 Thank you everyone for joining. Welcome to today's plenary. It is so good to have you with us here celebrating Cairo's 20th anniversary and for those who were not here yesterday, welcome. Today, I'd like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the traditional territories of the indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island. We have come here in humility as a learner with deep gratitude for the opportunity to live, work and gather on this land. The territory of the Huron-Wendat, the Baton, Seneca, and most recently the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory is covered by the dish with one spoon and one spoon, belt covenant and agreement between the Huda Nashini and Ojibwe and Alive Nations to peaceably share and care for the lands and resources around the Great Lakes. I recognize as we see in the chat that some of us here are participating from different territories and we continue to invite you to silently make that acknowledgement and in the same introspective and respectful spirit. I will proceed to introduce Ray Jones. So I haven't had the opportunity to meet many within our Cairo's networks, but I certainly have had the opportunity to meet with and speak to Ray. So Ray Jones is the hereditary chief of the Gitsan First Nation in what is known as British Columbia. He's been on Cairo's indigenous rights circle, Kirk, since 2004 as a representative of the UCC and has served as co-chair for a few years. He has represented Kirk and Cairo's on the delegation to the Athabasca Tarsans and at the TRC national event in BC. Ray is a residential school survivor and longtime indigenous rights advocate and activist. He also brings an indigenous presence to the Cairo steering committee. Ray, we are so pleased to have you here with us today, and I turn the stage over to you. Thank you, Asher. That's good morning. That's good afternoon to some of you who are already noontime. As Asher said, I am a survivor of an Indian residential school and a little bit of background to that school. I'm from northwestern British Columbia, from the coast, Central Coast, Bella Bella, Bella Cula, Clem 2, Hartley Bay, Lacholams, otherwise known as Port Simpson, Haida Nisqa, and Gitsans. We're inland. We were taken by train from Prince Rupert, Terrace, or Hazelton to Edmonton since the late 1920s and 30s and 40s, except for the war years. I believe it resumed again of taking our people to the residential school in 1947. So the train ride was at least two days or sometimes two nights in one day. So after I do my opening prayer in Gitsan, I'm going to ask the Creator for blessings to all of you. Thank the Creator for our lives and thank the Creator for today. And also to ask the Creator to continue to guide Kairos on his many projects. I believe it resumed again of taking our people to Edmonton since the late 1920s and 30s, except for the war years. I believe it resumed again of taking our people to Edmonton since the late 1920s and 30s, except for Kairos on his many projects. So I'd like to mention an event that happened at Edmonton Indian Residence School. I believe it was the fall of 1961, early fall that the Prime Minister of the day, John Diefenbaker, he put on a austerity program throughout all of Canada. And then in our residential schools, our food budgets, it seems, are always very bare. So once this austerity program kicked in, all of a sudden we got two semi-trailer trucks, macaws and van lines. I remember macaws some because they're one of the people that sponsored the Edselwins School. Any people who are alive at that time brought in two loads of canned pork. And if you guys eat prim or clam, canned pork is a couple levels of taste and nourishment from that. The reason why I bring this up is it comes into the story. So as we're going into the winter season and Christmas coming on, we, in residential schools, when there's a very good supervisor, man or woman, the rest of the supervisors don't like it or the principle. They don't like the supervisors to be very popular with us. And that fall already, we started feeling lots of tension in the air among the staff. And some of the staff were meaner than usual. This young man was hired to be supervisor. His name was Dr. O'Keefe, and his doctorate was in music. And he became very popular amongst us. And he also started us older boys to form a choir. And we really enjoyed the practices and looked forward. And he arranged that there in the Christmas break that we'll be going into Edmonton to sing at different churches. So everybody, girls and boys really like Dr. O'Keefe. So this one particular very dull and cold day, we all got back to the school. Because we were bussed from the residential school to Jasper Place. And Jasper Place was on the west side of Edmonton. It wasn't part of Edmonton at that time. And that's where we went to school, junior high and high school especially, brand new high school at that time. And we came back to the school before supper. And it was very, very quiet around the school. Then there in supper, one of the supervisors, not the principal, he rarely comes into the dining room. His girls on one side, boys on the other side. And the supervisor came in and announced that Dr. O'Keefe was let go. And right away, a riot started in the dining room, both on the girls side and the boys side. And the girls, especially they worked in the kitchen and the pantry. They started bringing out canned pork and tossing them around. Guys were turning tables over. Started throwing chairs through the windows of the dining room. And the boys side spread upstairs to the principal's office and around the school grounds. Dr. O'Keefe's firing was the trigger that exploded after all the very, very tense atmosphere to school. So three of us, we were worried about our Christmas test that happened. And for me, it was a physics test the next morning. And the other two brothers, Jerry Davis, Terry Adams, we in the chapel. You can get up to the bell tower on the bell, the leds like, and that's where we sat. The three of us and what's the riot going on down below. And the noise down below inside. Then somebody knew that the RCMP were coming. So they organized the human chain from the back of the school where the pantry was, and right around the school and right to that main entrance to the school, which is quite wide. And the chain gang were passing cases of pork to the front entrance and pretty soon, the front entrance was about five or six, six or seven feet high, double, double rows of canned pork. So when RCMP did come in, they couldn't get in. So they had to go further up to school on the on the road through barbed wires to get into the school. And when they did come in, things subsided. And the girls, the long hallway where the administration officers were the main cook. The school was her name was Ms. Desi. And she was a big lady and quite mean. And I guess during the ride, the hallway is going after the