Every Saturday, between 12 and 15 young people between the ages of 14 and 22 meet with us. We sit in a circle, without hierarchy, and ask a simple but powerful question: How are you feeling? Thus begins an intimate space where laughter, tears, and emotions flow freely. We not only listen to joys, we also open ourselves to pain: frustrations, family problems, anxiety, and even depression.
This letter to you is written mostly by people in Mexico who were invited to speak directly to you, our donors and people interested in Jubilee updates. Angelica Juarez Jimenez Swanson from the Jubilee Circle in San Mateo speaks first. Recently, she’s been deeply involved in one chronic issue hurting lives there. Similar in-depth ministry is happening on so many other issues across the Circles of Jubilee.
In 2000, as a new millennium began, so did Jubilee Economics Ministries (JEM). A Core Group met monthly in Chicago and planned a couple of trips to Chiapas, Mexico, in support of Indigenous people and Fair Trade growers. At that time, the Indigenous Zapatista Movement came to international attention as they protested NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and other strategies of globalization that oppressed them. One elder told us, “NAFTA and globalization are the latest forms of genocide.”
Your donations over the years have brought the growth that seemed impossible in 2000. We celebrate this and give thanks to God. Not surprisingly, a growing past requires a well-funded future to be fruitful. Please, join our prayers as growth of the Jubilee tree is ready to burst with abundant fruit.
We’re in a big anniversary year for Jubilee! Isai Robledo, a gifted artist in the San Cristobal Jubilee Circle, designed this wonderful graphic for JEM’s 25th year. It expresses the great root system your donations have fed and watered. And now look at the tree!