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Contents:
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MCC
Great Lakes Peace and Justice Newsletter
March,
03
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Centering thought
Prayer, that action that is unmeasurable, yet may impact most greatly
the one praying. Acknowledging God and asking for divine intervention
we wait with hope. We also seek for wisdom to know what action we can
take to make the presence of God visible in our lives, in our communities
and in our world. O God, have mercy on us and hear our prayers. ~ LHN
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Upcoming Events:
MCC Great Lakes Annual Meeting - March 7-8, 2003, Rooted in Love:
God's Heart and Hands Around the World. Join us at Community Christian
Fellowship, 17330 Chandler Park Drive, Detroit, MI. Please register promptly
with Sandy at (330) 857-7721
Women Doing Theology conference to celebrate 'Gifts of the Red Tent'
- AKRON, Pa. -- "Gifts of the Red Tent: Women Creating," a women's
conference celebrating the connection between theology and the arts, is
planned for May 16- 18, 2003, at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg,
Va. This is the sixth biennial Women Doing Theology conference organized
by women in the North American Anabaptist community. This year, Mennonite
Central Committee (MCC) U.S. Women's Concerns is coordinating the conference.
Registration is $125 Cdn. or $75 U.S. and is due by April 19, 2003. Limited
scholarship funds may be available. Meals and lodging are available for
$85 U.S. or $140 Cdn. For more information, contact MCC U.S. Women's Concerns
at (717) 859-3889, or e-mail tjh@mccus.org.
WCC: Third Annual Lenten Fast From Violence- In the midst of war
talk and terrorist threats, the US Conference of the World Council of
Churches announces plans for the third annual Lenten Fast from Violence.
Details of the fast are posted at the US Conference Web page, www.ecumenismnow.org.
For the third year in a row, member churches, congregations and individuals
are urged to identify and dispense with one or more elements of violence
in their lives. Participants are urged to give alms to programs and organizations
of their choice that work for peace and non-violence, and to pray daily
the prayer of St. Francis, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace."
Lent this year is March 5 -April 20 For more information, contact: Philip
E. Jenks, Communications Officer, US Office, World Council of Churches
475 Riverside Drive, Room 915, New York, NY 10115, 212-870-3193, www.ecumenismnow.org
March 5: ONE-DAY NATIONAL STUDENT STRIKE, Books Not Bombs! Stop The
War Against Iraq! The National Youth and Student Peace Coalition (NYSPC)
calls upon students on campuses across the United States to join us in
a one-day student strike on March 5th, 2003. Student groups around the
country are organizing on or around this date, not only to speak out,
but to do teach-ins, walk-outs, and other types of actions. To support
this and get involved, please contact the National Youth and Student Peace
Coalition at www.nyspc.net. There are lots of ways to help with this intelligent
action.
March 8: Join the Women's Peace Vigil and Come to the March
in Washington, DC on International Women's Day
Since November 17, 2002 women from throughout the country who oppose a
U.S. pre-emptive attack on Iraq have maintained a constant presence in
front of the White House as a reminder to the decision-makers in Washington
of the thousands of people who oppose the Bush Administration's obsession
with war. Join the vigil at the White House -- for one day or for the
whole vigil. Or come to the massive women's peace march and other activities
on March 8, International Women's Day. Check out the Code Pink website
at www.codepink4peace.org.
Lombard Mennonite Peace Center focuses on peacemaking education.
We have our Summer and Fall 2003 dates planned. Plan ahead for our national
events!
- Here I Stand: Leading Change Through Self-Differentiation -
June 10-12 - Glendora, CA (near Los Angeles)
- Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders - August
4-8 - Glen Ellyn, IL (Chicago area)
- Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders - September
22-26 - Seattle, WA
- Here I Stand: Leading Change Through Self-Differentiation -
October 21-23 - Brookfield, WI
For more information and registration brochures, contact Lombard Mennonite
Peace Center at the information below.
1263 South Highland Ave. Suite 1N, Lombard, IL 60148; ph: 630 627-0507;
fax: 630-627-0519; www.LMPeaceCenter.org
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Resources:
God's Eye postcards- What will God's eye see when missile #___
hits Iraq? Add message and send to the White House.
Bumper Sticker- God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions
For either of these items call the MCC Great Lakes office in Goshen, (574)
534-4133
Please go to the following Web address and see the new poster from
the MCC Peace Office. There is an order form. You can use that to
ask for your copy, http://www.mcc.org/peace/resources/poster.html
or call the Goshen MCC office.