girls to try and stop them. A couple of girls got the idea and they took the fire hose off the wall and turned it on and put it and put it on Ms. Desi. So he was the only one that was closer to being a casualty, you may say. But that that riot. Had to happen, I guess. So the next day, we didn't go back to school to bust this thing come. I missed out on my tests along with Jerry and Terry, others that participated in the principal. And then the next strap. Along with Indian affairs, local affairs and maybe out of Ottawa. The word was given that we'll, we'll all be flown home, we believe they were going to fly as home. They were flying on such a very strict budget in affairs. They're all going to fly as home back to you. Because 99% of us were from North, North, Western BC. So we'd fly from badminton to terrorists or Prince Rupert. United Church and Indian affairs solution. But as I said, we go to Jasper Place to go to school, high school, especially. And our high school principal at Jasper Place was Dr. Teeler. And the former principal of for under the middle like elementary school in Jasper Place. Middle like elementary junior high was Dr. Finley. But at this time, Dr. Finley was working as below the minister of education and Alberta. So these two gentlemen convinced United Church. With the backing of the Minister of Education, Alberta. Convinced the United Church and Indian affairs. Not to send us home. So to compromise to students. We're going to be expelled and they were and sent home. One from Hartley Bay and the other from New Yance. New Yance student Chester Heism's. He was allowed to come back to school again and following September. So the TRC that and all the different meetings and TRC. And archives, especially. Archives. They didn't understand the riot and what. What notes or what, what was their report on the riot. And lo and behold. They didn't hear the right. This is the provincial archives in Alberta. But anyway, the outcome besides us. Remaining in school was that. The principal was taken out of the school. He was. Well, this a new later principle and vice principal were taken out and they were sent to. United Church. Retirement place somewhere in southwestern Ontario. That's what I learned years later. And. Retired principle. From. Port Albany residential school and. From Vancouver, West Vancouver Island. He, he was brought out of retirement. Caldwell is his name. And he was the interim president principal. Caldwell ran a pretty mean. School in Albany. And he brought within these hensman. Big XRC and P person. And. He was. He always carried his. Club around. So Colvin. Caldwell and him. Run a very strict. Tight secret school. So finally, we got a replacement. In September with. Mr McBride. So. That's just my story of what I remember. After riot. So thank you for listening. I was going to add that to. The residential schools were built. In the middle of the year. United church. Anglican church. Catholic church and Presbyterian. And today we have 11 main churches. Kairos. So I was thinking the other night. If Kairos was in existence at that time. Probably the ride. You wouldn't even have happened to let alone. So God bless you all. Thank you so, so much Ray for that. We really appreciate hearing those stories and. Thank you. Shannon, I will pass it over to you. For the song. This is a group of. Indigenous singers from Toronto who have made special recordings for us. They are part of the steering committee. And others from the community that she is deeply involved with. These are the Nietzsche singers. Good morning, everybody. We are the Nietzsche singers. And we're happy to offer this opening song for the gathering of Kairos. And send our love and prayers and good energy to all the members of the community. So happy we were able to get that to work. Both the visual and the audio. Thank you for that. So. Adriana Contreras is the graphic artist who throughout these years has been able to work with us. She has been able to attend to do graphic recordings of all of the sessions for us. Unfortunately, she's not able to join us today. Some of you would have met her yesterday and seen at the end of our plenary what she was able to create for us. She's not able to join us today. And so she will be taking the recordings and doing the same work for us. And so at a later date, we will be able to share with you her work. And we will be able to get into our plenary session. So day two, the focus is on where we are now. And so I'd like to introduce Sue Wilson, who will be our moderator today. Sue is the executive director of the office for systemic justice for the Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph's account of Canada. Sue has been engaged with Kairos since its early days, and she has been a member of the Board of Justice. She is the first on the animation, communication and education committee, then as a board member and currently as a member of the ecological justice circle. Sue is a pleasure to meet you and to welcome you to facilitate this panel discussion. Thanks. And hello, everyone. This afternoon we hope to add to a treasure trove of reflections on this panel. And as Alicia said, the theme for this afternoon's panel is where are we now? And by now we mean not only today's context, but where are we as Kairos now, having grown into our own over these past 20 years? We know that important partnerships with groups in Canada and beyond have helped to shape Kairos. Connecting us with impactful projects that are aimed at understanding land and water, building peace and protecting human rights. Two of the panelists today represent some of these partnerships. So we're asking the panelists what they see when they look at Kairos, especially considering the last five years or so. For instance, how has the role and understanding of partnership changed? How has Kairos matured in terms of how we're in collaboration with land, water, and all of creation? As well as our collective understanding of spirituality, allyship, or reconciliation. And just as important, where would our panelists like to see more growth? What challenges are arising right now? And where are the opportunities for transformational change? Obviously in the 10 minutes allotted to each person, the panelists won't be able to answer all these questions. So we've invited them to pick and choose emphasizing the points that seem important to them. So let's begin. Our first panelist this afternoon is Alma Brooks. Alma is a Malachi grandmother from the St. Mary's First Nation in New Brunswick. She was an elected band counselor for one term before moving to the Malachi Council and the Wabanaki Confederacy, both traditional decision-making structures. Alma is currently teaching a two-year university course in the Malachi language. She's a lifelong learner on the environment, from her spiritual roots to action on the front lines of many protests, demonstrations, and campaigns. Alma participated in a delegation to the U.M. Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues in 2014, as well as the Kairos Gendered Impact Indigenous Women and Resource Extraction Symposium and the Global Energy Minerals and Markets 2015 Dialogue in Vancouver. So Alma, please go ahead. Thank you for inviting me to come and speak. I come to you from the unceded, unsurrendered land of the Voluska Kuwait Wabanaki. And we come under the Treaty of 1725, which is a treaty that was signed before New Brunswick and before Canada was even born. I read some of the information that was sent out and there were certain things you wanted me to speak about. It's been a little while since I've been in touch with Kairos. I'm no longer teaching the language. I'm working at something else now. But the land here, I'd just like to bring you up to date on what's happening in our territory right now. The Indian Act elected chiefs here on the river have a title case, a court case, taking the province to court regarding the title of our land. And that is, we really don't know what's happening. It's being kept quite secretive. Whether there's negotiations going on or not, I don't know. But recently, the premier of New Brunswick wrote a letter to all of his staff within the government telling them not to mention unceded or unsurrendered land when they do the land acknowledgments. And many of them are refusing to follow that order. So there's all of that going on. As far as creation goes, it's not in very good shape here in New Brunswick. We have the Irving Company clear-cutting all of the land and just helping themselves and planting a monoculture, planting their own trees, and taking out all of the biodiversity. And under their plantations, nothing grows. There's no food for rabbits. There's no rabbits left. There's no squirrels. There's nothing. Life is disappearing in the woods here. And not only that, are they, not only are they clear-cutting, they're spraying everything to kill off all of the vegetation. Everything except the trees that they want to grow. So it's not in very good shape. We have a lot of allies. We've been working long and hard for many years, educating people. And I do believe that many people are now beginning to see what it is our people were talking about. I think they're starting to see there's a large group of people now that are trying to protect the land and the water here, native and non-native together. And there have been some successes in driving some of these and extractive industries out of our territory. And so, but I just want to say that I have to mention that anybody who's advocating for equality for us is actually advocating for assimilation. We really don't want to assimilate. We want our rights to be recognized. So it seems to me that when somebody goes out there and says, well, you know, we want the premier, we want the prime minister to give equality to Indian people, to Aboriginal people or Indigenous people. That's contrary to what our rights are. And so I need people to be, especially if people claim to be our allies, they need to be mindful of what they're saying when they advocate on our behalf. Another one was reconciliation. We have long ways from reconciliation. There's so much water under the bridge. Right now, our people are focused on healing. We have so much healing to do and the conditions we find ourselves in our communities is like we've been put through a meat grinder. And we can't be surprised when we put meat in a meat grinder that hamburger comes out the other end. We have to be, so we have to focus on our healing because we won't be able to be successful at anything until we start to look at the healing. And I would suggest that in non-Indigenous societies need to do the same thing, because after all, who was in the driver's seat? Who brought colonization here? Who implemented colonization? Maybe it had good intentions, but the consequences, especially on Indigenous people, the consequences have been dire. So reconciliation is a long way off yet. We need help. One of the things, you know, that we have to insist on is that our healing is wrapped up with the healing of the earth, the healing of creation. And we need help with that, because we can't do it alone. We are headed for a brick wall. Our elders tell us we're on the brink of the sixth mass extinction if we don't change our ways and change the direction of which we're going. And it's going to take everybody to be mindful to pay attention to this. We would like to join hands to create something different, create something so that our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will have life here. They'll be able to assist here on this planet earth, this beautiful planet earth that was such a gift to us and was so generous to us. Talk about opportunities. So since the early 70s, I have been basically advocating for medicine lodge or healing place where our people can go to heal. And we know that our healing is wrapped up with the healing of the land. We must, and our culture, to be able to practice and use our culture in our healing, in our own healing. And so we have managed to find a piece of property and we just got the keys recently, a 16-acre farm. It's right on the river, the river in our territory, the Velustuk is our namesake. That's who we are. We are the Velustuk. We are the people of the beautiful river. That's what that word means, the Velustuk we, the people of the beautiful river. And so it's a really good start. We have some work to do to get the place ready so that we can bring our women there and our families there to heal. And we want to also celebrate with non-indigenous communities around to share. Not for them to come and take it, but to turn around and share this, the wisdom that we carry. And, you know, the transformation that's the changes that are going to be happening are going to be extensive and it's not going to be just on us because what gives me hope now is that there's a new science that's being developed now. There's a brand new science that's being developed and it's called Epigenetics. And if you want to learn more about it, just put in Google, in your Google, put in Dr. Bruce Lipton. And he talks very much about this new science that's emerging. And what it is, is that now science has accepted quantum physics and that just because you can't see it and weigh it and touch it, it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Now they're starting to see and they explain now what our ancestors have always known, that life is connected and that we transmit as women, we have the capability of transmitting ancestral memory from one generation to the next, as women. The women have to stand up and take back their power. Thank you very much. I think your words have helped us to understand, again, the centrality of our relationship to the land and the many challenges that are faced as we work to heal that relationship with the land. I also really appreciated your