Journal #100: Creating A Series on Welcoming Refugees
update on september 26:
During the fundraising campaign to create the Refuge journal series, our donors gave or pledged $3,852. Because of your support, we were able to give $500 to Peace City Church last spring, roughly 12% of what we raised. You can read more below regarding how those funds empowered a genocide survivor from Sudan to adapt to life in the U.S.
As we pledged at the beginning of this fundraising campaign, the new funds we have received will be used to support the Liberatus vision of healing in American politics. Specifically, those funds are supporting the creation of our fall 2017 journal series on Re-Creation, and we plan to publish a minimum of two journal series in 2018.
This fall and beyond, your donations will be used to build community in a partisan city, advocate for and connect with refugees and those who are marginalized, and refocus our values—both for our writers and for our readers—on the Kingdom wherever we live and work in politics.
update on august 17:
Community. Financial Aid. Advocacy. For refugees in DC. $3,742 Raised. $16,258 To Go.
Refuge is a Liberatus journal series connecting political professionals with a refugee community just outside DC through a partnership with Peace City Church. Join us and let's create something beautiful in American politics together. Giving plans start at $5/month.
Update on july 31:
New Giving Incentives: You can help us create Refuge by giving just $5 a month. Monthly donors will receive access to Choosing Healing, a monthly inside look at how we live The Values of Freedom, exclusively for Liberatus Founders and Monthly Donors. You can check out all of the new giving incentives on the donation page.
Final Giving Deadline: The final deadline to give to Refuge is August 31, 2017. Let's do this!
Publish Date: If we reach the funding goal, we will begin Issue 017: Refuge on World Refugee Day, June 20, 2018.
update on june 20:
Our donors have given $3,157 in donations and pledges out of the $20,000 goal to create Refuge. Thank you!
Before we launched the fundraising effort to create this series, when advocating for refugees was just a growing desire and vision, I had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Eric and Lisa So for Nations Journal Vol. 3. That interview opened the door to pushing ahead with the fundraising efforts to connect our writers with their community, advocate for refugees, and give to their community financially. You can learn more about their decision to move into a refugee community and read other powerful stories of reformers around the world by ordering a copy.
-Caleb Paxton, Liberatus Founder
Update on June 5:
To follow through on our pledge to give 10% of funds raised for Refuge, we have given $500 of your contributions to Peace City Church for use as a benevolence fund.
"We have decided that the funds will go towards one refugee man who is a genocide survivor from Sudan. He is very intelligent and is wonderful to be around. Since being in the U.S. for a few years, he has been struggling with past trauma and physical ailments. Due to the combination of these challenges, his life got off track and many of his important documents have expired. We are guiding him to get back on track, which includes getting required vaccines, re-enrolling for Medicaid, finding trauma counseling, and applying for his green card. There are different fees related to these processes and services. Since he has been unable to work for an extended time due to physical ailments, we have decided to put the funds towards those fees. This is huge for him. As an orphaned genocide survivor, he came to the U.S. alone and our church is his only family and support system. The gift from Liberatus and its supporters will be a huge blessing to him as he recovers and gets his life back on track."
-Eric So, Peace City Church
Update on May 15:
To date, our donors have given $3,132 in donations and pledges for 2017. We have $16,868 remaining to raise to connect our writers with a refugee community in Maryland, assist them financially, and publish Refuge.
Update on March 17:
As of the March 15th deadline to conclude the Refuge fundraising campaign, our donors have given $2,875 in one-time gifts and monthly pledges through 2017 to create a journal series exploring how we welcome refugees and to connect our writers face-to-face with a local refugee community.
Because of your generosity, we are excited to announce that Liberatus has made a contribution of $500 to Peace City Church for the creation of a benevolence fund specifically for refugees who have resettled in Riverdale, Maryland. At the outset of the campaign, we pledged to donate 10% of whatever we raised beyond current giving to the church, and we are thrilled to give 17% of what we have received so far. Thank you!
We are grateful for and elated by the generosity so many have shown—not only to refugees during this fundraising campaign—but also from the beginning of Liberatus to support the vision of healing in American politics.
As followers of Jesus, we believe the call to bring restoration to our world began far before the vision of Liberatus was born, and it will continue far beyond a March 15 fundraising deadline. To that end, we’re keeping the fundraising campaign open indefinitely, and will continue to focus on the goal of raising $20,000 to advocate for refugees. We hope you’ll join us in giving your time and resources to make it possible.
We can’t wait to get started on this journal series, advocating for refugees by giving to them financially, telling their stories, and sharing what we have learned from them in our nation’s capital.
You can read more about the details of creating this series below.
