by Tom McGuire Pope Francis's visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore reminded me of St. Paul’s missionary journeys. Like Paul, Pope Francis faithfully proclaimed the Gospel. He appeared tired when he arrived in Jakarta, but as he met the people the joy of the Gospel was evident in his smile. His actions and words were a message of God’s love for all. The people responded overwhelmingly in the affirmative to his Gospel-inspired call for dialogue based on respectful listening to the opinions of others, which leads to unity in diversity.  Coming from the 29th USCCA International Conference in August with a focus on friendship and dialogue, Pope Francis's dialogue with young people of different religions in Singapore illustrated a significant path to follow in carrying out the USCCA's Gospel-inspired mission. He encouraged young people to build bridges of peace and solidarity in a world divided by differences. He engaged in spontaneous off-script dialogue with ten young people in a bridge-building dialogue. Pope Francis was on stage with ten young people representing different religions. Three of the young people gave short statements of their experience of inter-religious dialogue, then each asked Pope Francis a question. It was clear that Pope Francis had a prepared text as a response to young people. He realized the prepared text did not respond to the questions asked. So he went off script. The resulting dialogue gave us six points for all young people who engage in dialogue and friendship.  Pope Francis responded after listening: “ Young people are courageous and like to seek the truth but they have to be careful not to become what you referred to as ‘armchair critics’ with endless words. A young person must be a critical thinker, and it is not good never to be critical. But you must be constructive in criticism because there is destructive criticism, which only makes a lot of complaints but does not offer a new way forward. I ask all young people, each of you: are you a critical thinker? Do you have the courage to criticize but also the courage to let others criticize you? Because, if you criticize, then someone else will criticize you. This is a sincere dialogue between young people.” “Young people must have the courage to build, move forward and go out of their ‘comfort zones’. A young person who chooses always to spend his or her time in ‘comfort’ is a young person who becomes fat! Not fatter in body, but fatter in mind! That is why I say to young people, ‘Take risks, go out! Do not be afraid!’. Fear is a dictatorial attitude that paralyzes you. It is true that young people often make mistakes, many mistakes, and it would be good if each one of us – if each of you – could think about how many times you have made mistakes. We make mistakes because we started walking and we make mistakes on the journey. This is normal; the important thing to realize is that you have made mistakes. Let us see who can answer my question: What is worse, making a mistake because I started to walk or not making a mistake because I stayed at home? Everyone, the latter! A young person who does not take risks, who is afraid of making mistakes, is already old! Do you understand this?”  “You have also talked about the media. Today there are so many options, so many possibilities for using the media, cell phone, or television. I would like to ask you: is it good to use media or is it not good? Let us think about this. What is a young person who does not use media like? He or she is closed. What about young people who live totally enslaved to the media , what are they like? They are lost. All young people should use the media, but in a manner that can help us move forward, not in a way that can enslave us. Understood? Do you agree or disagree?”  “One of the things that has impressed me most about the young people here [Singapore] is your capacity for interfaith dialogue. This is very important because if you start arguing, ‘My religion is more important than yours…,' or ‘Mine is the true one, yours is not true….,' where does this lead? Somebody answer. [A young person answers, ‘Destruction’]. That is correct. All religions are paths to God. I will use an analogy, they are like different languages that express the divine. But God is for everyone, and therefore, we are all God’s children. ‘But my God is more important than yours!’. Is this true? There is only one God, and religions are like languages, paths to reach God. Some Sikh, some Muslim, some Hindu, some Christian. Understood? Yet, interfaith dialogue among young people takes courage. The age of youth is the age of courage, but you can misuse this courage to do things that will not help you. Instead, you should have the courage to move forward and to dialogue.”  “One thing that helps a lot with dialogue is respect. I will tell you one thing. I don’t know if it happens here, in this city, but in other cities, it happens that among young people something bad occurs: bullying. I ask you: who is the bravest to tell me what they think about bullying? [Some young people respond] Thank you! Everyone has provided a definition of bullying but with a different aspect. Whether it is verbal or physical bullying, it is always an aggression. Always. Just think about what happens in schools or children’s groups: bullying targets those who are weaker. For example, a disabled boy or girl. Instead, we saw here this beautiful dance with disabled children! Each one of us has our own abilities and limitations. Do we all have abilities? [Answer: “Yes!”] Do we all have some limitations? [Answer: “Yes!”] Even the Pope? Yes, all, all! As we have our limitations, we must respect the disabilities of others. Do you agree? This is important. Why do I say this? Because overcoming these things helps in your interfaith dialogue since it is built upon respect for others. This is very important.”  "Any further questions? No? I want to thank you and repeat what Raaj told us: to do everything we can so as to maintain a courageous attitude and promote a space where young people can go and dialogue. This is because your dialogue is one that creates a path, and that leads the way forward. If you dialogue as young people, you will also dialogue as adults; you will dialogue as citizens and as politicians. I would like to tell you something about history: with every dictatorship in history, the first thing it does is to cut off dialogue.” Source of Pope Francis’s quotes: Vatican News Tom McGuire, M.Div, M.R.E. is a Director Emeritus of the USCCA. Tom has served as a Maryknoll Missionary in Hong Kong and as Director of Campus Ministry at University of Detroit Mercy.