insights on how settlers need to be really careful when we want to be good allies, careful in how we journey forward. So your insights are so important in helping us to move toward reconciliation in a good way. So again, apologies for the interruption and we so appreciate your offer to share indigenous wisdom with us. So our second panelist this afternoon is Zookbi Zookbi. And so I'd like to move very quickly to introduce Zookbi as soon as I find his introduction here. So Zookbi is the founder and director of the Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center in Palestine. The center offers mediation, training, and psychosocial counseling to help resolve community disputes and alleviate the suffering of the people. The center was honored in 2010 with a Peace Building Award from World Vision International Peace Prize Competition and was also granted the International Peacemaker Award in 1993 from Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. Zookbi has been involved with Cairo since its inception and he says he has always felt uplifted by Cairo's spirited action and prophetic voice for justice. So Zookbi, thank you so much for joining us today and please go ahead with your thoughts. Thank you very much. First of all, miles of smiles and congratulations on the 20th years of spirited action for justice. This is a very important occasion for us because always we are uplifted in all levels. I quote here from Gary saying, a spiritual partnership is between people who promise themselves to use all of their experiences to grow spiritually. They use their emotions and reasons to show them now to create constructive and healthy and joyful consequences instead of destructive and unhealthy and painful consequences. This is really what I have experienced from my relationship with Cairo. Cairo's God's moment really uplifted us, empowered us and let us walk in this less troubled road of justice and peace and hopefully one day reconciliation. It is not only a partnership. It is a beloved transnational community where we feel we are in a holistic relationship. Sometimes let me share with you some ethos that we experienced through our partnership. We are able to have exchange visits with Cairo's. We were able to receive solidarity groups from the youth of the heart and youth of the age through Cairo's people. This tells us we are not alone. Such visits have uplifted our spirits. Our staff were able to attend activities in Canada organized by Cairo's. So our staff matters have been recharged also. Through the continuous support of Cairo's, we are able to implement our program despite COVID, despite all inconveniences, occupation, curfew, siege, imprisonment and so on to name a few. We have been always blessed by this transnational community who have unconditional support and agape towards us. This is by itself a growth and expansion. Your empathy, solidarity, compassion have never failed us, but rather empowered us in this road of justice and peace. Such a healthy and vivacious relationship has strengthened our resilience, enhanced our hope and recharged our batteries for years to come. Of course, we talk about territories and sacred territories. Your partnership with us empower our people to continue their steadfastness despite the powers to be. Our work as a result of this relationship has helped us solidify our relationship with our community. We have been working with at least 160 women from eight places in the West Bank where empowerment of women there as well as enhancing gender sensitivity and advocacy among 150 men from different walks of life. We work with them on advocacy and to be gender sensitive. We embark every year on 16 days of activism through our partnership. Activism and non-violence, awareness, ending gender violence and women empowerment and gender mainstreaming. We are following the holistic approach through multi-track diplomacy from grassroots passing by various civil society organizations to top officials in the governments. We have also grown our relationship with the climatic core through Kairos in the country. We met with the representatives of your esteemed country in Ramallah and Tel Aviv. Sponsored by Kairos, our staff traveled abroad to Canada to share, to learn, to raise awareness and sponsored by Kairos. We have done all of that. And indeed, we have networked with 100 governmental institutions, non-government organizations locally, regionally and globally. Don't you think all of these are, you know, some of the positive impact of Kairos on our people? We met with our officials and tried to let them endorse different agreements. UN 1325, the family law, family protection law, and also our Minister of Human Affairs, Dr. Amal Hamad and the Palestinian Authority has made us a unique visit that we have to empower us, to enable us to have such a relationship with the ministry staff besides their excellency. Yesterday, we took a bus full of women and men to join a thousand persons vigil in Beta Village to empower the women, to empower the local people's struggle against confiscation of land, against occupation and to be in solidarity with the women and their village. Thus, we are able also to network with church groups locally as well as regionally and internationally where we are an active member and the women of the church group and of course secular groups. Through Kairos, we are able to expand our social, psychological support of our people to provide them with the necessary needs to have economic empowerment and mediation services in Jerusalem and other places. Talking about wish and hopes for the future, you know, today when I heard about the stories about the sacred territories, sacred land and the First Nation people really let me feel that this is also my story. So our wish to have a strong bond with the First Nation people to learn from them, to share and work together on restorative justice, land and reconciliation themes and to collect the stories of hope. We need hope because otherwise there is no meaning for life and through you, we are empowered by your stories and by the work of Kairos. We hope that we will work with Kairos on exchange visits with the First Nation people as well. I think we are strengthening and marching together towards a collective understanding of land, creation, spirituality and allyship and reconciliation hopefully. But tell you frankly, reconciliation will not start here politically until Israel withdraw from all occupied Palestine. I mean the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. But on the other hand, every day we work on reconciliation on the local level. We work with the families. We mediate the conflicts and bring a better relationship between the families. Healing is a long process for us. We don't have as you know PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. We have a current, you know, traumas, ongoing traumas. But again, let me emphasize through our allyship, I think we