Action Alert
Brethren Witness/Washington Office
(from e-mail)
May 8, 2008
Greetings from the Brethren Witness/Washington Office:
1. Make a phone call, save a life! Join the national “Day after Mother’s Day Cluster Bomb Call-in” on Monday, May 12th
From the US Campaign to Ban Landmines:
Join the national “Day after Mother’s Day Cluster Bomb Call-in” on Monday, May 12th. No mother should lose her child to a cluster bomblet. Unfortunately, children are drawn to unexploded cluster submunitions thinking that they are toys. Children have accounted for almost half of the world’s cluster bomb casualties.More than 100 governments, including all major NATO allies, will gather in Dublin, Ireland to negotiate a global treaty banning cluster bombs on May 19th.
The U.S. government won't be there, and it is actively working to undermine the treaty.
We need you to help send a message to the rest of the world that millions of Americans stand with the goal of preventing harm to children and others from cluster bombs.
To do so, all you need to do is make one or two phone calls on Monday, May 12th to help generate cosponsors for the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594/H.R.1755). With your help, we hope that one-quarter of the Senate will have cosponsored the bill by the time negotiations begin. To do so, we need to generate six new cosponsors in the next two weeks—a difficult, but possible, task.
Mark it on your calendar! Go to http://www.fcnl.org/weapons/may12_call.htm for more information and ask your Senators on May 12th to co-sponsor this legislation before May 19th—or as soon as possible.
Help generate more calls! Spread the word to friends, family and co-workers: http://action.fcnl.org/taf/clusterscall/
Send a letter to your senators right now, urging them to cosponsor this common-sense legislation: http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=11024431&type=CO
Read about the cluster bomb treaty, known as the “Oslo Process” at http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/dokumenti/dokument.asp?id=125
2. Recipe for Hope: Responding to the Hunger Crisis
From Bread for the World:
I know Sunday is Mother's Day and Pentecost Sunday, but I am asking your church to squeeze one more emphasis into the day. The hunger crisis facing our country and our world cannot wait.Food prices are soaring worldwide. More low-income people in the United States are making trips to food banks, where stocks are quickly depleting. For the world's poorest people in developing countries, who spend up to 80 percent of their income to buy food, the situation is even more devastating. Mothers cannot feed their children.
Bread for the world members and congregations are searching for ways that they can respond. They are looking for some sign of hope amidst this growing crisis.
Please help us launch the Recipe for Hope: Responding to the Hunger Crisis campaign by including our bulletin insert in this Sunday's church bulletin and spreading the word throughout the coming weeks. (bulletin insert attached) The campaign will run from Mother's Day, May 11, through Father's Day. We will provide the ingredients for understanding the causes of the crisis and specific actions you and your congregation can take to help address the problem.
It’s easy to feel helpless when you watch people around the world suffering for lack of food. Help your congregation or community join in Bread for the World's Recipe for Hope online campaign http://ga4.org/campaign/Recipe_For_Hope
3. Opportunity for College Youth during the Summer—Sabeel International Young Adult Conference
If you answered "yes" to these questions, then we invite you to participate in Sabeel’s 3rd International Young Adult Conference.
A Time for Remembrance, A Time for Truth
1948: The Nakba, Justice & Beyond
July 24 - Aug 3, 2008
Jerusalem
Our vision for this conference is to gather, network, and further educate young leaders from Palestine and around the world, during this 60th year of commemorating the Nakba; so that they may be trained, commissioned, and equipped with the tools to act in advocacy to work for justice and peace in the Holy Land.
For more information visit http://www.sabeel.org/etemplate.php?id=65
The conference will include:
The registration and program fee for the conference is $1,000. This includes all of your land costs—food, accommodations, ground transportation, speakers and activities—but it does not include airfare. When scheduling flights, please keep in mind that participants should arrive on July 24th.
REGISTER BY JUNE 15th AT www.SABEEL.ORG or e-mail youth@sabeel.org for more information.
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
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