Report by Shirley Wang, Conference Rapporteur I recently ended a developing friendship, and I am ready to defend my decision if you ever ask why. However, a thought recently struck me: did I ever love this person as a friend in the first place? Did I ever genuinely receive this person as who they were? I wouldn’t have thought about it this much if I had not experienced a profound growth in my understanding of friendship at the 29th USCCA International Conference. At a panel session themed “Friendship as Ministry,” Kathleen O’Brien, Yujia (Sam) Zhai, and Greta Frei all provided powerful examples of what it means to love as a friend. In her friendship ministry with Chinese students at UC-Berkeley, Kathleen was deeply convinced that ministry is founded on friendship and trust. Therefore, she did not approach her mission by sending fliers or preaching Christianity in the open. Instead, she looked at Chinese students as friends, and she saw their deep desire to connect with American culture. Kathleen and her partner Phoebe started a cultural exchange program to connect the Chinese and the American students. This sparked deeper conversations and more trusting relationships. Kathleen listened in her ministry. It is something so simple yet easily forgotten. Sam Zhai, who converted to Catholicism, received similar outreach. Sam is a deeply spiritual and philosophical person who researches the theology of Covenant and ponders much about friendship. Sam revealed that friendship is different from fellowship because the latter is about collaboration, but the former is about “encountering each other as authentically as possible.” I understood this to mean that friendship has no tie to any  agenda other than two people receiving and loving each other as exactly who they are. Sam shared how he experienced friendship as a student at UCLA, where he encountered the faith. One day, his campus minister asked to take him to lunch, just “wanting to get to know him.” Sam reflected that the simple gesture helped him to experience “being elected.”  We as Christians often say we are elected by God, but we rarely think about what this means. Sam’s experience of feeling elected reflects God’s friendship with us: the Lord desires to build a relationship with us, not because of our external qualities, but because God wants to love us. Therefore, when we build genuine friendships with one another, we are reflecting the love of Jesus. Greta Frei gave a wonderful example of what this friendship looks like. Greta is working to build a database of Chinese Christian faith history, to which more than a hundred Chinese students (Christians and non-Christians) are contributing. One student, who is Catholic but is going through a period of uncertainty in her faith, asked Greta if she still wanted her to be part of the project if she were to leave the faith. Greta answered: “You can be Catholic, Protestant, Atheist… We are still friends.” As someone who lost friendships after a faith conversion, I was moved close to tears by how Greta showed love to this student. Today, let’s reflect on what it means to encounter one another. Let’s ask if we are listening and being authentic in our relationships, both on a small-scale interpersonal level and on a larger cultural or political level. And, my friend, if you find reluctance in your heart—like I did—to have genuine friendship with someone, remember that our Hope is the ever-loving Christ. He will always first encounter and love us. Shirley Wang recently graduated from Augustana University and is a volunteer with the US-China Catholic Association.

