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Current ethical topics, such as the death penalty or the Pentagon's short-lived
online terrorism futures program, are a chance for individuals to turn
questions of ethics into dialogues. Differences between Christ-like actions
and those of society are being discussed in broadening circles as the
workplace can be tied to a faith walk. ~ Gale Hess [top] Appalachia Learning Tour, October 7-12, 2003 Are you interested in the environment, in God's creation, in hiking and taking in beautiful mountains? You are invited to participate in the first MCC Appalachian Environmental Learning Tour. We will be taking in sites of beauty and sites of environmental concern. Experience Appalachia, its mountains, its people, and its struggle! Registration is $485.00 US/person. For more information or an application form contact Jim and Ellie Huebner at MCC Appalachia, Box 460 Whitesburg, KY 41858; (606) 633 5065 or email us at: appalach@mcc.org or contact Lois Hess Nafziger at the MCC Great Lakes office (574) 534- 4133. Space is limited, so register early! Registration is due by September 8, 2003. We are eager to have you join us. Bike Michiana is scheduled for September19-21, 2003. It will be
based at Amigo Centre in southwest Michigan. The ride will take place
in the beautiful lake and farmland of southern Michigan and northern Indiana.
The cost of the weekend is $100 per adult. There will be opportunity for
sponsorship to raise additional funds for MCC. To register, please contact
Claude & Margaret Schrock at P.O. 129, Grabill, IN 46741; (260) 657-5678
or schrockcm@juno.com. State executions of prisoners on death row have been scheduled in significant numbers during the months of July and August. Oklahoma and Texas both executed three people during July. Texas has scheduled five more executions during August. Thankfully, Ohio and Indiana both delayed scheduled executions. Many of these cases have questions regarding the judicial process, DNA testing or adequate representation. You will find more information at the web site of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. http://www.ncadp.org/html/alerts.html Be aware of what is happening in your state and take action to stop these executions. The following events are ways that you and your congregation might connect with this issue. Also see information under issues for action regarding national legislation. Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing, Ohio, September 26
- October 12, 2003 The Ohio Journey will be a 17-day tour of an awe-inspiring
group of – murder victims' family members who oppose capital punishment,
death row families, innocent persons freed from death row and other supporters
and activists who will travel across the state of Ohio to share their
incredible messages of love, forgiveness and healing. The Journey of Hope
will spread its inspirational message of compassion and healing through
public speaking events, rallies, marches, concerts, tree plantings, media
interviews, and other activities. For more information, please contact:
Jana Schroeder, Journey Statewide Chair, 915 Salem Ave, Dayton, OH 45406
(937) 278-4225 Jschroeder@afsc.org,
www.OTSE.org; or Bill Pelke, Journey of Hope..From
Violence to Healing, PO Box 210390, Anchorage, AK 99521-0390, Toll Free:
1-877-9-24Give (4483) bill@journeyofhope.org
, www.Journeyofhope.org October 10, 2003- World Day Against the Death Penalty MCC United Nations Seminar, October 2-4, 2003 The MCC United Nations Office in New York is preparing for the 8th annual UN Seminar for college, university, and seminary students. This is an intensive three days of lecture and discussion around the realities and possibilities of the UN system, along with experience in New York City that hosts this international body. This year participants will look at the role of religion in creating world conflict and question the role of religion in healing. This issue will be examined at the point where MCC activities meet the concerns of international institutions and within a general introduction to the United Nations. For more information visit http://www.mcc.org/un. [top] Generations At Risk: Learn more about MCC's 10-year AIDS project. Borrow or purchase the video "Generations at Risk: Not One Alone/The Church in Africa responds to AIDS." Twenty-one million people have died from AIDS. Forty-two million people are living with HIV or AIDS in the world today. In a new MCC-produced video these numbers take on a personal face as we visit people living with AIDS. Church workers in Zimbabwe and Mozambique put away their theological differences to work together. They teach how AIDS is transmitted and provide home-based care groups to support families and communities affected by AIDS, reducing the physical as well as emotional suffering and working to dispel the cultural stigma of AIDS. This can be borrowed from the MCC Great Lakes Goshen office. The New Patriots, an 