Connected to Service, Community and the JPC
Root Causes
Sometimes we think that history is behind us; history is
dead and gone. In grade school I was bored with
history. Yet I realize now that history tells a story. It
tells my story. It tells the story of this nation, of
civilizations, of humanity, and of the Kingdom come.
March 7, 2014
———————————
Student Service Ministries:
Latreia
Coordinator, Michaela
Orzechowski
[email protected]
There is a powerful West African symbol of the Sankofa
bird, which represents the need to reflect on the past to
build a successful future. For my journey, this has been
important for me in order to understand how I have
become, so that I can learn to be. The process towards
identity needed me to embrace the mixed childhood that
I had, broken and yet beloved; and embrace the mixed
person that I am, always both/and (Chinese and Black),
and never just one.
The inspirer of Black History Month, Carter G. Woodsen
said that “those who have no record of what their
forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which
comes from the teaching of biography and history.” For I
know, I did not get here on my own. I know it started
long before the expanded geography of even my closest
roots. Roots that bore in China, fled to Hong Kong and
immigrated to Seattle. Or the part of me that was
planted in Texas, migrated to Portland and ministered up
through Vancouver-Tacoma-Seattle. When I truly look
back, I know that the roots of my love go deep.
Pastor Harvey Drake shared in chapel, “Society addresses
symptoms. What God wants us to do is address root
causes.” Without history we may miss root causes
because we are too consumed with the symptoms of our
day. Symptoms that deceive us from recognizing the
many different forms they have the privilege to take
shape in over time.
For we know that comparisons of ‘what is’ to ‘what was’
can help us predict and prepare for ‘what is to come.’
But in the face of the perils of injustice and indifference
about the brokenness in our systems, institutions and
ways of relating, lead me to want more than preparation
or prediction. I was privileged to hear Cornel West, a
great intellectual, yesterday and he reminded me that I
don’t want to merely be “well-adjusted to injustice or
well-adapted to indifference.”
Instead, let’s take a deeper look at ‘what was’ and ‘what
is’ so that we can inform ourselves towards action to
change ‘what is to come.’ So that symptoms such as
oppression, poverty, and hatred get examined down
through to their roots; and that we may no longer see
another genocide, find other groups enslaved, resolve
differences through war, or sustain ourselves by class or
caste.
Caenisha Warren
JPC Staff
Urban Involvement
Coordinator, Ben Goebel
[email protected]
SPRINT
Coordinator, Bryan Hildebrandt
[email protected]
JPC Publications:

www.spu.edu/perkins/

PerkinsCenter at SPU on
Facebook

Perkins Perspective
JPC collaborates with University
Ministries and the Center for Worship
in offering holistic student
development in the areas of worship,
discipleship, and service.
www.spu.edu/um
JPC Staff
Highlight for Spring:
Annual John Perkins Lecture Series 2014
Monday, April 21
Brown Bag Bible Study
Tuesday, April 22
Perkins Annual Lecture
Saturday, March 8th, 2014
Current Events & Opportunities:

SPRINT Fundraisers - email Daniel Lee for more details
~ Workshare - For your Spring Cleaning, yard work/chores. $10 per student per hr

Film Screening: Horses of God
Wednesday, March 12, 7:00pm, SU, Wyckoff Auditorium
Part of the Francophone Film Series, Seattle U. Dept. of Modern Language & Culture
Coming Up:

The Bush School presents: Dr. Daudi Abe
Thursday, March 13, 7:00pm, The Bush School, 3400 E. Harrison St, Seattle
Dr. Daudi Abe is the third speaker for the The Bush School’s 2013-14 Speaker
Series. See their Facebook page for more information

Law, Peace and Violence: Jurisprudence & the Possibilities of Peace Symposium
Friday, March 14, 8:30am-5:30pm, SU, Sullivan Hall, Room C5, RSVP
Friday, March 14, 8:30am-5:30pm, SU, Sullivan Hall, Room C5, RSVP
Symposium on law’s potential to increase domestic & international peace
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Questions or comments? E-mail us at [email protected].
SPRINT, UI, and Latreia are facilitated as collaborative partnerships with ASSP.