What does "friendship as ministry" mean, and what does that look like? Find out in our recently published video of the 29th USCCA International Conference session, "Friendship as Ministry": About the Panelists Greta Frei Greta Frei is a PhD student in the Department of History at Boston University working with Dr. Eugenio Menegon. Greta received a BS in Computer Science along with a supplemental major in Chinese from the University of Notre Dame. Her undergraduate thesis explored the theme of suffering in Su Xuelin’s novel Heart of Thorns, a semi-autobiographical work about a May Fourth intellectual who converts to Catholicism. Greta also worked in Notre Dame’s natural language processing research lab where she explored how computers can be used to process human language. At Boston University, she combines her love of Chinese, literature, religion, and technology to research the impact of Christianity on the development of Chinese literary and intellectual history. Greta leverages her technological background to visualize and analyze Christianity’s development in China. Kathleen O'Brien Kathleen O’Brien’s commitment to her Catholic faith and passion for Chinese culture were nurtured during her time at Bradley University, where she was a religious studies and philosophy major. Upon graduation, she dedicated three years as a Maryknoll lay missionary, teaching English in China at Jilin Agricultural College and Jilin Catholic Seminary. Kathleen has a master’s in systematic theology at Catholic Theological Union. She was also a full-time USCCA staff member from Fall 2021–Spring 2023 tasked with launching the Chinese and American Friendship Ministry. She now works for Maryknoll in the Mission Formation Department and is heavily involved with her local parish serving as the co-chair of the Parish Council. She will speak on the successes and challenges of engaging national Chinese students on US campuses. Yujia (Sam) Zhai Yujia (Sam) Zhai is a Theology doctoral candidate at Boston College concentrated in Comparative Theology and Christian-Jewish Relations. Born and raised in Tianjin, China, Sam came to the USA as a college student majoring in Physics and Computer Science at University of Southern California. He became a Catholic in 2013 and went on to earn two Master's degrees at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Sam will share how his experiences with a multicultural U.S. campus, research in Christian-Jewish relations, and reflection on friendships have shaped his Catholic identity and commitment as a Chinese student in America. The USCCA's Chinese and American Friendship Ministry provides programming of welcome and outreach to Chinese international students; it also enhances the ability of theology professors, campus ministers, and other university members who work with these students, to successfully engage them on campus.

We were honored to present the 2024 Venerable Matteo Ricci Award to the Maryknoll Society at the 29th USCCA International Conference. The award was received by Fr. Tim Kilkelly, M.M., on behalf of Maryknoll. The US-China Catholic Association presented the Venerable Matteo Ricci Award on August 3, 2024 to the China Educators and Formators Project. This award was granted in recognition of the Maryknoll's generous contribution to the graduate education of 175 Chinese priests, sisters, seminarians, and laity, and for building friendship and dialogue between the people of China and the USA. ​ About the USCCA's Venerable Matteo Ricci Award Matteo Ricci and his principles of friendship have gained long-standing relevance and respect in China. It was through Ricci's faith and wisdom, gained through his desire to immerse himself in the Chinese language and Chinese culture, that personal relationships matured and strengthened. China and the world came to know and appreciate the spirituality grounded in Matteo Ricci's principles.  Matteo Ricci's legacy continues to be widely respected today. ​ The guiding criteria of selecting honorees is based on the premise that each recipient has contributed significantly o the cross-cultural bridge-building endeavors with China. ​ We are thankful to all who represent Matteo Ricci's principles with China. Among us at the 2024 conference were two previous recipients of the Ricci Award: Dr. Xiaoxin Wu of the Ricci Institute at Boston College (2013) and Dr. Brent Fulton (with Joann Pittman) of ChinaSource (2021). ​ We believe Matteo Ricci continues to be a relevant and contemporary voice. The USCCA honorees know and represent the legacies of Matteo Ricci as we continue the USCCA presence of friendship into the future. The 29th USCCA International Conference was held on August 2–4, 2024, on DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus. We invite you to view media from the conference on the Conference 29 Media page .

On Sunday, August 4, 2024, at the 29th USCCA International Conference, Fr. Augustine Tsang, S.J. delivered a Keynote Presentation on the topic of "Hope in the Present: Pastoral Work in and for Chinese Christians in Recent Years." We are glad to share the video of this presentation below, which has also been made public on our YouTube channel : Father Augustine Tsang (曾慶導神父) was born in Guangzhou, China. After graduating from high school in Hong Kong, he immigrated to the U.S. and received his higher education there. He holds a Master’s degree in Biology and a Doctoral Degree in Sacred Theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Boston. He joined the Society of Jesus in Los Angeles and was ordained in the Cathedral of San Francisco on June 11, 1994. He has been teaching at Fu Jen Faculty of Theology of Saint Robert Bellarmine in Taiwan since 2001, a member of the International Association of Jesuit Universities, Asia-Pacific region.