have experienced transformational change when we are able to walk in the shoes of others, other partners. You know, as the First Nation proverb says, it is not enough to put yourself in the moccasin of others but to walk few miles. So we are trying to be in the shoes of other partners and walk millions of miles to alleviate the suffering of the nations. We are determined enough to continue our struggle and to focus not only on our cause but also open to learn and join forces everywhere against injustice in nonviolent way. There has been a tremendous transformation change in the woman that we work with, in the awareness where many have moved from the indifferent position to challenge and question authority. They learn about the rise to focus more on self-care. Some were even encouraged to run for office, which enabled them to be a political and social active folks in the office and outside. We allow me to say some drawbacks. As a result of COVID, we are not able to be together in conferences and exchange visits in the way that was originally envisioned. This is a loss. This has changed the dynamics and we are able to do the second best thing through zooms and webinars that Kairos excelled in the British. This is our condolences for not being together. We are still hoping to make it possible in the months to come. And I conclude by saying you are the renewable source of hope. And we have chosen hope, but hope has not chosen us. I think through our partnership, we are creating a new vision for hope, for a new vision of restorative justice for reconciliation. Alone, we can do so little. Together, we can do so much. Thank you for all your support, for your agape, for unconditional love, and for wonderful spiritual partnership. Thank you so much, Stuby, for that beautiful message of hope. I think you've highlighted the importance of building relationships internationally and the power of relationships to create change. Again, we're hearing about the significance of our relationship with the land and the need to create relationships of solidarity between people and between genders. So you've given us lots to think about. Thank you so much. Thank you. Now, before we go to our third panelist, I believe we have a healing song, again from the Nietzsche Singers. Hello, Anin. Bonjour. Laverne de Malcolm Disney Costs. Kwekko Chiang first nation as Dunjiba. Kaniganit is my spirit name, Anish. Now, we're going to sing a healing song for the residential school people and the people who survived and the people who had passed on.oni . Wirth in Paul Gires. Paul lives on 3D One territory or Winnipeg, Manitoba. He's married to Melanie White, and they have two adult children. Paul serves as assistant to the bishop as well as justice and ecumenical and interfaith relations for the evangelical Lutheran church in Canada. Lutheran Church in Canada. He's a member of the Cairo Steering Committee and currently serves as vice chair. In 2014, Paul was honored to represent Cairo's Canada at a Cairo's Palestine conference. Paul, we're glad to have you with us. Thank you and hello everyone, thanks for being here. I am joining you from Treaty One Territory, the lands of Anishinaabe, OG3 Dakota and Denny Teoples and the home line of the Métis Nation. And I'm grateful that on September 30th, 60 scoops survivors organized a public walk. And I was so I was able to walk and remember the children who didn't return home from residential school and to ponder the full implications of the meaning of the words every child matters. I am humbled and honored to be part of this panel today. Where are we at now? As Cairo's were carrying 20 years of stories and relationships and memories that sustain us for an ongoing journey of spirited action for justice. And I think where Cairo's is both called to hold space for transformation at times and Cairo's itself is being called to be transformed. As I thought about what to say today, I remembered a couple of things that happened at the TRC final event in Ottawa. One happened during the Cairo's Blanket exercise on Parliament Hill. And I remember that, well, an elder was reading a really important part of the script. The bells on the Parliament building started going off and the bells rang and then they echoed back off the tall buildings that comprise part of Ottawa and it came back twice as loud. Every bell went off twice and it just symbolically felt like the Empire was trying to drown out the story and everything that was happening there. But the elder, she persisted with strength. She continued to tell the story. Her voice was not stopped. She was equipped with a microphone, so like that helped. And we on the blankets continued to move and to walk as we were participating and we continued to strain to hear the story, but we heard it and the word continued. And we're at a place where the word decolonization needs to be part of the work. The second thing happened at the Cairo's pre-gathering during the TRC final event. And as one of the speakers talked about the meaning of reconciliation and what he said, always stuck with me. He said in his language reconciliation has a bit of an implication of meaning to become to again. That reconciliation was about becoming to again. And there was in that a sense that when oppressors forced the oppressed to do what the oppressor wanted, both the oppressed and the oppressor lost some of their identity because things got melted in games of power that were not the true identity. And so I say those words stuck with me and that we are at a place where we need to do this work with a deep respect for the identity and dignity of each person and of multiple communities and all of life. The word a place where the work is both urgent and long-term and that can be a difficult tension. The harms are real and we want to change things fast and there's impatience when they don't go fast enough. At the same time, what's being pulled out of us is a long-term commitment. And in that the length of the journey there can be fatigue as we try to sustain the commitments. And maybe we're at a place where we need to find ways to make that tension creative and energizing instead of simply confusing and draining. I want to say that I'm in, I'm in, I'm full of wonder and gratitude for the variety of gifted people who choose to walk as Kairos and walk with Kairos. And that includes many, many people and many we're hearing over these days. There's amazing style and I admire the quality of your work, the quantity of your work, the integrity of your work and your passion. It includes amazing partners, partners global, partners Canadian and your words have inspired me so many times. And includes amazing volunteers who are living out their calling to seek justice through Kairos gatherings and events and programs. And just by way of example is in my region, Manitoba, which is comprised of Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario and none of us, there's a core