The intent of this section is to expand the way we look at our call to be women of communion in a global world. Today when we think of a border it often implies that which separates one people from another. These divisions are not only between countries and cultures, but also between our perspectives, what we can imagine, our judgments, what we believe possible. We hope this page will be a place where we can reflect on the call to go beyond borders, to imagine the possibility of the frontier, to contemplate what it means to be on the rim.

Our first contributions are from two diverse experiences of going beyond borders into the world of our Muslim brothers and sisters:

The first is Geredette Phillips' reflection on the RSCJ community in Indonesia who lives each day reaching beyond borders on many different levels of life.

The second is the experience of Kristi Laughlin , an Associate in the United States whose first venture beyond a border gave her the courage to reach beyond another border.

Responses

Submitted by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , Jun 20, 2002

Here is a message from Global Exchange, the program that is sponsoring Kritsi and Mary Pat's trip to Afghanistan...

I talked to Nilufar, our trip leader in Kabul, this morning. She said that everyone is doing well. The group had a very good meeting with the man who led Friday prayers at the mosque that was destroyed by an errant US bomb.

Also, everyone loved the meeting with the families who were affected by the US bombing campaign. FOX, NPR and CBS radio joined them and AP photo as well. AP will be taking photos at a workshop for victims of the US bombing that the delegates will be attending tomorrow at a hospital in Kabul.

If any of you haven't heard yet, there was very brief rocket fire yesterday in Kabul. There were no injuries reported at all in Kabul. The delegation didn't even know about it until they listened to BBC. Everyone is fine, and still feels very secure. Nilufar as well as Global Exchange's other US contact there said that Kabul is safe and no one was very worried about it.
Nilufar called me the second that she found out about it to let me know that everyone was fine. They all talked about it as a group and decided to stay close to home for the day and not do too much traveling around Kabul. Authorities in Kabul do not expect any more incidents.

It was inspiring and hopeful to read the articles by Gererette Phillips rscj and Kristi Laughlin an associate. To have both religious and associates working in different cultures with Muslims brings out the best in are works and brings us a little closer to unity. I look forward to more beyound borders articles.

Thank you Barb for this most important information. It is a pleasure to read about Indonesia. Joan