Report written by Bob McGinty, Conference Rapporteur I didn’t know what to expect when I first met Bishop Paul Junmin Pei, of the Diocese of Liaoning Province China. Everyone calls him Bishop Pei (“pay”). All I knew is that he had been born in China to Catholic parents and studied both in China and at a seminary near Philadelphia. He also held the title “Archbishop of Shenyang,” a city of 9 million in Liaoning, in Northeast China. Nine million may seem like a lot of people to those in the U.S., but having studied China a bit I knew it was typical for major cities. At any rate, I’d never met a Chinese Catholic bishop or archbishop before, so I was expecting an older man, maybe wearing colorful robes or even a miter. As soon as Bishop Pei entered the cafeteria on the second floor of the US-China Catholic Association seminar at Chicago’s DePaul University, I somehow knew who he was. He was wearing the simple black clothes and collar of a priest. He appeared young, maybe in his late thirties or early forties. But the main thing that struck me is that he seemed to be glowing with confidence, charm, and equanimity. People seemed to swirl around him. I’ve seen this phenomenon a couple times in my life: the old Mayor Daley in the loop in Chicago, walking down the street, surrounded by supporters. The actress Patricia O’Neil at a restaurant in Evanston. And an important Chicago businessman named Tom Ayers, holding court in a Chicago office building. This gift is not something you learn or train for. It just is. I went up to Bishop Pei and shook his hand. Over the next couple days, he struck me as someone who could not be perturbed. He radiates warmth, but also courage. He struck me as someone you can’t fool, because he already has everything he wants in life. I heard him use the phrase “seeing God in all things” a couple times over the next couple days. There are at least 6 million Catholics in China, which may seem like a lot. But in a country of 1.4 billion, it’s really not. There are 3,400 priests in the whole county, and just nine seminaries. I heard Bishop Pei talk, and it didn’t take much to figure out he has a big job. Bishop Pei spoke of a need for more priests in China. The numbers have not been going up since 2000. He asked for cooperation from the U.S. Catholic Church. He worried about the rise of materialism and urbanization in China, which he believes has caused a decline in faith. A similar decline is happening in America. Bishop Pei said that in China, priests must do many things, including going to people’s homes for services when a church is not available. I tried to imagine the challenges someone like him must face every day. He also mentioned how Chinese traditional culture can be incorporated with the Catholic Church. I wasn’t surprised to learn that there is some overlap between Catholicism and Confucianism. As Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago presided at the Conference Mass at St. Vincent de Paul Church on the De Paul University campus Bishop Pei con-celebrated alongside his fellow priests. While it was a hot and humid Chicago day outside, there was lightness inside this historic and stately Chicago church. The front of the church was crowded with many people, including local Chinese American Catholics. The bishop wore grass-green vestments, standing in front, and standing out. His personality was still glowing. Pope Francis has said that “we require constant attention to signs of the Holy Spirit” in an attempt to reach human and spiritual maturity. To do this requires courage. I think Bishop Pei has that quality. Bob McGinty is a writer who lives in Chicago.

Emeritus Director Father Rob Carbonneau, C.P., Ph.D. proclaimed the mission of the USCCA at St. Vianney Parish, 140-10 34th Ave, Flushing, Queens, New York on August 17-18, 2024. This is part of the Mission Cooperative Plan, whereby archdioceses and dioceses across the United States welcome USCCA representatives to preach, reflect, and educate those faithful in the pews. St. John Vianney is staffed by members of the Little Brothers of St. John the Baptist (CSJB). Famed missionary to China Father Vincent Lebbe (1877-1940) founded the CSJB in 1928. Lebbe is well-known as the advocate who championed the voice and representation of Chinese Catholics in early 20th century China.    As a historian, Father Rob found this Mission Appeal inspirational. The photo above shows him with Father Victor Cao, CSJB. Father Rob shared his message that the USCCA and the Little Brothers of St. John the Baptist proclaim the same message. Both see themselves as bridge builders who nurture the witness of faith expressed by the 10 million Chinese Catholics in China as well as those here in the United States. The Mission Cooperative Plan provides the opportunity to visit parishes and seek financial and spiritual support for USCCA programs. One such program is the Friendship Ministry, which enables Chinese students in selected Catholic universities to meet, socialize, and support each other.  We invite you to learn how you can support or contribute financially to this Friendship Ministry. The USCCA also welcomes dedicated priests and laity who might be willing to be our Mission Cooperative Plan representatives in selected U.S. dioceses. Contact:  director@uscatholicchina.org

