{Guest Blogger} Introducing Moyo

By Ben Rawlins, Moyo Staff 

When it comes to spirituality and justice, many Christians view these two parts of life and faith as opposed. I’m a contemplative, one person claims. Another says, I’m an activist. But why must we view these two beautiful and necessary aspects of the Christian life as antithetical?

At Moyo, we’re trying to re-imagine the Christian call to spirituality and justice, following in the footsteps of organizations like UMVIM that believe in strong theological thinking as the cornerstone of mission work. Moyo is an interactive website that provides experiences for visitors to confront issues of global importance, engage these issues spiritually, and discover ways to act on them in the world. Through the experience on the website, visitors can begin to integrate the “being” and “doing” of life.

 

On the website, a visitor engages with the issues through a Guided Path. The Guided Path starts with an Encounter, allowing the visitor to learn more about the issue. Then, the visitor moves to a Reflection, which provides a reflective type of experience. Lastly, the visitor moves to an Action. The Action shows different ways of engaging the issue in the world. The Guided Path offers experiences with a variety of creative content – videos, photographs, prose, and poetry. The website also has The Feed, which is a blog-like feature. On The Feed, we’ll offer diverse perspectives on current events and global issues. All together, these experiences are a tool for visitors to see contemplation and action in new ways and engage in the world with spiritually infused, justice-oriented action.

Without a doubt, UMVIM’s mission aligns with the experiences that Moyo provides. Like UMVIM, we want to see “Christian love in action” and start conversations that move people of faith to combine their spirituality with justice action. 

Our website has just recently become live, and we’re launching our first two topics: Water &Restoration of Life and Disaster & Human Dignity. Both of these topics reflect work that UMVIM does all over the world. On Moyo, we feature UMVIM on an Action as a suggested way to volunteer for disaster relief. 

How can you become involved? First, we would love for you to visit the website – feel free to send feedback to us or share with people who you believe might be interested in the mission of Moyo. We’re also looking for contributors to submit creative content to the website! Please share your voice and experiences to Moyo. You can check out our Submission Website for more information on how to do so or you can email the Moyo Team.

As stated above, Moyo is a tool that can provide new ways of thinking about spirituality and justice. We are so grateful that we can partner with groups like UMVIM who complement our mission in such important ways. Moyo is a community – we’re glad you can be a part of it. 

Questions? Contact Jenn Bryant (jbryant@umcdiscipleship.org) or Ben Rawlins (brawlins@umcdiscipleship.org)