New partnership with The Simple Way

Over the years, there have been many mutual visits between the Orantes family and members of The Simple Way community in Philadelphia.  (www.thesimpleway.org)  We are happy to announce that in January 2010, our friends at The Simple Way has become the new fiscal sponsor for contributions to support the ministries of Ruth and Alex and special projects at Iglesia Bautista Shekina!

Ruth and Alex's commitment to faith-based community development, justice, peacemaking, and healing has been a cherished model and inspiration for The Simple Way and for Central Baptist Church for many years.

We are very excited about an opportunity to deepen this connection between these people whose ministries are rooted in service and accompaniment of the poor and marginalized.

With this transition, the former "Orantes Fund" has been renamed.  Now we are the  "Cielo Azul Fund" and this mission will be guided by an advisory committee from The Simple Way, El Salvador Partners of CBC, and Iglesia Bautista Shekina.

The Cielo Azul Fund is also now featured on the TSW website as one of their global projects!  Find us under the "friends and partners" section of their website at www.thesimpleway.org.

All contributions to the Cielo Azul Fund will be processed by The Simple Way, which also means that we are now able to accept secure on-line credit card donations designated for Cielo Azul through our blog at www.cieloazulfund.blogspot.com.  The blog has updated instructions for donating online and by personal check. 

We look forward to building a stronger, wider community of new friends who will join with us in our partnership with Ruth and Alex in their ministries of justice, hope, peace, and healing for El Salvador!

Dinner and a Movie -- December Special Event

Join the El Salvador Partners Mission Group for a special event on Thursday evening, Dec 17th when we'll be attending the premier of the film RETURN TO EL SALVADOR at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute.

The documentary features Ruth and Alex Orantes. Ron and Betsy Morgan have been instrumental in helping shape the project, and Steve Chandler has worked on the production side. Filmmaker Jamie Moffett (Eastern grad and The Simple Way) came to El Salvador in March with the CBC Delegation for an introduction to El Salvador and to film the elections. The website www.returntoelsalvador.com has a number of preview video clips.

Here are the details to add to your calendar –

6pm Meet for dinner at Gullifty's / 1149 Lancaster Ave. / Rosemont, PA 19010

7:30pm Reception at Bryn Mawr Film Institute / 824 West Lancaster Avenue / Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

8:00pm Premier of Return to El Salvador at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Please RSVP to Caroline Cargo if you plan to meet us for dinner so we can make a reservation for the group to sit together. You can check out the menu online at www.gulliftys.com. Sandwiches are about $10 and dinner entrees are about $15.

If you can't come for dinner, you can still catch up with us at the movie theater at 7:30pm. Tickets for the reception and screening are $10/each. You can purchase tickets at the door, or click here to purchase advance tickets on-line.

El Salvador Jesuit Martyrs 20th Anniversary Nov 16th - events at Villanova

Thanks to Doug Norton for sharing this schedule of events at Villanova University.  For additional information: http://www.villanova.edu/artsci/peaceandjustice/

Remembering The El Salvador Martyrs
November 16, 1989

Renewing Our Commitment To Justice In The World

The Villanova Center for Peace and Justice commemorates the 20th anniversary of the six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter who were murdered on the grounds of El Salvador's Central American University.



Schedule of Events for Monday, November 16th, at Villanova University

12:05 p.m. Memorial Mass in Corr Chapel with Fr. Kail Ellis. A memorial will
be in Corr throughout the afternoon. Stop in for quiet reflection.

12:30-4:00 p.m. Fair Trade Crafts from El Salvador in support of Women’s
Cooperative at Tierra Blanca. Please join in a letter writing campaign.

1:00 p.m. “El Salvador Human Rights Violations, 1983-1989,” a video
presentation: Center for Peace and Justice, Sullivan Grd. Floor.

1:30 p.m. “The Seeds of Liberty,” a video presentation: Center for Peace and
Justice.

2:00 p.m. El Salvador Today: reflections from service break trips and other
mission trips. With Professor Joe Betz. Center for Peace and Justice.

3:00 p.m. “A Question of Conscience: The Murder of the Jesuit Priests in El
Salvador” Film Screening. Center for Peace and Justice.

5:20 p.m. Memorial Mass in Corr Chapel with Fr. Joseph Farrell

More emergency efforts in El Salvador

On the weekend of November 7th and 8th, El Salvador was hit with the “tail” of Hurricane Ida. Statistics are still being gathered, but early accounts reported 130 deaths and more than 13,000 people left without homes. This total is sure to rise as emergency relief workers continue to work their way through damaged buildings and areas that have experienced landslides.