On Friday, August 2, 2024, in the Student Center of DePaul University's Lincoln Park Campus, USCCA Emeritus Director Anthony E. Clark delivered the 29th USCCA International Conference's Opening Keynote on the topic of "Keeping the Hill Green: China’s Hopeful Catholic Future." We are glad to share the video of this presentation below, which has also been made public on our YouTube channel : Anthony E. Clark 柯學斌 is the Edward B. Lindaman Endowed Chair at Whitworth University, the Distinguished Combe Trust Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, and an elected Fellow of both the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society. He is regarded as one of the most influential scholars of China’s Catholic culture and history, and he has published dozens of books, articles, and reviews related to China’s long exchange with Christianity.

Learning about perspectives different from our own is an indispensable part of building bridges of friendship; as Fratelli Tutti  reminds us, "The effort to seek God with a sincere heart...helps us recognize one another as traveling companions, truly brothers and sisters." In light of this, we at the USCCA are glad to share these occasions for dialogue between the Church and Eastern spiritual traditions: In a report on Sr. Xiaoping Guo's USCCA Conference presentation , conference rapporteur Shirley Wang describes how Tibetan Catholic women have led their communities in a devotion to Christ coupled with interfaith outreach. In Questions have more than one answer , Board Director Emeritus Tom McGuire invites us to consider how Christian and Daoist traditions understand a particular paradox that accompanies "the need to win." Additional opportunities for dialogue are sure to follow in the USCCA Book Circles , where you can meet friends over Zoom to discuss history, Chinese culture, theology, philosophy, and the life of the Church in China. The Book Circle will resume on September 21, 2024; please sign up for Book Circle email updates  if you are interested. The 29th USCCA International Conference provided rich soil for interfaith dialogue.  Will you help us to share its fruits with a donation ? We would like to produce a documentary of the 29th International Conference, a publication of the conference proceedings, and recorded interviews with speakers and panelists. Our goal is to raise $20,000 toward this effort, and to recognize donors for their support. Thank you for considering this opportunity to foster dialogue between the United States and China.

by Tom McGuire During the USCCA Conference 29, many questions were raised. Answers were given in immediate responses, as was expected. Further reflection brings to mind other ways to answer questions asked. I was intrigued by this question asked by a participant: How might an ethics of "Our Hope is in Christ" inform and shape our thinking about business ethics and social service outreach? This profound question was answered in the context of hope in Christ. Afterwards I wondered if the short answer was adequate. While reading Parker Palmer’s book, In the Belly of a Paradox: A Celebration of Contradictions in the Thought of Thomas Merton , Palmer made observations about Chuang Tzu that could be part of a dialogue in response to the question. Are there illusions in Christians about power in service and business goals? Palmer wrote, “The way in which our illusions about power defeat our best-intended actions is illustrated by Chuang Tzu’s poem.” The Need to Win When an archer is shooting for nothing He has all his skill. If he shoots for a brass buckle He is already nervous. If he shoots for a prize of gold He goes blind Or sees two targets – He is out of his mind! His skill has not changed. But the prize Divides him. He cares. He thinks more of winning Than of shooting – And the need to win Drains him of power.” Palmer commented, “Note that the poem does not counsel against winning. Instead, it is a paradoxical counsel on how to win! It says that the only way to victory is to forget about victory, to be indifferent to it. When Taoism tells us not to care, it does not mean that we should be indifferent to the many needs around us, but that we should not let our desire to meet these needs drain us of the power to do so.” In the active way of doing business and providing services, the desire for success is the goal. The goal is to win. Palmer observes from a Chaung Tzu perspective: Every thoughtful activist knows how the desire for success and the fear of failure can pervert social action, and even lead to fraud, with the activist settling for the mere appearance of victory rather than persisting for deep and lasting change. When we get caught in the dualism of winning and losing we become possessed by false and misleading powers. That paradox is acceptable within the Christian tradition, I think; it reminds us of Jesus’ counsel that one who seeks life will lose it, but one who loses life in God will find it. But Taoism pushes us even further by insisting that our actions must transcend not only the polarity of win and lose, but also the polarity of good and evil. And here Western sensibilities are offended. Here is where the dialogue becomes more difficult: We want to say that this paradox business has gone far enough! For surely if there is any motive force for right action, or any plumb line against which our actions can be judged, it is in ethics, in the distinction between right and wrong. In this dialogue there is need to take time for silence and wonder before taking a position of opposition to Palmer’s inference from Chaung Tzu’s, “that our actions must transcend …the clarity of good and evil.” Is it possible to go beyond ethics to look deeper into the way of doing business and providing service? Is it possible that our need to ‘win’ ‘drains us of power? What are our illusions of power? What do we mean by power when we say, "Our Hope is in Christ”? Responses from readers are welcome. Tom McGuire is a Director Emeritus of the US-China Catholic Association.