group that plans a regional gathering every year. And it often seems like the same people are planning it and is it going to be the same people that show up? But when I go there, I always meet someone new. Some I didn't know was coming. I didn't expect to be there and enriched by that. The churches felt called to create Kairos as a way to do justice initiatives. And while the original founders, I think we're hoping a variety of people would show up. I think more people have shown up than the founders ever imagined. I often think of Kairos work as advocacy, education and action for justice. And in recent months, I've been made more aware that the gathering itself is important and that those who show up are important. And sometimes in the gathering, that there can be healing and transformation. I want to say that the people walking as Kairos and with Kairos have more gifts than we know. And there's many reasons that we're less than aware of people's gifts. But one reason for this is systemic racism and systemic bias. And it sometimes blinds key leaders to the gifts of the people walking with Kairos. And I think we're in a real time as we seek to address systemic injustice that we're in a time of discerning each other's gifts within Kairos to help sustain sustain each other for this work. Our new executive director, Ayesha Francis, has mentioned to me a few times a vision of 360 degree leadership, meaning that everyone offers leadership from their own role and their own calling. And I think this vision is an unwrapped gift for Kairos. I think we're at a place where we need space to talk about faith. My sense is that for many people, being faith-based and rooted in spirituality are important dimensions of Kairos. But maybe we haven't talked about that enough or listened to each other enough. We're in an opportune time to ask each other, how do you find your courage? How do you find hope? How do you find resilience and renewal? How does faith inform your actions? And in our churches, the more transformationally reluctant individuals might actually benefit from hearing Kairos' wisdom expressed in spiritual vocabulary and in conversations, in faith-based conversations. And as I thought about where is Kairos at, I was reminded of a story, well, I just thought about where we're at. And as I thought about the kinds of context that generate transformation and the difficulty in generating transformation, I thought of a story from the Christian scriptures. And it's a story in which the disciples of Jesus are in a boat and they're caught in a windstorm. And Jesus comes to meet the boat by walking on the water. And when the disciples see Jesus coming, they get scared. They're afraid because they think it's a ghost. And then Jesus assures them that it's him. And at this point, Peter jumps out of the boat to walk to Jesus. If Jesus can walk on water, Peter wants to do it too. And Peter starts walking towards Jesus. And the story says that when Peter noticed the wind, he got scared and then he began to sink. And then he cries out, Jesus saves me and Jesus hauls him out of the water. He asks Peter, you have little faith, why do you doubt? And a disciple sitting in a boat in a storm, cold and wet and embarrassed, pondering a failed attempt to demonstrate faith and surrounded by community, I, this is one kind of moment of transformation. I think what Peter's action is simultaneously bold and somewhat of a failure. So what Peter symbolizes, Peter symbolizes a lot of things for me, but let me just say this for today that Peter symbolizes for Kairos is first, is this Kairos is at a place where it can be bold and following its calling to seek justice, love kindness, hold space for healing and walk humbly with God. We can jump out of the boat and try and walk on water. As Kairos, we need to learn from our mistakes and our successes. And we are going to need help from everyone in the community to find our courage, to do our learning, to do certain opportunities for spirited action for justice, and to recognize the presence of the Holy in the world. Thank you so much, Paul. I think you've given us a sense of how our partnerships are continually calling us to transformation. And that's such an important message. I love the image of straining to hear the story. And I want to spend some time thinking about the spiritual stance that that moves us to in all of our relationships really. And let me also second the kudos that you offer to Kairos staff. I think that's right on. So we're going to change, switch things up a little bit now. We have two responders who have been listening to the presentations. And with a time limit of five minutes, we've asked them to identify some key messages and let us know what they would like to see amplified. So our first responder is Caitlyn Dorothy Kennecat. Caitlyn served close to 10 years on Kairos Ecological Justice Circle, and I was honored to serve with her for many of those years. She was a youth member at large. Caitlyn is excited to rekindle her Kairos connections through this event. She recently moved to treaty one terror from treaty one territory where Paul is to make mocking territory in Nova Scotia, where she is working as the Atlantic Regional Coordinator at the Bout of Family Initiative for Canadian Seed Security. Caitlyn is also completing her doctorate at the University of Manitoba, working with small-scale farmers in Bolivia, committed to cultivating seed sovereignty despite economic and environmental pressures. Caitlyn, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you, Sue. And I'm so grateful for the witness of the speakers and for the work that you're all doing in your communities and in our collective world to advance change. I think it's so hard to kind of, you know, follow these powerful speakers, I think, because I think in many ways their words and actions kind of speak for themselves, but I'll try to pull some lines together. Ray, I think your story about your time in residential schools was a very powerful way to start this and thinking about the ways that, you know, youth can find ways to resist the oppressive conditions, which they find themselves, I think, is such, it's just very meaningful and I think it's really meaningful that, you know, you find importance in the work that Kairos is doing and in learning from, you know, the legacy of the churches that ran the schools and in working to sort of transform those learnings into meaningful actions for justice. I think it really helped to set the stage in some ways for these other reflections and kind of clarify what I think Kairos is being called to in today's world and in this current kind of moment of transition in which we find ourselves. Ten or 12 years ago when I joined the Ecological Justice Circle, which was then the Sustainability Circle, I think at the time I was really struck by just how powerful it was to kind of have a space where folks that were fighting in their respective