we pray that this artistic work, Letters from My Mother, will be performed and enjoyed in Dublin.
Kanthi, we need your voice and vision at our table.
You have wisdom and life experience that none of us will ever have.
Kanthi, we need your wisdom and experience at our table.
May we learn from her as we sit at a new table to create and plan a way forward in the fight against human trafficking.
We all extended our hands in a blessing for her. Sr. Eva Bryan wrapped a Celtic shawl around Kanthi as we prayed:
As you are wrapped in the Celtic shawl may you be wrapped in God’s love and protection as you travel to Ireland. Loving God, we ask you to bless Kanthi as she travels to Ireland to be part of our International Human Trafficking meeting.
Kanthi, may you be blessed by the warm hospitality of the people and the beauty of the country of Ireland. May you meet new friends and be empowered by this gathering to continue your work of justice in the world.
At the beginning of the prayer, Sr. Eva Bryan danced to our new Congregational song “We Glorify the Lord by Our Lives” and we joined in song. Another survivor, Pasci, joined us for the prayer and meal. We are blessed by their wisdom and the power of their voices to influence change in our legislation.
