The Fun in Fundraisers

“Frankly, any disease for which they have fundraisers is no fun.”

I heard that phrase as I was draining a large vat of noodles in the kitchen of a church hosting a spaghetti feed several years ago. The proceeds from the evening were going to a family that had three children battling cystic fibrosis. Even with good medical insurance and two working parents, the medical bills were piling up for the family, and their church family stepped in to help them out. Were their medical bills wiped out from the proceeds of the evening? I doubt it since we were charging $3.00 per plate, all one cared to eat, kids under 6 free.

Nonetheless, the event was a success. The family witnessed how many people from their church and local community would stand with them, assist them, pray for them. Sometimes a $3.00 plate of spaghetti satiates more than hunger. The act of coming together as a community, to comfort, aid, celebrate or mourn, feeds the soul.

Check the local paper for fundraisers in your community. While the reasons behind the fundraisers are never fun, the events themselves are a good opportunity to connect with neighbors, make new friends and renew our membership as kingdom people.

Kate Kenny is the managing editor of Columban Mission magazine.

Update: Peru

Dozens of letters written by Columban missionaries and friends from the United States and around the world flowed into the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach (CCAO) over the last week. The letters were a response to our action alert prompted by the violence in Bagua, Peru, over decrees enacted by the Peruvian government to comply with the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

The CCAO office arranged a meeting with Minister Manuel Talavera, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Peruvian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on June 17. We delivered the letters and during our one hour meeting expressed our concern for the indigenous people of Peru. We specifically urged the Peruvian government to carefully consider the rights and needs of the indigenous people in future trade agreements and decrees through meaningful consultation processes with civil society.

After many months of protesting and violence leading to deaths, the decrees were finally repealed June 18, 2009. The Minister expressed the belief that dialogue would increase in the coming months between the government, NGOs, and the indigenous people as they develop new trade decrees. We will continue to carefully monitor this process and to engage the Peruvian government through the Embassy to respect the rights of the indigenous people and the common good.

Lomas del Poleo Update

June 15, 2009

Dear Friends and Supporters of the Residents of Lomas del Poleo:

As always, thank you for the many ways you have been accompanying the people of Lomas: writing letters to Hilary Clinton and other officials, sharing the story with your friends and wider communities, financial support, and, above all, your prayers that the people will be safe, the Zaragozas and their minions converted and the land dispute resolved peacefully according to the constitution and laws of Mexico.

This past week there have been protests by the families and supporters of the primary school, Alfredo Nava Sahagun, at the Electrical Commission, CFE, demanding the transformer illegally removed by the Commission be restored: the link (in Spanish) follows but may have to be pasted into your browser.
http://www.diario.com.mx/nota.php?notaid=5860ac7c72697e8d6fc0870ace3410d2

The other protest was last week at the SEP (Secretaria Educacion Publica) demanding that the abuse, threats and direct violence of the brothers Jorge and Pedro Zaragoza against the school cease immediately. In particular, the action of one of the Supervisors of the Zone, Blassa Serrano, has tried to shut down the school and force the children to attend the school in the relocation zone, set up by the Zaragozas through their surrogates, the Municipal government of Juarez. Again, the link (in Spanish) follows:
http://www.diario.com.mx/nota.php?notaid=ebe9e84bbaf1e910c4481988872159b3

In an update from Foro Lomas del Poleo, Cristina and Juan Carlos report that Galilea Hernandez Zuniga, from the Alfredo Nava Sahagun Primary School in Lomas, won the First Prize in Academics in the western zone of the Juarez public school system. She is one of the 72 children who attend the school and face threats and harassment when they pass through the gates illegally controlled by the guards paid by Pedro and Jorge Zaragoza Fuentes.

On Monday, June 8, 2009 I spoke to City Representative Beto O'Rourke's weekly community meeting. It was a small group but very interested in and sympathetic to the plight of the Lomas residents when they heard the story. We are visiting the City Councilors to ask their their support for a City Council Resolution condemning the violence and demanding the situation be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the law. Rep. Steve Ortega has invited me to be a guest on the radio program he hosts this Wednesday, June 17, 2009, between 2:30 and 4:00 p.m CDT. I believe there is a call-in period, so if you want to offer support or enlightenment to the wider El Paso community, please call.

Finally, on Tuesday, June 16, the residents are going down to Chihuahua to the Agrarian Tribunal for their audience. Please keep them and their legal team in your prayers.

Gracias,
Father Bill Morton, SSC

Climate Change: the agenda for mission today

Columban Father Patrick McMullan recently edited and published the book Climate Change: the agenda for mission today. The book contains the edited versions of the papers and reports given at the Columban International Conference on Climate Change held in Manila, the Philippines, on September 23-29, 2007.

An excerpt from the introduction by Fr. McMullan of Climate Change: the agenda for mission today:

The claim that climate change is the agenda for mission is, to say the very least, controversial. Yet, in two senses that is precisely the claim made in the title of this book. Firstly, climate change is the lens through which we must now understand the significance and importance of Christian mission. Secondly, climate change is the agenda which takes precedence over other mission agendas. The task, one which we must acknowledge is in its infancy, is to articulate a coherent and grounded theology that takes climate change as its primary data. This book, Climate Change: the agenda for mission today, is but a modest start in the task of creating a fundamental shift in the understanding of mission.

The book is available for purchase at www.missionagenda.com for US $20.00 and includes postage and handling.

Summer Vacation

For students, the end of May marks three glorious months of freedom from school – no homework, no rushing to catch the bus in the morning, no cramming for finals. Many high school and college students planned to work this summer. Unfortunately, the current recession has eroded job possibilities for students along with the regular, full-time work force. These students face a summer without a paycheck in sight and a 2009-2010 academic year that will feel the financial pinch.

If students aren’t working this summer, what options are open to them? They need something constructive to do with their time to give purpose to their days and keep them out of trouble. I’m proud to say that I know several teenagers who developed new opportunities when they were unable to find paying work.

One young lady is volunteering at a nursing home by starting a book club for residents. One young man is mowing lawns, for free, for several senior citizens on fixed incomes. Another teenage girl is volunteering at a local animal shelter. They won’t collect one paycheck for their work all summer long, but the return on their investment, in others and their communities, should pay dividends for their entire lives.

Kate Kenny, managing editor, Columban Mission magazine

2009 World Environment Day

June 5th, 2009 is World Environment Day!

World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 and has been commemorated in a different city each year with an international exposition through the week of June 5. Mexico is hosting the events this year.Please find a prayer for the day at: http://jpicformation.wikispaces.com/

The prayer was developed by members of the USG/UISG Commission for Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation in Rome. The adaptation and use of this prayer in any ministry setting is encouraged. Please feel free to distribute the prayer widely as well.