denominational spaces for kind of that radical Ecological Justice work could come together and share their struggles and deepen their work and build a movement that kind of transcended those spaces. But I think that also at the time something really important was happening and that we were witnessing this kind of widespread learning across church spaces around the kind of things that Alma was talking about this morning around what it means to learn to listen, how to distinguish between thinking about equality versus, you know, really walking along someone and walking alongside a community in solidarity and supporting people in their struggle for their rights. Learning what it means to set aside our own agendas and to take leadership from those that have been most affected by the violence of colonialism and of capitalism. And, you know, often screwing that up and making mistakes and then figuring out how to move forward in the spirit of accountability and then further deepen those relationships of trust. And I think that Zubi also kind of brought home this point thinking about, you know, the importance of bearing witness to injustice and of showing up when asked. And again of kind of building trust and accountability through a deep spiritual partnership and learning to walk in each other's shoes. So I think hearing from these panelists, I know that a lot of that work in partnership building and relationship building is still ongoing and will continue to make mistakes. But I think that those long-term relationships that Kairos has nourished with its partners and among partners from different parts of the world as well. And I think, you know, that commitment that people in the Kairos network have shown to, you know, showing up in the ways that we can. I think that work really means something. And I think that those relationships are what are going to guide us into the next steps in this moment of social transformation, you know, in terms of the voices that we're taking leadership from. And yeah, and the ways in which we answer the calls of the communities that we've been walking alongside of all these years. I think, you know, in this time when we need a really solid and committed witness in this time of really major societal transformation, you know, we have the imperative of action on climate change. You know, we have land offenders from coast to coast. You know, I'm thinking of Ferry Creek. I'm thinking of coastal gas. I'm thinking of folks in the prairies that continue to struggle against Line 3. Also thinking about, you know, recent winds in Megamagi around Alton gas. I think that really something really special is building in those movements. I think indigenous sovereignty and the defense of land and water has always sort of been at the center of this fight. But something feels really big to me right now in this moment as I almost said, again, the kind of wakes up to the atrocities of the past and of the present in this new way. And, you know, I think people are seeking a way to figure out how to collectively transform. But that, you know, a lot of people that are sort of in those initial moments of learning are really going to make mistakes. And I think that Kairos has the benefit of this long, these long standing relationships and long, long journey of learning and that we need to be able to take those learnings and share them with the churches and share them about how we can contribute to transformation. Yeah. I mean, I think in this moment, we can't lose sight of that aim of the power of those relationships and of the power that comes from these deep spiritual partnerships that have been nourished over so many years. And I think that we just need to continue to find ways to, you know, take leadership from indigenous people, take leadership from the communities that are most marginalized by these oppressive systems, but also know that the churches have a role. We need to step up in the ways they are appropriate and, you know, continue to push for a correction to these injustices, even when it's really hard. And I think, you know, as Paul said, I find a lot of hope and a lot of opportunities for renewal in that space and in this moment. Thank you. Thanks so much, Caitlin. I appreciate the way you've pulled together some really important threads for our ongoing reflection for what I agree is a really big moment. I appreciate that. Our second responder is Jessen Reyes. Jessen was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and currently serves as the managing director of MRCC, the Migrants Resource Center Canada. Prior to assuming his role at MRCC, Jessen served as regional coordinator for McGrath and Pay Canada, assisting in organizing and coordinating various campaigns for Filipino migrants and their families across Canada. He worked briefly in the settlement field before helping to found MRCC. Jessen has been on various panels alongside Cairo's migrant justice coordinators, amplifying the voices of migrant workers in Canada and creating public awareness of their plight. Presently together with MRCC care project team, they serve as one of the partners in the empowering temporary form workers during COVID-19 project. So welcome, Jessen. Thank you, Sue. Thank you, everyone. Again, I am humbled and I am thankful of the opportunity to listen to our panelists today. And as always, I'm always finding myself in learning new things every time I join or participate in a Cairo's event. So I've been asked to just give a brief reflection on the theme and as well as the main points that was provided by three of our panelists. And I agree, similar to what was said earlier, I think starting the discussion with the sharing of gray gives a sort of a context to the conversation that we were having, particularly I think the intergenerational component of what was it like in the past and how should we move forward? It's hard for me not to think about a Filipino proverb that was coined actually by a national hero in the Philippines, where it goes, Which translates to, he who does not look back from where they came from will never reach their destination. And for myself, I always appreciate giving us a historical sort of point of view as we talk about current things that are happening. Two things that came out in the discussion for me, our first panelist Alma, gave us a very clear picture of the current struggles of indigenous peoples, particularly in their region. And what struck me is when Alma says that we have to focus on our healing and our healing is wrapped up in the healing of the earth. I reflect back on the need for our commitment for ecological justice or environmental justice. From the point of view of migrant workers, the people, our clients, our constituents and even us ourselves, we say that migrants are forced to leave their country for many reasons, primarily for economic reasons. But in our work, we also know and we see that there are a lot of migrants that are been