Second Mile is a peace curriculum that invites congregations and
small groups to enter a journey of worship, study, action and reflection
that will help them become active signs of Christ's peace in a broken
world and to act on their commitments to peace. Second Mile consists of
80 pamphlets organized into 4 Pathways. Each pamphlet constitutes one
lesson and includes the following kinds of materials: - worship resources;
- biblical texts & reflections; - perspectives from history; - stories
and analyses; - questions for discussion and - a list of supplementary
resources. For more information check the web site at http://www.gosecondmile.org.
Second Mile is a cooperative project of MCC U.S., Mennonite Church, General
Conference Mennonite Church, MCC Canada, Mennonite Church Canada, and
the Church of the Brethren. Second Mile materials will be released over
the next several years. Pathway A is available now. The projected date
for the release of Pathway B is May, 2003.
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Issues
for Action:
AIDS/HIV- April 19 - May 3, 2003 – Imagine a town where you
only see grandparents and young children, and the rest are mysteriously
missing. The schools have no teachers, the hospitals have no nurses. This
is what AIDS is creating in impoverished countries. But people all over
the world are fighting back. They're working to save their families and
towns. Countries can stop AIDS when the burden of unjust debt is lifted
and affordable medications, plus funds for education, care and treatment,
are provided. Join us for a once in a life-time opportunity to travel
to Africa and meet these courageous people to hear their stories and stand
with them in fighting AIDS.
The Mother's Day Mission will be taking up to 50 women and
men to South Africa and Zambia to meet first-hand the courageous people
on the front lines of the AIDS crisis in Africa. The trip is designed
to show participants the reality of AIDS in Africa, hear from experts
on the ground and learn about the solutions. This trip is about American
women and mothers reaching out to our sisters and brothers in Africa.
The trip is about showing the world that Americans care and are ready
to take action to end debt and AIDS in Africa. The trip is to show that
the bonds of motherhood run deep and we can support each other even across
the globe.
On the trip you will have the opportunity to:
Visit hospitals where people are dying from AIDS and meet with
doctors and care providers
Play with AIDS orphans and help out those who care for them
Meet with community organizers that are raising awareness about
the AIDS crisis and doing courageous work to find solutions and save lives
Hear from African health and economic experts on the current situation
and proposed solutions
Meet with Jubilee debt activists and other non-governmental organizations
to hear about the hopes of debt cancellation as a solution for fighting
AIDS
Educate governmental officials on better AIDS policies and hear
their challenges in trying to address the AIDS crisis
Experience the food, music, natural beauty and rich culture of
Southern Africa
Who is sponsoring the trip?
Jubliee USA, Global AIDS Alliance, Mother's Acting Up, and the Global
Democratic Citizen's Union, are working together to recruit delegates,
train teams, organize the visits, and coordinate press events and follow-up
advocacy in partnership for this project.
Who is going on the trip?
We are focusing the trip on women, especially mother, daughter and sister
teams. However, everyone is welcome to participate. Participants need
to be very open and flexible, as well as make a commitment to take action
upon return. Please see the application for more information. We are looking
for people just like you to join us on this mission!
Dates of travel: April 19- May 3, 2003
Where are we going? All participants will fly into Johannesburg, South
Africa for introduction and training. Half the group will then travel
onto Zambia, while the other half stays in S. Africa for site visits.
We will conclude the trip all together in Johannesburg to discuss our
experiences and make action plans for return to the United States.
Cost: Approximately $3,000 includes airfare from Atlanta, in-country travel,
food, accommodations, orientations and site visits. The costs of the trip
will be covered by each participant. We can help you with a step-by-step
fund raising plan to raise the money for your participation. Apply using
this on-line registration form: http://www.jubileeusa.org/join_us/signup.htm
For more information, contact: Mara Vanderslice at 202-783-0129 or mara@jubileeusa.org
Iraq and the possibility of war - MCC is one of seven organizations banding
together to raise more than 1 million US dollars to provide medicine to
Iraqi children. Please spend a few minutes going to the site listed below
so you are aware of this effort. Also, please pass the word on to all
the contact lists and other people with whom you come in contact in reference
to peacemaking and Iraq. Also, encourage people to give to this effort
as they are able. http://www.allourchildren.org
You are invited to lift your voice in a concerted effort to oppose the
military action being proposed by the United States.