Please pray for all of those affected by the flooding and landslides, and for the individuals and organizations working to respond.

The damage was mostly felt in poor communities in the area of San Salvador and the southeastern regions of the country. In addition to causing floods and mudslides that have resulted in the devastating loss of lives and homes, the hurricane arrived right on time to coincide with El Salvador's seasonal bean harvest, so the loss of this crucial food supply will have a lasting impact in the months ahead, as well.

CBC's El Salvador Partners immediately received emails from Ruth Orantes and others at Iglesia Bautista Shekina, seeking our prayers for and our solidarity with people who are struggling in the midst of this crisis. The region around Santa Ana received heavy rains, but no significant damage. See the request for prayers from our brothers and sisters at Shekina in Spanish in the previous post below.

The SHARE Foundation is also sending updates and reports with photos from the affected areas of the country. As is often the case in these sorts of situations, the most immediate problems include access to emergency shelter, access to potable water, and food. SHARE Foundation, in collaboration with its partners in the three zones of San Salvador, La Paz and San Vicente, will be working to provide emergency relief. This will include distribution of plastic sheeting and wood for temporary housing; food and water.

The new American Baptist missionary in El Salvador, Kim Kushner, is also sending reports about the storm and emergency relief efforts as she visits affected communities. Here is her report from Tuesday, November 11th:

Today I made a visit to the community of San Martin, located on the outskirts of San Salvador. San Martin is one of many communities devastated by landslides caused by the intense rain this past Saturday.  

 

In October I spent a week in the community, a glorified shantytown that appeared along the railroad tracks during the civil war. The community was leveled by the earthquake in 2001, and has been battered by gangs, violence, and extreme poverty.  Most families are subsistence farmers, growing corn and beans on the steep hillsides that form the inlets to Lake Ilopango. People were hopeful, farmers were just one month from a successful harvest, the community had managed to rebuild more than 90 homes since the 2001 quake.

Late Saturday night San Martin was transformed. Houses built on the steep hillsides and on the edges of precipices disappeared.  They simply don’t exist anymore. Several households were caught off guard and the families were buried in their homes or washed down the hillside. 100% of corn and bean crops, just one week short of harvest, were washed away. Temporary plastic, tin, and bamboo pole structures are being built to house families on the soccer field.

In spite of the catastrophe, the community is working together to secure drinking water, and is pressuring the government to follow through on its promise to relocate those who are without homes or in precarious locations. A few organizations have come to see the damage; little to no aid has arrived in the community. 
 
San Martin is just one of many communities affected. 13 communities working FEBES, the Baptist Federation of El Salvador, report deaths, damaged or lost homes, or lost crops. Please keep this country, the communities affected, and the Federation team working to respond quickly to the most urgent needs in prayer. Later we’ll begin to coordinate rebuilding efforts and search for long-term food resources.
Kim Kushner, American Baptist Missionary in El Salvador

 TO CONTRIBUTE TO EMERGENCY RELIEF EFFORTS IN EL SALVADOR

• To contribute to the SHARE Foundation emergency relief in response to Hurricane Ida, make a secure on-line contribution through the SHARE website (www.share-elsalvador.org). You may also contribute via check payable to SHARE (please write “Hurricane Ida Relief” in the memo) and mail your contribution to: SHARE Foundation / P.O. Box 29620 / Washington, DC 20017 .
  

• You may also make contributions for American Baptist Churches emergency relief efforts through the CBC offering plate on Sunday mornings. Your check should be made payable to Central Baptist Church with “One Great Hour of Sharing – El Salvador” on the memo line.
  

Emergency relief efforts following mudslides and floods

We received the message below on Monday from Ruth Orantes about the impact of Hurricane Ida on El Salvador, seeking our prayers for and our solidarity with people who are struggling in the midst of this crisis.

In news since Ruth's message was sent, the numbers have been rising.   Poor communities in the area of San Salvador have been especially affected.  The hurricane's arrival coincides with the fall season bean harvest.  The destruction of this crucial food source will have a lasting impact in the months ahead.