Report by Shirley Wang, Conference Rapporteur In this panel session, Sr. Xiaoping Guo, Fr. Jeremiah Li, and Fr. Joseph Yu Yan presented on several local Church communities in China. Their combined messages portrayed hope for both Church leadership and laity participation. This reflection is a special dive into the lives of the Tibetan Catholic community presented by Sr. Guo. Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (青藏高原), a beautiful and harsh landscape in West China, has enchanted many travelers, but sustains only a few inhabitants. The Tibetan Catholic community in this land endured more than a hundred years of conflicts and persecution from local Buddhist communities. It wasn’t until the 1980s that they gained more acceptance and freedom to practice their faith. However, this community still suffers from a lack of access to the sacraments. It still remains difficult for traveling priests to journey to their land regularly, and the first vocation from the community, Lu Renyi, was exhausted by the role of being the only priest, and eventually left the priesthood. Sr. Guo said the community was like “a people without a shepherd.” However, it has been the women leaders who continue to care for the Catholic community and nurture one another spiritually. One woman even represented the Catholic Church in Chengdu’s interfaith counsel as the only woman among other male religious leaders. In her presentation, Sr. Guo also explained how the Tibetan community forms a beautiful example of friendship in their interfaith marriages. In marriages between Catholics and Buddhists, each spouse would support the other in major religious holidays and funerals. For example, the interfaith family would observe fasts together for both religions. And when one side is hosting a funeral with prayer rituals from their religion, the other part of the family would take over all the cooking, and vice versa. Participants came to the USCCA conference to build friendships between the Chinese and the Western Church. But how much this little Tibetan community is teaching us about friendship! They show us that in our deepest poverty and needs, we can still rise to serve one another and build a strong community. In addition, the ways in which these married couples and their families honor and support each other—despite having different religions—teaches us how we can love and build friendships with people of other faiths. Shirley Wang recently graduated from Augustana University and is a volunteer with the US-China Catholic Association.

Earlier this month, the USCCA laid the groundwork for bridges of friendship and understanding at our 29th International Conference, where over 135 scholars and practitioners from lay and religious backgrounds learned from each other about theology, history, and the life of the Church in China. Conference attendees traveled from the US, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Italy, and Canada. Even if you were unable to attend this year's conference, we invite you to share in it by viewing the latest conference blogs : In Finding God in All Things , a review of Cardinal Stephen Chow's conference video message reminds us of the reality of bridge-building and the importance of durable friendships.  In Always a message of hope , Board Director Emeritus Tom McGuire shares quotes from conference participants and reflects on the Conference Theme of "Our Hope is In Christ" in connection with Catholicism and the Church in China.  In ...Add oil*... , a brief review of one of our parallel sessions encourages us to meditate on how we might apply a Hong Kong English expression to offer encouragement to our neighbors and friends.  In The Dialogue , Tom McGuire reflects on how conference participants enacted and experienced the reality of dialogue as it is described by Pope Paul VI in Ecclesiam Suam .  In God is on the Move , a parallel session on social services in China challenges us to consider how the Conference Theme, "Our Hope is In Christ," might inform business and social services.  Finally, please consider our special request to you, our supporter: Please consider donating  to support our efforts to produce a documentary of the 29th International Conference, a publication of the conference proceedings, and recorded interviews with speakers and panelists. This is an ambitious undertaking, and we need your support to bring our theme of "Our Hope is in Christ" to the broadest possible audience. Our goal is to raise $20,000 toward this effort. We hope  we can count on your generous donation to underwrite this project. Your gifts will be recognized for your leadership in bringing this vision to fruition.