forced due to climate induced migration. I was reading up a little bit about particularly the effects of environmental degradation to migrants being uprooted and 25 million to 1 billion will be affected by climate induced migration by 2050. And climate induced migrants fall through the crux of international refugee and immigration policies, especially here in Canada where we are bringing in more and more migrants every year. And it helps us in reflecting on our work as far as how should we view the struggle of migrants who are settling here in Canada and calling this home, but also linking it to the broader struggle of people here in Canada, including the indigenous people. And there's definitely a need. I think this is something that is happening. But on our end, there needs to be more of this not only conversation, but actually actions together. So that's one thing that I took away from Alma's sharing. Zugbe spoke very clearly about the need for people-to-people relations. And prior to my role in MRCC, I was part of organizations that actually hosted activist leaders and parliamentarians from the Philippines through my involvement with Negrante and Anakbayan national democratic organizations. And I cannot help but rethink about the importance of international solidarity. Zugbe talked about the partnership is holistic, as they were given renewed hope in this exchange of visits and the solidarity that they received. Of course, I cannot speak on behalf of the partners in the Philippines, but from the perspective of the diaspora community, when the visits came here, it gave us members of the diaspora a clear picture on what is happening in our own country, right? In the Philippines, where since 1960, there's been a conflict. There's been a civil war. And the civil war is rooted in the fact that there's poverty and extreme inequality. And that's at the root of the civil war. And in particular, women, young women face gender-based violence as a result of this war. And the partnership and solidarity that Kairos has provided, the partners in the Philippines through the church, has been exponentially helpful. Of course, this partnership is not perfect. There's always room for improvement. But we believe with the experience of Kairos, with the partnership that has been built, Kairos has a role, as an important role to play in strengthening these people-to-people relations despite adversities and setbacks that may come its way. And lastly, I like when Zigbi mentioned about it's inspiring that even if hope doesn't choose you, you choose hope. I think that is very powerful and that kind of cuts across everybody's work. And lastly, Paul talked about, you know, full of wonder and gratitude. And that's how we feel in the Migrants Resource Center. I think, lastly, on our work, we believe that the work that we're doing with Kairos moving forward can be transformational. And it starts with partnering with genuine grassroots migrant organizations like MRCC, where we hear directly from the workers, whether it's in the context of policymaking or direct services, we need to center our work through the lived experiences of migrants and other people who are most marginalized. And in our partnership with Kairos, it's been proven that we share the same mutual understanding and goals. So we are hopeful that in the next 20 years of Kairos that these relationships and these principles will grow even more. So thank you again. And we look forward to more work with Kairos and other partners. I'm going to unmute myself here. Thank you so much, Jess, and I really appreciate your intersectional lens linking climate change, the rights of migrants, and gender justice. So it's a wonderful place for us to bring this panel and responders to a close. And that is it at this point. So I'm going to hand things back to you, Aisha. Thank you so, so very much, Sue, and all of the panelists. That was exceptional. Again, we walk away with so much to consider. And the richness of these presentations, I think, for me personally, and I don't want to speak on behalf of anyone else, but I would expect them to be enduring. I appreciate that we were able to look at the good, but also to be challenged to not get comfortable. We're doing okay, but we still have much to do is what I heard. So in the now, we still have a lot to do. I'm also grateful for what I heard around this room for us to grow and to mature. But with the realization that there will still be a balance between the triumphs and the things that we will celebrate, but also to acknowledge that we may have some failures along the way. But as long as we're able to recognize those and respond to them quickly and course correct and do that with the right posture and the right heart, that collectively, we can still continue to move this work forward and advance the work of Kairos. So I thank everyone for attending this afternoon for taking the time to join us again as we go through these anniversary celebrations and we gather. It is so wonderful to see so many of us connecting our staff, our network, our domestic and global partners, and so many of our supportive friends. Again, as I said yesterday, I will reiterate today that Kairos is the realization of our assured values and commitment. And I believe that this is truly a powerful mechanism and causative agent for continued change. I think the way that we do the things that we do at Kairos and the work that we do, the attention that we give to these critical injustices and fight for equity and human rights and ecological justice and all the things we fight for at Kairos is quite unique. And you know, that is the power of what we bring to cause change. Kairos is committed. And one way that you can remain involved in our collective work for human rights and ecological justice is to become a monthly donor. As I mentioned yesterday, our team will share more information with you on how to do this. And if you are interested in ABLE, we would appreciate your support. Tonight, we have our worship service at 730. That will be led by our Kairos's steering committee. And so please join us for that. We welcome you all to that. And tomorrow is the last day, but it will be just as brilliant and exciting as I think the last two days have been where we will begin to have conversations about where we are headed. And so our plenary session is in the afternoon at 1 p.m. tomorrow. However, there is also a workshop at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning, the Women, Peace and Security that includes land defense and mitigating climate change. Virtual KBEs are also happening this evening. They are filled up and booked. So for those of you who are participating in that, I pray that you will walk away with a breath of freshness and newness and an understanding of the important narratives of our Indigenous peoples in our nation. And I thank you again for joining and wish you all a wonderful, wonderful afternoon. Take care.