The SHARE Foundation reports:

Over the weekend, the storm destroyed more than 7,000 homes and damaged many more.  The most recent data, reported this morning (Monday) in the Prensa Gráfica, indicates that approximately 130 people have been killed by the storm, and thousands more injured.   This total is sure to rise as emergency relief workers continue to work their way through damaged buildings and areas that have experienced landslides.                             

See photos and reports at http://share-elsalvador.org/headlines/idarelief.html

*******************************************
From Iglesia Bautista Shekina:

QUERIDOS AMIGOS, QUERIDOS HERMANOS Y HERMANAS... HAY LUTO EN EL SALVADOR... EL PASO DEL HURACAN IDA HA DEJADO 124 MUERTOS, 60 DESAPARECIDOS... MILES DE DAMNIFICADOS... PERDIDAS MATERIALES...

EN LOS ULTIMOS DIAS HABIAMOS TENIDO TIEMPO NUBLADO Y LLUVIAS ESPORADICAS PERO BASTARON UNAS POCAS HORAS DE LLUVIA INTENSA DEL DIA DE AYER Y HOY EN LA MADRUGADA PARA QUE LOS RIOS SE INUNDARAN Y LA TIERRA SEDIERA PRODUCIENDO MUCHOS DESLAVES, ESPECIALMENTE EN 4 DEPARTAMENTOS DE NUESTRO PAIS....

QUEREMOS PEDIRLES QUE NOS AYUDEN CON SUS ORACIONES, POR LAS FAMILIAS QUE HAN PERDIDO SERES QUERIDOS, POR LAS FAMILIAS QUE TENDRAN QUE COMENZAR DE LA NADA, POR LA PROVISION DIARIA Y POR LA SOLIDARIDAD QUE NUESTRO PUEBLO NECESITA...

CONFIAMOS EN SU CARIÑO PARA CON NOSOTROS Y NUESTRO PUEBLO

QUE DIOS LES BENDIGA
UN ABRAZO DE PARTE DE SUS HERMANOS Y HERMANAS DE LA IGLESIA BAUTISTA SHEKINA

UNIDOS EN EL DOLOR... UNIDOS EN LA FE.... UNIDOS EN LA ESPERANZA... UNIDOS EN LA SOLIDARIDAD

A Prayer of Hope for El Salvador - Nov 2009

In worship at Central Baptist Church today, we joined in a litany of hope for El Salvador, written for the congregation by Kathleen Bailey. This is our community's prayerful response to reports of increasing violence, especially in reflections recently shared with us by Alex Orantes. (See previous post with Alex's reflections that inspired this prayer.)

In this season, we remember the upcoming anniversaries of the martyrdom of the Jesuits, their housekeeper, and her daughter on Nov 16, 1989, as well as the four U.S. churchwomen on Dec 2, 1980. We pray for all who are still today struggling against violence and for those who work to transform our communities into places where peace is a reality.

The full text of the litany is included below. Watch the video here, or click to watch the youtube video of our prayer.



A Prayer of Hope for El Salvador

Leader 1: The Light shines in the darkness,
Leader 2: And the darkness cannot put out the Light!

People: God of Light and Life, no darkness is too deep for your illumination, no wound so grave as to be beyond your healing. O God, your heart beats within us for the Salvadoran land and for its people. Send your Spirit among them to succor, sustain, and comfort those who are uprooted, injured and dying in the terrible wake of violence.

Leader 2: The Light shines in the darkness,

People: And the darkness cannot put out the Light!

Leader 1: We remember the darkness in 1980 when Archbishop Romero was assassinated, and we remember his words, “Justice cannot be killed.” Lord, in your mercy,

All: Hear our prayer.

Leader 2: We remember the darkness also in 1980 when the four church women, Dorothy Kazel, Jean Donovan, Ita Ford and Maura Clarke were assassinated. The night before she died, Ita Ford quoted Romero, saying, “One who is committed to the poor must risk the same fate as the poor. And in El Salvador we know what the fate of the poor signifies: to disappear, to be tortured, to be captive and found dead.” Lord, in your mercy,

All: Hear our prayer.

Leader 1: We remember the darkness in 1989 when six Jesuit priests from the University of Central America, their housekeeper and her 15 year old daughter were brutally murdered. Lord, in your mercy,

All: Hear our prayer.

Leader 2: Now, in 2009, we know the darkness again as we lift up to You in prayer: two old men slain by machetes; a young husband—trying to support his pregnant wife—shot under a streetlight; a fruit-seller shot without mercy outside the gates of the Baptist School in Santa Ana; the pastor of our partner church and our friend, Ruth Orantes, robbed and grieved; and a country once again knowing the fear of daily violence on their streets and in their neighborhoods, a country with one of the highest rates of homicide in the world.Lord, in your mercy,

All:Hear our prayer.

