Follow each step of the way of the pilgrims on the #ShareTheJourney as they participate in an 11-day pilgrimage to the Great Lakes region of Africa.

Eight Episcopal pilgrims depart on March 2 on the #ShareTheJourney pilgrimage, designed to raise awareness of ways in which the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, through its Episcopal Migration Ministries service, works to facilitate refugee resettlement work throughout The Episcopal Church. 

“Through real-time social media, participants will serve as the eyes of the church as they witness conditions where refugees are currently living, and come to understand that the responses we offer through resettlement are life-saving,” noted Deborah Stein, director of Episcopal Migration Ministries.

Follow the pilgrims

From March 2-13, follow #ShareTheJourney using: #ShareTheJourney on Twitter (@EMMRefugees); Facebook (facebook.com/EMMRefugees); the blog emmrefugees.tumblr.com; or through the media hub here

The pilgrims will travel to Nairobi, Kenya and Kigali, Rwanda. Among the planned visits are the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre and the Gihembe Refugee Camp in Rwanda as well as operations supported by Church World Service’s Resettlement Support Center (RSC)-Africa, and the UN refugee agency UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees).

The pilgrimage is funded through a Constable Fund grant awarded last year by The Episcopal Church Executive Council. The Constable Fund provides grants to fund mission initiatives that were not provided for within the budget of The Episcopal Church passed by the General Convention.

The pilgrims

Participating in the pilgrimage are:

• Jessica Benson, Diocese of Idaho

• Spencer Cantrell, gender violence fellow, National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP), Diocese of East Tennessee
• Cookie Cantwell, Province IV Youth Ministries Coordinator, Diocese of East Carolina
• The Rev. Canon Scott Gunn, Executive Director, Forward Movement, Diocese of Southern Ohio
• The Rev. Canon Frank Logue, Canon to the Ordinary, Diocese of Georgia
• Victoria Logue, Diocese of Georgia
• The Rev. Burl Salmon, Middle School Chaplain and Dean of Community Life, Trinity Episcopal School, Diocese of North Carolina
• Alyssa Stebbing, Outreach Director, Trinity Episcopal Church of The Woodlands, Diocese of Texas

The Missionary Society

• Deborah Stein, Director, Episcopal Migration Ministries
• Kurt Bonz, Program Manager, Episcopal Migration Ministries
• Wendy Johnson, Communications Manager, Episcopal Migration Ministries
• The Rev. Ranjit Mathews, Network Officer for Mission Personnel and Africa
• Lynette Wilson, Editor/Reporter, Episcopal News Service

Episcopal Migration Ministries

Episcopal Migration Ministries is the refugee resettlement service of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society. Each year this ministry works in partnership with its affiliate network, along with dioceses, faith communities and volunteers, to welcome refugees from conflict zones across the globe.

#ShareTheJourney as the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society celebrates 75 years of resettling refugees in the United States. #ShareTheJourney is a multi-media effort to educate, form, and equip Episcopalians to engage in loving service with resettled refugees and to become prophetic witnesses and advocates on behalf of refugees, asylees, migrants, and displaced persons throughout the world.

Episcopal News Service will provide extensive coverage on the pilgrimage upon return.
 

Check out the website: www.episcopalchurch.org/emm and www.episcopalchurch.org/sharethejourney.

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