18 minutes video, gives five U.S. military veterans including a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and a female West Point graduate, an opportunity to speak out about terrorism, patriotism and their transformation. ‘After the 9/11 tragedy, the U.S. government called for eradication of terrorist camps. Not mentioned by officials is the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) located at Ft. Benning, Ga, described by the veterans as a school for terrorism. While the school has changed its name to Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC) it continues to train hundreds of Latin American soldiers in counter-insurgency techniques aimed at terrorizing civilian populations. ‘A veteran reminds us that the lives of the tens of thousands of people killed by SOA and WHISC trained terrorists in Latin America are no less precious than the thousands who lost their lives in the U.S. on 9/11.' This video may be borrowed from the MCC Great Lakes office or purchased via www.soaw.org MCC Washington Office Guide to Juvenile Justice is now available
from the Washington office. This primer could be a valuable resource for
a small group study or Sunday School lesson. Phone (202) 544-6564 New worship resources have been added to the Mennonite Central
Committee Web site. The most recent addition acknowledges August 6, 2003,
the 58th anniversary of the United States dropping the first nuclear bomb.
This may be used on either August 3 or August 10 to help North Americans
remember this horrific occasion. The Web pages have Biblical texts, Litany,
Hymns and Prayers, Stories, Action Steps, Quotes and links to other resources
for congregational and individual use. Please share this Web address with
others who will find it helpful. Second Mile, Pathway B, a new educational tool for congregations who want to proclaim Christ's peace in a broken world, is now available. This pathway focuses on economics and walking with first peoples. The student packet can be ordered at www.gosecondmile.org. This website also has a free study guide for Pathway B which can be downloaded and copied. The MCC Goshen office has sample lessons for your use – stop in or call us. [top] Issues
for Action: Death Penalty - On June 24, 2003, U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) introduced HR 2574, the Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2003. This legislation, which is a companion bill to Senate legislation introduced by Senator Feingold (D-WI), will put an immediate halt to executions and forbid the imposition of the death penalty as a sentence for violations of federal law. Please contact your U.S. Representative today to urge him/her to co-sponsor and support this important legislation! For information on how to take action- http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=316823&l=6158 United States: Shameful Isolation -- US Leads Worldwide Execution
of Child Offenders - July 18, 2003; From an Amnesty International
Report; AI Index: AI Index: AMR 51/102/2003 "The execution of child offenders has become rare relative to the
wider use of capital punishment, with the USA by far the leading perpetrator."
"Half a century after the Fourth Geneva Convention was adopted,
three and a half decades since the adoption of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, and over a decade since the Convention
on the Rights of the Child came into force, it is surely time for the
USA to admit that it is clinging to an unacceptable practice of the past,"
Amnesty International said. Department of Peace - On April 8, 2003 legislation to establish a Department of Peace was introduced in the House of Representatives. ‘This bill establishes nonviolence as an organizing principle of American society, cultivating an array of peace-building policies and procedures.' The work of this department would focus on individual and group responsibilities. It would include nonmilitary peaceful conflict resolutions, ways to prevent violence and promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights, and would work both domestically and internationally. Dennis Kucinich, a representative from Ohio introduced the bill. The number of co-sponsors in the House has reached forty. This is significant legislation at a critical time in the history of this world. Learn more about this legislation and consider what you can do to raise awareness of the Department of Peace legislation. For more information visit the website at www.dopcampaign.org or call the MCC Great Lakes office (574)-534-4133. HR 1258 - Legislation to close the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC) successor to School of the Americas (SOA) was introduced by Jim McGovern (D-MA) along with 49 other representatives on March 13, 2003. This bill, ‘‘The Latin America Military Training Reveiw Act of 2003' repeals authority for the SOA/WHISC and states that no successor school can be opened for at least ten months. It also demands