Leader 1: Guide us as we continue to walk with our Salvadoran sisters and brothers. Guide us as we accompany your faith communities who offer places of refuge to the victims of violence in El Salvador.

Leader 2: You do not leave your people to suffer alone, but we know that You stand close, even in the terrors of the night. You bring the light of hope even in the darkness of oppression.

People: And the darkness cannot put out the Light!

Leader 1: In your mercy and grace, transform hearts and minds so that there might be an end to the violence, an end to the menacing, an end to terror, an end to hatred and, finally, an end to killing so that the peace which so many have died trying to birth might be reality.

All: May God’s Light be with us all.

Litany by Kathleen Bailey, member of Central Baptist Church and El Salvador Partners

“Return to El Salvador” preview party and fundraiser!

Join us at Urban Saloon / 2120 Fairmount Ave. / Philadelphia, PA at 8:00pm on Tuesday, November 3rd.

This is the documentary by Philadelphia filmmaker Jamie Moffett that features Alex and Ruth Orantes. Ron and Betsy Morgan have been working on this project with Jamie, and CBC's very own Steve Chandler is involved in the production team, too. The party on Tuesday will feature excerpts from the film and discussion about the current state of affairs in El Salvador and what you can do to help.

Tickets for the preview party are $15 and you'll need one to get in the front door. Your first beer is free with the ticket purchase!

To find out more about the project, visit www.returntoelsalvador.com.

To purchase a ticket for the preview party, click here.

Here's a link to the URBAN SALOON website for directions. www.theurbansaloon.com

Cielo Azul -- New Solidarity Fund

The new Cielo Azul Fund is launching a fall campaign to insure that the work of peace and justice that Baptist pastors Ruth and Alex Orantes have been carrying on will continue to grow. For five years the Orantes Fund has supported the Orantes family in their pastoral work; now Cielo Azul is committed to an even broader level of support not only for Ruth, Alex and Victor Hugo, but for the programs that have arisen out of their ministries in the communities where they work.

In the weeks and months after the March 2009 election of Mauricio Funes as President of El Salvador (“the first President to support the needs of the poor in 150 years,” as one Salvadoran activist put it), we have had great hope for the future of a people who have struggled so long for a dignified life free from political, economic and criminal violence.

Our choice of a new name (Cielo Azul means“blue sky” in English) is an attempt to symbolize this new reality. And there are signs of a move in that direction in a recent report from Alex:

For next year, students in public schools will receive uniforms and school– supplies, shoes, food and milk from the government. This will reactivate the small tailoring and shoe shops It will benefit small businesses that sell school supplies. It seems to be an excellent sign. People are happy, full of hope by this news which is leading to fresh preparation within each school.

But the latest report from Alex on increasing violence in El Salvador is a reminder that hope can be very fragile. More than ever, our friends in El Salvador need spiritual and material support to continue build communities based on faith, justice and service to all who are in need.

Please consider a gift to the Cielo Azul fund in order to send a message of solidarity to Ruth and Alex and the communities where they work. See the new blog at www.CieloAzulFund.blogspot.com for information on how to contribute.

Salvadoran environmental activists to speak in Philadelphia

The National Mining Table of El Salvador Speaks Out in Philadelphia

Presentation of “The Mysterious Death of Marcelo Rivera” with filmmaker Jamie Moffett

Saturday, October 17th, 4-6pm
Tabernacle United Church / 3700 Chestnut St. / Philadelphia, PA

The Romero Interfaith Center of Philadelphia is proud to invite you to meet members of the National Mining Table of El Salvador, a popular movement of people in El Salvador that has been struggling against the environmental and public health threats posed by mineral mining by foreign corporations. The National Mining Table (or La Mesa Nacional Frente a la Mineria en El Salvador) is being honored in Washington D.C. on October 15 with the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award for their work in making El Salvador the first country in the world to ban gold mining.

Please join us in welcoming Vidalina Morales Gamez, Miguel Angel Rivera Moreno, and William Rondy Castillo Olivoto Philadelphia to share with us the experiences of their communities in Cabañas and Chalatenango, El Salvador, who have declared their opposition to mineral mining development in their communities based on environmental, public health, and human rights concerns.

