Our Official Youth Presence member at General Convention

Helena with the SC deputation and Bishop Adams, participating in
the TEConversation on creation care today at General Convention.

Greetings from Austin! We’re entering our sixth day at Convention, and I cannot believe how much I’ve been welcomed into the Youth Presence and the Church as a whole.

The committee work that resonated with me the most was in World Mission, and Social Justice & US Policy, where resolutions in hand serve to find solutions to religious persecution, US immigration law, mass incarceration, the drug epidemic, and many more issues. What I love most about this church is we have the power to use God’s unconditional love as an example to the rest of the world on how to treat the poorest and neediest children of God.

At an Episcopal Church Women breakfast, I was able to meet and learn from Yewande Austin, a singer and activist who is using her talents to build a sustainable community for Boko Haram refugees in Nigeria. She is such a powerful and impactful woman who called on all women of faith to search out and take full advantage of their gifts to fight injustice and spread love in any way they can. Visit www.gofundme.com/alherivillage for more information or to donate.

Sunday at noon, the General Convention held a special worship in front of the T. Don Hutto Residential Detention Center just outside of Austin, where asylum-seeking immigrant women are being taken away from their families and detained. We sang, we heard Bishop Curry speak, and we let the women know that God loves them. The most impactful moment? Receiving a message on Monday that the women saw us and were waving back through their slits of windows until the very last bus left. I hope all Episcopalians and Americans pay attention to this action and resist private prisons and family separation. I can’t wait to see how the next four days at Convention play out!

Helena