July 30 is the United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, and sisters are working as ever to eradicate forced labor and sex, which victimizes 21 million people globally. They also are working to change perceptions about human trafficking, calling it part of larger human rights violations, not a "single isolated event." 

The Life - This month, the panelists shared some of their congregational ministries with women, describing how they meet the special needs of this vulnerable half of humanity in various places around the world, especially those experiencing war and violence. Two things they agreed on: Education is a powerful shield against poverty, and peace is a key ingredient to a prosperous and happy life. The panel responded to the following question: Women seem to always get the worst of the world's crises. How does your congregation help women deal with the effects of poverty, war, terrorism or violence?

"Yes, adults can also experience the enrichment of praying outdoors. Yes, God is active in the adventure of abandoning ourselves to the possibilities of carrying only what we need. Yes, conversion closer to Christ comes with traveling over unknown trails with a praying community and letting our devotion to persistent questions show us The Way."

"How do we decolonize our entire way of being in North America? How do we decolonize historical assumptions that run deep in the heart and soul of U.S. culture?"

Horizons - Why aren't children automatically taught to pray outside, to see God's presence in the wonders of creation? Will I ever feel God as present in the sacraments and inside church walls as I do when I am under trees and starlit skies?

See for Yourself - The line for the women's restroom started in the bathroom and snaked out the doorway and down the corridor, at least 15 people deep. The men's restroom had no line and no one waiting.

In a ruling filed July 25, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a lower federal district court's decision from September to dismiss the case because it lacked jurisdiction.

At a United Nations event reviewing the organization's sustainable development goals, Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary reported on the concrete, grassroots ways they are effecting change; in Pakistan, sisters are improving sanitation, and combating addiction and intolerance through education.

In Zimbabwe, we are preparing for elections on July 30. The responsibility for our government's direction lies with us, as citizens, and we can't take that responsibility lightly. When we vote, we do so in order to promote the common good. 

The International Rescue Committee in Garden City, Kansas, is closing down in September, one of the casualties of Trump administration policies to reduce the number of refugees settling in the U.S., echoing a political ethos that first began brewing in Kansas in 2015. More than 22 percent of Garden City's residents are foreign-born, even though Kansas isn't a major primary resettlement destination — but there is ready employment in the meat-packing industry.

• Also in this series: Fitting in without losing cultural roots, Burmese refugees advance in Indiana