(via e-mail)
April 4, 2008

Greetings from the Brethren Witness/Washington Office:

1. Call your Representative’s office about the Jubilee Act (HR2634)!
   
2. Christian Citizenship Seminar Article by Phil Jones

1. Call your Representative’s office about the Jubilee Act (HR 2634)!

The US House of Representatives will vote on the Jubilee Act in early April!

Please take action by calling your Representative TODAY

Join us today as we call on Congress to pass the Jubilee Act and break the chains of debt for the world’s impoverished countries (additional information below the call script).

Please take the simple steps below -- and help change the lives of millions:

1. Find out who your Representative is by entering your zip code at www.house.gov (upper left corner).
   
   
2. Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
   
   
3. Ask to be connected to your Representative's office. The receptionist will answer. Introduce yourself as (your name), a constituent from (city, state).
   
   
4. I am calling today to urge Representative________ to vote yes on the Jubilee Act (HR 2634), which will be considered on the House floor in early April. This bill would expand eligibility for debt cancellation to 67 impoverished countries. Without debt cancellation these 67 countries will not be able to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). (If you’d like, add an additional sentence about why this issue is important to you). Do you know how Representative _________ plans to vote on the Jubilee Act?
   
   
5. Be sure to thank the receptionist when you are finished.
   
   
6. Email Danielle at Jubilee with the results of your call – Danielle@jubileeusa.org.
   
   
7. Thank you for taking action – now forward this message on to 10 friends & urge them to make the call too!!

For more information go to www.jubileeusa.org or contact Jubilee Policy Fellow Danielle Pals at 202-783-0215 / Danielle@jubileeusa.org.

2. Christian Citizenship Seminar Article by Phil Jones

Christian Citizenship Seminar Invites Youth to Consider What It Means to be a Real Samaritan

Framed by the scripture story of the good Samaritan, Church of the Brethren youth from across the nation explored this week, the issue of genocide. How, the youth were asked repeatedly, do you understand and respond to the violent tragedies of Rwanda, the Holocaust, or the deliberate removal of indigenous people from their lands and their homes?

Seventy-four youth and advisors were part of this annual conference on Christian Citizenship sponsored by the General Board’s Youth and Young Adult and Witness/Washington offices. Over the three days spent in New York City, followed by three days in Washington, DC, the youth were given presentations and engaged in dialogue around the many genocides that have occurred in the world’s history. Questions were explored as to how people of faith have been involved or have responded to these violent events. Terms such as “Never Again” and “Responsibility to Protect” were critiqued and examined in relation to how the United Nations or global community has actually responded.

David Fraccarro, Director of Young Adults for the World Council of Churches, USA, led the group in evaluating how their own social structure and peer group choices may implicate them in “leaving out others.” George Brent, a Holocaust survivor, recounted the formational story of his life, and that of his family, as they were put on trains and arbitrarily chosen for the death chambers of Germany. He gave the group hope in his story of survival and renewal in the midst of such tragedy. Jim Lehman drew the group in with the story of struggle and challenge between the “peace loving” Brethren of middle Pennsylvania and the Native Americans of that region. Through viewing the film Hotel Rwanda, youth were reminded that genocide in our world is not something so distant from their generation.

This was brought much closer to home as the focus of the seminar was shifted to the active, ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Sharon Silber and Phil Anderson, both active with the organization, Save Darfur, provided the participants with history, detail, and political understandings that surround the estimated 400,000 deaths in Darfur and over 2 million persons displaced. Native Sudanese youth on the trip, Wilfred and Serena Lohitai, brought a very real expression of the Sudanese suffering to those gathered. Serena shared with the group about the importance of family and community to the people of Sudan. “All relatives are as parents, or sisters and brothers to one another”, she recounted. Such an understanding makes clear the absolute devastation of these people as members of the community are murdered, raped, or displaced.

On Tuesday and Wednesday Tim McElwee, Plowshare Professor of Peace Studies, Manchester College, engaged these Christian Civic students in exploring the 1996 Annual Conference statement, Nonviolence and Humanitarian Intervention. Tim drew the group’s attention to the Peaceable Community section of the paper that reads in parts, “The church is empowered to make visible the ways of Jesus…therefore the church shall…advocate for the things that make for peace…lay low the dividing walls of hostility…train and upon invitation deploy Christian conciliation and peacemaking teams and nonviolent monitors in zones of violence and physical abuse…” Youth challenged and embraced differing sections of this document. Some found their only voice to be that of nonviolence, others found hope in limited United Nations Peacekeeping forces that may be allowed to intervene militarily as means of last resort.

On Wednesday, following direct lobby training around specific talking points in regards to pending legislation around Sudan, these seventy-four Brethren visited their senators and representatives with a bold message. Points of advocacy included providing adequate funding in the 2008 Supplemental Funding Bill that would ensure funds for the UNAMID peacekeeping mission, disaster and famine response, support for CPA national elections, adequate diplomatic efforts, and support of the U.S. Special Envoy. Members were also encouraged to support HR 1011 or SR 470 that provide for a comprehensive strategy for addressing relationships between Chad, the Central African Republic, and Darfur, Sudan. Several of the groups chose to call for U.S. pressure on China, perhaps through pressures around the upcoming Olympics to be hosted by China.

Staff from the Youth and Young Adult Office and the Brethren Witness/Washington Office planned and organized this year’s CCS including times of worship and praise, small group reflection, and free-time activities in both cities.

Rich Troyer, trip advisor and youth minister of the Middlebury, IN, congregation shared these thoughts, “CCS teaches young people to get out of their comfort zones. It teaches them what it means to love their neighbors. It teaches them about issues they may not know anything about and helps them to see how the call of Jesus intersects the issue and encourages them to ‘not pass by on the other side.’ It is more than social action, it is faith in action.”

For more information about Christian Citizenship Seminar contact the Church of the Brethren Youth and Young Adult or Brethren Witness/Washington Offices. Better yet, ask one of the seventy-four who attended.

-Phil Jones, director, BWWO

Brethren Witness/Washington Office Contact Information

If you have questions on these or other issues, contact the Brethren Witness/Washington Office at the address below. We would love to hear from you!

Brethren Witness/Washington Office Action Alerts are sent out as important issues arise. Forward this alert to others! To add an e-mail address to our list, contact us at:

Brethren Witness/Washington Office
337 North Carolina Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
Local Phone: 202-546-3202
Toll Free: 1-800-785-3246
Fax: 202-544-5852
E-mail: washington_office_gb@brethren.org