Compassion, Peace and Justice Ministry, Presbyterian Mission Agency Newsletter

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Sisters and Brothers in Faith, Please continue to pray for the lives that have been turned upside down due to recent earthquakes and flooding, here in the U.S. and abroad. It’s timely that one of the highlighted stories this month is about the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) National Response Team. Volunteers go through a rigorous process of training, discussion and discernment to become members. Many are called into dire circumstances to serve at a moment’s notice; I admire their passion and commitment to serving God’s children when they need help the most! I hope you’ll consider caring for our sisters and brothers in Ecuador and Japan. PDA is preparing both immediate and long-term support for earthquake victims in each country. If you or your congregation have ever considered hosting an international peacemaker, but for whatever reason didn’t feel connected to do so, please read this month’s story from Ivyland Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania. They took a chance on sponsoring a peacemaker in 2014 and re-applied in 2015 to host again. There will be more information about how to host a 2016 Peacemaker in upcoming months, in the meantime, learn more about the program here. Fair Trade Day, a worldwide recognition of the efforts to end poverty and exploitation, is held the second Saturday in May every year. Sunday, June 12 is Disability Inclusion Sunday; the Presbyterian Health, Education & Welfare ministry offers resources for congregations to faithfully affirm that every person is created in God’s image. Faithfully in Christ, Sara Pottschmidt Lisherness Director, Compassion, Peace, and Justice Ministry

Fair Trade Day Celebrate fair trade! Learn more about Fair Trade Day, May 14. Learn more Every person brings gifts to the church—Disability Inclusion Sunday, June 12 Join in prophetic ministry by using Pioneers and Prophets, the Presbyterian Health, Education & Welfare Association’s resource for Disability Inclusion Sunday. Make every day a day where no one is excluded and all are welcomed. Learn more

Neighbor to Neighbor project transforms lives Read how a Self-Development of People grant allowed Neighbor to Neighbor help Olga reintegrate into the community as a compassionate counselor. Learn more Pennsylvania church inspired by Peacemaker visits Hosting a Peacemaker humanized the Syrian refugee crisis for one small congregation. It also helped connect refugee resettlement agencies and interfaith organizations within their local community and Philadelphia. Learn more

2016 Mosaic of Peace Conference concludes Visit the Swords into Plowshares blog to reflect on the amazing experiences shared by conference participants as part of their two-week sojourn in a land called Holy. Learn more PDA welcomes new National Response Team members Willing to be deployed into a disaster situation on a moment’s notice takes a special passion and sense of calling; Presbyterian Disaster Assistance commissioned 17 new full-fledged team members to its National Response Team recently. Learn more

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Join the 3rd Annual Northern CA Ride 
100% is donated to  support local food  pantries &  food projects 

RIDE FIVE DAYS from Mendocino thru Ukiah,  Middletown, Davis and finish in Rockville. A total of 268 miles. The first three days have some medium to long climbs. Included in this five day ride is a very special stop in Davis on Wednesday, Sept. 21st at the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame. 

A ONE DAY RIDE option on Thursday, Sept. 22nd is from Rockville and includes the scenic 48-mile three bridges loop in Solano County. Shorter options available through the lush valleys of Napa/Solano County of 10, 25, and 35 miles.  Finish line festivities include a delicious lunch & rider raffle.

To Register for the ride, or to Donate support, or Volunteer  www.imathlete.com/events/PedalforProtein

www.imathlete.com/donate/PedalforProtein3   

      

  The ride is organized by The Hunger Task Force  of the  Presbytery of the Redwoods,

Patty Sanders, Ride Director, 

Email: PattyRedwoodsHAE@sbcglobal.net

Wendy's Boycott New Website

LIVE: Official new Wendy’s Boycott website up and running, including a call for endorsements! Resources, action ideas, and more now online at the beautiful new boycott website… While Fair Food activists were taking to the streets in cities across the country during the Month of Outrage in April, back here in Immokalee the online action hub for the Wendy’s boycott was quietly being built, pulling together all the resources necessary for tens of thousands of consumers to make their voices heard in the Wendy’s campaign.  And this week, the beautiful new site is ready for its debut! Front and center on the new site: Pledge to join the boycott!  If your name is not yet on the list, make sure to sign on today and share the pledge far and wide.  [...] [...]  And last but not least, the site houses the fast-growing list of formal boycott endorsements, both institutional and individual.  To quote those organizations who have already led the way with official endorsements, we need to send Wendy’s an unequivocal message: In the face of Wendy’s failure to do the right thing, we, as organizations, people of faith, students, and consumers of conscience, pledge to boycott Wendy’s until the world’s third largest hamburger chain commits to protect the human rights of the farmworkers who make their profits possible by joining the Fair Food Program. Head over to the CIW website to check out the new boycott site and to join countless other Fair Food activists in securing endorsements from your campus groups, your national networks, your religious institutions, and your community organizations!

Coalition of Immokalee Workers • PO Box 603, Immokalee, FL 34143 • (239) 657-8311 • workers@ciw-online.org

One Campaign - Secrets SEC call your representative!

