CNI Youth for Peace and Justice 

The three days Zonal programme on Youth for Peace on the theme “let justice roll like a river, righteousness like never failing stream” held at CMH, Grant Road, Mumbai from 29^th to 31^st January 2010. A total of 20 youth participated in the programme from 5 different Dioceses of Maharastra.  The icebreaking session was conducted by Ms. Shalom Christdoss and Rev. Avinash Rangayya. The participants introduced themselves to each other in a very creative way. Mr. Pradip Bansirior conducted the Orientation of the Programme. Why we are here today and what is our purpose of being here? The Inaugural Worship was conducted by Rev. Thomas Jacob and all the youth from the different Dioceses participated in the service. 

The keynote address was delivered by Rev. Avinash Rangayya. He referred to Amos 3:3 and said God chose only Amos from all the Israelites. Therefore, in the same way, God has chosen us to take forward the mission of Peace.  The session on Biblical understanding of Peace and Justice was taken by Mr. Aboo Varghese. He explained what is peace and justice according to the Bible. The injustice happens because of various reasons like corruption, politics, exploitation, discriminatory social and finance systems etc. The mission of our Lord Jesus Christ was to give justice to the poor.  Some of the verses pondered on were Psalm 106.3, Proverbs 31.8&9, Isaiah 11.1-5, Isaiah 62.1-2. He also mentioned that we should live in peace with every person. Peace is God’s resources to handle everything. Peace always starts from within. 

The session on Sexual Abuse was taken by Dr. Usha Ubale. She explained to us what is sexual abuse, who is vulnerable to it and how can we identify the abuse happened to anyone.  Sexual abuse is a form of domestic violence. When the abuse involves forced sex, it may constitute rape upon the other spouse, depending on the jurisdiction, and may also constitute an assault. This is universal. Sexual Abuse is done in many ways; it can be through domestic violence, racist remarks etc. This can happen to anyone and at any place, irrespective of caste, place, religion, age etc. Children of adolescent age are more vulnerable to sexual abuse. She also told how a victim can come out of an abuse. 

The session on human trafficking was taken by Mr. Rajesh Dharkar. He mentioned that trafficking is the practice of people being tricked, lured, coerced or otherwise removed from their home or country, and then compelled to work with no or low payment or on terms which are highly exploitative. He also told the process of how the trafficker functions. The programme contents combined with participating and creative process of interacting and learning. It was done in different input sessions i.e. worship, reflection and meditation, lecture discussion, case studies, song sessions and group discussions.