#1 Lift every voice: Many Third World citizens who are ignored
by their governments hold noise barrages, walking through their cities
to the seats of power, banging pots and pans, creating a noise barrage
that cannot be ignored. The millions of U.S. citizens who oppose the war
against Iraq are being ignored by our government and media. We can refuse
to be marginalized. We can create what becomes a national mobilization
every day of the work week by lifting our voices together in a daily call
for peace.
We will continue to send well-reasoned letters to our Senators and Representatives,
gather in our town squares with our signs, write letters to our local
papers, and connect with national marches and days of action. Yet it is
clear that this war is being led by some force other than reason and logic.
Lift Every Voice is a way to make a stand. It is a way for those who are
convinced that this is a morally bankrupt war that will bring great harm
to the citizens of both Iraq and the United States and peace to neither
country, to refuse to be marginalized, to join with millions of fellow
citizens to say to the powers that be, "As long as you are preparing
for and waging war, we are going to be on your phone and in your email
box – every day."
The schedule below identifies the institution to contact each day of the
work week. There is a basic message as well, but participants will each
create their own message. Every day until the war ends, we will send a
message to these institutions that expresses our feelings that week. Over
time, Lift Every Voice participants may use the Internet to find
additional people within these institutions who create and support plans
for war and speak directly for them. As our numbers grow, we may find
that phone numbers and emails are changed. On a daily basis, we may find
lines busy and servers down. What is important now is our creativity,
our dogged determination not to be ignored, our deep conviction that there
are better ways for countries to settle their differences than through
the industrialized slaughter of each others citizens, and our faith that
our collective efforts for peace will be blessed.
Lift Every Voice was initiated in an effort to prevent war. If
war breaks out, it will continue until the war ends. Those who are able
can initiate their daily call for peace by sending an email, a fax, or
making a phone call to President Bush at 11:00 EST, and then contact the
other institution for that day. Others participate when they can. This
effort is ignited as we pass Lift Every Voice to our friends. Lift
Every Voice is an expression of a basic commitment: As long as our
government is preparing for and waging war, we raise this daily call for
peace.
May our collective efforts for peace be blessed.
Monday: Executive Branch-"Wise leadership protects us without
war." The White House phone number is (202)456-1414. You will be
directed to the comment line. The fax is 202-456-2461 President Bush receives
email at president@whitehouse.gov.
Vice-President Cheney receives his email at vice.president@whitehouse.gov
Begin your daily call for peace every day by contacting the President
at 11:00 EST. Copy the President on your anti-war correspondence. Major
online newspapers have provisions to email articles: send articles you
find disturbing to the two men who have the most power to stop the war.
Tuesday: The pentagon- "No war in my name." Go to the
Department of Defense at http://www.defenselink.mil/
Click on the "contact us" section. Find the "questions"
tab, and send Secretary Rumsfeld a question. (e.g. "Why are we launching
our own weapons of mass destruction against a civilian population in Iraq
to solve a political dispute?)
(One time call) On January 24, 2003, CBS reported that the plans for
the first two days of the Iraq war was based on a concept called "Shock
and Awe." Harlan Ullman, one of the authors of the plan, says the
massive bombardment of Baghdad with 800 cruise missiles is designed to
produce "this simultaneous effect, rather like the nuclear weapons
at Hiroshima…taking the city down…not in days or weeks but in
minutes." Harlan will receive your comments about this plan at (202)
333-3004 (home), at (202) 887-0200 (work) or at Ullmanh@cna.org
Wednesday: The State Department / Secretary Colin Powell- "You
are our nation's top diplomat. Pursue our national interests through diplomacy."
Call the main switchboard at (202)647-4000 and ask to speak to someone
about the war. Or call Secretary Powell's office at (202)647-5291. You
can record a message, or "press 2" to talk to an aide. Or go
to the State Department at state.gov and click on "Press and Public
Affairs" then click on "Contact Public Affairs," then "Send
a message to the Secretary of State."
Thursday: Our legislators- "Exercise your power to keep us out
of war." Call the capitol switchboard at 1-800-839-5276 and ask to
be connected to your Senator or Representative. Get contact information
for your senator at http://www.senate.gov
and for your representative at http://www.house.gov
Some say the most effective way to communicate with Washington today is
through fax. Take your pick.
