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Whether it is the threat from Al-Qaeda that has resulted in the national
terrorist alert being raised to the orange level or the pending Congressional
vote to support research and development of the nuclear ‘bunker busters'
which have ten times the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb, we are
surrounded with causes for fear. At such a time it may encourage us to
remember the life purpose of the one we are committed to follow, Jesus
- to bring good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the
blind, freedom to the oppressed, proclamation of the year of the Lord's
favor, and open our hearts and minds to imagine alternatives to violence.
How are we spending our time and money? What kind of world are we helping
to shape? Drawing from Isaiah 58 can we be described as ‘a spring
whose waters never fail and a people called the repairers of the breach?
~lhn [top] The 10TH Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish The Death Penalty at the US Supreme Court, June 29 to July 2, 2003, Find registration details about the Fast & Vigil at http://www.abolition.org/annual.html. If you or your group cannot come, will you be in solidarity? The Abolitionist Action Committee seeks participants from every US State and anywhere else abolitionists struggle.... Please contact aac@abolition.org to inform us of your plans! (or for assistance developing some) Could you or your group be a co-sponsor of this event? The total expenses are anticipated to be $5,064. E-mail sponsor@abolition.org or call 800-973-6548 for information on becoming a sponsor for this year's ‘10th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty'. Planned by the Abolitionist Action Committee, an ad-hoc group of individuals committed to highly visible and effective public education for alternatives to the death penalty through nonviolent direct action. AAC c/o CUADP, PMB 297, 177 U.S. Hwy #1, Tequesta, FL 33469, aac@abolition.org, http://www.abolition.org Late summer-early Fall 2003 - Amnesty International Ohio Death Penalty
Abolition Strategy Meeting, Click here for more information: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=316823&l=5329
[top] "A Voice on the Hill" (CC) is a new 28-minute video
from MCC. With interviews in Philadelphia, Pa., and Kentucky, this video
tells how MCC works with communities struggling with poverty in the United
States. It explores how advocacy grows from service and the role of the
MCC U.S. Washington Office. For grade 11 through adults, "A Voice
on the Hill" is available for borrowing or purchase ($38 Cdn./$25
U.S.) from all MCC offices. To order, call toll-free in the United States
(888) 563-4676 or e-mail sam@mcc.org. [top] Issues
for Action: She admitted that one of her cousins marches with the insurgent troops. The paramilitaries have attacked her family mercilessly, using traditional "anti-terrorist" tactics of attacking the family of the "enemy" in order to force surrender. Civilians are safe, easy targets, thus avoiding the risks of a real confrontation between the armed groups. "One of my cousins survived gruesome torture. I had heard about such things, but when he stood before me, I felt physically ill before such a horrible reality." "Another cousin was told by one of the armed groups that he had to hand over all of his crops to them. He begged them to leave him a portion because he had no other source of income for his family. When harvest came, he sold the crops and waited for the armed group to arrive. The next day, the assassins stormed into his house and killed the whole family. Eight people dead over a crop not worth more than $50 USD." "My aunt, Alba Luz, has taken in all of the orphans of my dead cousins.
Many of the children are very young; they keep asking where their mothers
went. What answer do we have except the horrible truth? Alba Luz hunches
over in pain. Every since her own children were killed she cannot sleep.
She can hardly breathe. Her name means "dawn-light", but life
has I had no response for my friend that day. We both sensed that these horrible stories hovered between us creating a sacred space. God had been crucified again in each of these fallen campesinos. A month later the Colombian Air Force bombed a region and hit the yard
outside a rural home. My friend lost yet another family member, a young
girl who had stepped out of her house on an errand. Again she felt deep
pain and emptiness, yet she does not feel hatred. Here the miracle of
resurrection reappears. Compassion arises out of death. DEATH PENALTY - Please ask senators to support the National Death
Penalty Moratorium Act of 2003 (S. 132). Governments and bureaucracies sometimes have a bad habit of glossing
over matters, if only for the sake and appearance of order and self-preservation. The Honorable ________ The Honorable ________ Letters are given more attention than e-mails. If you use e-mail, you must give your regular mailing address, so that the member of Congress knows that you are a constituent and can reply. Please send a copy of your communication or any response you receive to the MCC Washington Office. mccwash@mcc.org Thank you. IRAQ - Reports from Iraq include an outbreak of cholera, continuing looting and crime, and children being injured and killed by land mines or unexploded ordinances. The response to this situation is impacted by the lack of medical resources and a functioning infrastructure. In addition there are the internally displaced people who are being held in no-man's-land between Iraq and Jordan as well as on the edge of Bagdad. Electricity is inadequate. Life is far from ‘normal' as food and clean water are scarce and children are not able to return to schools. Violence continues as a part of everyday living for many people in Iraq. Meaningful relationships along with material aid are critical for all Iraqis, both Muslim and Christian. Let's keep them in our thoughts, prays and actions. MIDDLE EAST -Prayer Request, May 14, 2003 - Pray for international humanitarian organizations like Mennonite Central Committee trying to work in the Gaza Strip. As of Sunday, May 12, the Israeli military closed the entrance into the Gaza Strip to all expatriates, except for diplomats. The closure, the Israeli military has said, is indefinite. MCC needs to be able to send in staff to the Gaza Strip in order to monitor and evaluate summer camps and children's clubs it supports. Before the indefinite closure, the Israeli military had also started asking foreign nationals to sign waiver, agreeing to hold Israel free of any responsibility if injured or killed by the Israeli military while in the Gaza Strip. The international NGO community is very worried about these developments and has notified members of the "Quartet" (US/UN/European Union/Russia) that the humanitarian work we do depends on free and unrestricted access, access which Israeli is bound to give to humanitarian organizations by its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Also, at a time when the Quartet is promoting its "roadmap" for Middle East peace, a roadmap that calls for an easing of restrictions on access, it is profoundly troubling that restrictions on international humanitarian organizations (not to mention on average Palestinians) are being increased. TAX CUTS- What is the impact? ‘Across the nation, schools
are suffering. Tens of thousands of teachers have received pink slips
and looming budget deficits only promise worse to come. Yet in Washington,
Congress seems unaware of the problems at home. They're talking about
cutting taxes and cutting budgets -- not about how to keep the schools
and essential services going.' With these words Wes Boyd began a recent
call to action. It will be the poor that will suffer as cuts are made
to education, healthcare and other social services at both the federal
and state levels. This is an opportunity for congregations to be aware
of what is happening in our communities and to speak out and take action
in support of the vulnerable programs that serve those who find themselves
in a difficult place at this time. [top] What
You are Doing: Check out www.mcc.org/servicetree
for the latest updates.
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