the establishment of a joint congressional task force to assess U.S. training of Latin American military.' There are currently 80 co-sponsors of this legislation. Call or write you representative and ask if they have co-sponsored this bill. Remember to thank them if they have. Call your senators and ask them to sponsor legislation to close the SOA/WHISC. Jubilee Congregation - Jubilee USA invites congregations to join the national effort and become a Jubilee Congregation- Pray for Jubilee justice for the worlds impoverished communities. Act by providing one contact person to facilitate education and action in your faith community on debt. One Dollar - Raise one dollar per member or one offering to support the mission of Jubilee USA Network. One Letter - Contribute one letter per member to elected officials on debt cancellation. Please join us in bearing witness to the Jubilee call for right relationships with global neighbors through debt cancellation. To learn more about becoming a Jubilee congregation, please visit www.jubileeusa.org. Also learn about the Jubilee Summer Blizzard effort to turn up the heat on Treasury Secretary Snow. From the MCC response to the Debt Crisis, ‘Given that the international debt deprived some people not only of the means to meet their needs, but of life itself... the debt is a faith issue for those of use who believe in a God of life.' At bottom, canceling the debts of impoverished countries is not a matter of granting forgiveness – but of receiving it. - Marty Shupack Call for peaceful resolution with North Korea – Fifty years
ago, July 27, 1953, a ceasefire brought an end to the BACKGROUND – Last fall the North Korean government, under questioning, admitted that it had re-started its nuclear program in violation of the 1994 Agreed Framework. They pointed out that the United States had also failed to meet some of its commitments as part of the agreement. The North Korean government also signaled its fears that they might be singled out next for a military invasion, after Iraq. Indeed, President Bush named North Korea, Iran and Iraq as part of his "axis of evil" in his State of the Union address in 2002. North Korean demands include a non-aggression pact – in essence,
a promise from the United States that they will not attack the North militarily.
They also seek normalized relations and economic assistance. Their economy
is near collapse and they are in sore need of continued humanitarian aid
such as food and medicine. The United States meanwhile, seeks an end to
North Korean nuclear weapons development. Some within the Administration
have hinted that their goal is even broader: that they would like to see
"regime change." One way in which they propose bringing this
about is by granting refugee status to large numbers of North Koreans.
They hope that a massive exodus might lead to a collapse of the regime.
Military threats and hints of "regime change" are the complete opposite of what North Korea's neighbors -- South Korea, China, Russia and Japan -- have recommended. These countries, who would bear the greatest burden of a collapsed state or a potential war, have been clear that this crisis must be resolved diplomatically. In early June Congressman Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) led a congressional delegation to North Korea. Weldon, Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, came back convinced that the crisis can be resolved peacefully. He has come up with a 10-point proposal to end the tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The plan calls upon the United States to pledge they will not attack North Korea and to officially recognize the government of North Korea. In return, North Korea would need to renounce its nuclear weapons program and allow full inspections of their facilities. TAKE ACTION – Contact your representative
and senators, asking them to support a peaceful resolution to the North
Korea crisis. Encourage them to: FAITH REFLECTION – "Blessed are the peacemakers," said
Jesus, "for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9).
Jesus also taught, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love
your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your
Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous" (vv. 43-45).
Indeed, our love for enemies is rooted in the reality that even while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-11). God's love
is unconditional and full of grace. As we strive to be more Christ-like,
we seek to extend this grace to others! [top] What
You are Doing: MCC Global Family Program needs 122 sponsors to support teachers and students in Afghanistan. Contact Kate Myers in Akron, PA at 1-888-563-4676 or call the MCC Great Lakes Goshen office. (574) 534-4133 Lois Hess Nafziger with the help of Gale Hess, summer intern with the Material Resource Center and MCC GL office Peace and Justice Educator/Advocate
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