Secrets, secrets are no fun unless they're shared with everyone. Have you heard of the Cardin-Lugar Amendment? It's a bipartisan law that requires publicly traded oil, gas, and mining companies to publicly disclose what they pay to governments for natural resources in countries around the world – including in Africa. This is critical for enabling citizens to know where that money goes, arming them with the information they need to ensure the money gets into the right hands. Right now the SEC is working on its final rule to implement that law. And they need to hear from you. Will you add your name to our petition? But what do secrets and transparency have to do with extreme poverty? Everything. When these payments are kept secret, money can be easily stolen or mismanaged. By providing citizens with information they need to monitor the money, this law empowers them to hold governments accountable and ensure that the money is invested in things that fight poverty and improve citizens' lives. We can't afford to allow these secret deals. And the SEC needs to know that. 1-click adds your name to the list of many asking the SEC to issue a strong final rule. The EU and Canada have passed similar, strong laws in support of transparency. It's now the U.S.'s turn to do the same. Tell the SEC to do the right thing and not allow secret deals. Thanks! ONE Campaign JOIN US. ONE.ORG | PRIVACY | UNSUBSCRIBE SPREAD THE WORD This email was sent by ONE.org to pattyredwoodshae@sbcglobal.net. Add one-help@list.one.org to your address book to ensure our emails reach your inbox. Copyright © 2016 ONE, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: ONE 1400 Eye Street NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20005 Join ONE's Mobile Action Team for latest news and actions via SMS. Text ONE to 877877.

Coalition of Immokalee Workers - Wendy's

A Battle for the Soul of Social Responsibility…  Wendy’s new code of conduct is a prime example of the discredited standards-without-enforcement model of corporate social responsibility; Workers’ Voice Tour to contrast Wendy’s code with the proven success of the Fair Food Program and the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model… What would you do if you could cheat on your taxes and know that you would get away with it? Not just think you might get away with it if you’re lucky, but really know that no one is watching and there would be no consequences.  Would you do it? The answer is pretty obvious.  Nobody likes paying taxes.  And even many of those who think taxes are a necessary part of living in a modern, organized society would jump at the chance to pay less than they owe, or nothing at all, if there were no monitoring or enforcement of the country’s tax laws.  We could all certainly find other ways to use the money. That’s why, when it comes to taxes, we don’t rely on voluntary compliance.  Things like roads and schools, libraries and agricultural extension offices, scientific research and space discovery, and social, economic, and national security don’t pay for themselves, so we have a well-funded and powerful monitoring body, the Internal Revenue Service.  The IRS’s job is simple: to ensure that if we do decide to cheat on our taxes, it is far more likely than not that there will be consequences. The result?  Most of us pay our taxes, most of those who don’t get caught, and, in the main, compliance is achieved.  As we have said before on this site, enforcement is everything. When it comes to human rights, however, it seems voluntary compliance is just fine with Wendy’s... Just as our country has a tax code, Wendy’s has a code of conduct for its suppliers that establishes the rules — on everything from food safety to human rights and labor practices — with which it says its suppliers must comply in order to be “approved to provide goods, products, equipment, or services” to the hamburger giant. The cover page to Wendy’s new code of conduct. Yet a deeper review of the code, which went into effect as of the first of this month, reveals that there is little or no reason to hope that Wendy’s suppliers will actually comply with those rules, or at least with those that are in any way inconvenient for them. Wishful thinking, it seems, is Wendy’s principal, perhaps sole, strategy for compliance... Read the full point-by-point comparison of Wendy's new code of conduct with the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model over at the CIW website!

You are subscribed to the CIW Mailing List. To unsubscribe, Click here to unsubscribe.  Coalition of Immokalee Workers • PO Box 603, Immokalee, FL 34143 • (239) 657-8311 • workers@ciw-online.org

Bread for the World

Rev. David Beckmann, Bread for the World Tell Congress to finish the job! Act Now!

Dear Patty, Last night, in his final State of the Union address, President Obama presented a vision for a country and a world filled with opportunity and possibility. Here at Bread for the World, we can envision that world. But achieving that vision needs leadership. " ... leadership depends on the power of our example," the president asserted. Together with our leaders and lawmakers, our country has a unique opportunity to lead in the fight to end hunger here at home and around the world. But it's going to take more than food banks and soup kitchens. It also takes political will and changes in our laws and policies. Congress made significant progress last year on three key issues that would provide real opportunity and possibility for people experiencing hunger. Now we're within striking distance of seeing those three bills pass. With your urging, Congress can pass them. Please call (800/826-3688) or email Rep. Jared Huffman and Sen. Barbara Boxer and Sen. Dianne Feinstein today. Tell Congress to finish the job! Urge Congress to quickly pass: • the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S. 2123) to reform our criminal justice system, which traps too many families in lives of hunger and poverty years after incarceration • a strong child nutrition bill to give more hungry children access to the meals they need to thrive • the Global Food Security Act (H.R. 1567/S.1252) to provide farmers in developing nations with newer, more updated agricultural methods through the Feed the Future program. Last night the president emphasized the progress we've made toward ending HIV/AIDS and malaria. Can we also envision a world without hunger, something that was also once thought impossible to overcome? God calls us to pursue that vision here on earth. We can begin by sharing it with our elected officials and calling upon them to lead our country toward that vision. Call (800/826-3688) or email Congress today. Thank you! Rev. David Beckmann President, Bread for the World