Friday: Public opinion- If you do not believe the New York Times
(The paper of record) and the Washington Post, (Speaks to the nation's
politicians every day) are providing adequate coverage of our movement,
you send them an email – not a letter for publication: "I am
one of millions of U.S. citizens who oppose this war. I want to read about
this movement on your news pages. I want to read editorials from those
who question this war in your opinion pages."
Arthur Sulzberger Jr. ,Chairman & Publisher of the New York Times:
publisher@nytimes.com
Michael Abramowitz, National Editor at the Washington Post: Abramowitz@washpost.com
A January 21, 2003 Washington Post article quoted Matthew Dowd, who they
said coordinates polling for the White House, as saying, "Public
opinion will move to support the President when he explains his rationale
for war." If your opinion has not moved, and you would like to let
Matthew know that, call him at (202) 863-8500 (The Republican National
Committee) or email Matthew at info@rnc.org.
Middle East, From Alain Epp Weaver in Jerusalem – February
26, 2003- "Our Church is the Church that is experiencing the meaning
of war. We know the meaning of destruction, death, oppression, injustice
and even demolition of homes. It is a Church that suffers with all its
members in order that her suffering will become a witnessing voice for
justice, peace, truth and reconciliation." These words were part
of a sermon delivered by the Lutheran bishop of Palestine/Jordan, Munib
Younan, at a ecumenical prayer service held on February 19, 2003 at St.
Stephen's Dominican church. The service, which included representation
from all of Jerusalem's churches and which was attended by hundreds of
Palestinian and international Christians, was held so that Christians
might make a public witness against war: against a war on Iraq and against
the war brought about by military occupation. The committee issued a statement
at the prayer service in Arabic and in English which read in part: "As
Palestinians, and as Christian organizations, we believe that God is a
God of love and peace. We believe that war should never be an option,
no matter what the justification. Wars have failed dismally to bring about
a just and equitable solution to the illegal occupation of Palestine.
On the contrary, the Israeli occupation continues to dispossess the Palestinian
people of their land, deny them of their rights and aggravate their suffering
and oppression . . . We call upon all our brothers and sisters, the world
over, to join us in our prayers and to do all they can to avert the impending
catastrophe, so that a justice peace may prevail in Iraq, in Palestine,
and all over the world."
MCC Palestine Update #72, February 11, 2003- "The response
has been overwhelming," shares Sami Awad, director of the Holy Land
Trust in Bethlehem, regarding the training his organization has been conducting
for a core group of students and activists in nonviolent direct action.
The course had been slated to begin in December; because of the ongoing
curfew in the Bethlehem area, however, it didn't start until early February.
"We had planned on twenty participants, but we ended up expanding
to forty," Awad notes. Interested persons had to be turned away.
The participants in the course come from all sectors of Palestinian society:
the city, the refugee camp, the village; middle and lower class; Christian
and Muslim; men and women. Not all participants have come into the course
convinced in the worth of nonviolent direct action, but all, in one way
or another, are disillusioned by the prospects of armed struggle.
The workshop aims to train a core group of trainers who will in turn be
available to go throughout the West Bank to train others in nonviolent
forms of resistance. A training manual in Arabic will be produced. Mennonite
Central Committee is providing funding for the initial phases of this
project. Requests for the trainers to conduct workshops have come in from
Jenin, Nablus, al-Fara' refugee camp, and Bethlehem. Your prayers for
the trainers at the Holy Land Trust and for the workshop participants,
that they may succeed in spreading interest in and commitment to nonviolent
methods of resistance, are solicited.
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What
You are Doing:
Since September in the College Mennonite Church Newsletter there is a
Pray for Peace column. Each Sunday three prayer requests are printed pertaining
to local, national and international peace concerns. The compilation is
under the auspices of the Peace Ministry Group of the Outreach Commission.
One source of information is the MCC Great Lakes Peace and Justice Office
Newsletter. The Prayer Choir which meets weekly as well as individuals
Pray for Peace using the three-point guide.
Service Opportunities
Interested in a hands on service experience? Check out www.mcc.org/service
for up to date job openings and descriptions.
Remembering the words of Jesus to his followers as recorded by Matthew.
‘Go.....And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’
May you know peace within and without.
Lois Hess Nafziger, Peace & Justice Educator/Advoctaes for MCC Great
Lakes
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