Newsweek Sat, Mar 19, 2016

In December 2014, ISIS published an informational pamphlet stating that sex with a child is permissible, as is the rape and selling and exchanging of non-Muslim women, as well as subjecting them to sexual slavery. While women are often the worst-affected by war, those who are subjected to sexual violence are not seen as victims of conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, the U.N. undersecretary general for sexual violence in conflict, said during the panel on Wednesday.

The international community needs to make sure “the world becomes aware that you can't talk about counterterrorism without ensuring the protection and empowerment of women,” said Bangura, adding that ISIS has generated an estimated $35 million to $45 million from the sale of women.

Murad told the U.N. on Wednesday that she was “given to more than 10” ISIS members, while other women and girls “were given to 20, to 30, to more.”

“They were exchanging us, giving us to different ISIS members every hour, sometimes every day,” she said.

Less than 24 hours after Murad's appearance at the U.N., U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said ISIS is committing genocide against Yazidis, Christians and Shiites in Syria and Iraq. The declaration of genocide came after months of pressure to apply the contested and controversial label to the group's actions. 

“The fact is Daesh [the Arabic acronym for ISIS] kills Christians because they are Christians, Yazidis because they’re Yazidis, Shiite because they are Shiite,” Kerry said on Thursday.

The Journey of a Refugee to the U.S.

St. Louis Cup Of Nations Soccer Tournament 2015

St. Louis Cup Of Nations Soccer Tournament 2015. For the past several years over 12 nations come together on soccer fields for fun competition. The St. Louis Cup Of Nations was founded to inspire unity among people from different countries living in St. Louis. This St. Louis refugee and immigrant population includes the largest number of Bosnians outside of Bosnia (currently about 70,000).

Rise Together Resale Shop

Rise Together Ministries started a Resale Shop in August of 2015 to help refugees in St. Louis, Missouri. Refugees are given assistance for the first three months after arriving in St. Louis. Afterwards ministries such as Rise Together help them assimilate by providing jobs such as retail work at this Resale Shop. Please stop by and support this store and our mission. Thank you.

Build Community, Support Immigrants

From the St. Louis Mayor's office to a program called "The Mosaic Project" at the World Trade Center, to local church activity, THERE IS A LOT GOING ON which focuses on immigrants and refugees. The following is a list of programs and events FYI.

St. Louis Cup Soccer

Bosnia vs. Ivory Coast

May 30 7:30pm

Edward Jones Dome

www.soccerstl.net

St. Louis Mosaic Project:

www.stlmosaicproject.org

Immigrant Inc. St. Louis regional economic conference:

Hold your calendars for the annual Immigration Economic Report to the community which will be Thursday, June 26, from 4-7pm at the Danforth Plant Science Center. The theme will be “ Immigrant, Inc. St. Louis”, highlighting the role of high tech and neighborhood immigrant entrepreneurs. There will be an update on the St. Louis Mosaic Project as well as comments from Mayor Slay and County Executive Dooley. Richard Herman, the author of Immigrant, Inc. on immigrant entrepreneurs, will present. Registration will be in the May time frame.

Soccer:

Soccer will support current immigrant and native-born players as well as be a beacon of attraction to immigrants outside St. Louis that we have a region that develops soccer champions, that has a history and future with soccer. Alex Araiza is leading the work stream on this, so let me know if you want to join Alex’s team. There is a four month calendar of events from May-August around the games in St. Louis, World Cup, Cup of Nations and More. See this story:

http://fcbordo.com/fc-bordo-and-the-st-louis-mosaic-project-collaborate-to-unify-the-community-through-soccer/

Mayor Slay provided a thought-provoking blog last week:

http://www.mayorslay.com/article/stl-pop-500000

And last week’s census data yielded some intriguing stories- our regional numbers are up proportionately but not as much as other regions are experiencing. We need to accelerate.

http://www.businessinsider.com/population-adjusted-immigration-map-2014-3

St. Louis continues to drop in population, but the loss is slowing

STLtoday.com

St. Louis city continues to lose population but is doing so at a much slower rate ... Of the seven largest counties surrounding St. Louis, all but St. Clair and ... Make St. Louis the fasted growing U.S. metro area forimmigration by 2020.

And, Jorge Riopedre, Executive Director of Casa de Salud,  did an excellent commentary on NPR about his own story and why immigration/education are so key to our region’s growth and intellectual acceleration.

Commentary: Immigrants Will Help Rebuild St. Louis

St. Louis Public Radio

St. Louis has long benefited fromimmigrants. At the turn of the 20th century, St. Louis had almost 600,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city ...

IMMIGRANT, INC - St. Louis Fostering innovation is about bringing together people and ideas, embracing new energy and talent--and that's exactly our goal for St. Louis! Each year, St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley and City of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay host a joint conference on how to grow the regional economy. This year, they've invited Immigrant Inc. co-author, Richard Herman, to highlight how immigrant entrepreneurs are driving the new economy and creating local jobs.

Time:   4-5:30 pm reception to follow Date:    Thursday, June 26, 2014 Place:   Danforth Plant Science Center 975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63132 RSVP:   Click to register online.  (by June 23, 2014) $25 per person

Quiz! Bosnian Culture in St. Louis, videos coming soon.

Video clips from the April Bosnian Culture night in St. Louis are coming soon. Read through some interesting facts about Bosnian Culture:

What is the estimated Bosnian population in St. Louis? 60K- 70K.

True or False: World War I was ignited in Bosnia. True
True or False: The war in Bosnia was from 1992-1995. True
True or False: Half of the Muslim population living in St. Louis are Bosnian. True
True or False: Bosnian women do not cover their hair except in the mosque. True
True or False: St. Louis has a professional, Bosnian led soccer team. True
True or False: Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian languages are very different. True
---I see a pattern here---: )

True or False: Bosnia is part of the former Yugoslavia. True
True or False: This is the first year Bosnia is in the World Cup. True
True or False: Mike was a missionary to Bosnia after the war. True
True or False: Bosnian coffee grew chest hair on Mike. True

True or False: Bosnians love soccer and are very good players. True
True or False: In rural areas, traditional Muslim lifestyles still exist with arranged marriages. There is a definitte difference between male and female roles. This is slowly changing and women are starting to work outside the home in Bosnia, but especially in the St. Louis. True

True or False: Bosnians and Slavs will live a style of "zadrugas". This is several families living on common ground. At times a large family will live in one dwelling and share all livestock, land, and responsibilities. Typically the eldest member of the family is the leader. True

What can we do for the youth?

The following quotes are from:

Western Christians in Global Mission: What’s the Role of the North American Church? By Paul Borthwick

“Our world is young, restless, and uncertain. More than 50 percent of the world is under the age of twenty-five.  p.24

"China has more teenagers than the U.S. has people.” p. 24

“In some of the countries in the Middle East, more than 50 percent of the population is under fourteen years old.” p.25

 “The zealous youth of the world want change, but they’re not sure what they want to change to.” P.25

What can we do for the youth? Provide positive messages which guide them in the truth for their lives; that they're accepted and have a God centered purpose.