With gratitude,
The Liberatus Board of Directors
Journal #100: Creating A Series on Welcoming Refugees
February 15, 2017
Friends,
Today marks the 100th Liberatus journal entry about bringing Truth and Beauty to American politics, written by people on the inside.
At the outset of 2017, based on the resources we have available, we simplified and narrowed our plans for the year. After the conclusion of A New Era, we plan to publish one more series, tentatively set to begin late summer.
But because of the current tone of political communication, we are hoping to add a third journal series to the calendar, exploring how we welcome refugees.
If we have the resources, we will publish Issue 017 beginning in November 2017.
To create it, we need to raise $20,000 beyond current giving.
WHY FOCUS ON REFUGEES
If American politics were defined by Truth and Beauty, I believe that many aspects of our work culture, communication, and personal well-being would change. And while I originally thought our plans for the year would include Subscriber Coffees focused on how we can improve work culture, at this point in time it’s undeniable to me that the most pressing need is for us to focus on healing in political communication.
Specifically, we need to focus on how we welcome refugees. We need to shift the communication paradigm, recognizing that our well-being is tied to theirs. Most importantly, we need to connect our writers who work in American politics with actual people who have come to the U.S. as refugees, breaking down societal barriers and learn their stories.
HOW WE WILL CREATE ISSUE 017
To create the Refuge series, we will work with the Lead Planter of Peace City Church, Eric So, to connect our writers to refugees who have resettled locally. To meet specific needs within this community, we will contribute 10% of all donations and pledges for 2017 made from now through March 15 to Peace City Church for the creation of a benevolence fund.
A short drive away from downtown Washington, DC, Peace City Church is a new church plant in Riverdale, Maryland, with a vision that includes creating "a diverse family of Jesus followers that powerfully and beautifully illustrates true peace to our city." Read the full vision and story of Peace City Church.
WHAT $20,000 WILL FUND
To publish Refuge in November 2017, we need to raise $20,000. Will you join us by contributing $25 or more to Liberatus each month? Your contributions will fund:
1. Monthly Support: all of the day-to-day tasks and creative planning required to publish each Liberatus journal series
Throughout 2017, we will meet with stakeholders and research refugee issues.
2. Community Development: monthly lunches with our writers, connecting our writing team to a local refugee community to provide relational and financial support, and a creative retreat at which we will write Issue 017
Our first focus is building community among those working in politics, across political boundaries—the journal is a reflection of that community. For this series, we will connect our writers with refugees who have resettled locally, and give 10% of funds raised to create a benevolence fund for Peace City Church.
3. Issue 017: Refuge: a seven-week journal series exploring how we welcome refugees, the hearts of those who are doing this work well, and what connecting professionals in American politics to local refugee communities would change about political communication
We will focus on shifting the paradigm for how we communicate regarding refugee issues. Journal entry topics may include how our well-being is tied to theirs, how we can make wise choices to welcome them into the U.S., and how learning their stories face-to-face can change our perspective. To reach our target audience, we will distribute promotional cards to all 535 House and Senate Offices. We will also send a card to each Liberatus donor.
FUNDRAISING DEADLINE
The fundraising deadline for Refuge is March 15, 2017.
If we don’t reach the goal in full, we will still give 10% of what is raised to Peace City Church for the creation of a benevolence fund. Remaining resources will be used to create Issue 016, tentatively scheduled for late summer. The topic will be announced at a later date. If there are any other remaining funds, they will be used to support the creation of two journal series in 2018.
Due to financial constraints and the time-intensive nature of creating Refuge, we will not be able to publish the journal series or focus on building relationships with the local community if we do not raise the funds in full.
To continue as a weekly journal in 2017, we would need to raise $20,000 for each seven-week series, or $140,000 annually.
HOW YOU CAN JOIN US
You can join us by funding Refuge and other journal series beyond 2017. We are hoping to increase monthly donations by $1,000 and raise $10,000 directly by March 15. Will you join us by contributing $25 a month or more to create a journal series exploring how we welcome refugees?
Finally, we still have room to add writers to our community this year. If you’d like to write with us to create Issue 017, apply now, and specifically note refugee issues as a topic you’d like to cover, along with any relevant experience.
Thanks for writing a new story of freedom with us,
-Caleb
Liberatus Founder
WEEKLY ACTION ITEM:
Become a Liberatus monthly donor to fund Issue 017: Refuge.
Liberatus is a community journal about bringing truth and beauty to American politics from the inside, because people who work in politics are tired of dysfunction. Writers who join us creatively explore healing for work culture, communication, and personal well-being. You can join the adventure by applying to write, subscribing to the journal, or by contributing monthly.
Journal Entry #100