Additionally, we will be showing the short film entitled "The Mysterious Death of Marcelo Rivera," created by Philadelphia resident and filmmaker, Jamie Moffett. The film shares the story of the disappearance and murder of Marcelo Rivera, a local organizer deeply involved with the struggle against Pacific Rim in Cabañas. Jamie will be present to discuss the film as well as his upcoming feature length film entitled "Return to El Salvador."

"Old Friends and Guerrillas" program at Brandywine Peace Community

Old Friends & Guerrillas: Will El Salvador Turn in a New Direction?

Talk and photo show with Tom Paine Cronin, long-time Labor Leader in Philadelphia and President emeritus of AFSCME DC 47, and John Grant, Veterans for Peace, photojournalist and film maker, who were in El Salvador for the historic elections in June.

Sunday, September 13, 4:30p.m.
Brandywine Peace Community Monthly Potluck Supper*/Program
(*bring main dish, salad, or dessert to share)

Gathering will be held at University Lutheran Church, 3637 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA

For more information, visit www.brandywinepeace.com

El Salvador Partners planning meeting

Please join us at 9:30am Thursday Aug 27 at CBC for a mission group meeting. Our agenda will include:

* reflections / reports by Tessa Bailey on her 3 months in El Salvador

* updates from Shekina, news from Ruth and Alex, etc.

* discussion about our hopes, visions, dreams, and opportunities for CBC's El Salvador relationships in the upcoming church year

* budget proposals for CBC's 2010 stewardship campaign, based on priorities we select from our list of hopes, visions, dreams

* planning calendar for the fall

Invitation to learn about immigration and the New Sanctuary Movement in Philadelphia

The New Sanctuary Movement
Congregations and Immigration: An Issue of Faith

A series of four discussions
9:30am to 10:30am on Sundays
Sept 13th, Sept 20th, Sept 27th, Oct 4th

Central Baptist Church / Wayne, PA

As part of a Central Baptist Church focus on immigration and advocacy for immigration reform, we begin our fall Adult Learning Community with a four session series organized by leaders of the Philadelphia New Sanctuary Movement. Through presentations, group discussions, videos, and conversations with special guests, we'll be looking at a variety of questions:

• Why is immigration a faith / moral issue?

• Who are the people who are immigrating to the U.S.?

• How do current U.S. immigration laws actually work?

• What would a better immigration policy look like?

• What is the potential for reforming immigration policy under the Obama administration?

• What is the current climate like for immigrants in PA, especially in the Philadelphia area?

• What local advocacy efforts are forming around immigration issues and policy reform?

• What is this “New” Sanctuary Movement all about?

Facilitators for this class will include the current co-leaders of the Philadelphia NSM -- Peter Pedemonti, one of the founders of Philadelphia NSM, lives and works at a Philadelphia Catholic Worker House; Jen Rock, who joined Peter in leadership of the Philadelphia NSM in 2009, works for Habitat for Humanity.

We hope to have several special guests share their personal stories, as well. Faheem is Pakistani, and he and his family were accompanied by Phildelphia NSM when he was detained by immigration and sent to the immigration detention center in York, PA. Eva, who is Mexican, has an equally powerful story to tell.

We are also inviting Mishkan Shalom, a progressive Jewish congregation in Philadelphia that was one of the 19 original Sanctuary congregations in Philadelphia in the 1980s, to talk with us about their decision to become the first congregation to officially affiliate with this New Sanctuary Movement.

Central Baptist Church is located in the center of Wayne, one block south of the train station, near the intersection of Route 30 (Lancaster Ave) and Wayne Avenue. Click here for a map and specific directions. We hope to see you in September!

Documentary film will feature Ruth and Alex

Jamie Moffett, Philadelphia filmmaker and friend of the El Salvador Partners, is making great progress on "Return to El Salvador," his upcoming documentary. Jamie and his crew, including CBC members Ron and Betsy Morgan, will be traveling to El Salvador for another round of interviews and filming in July. Their plan is to meet up with Alex and Ruth, who will provide personal stories and commentary about the war and post-war context in El Salvador. Jamie's first visit to El Salvador for filming was in March 2009, when he and Julia Shields were part of the SHARE Election Observers with CBC's delegation.



Here's an excerpt from the Return to El Salvador Blog about the documentary project, where you can also find more information.

The atrocities of the Salvadoran civil war inspired many international human rights groups and faith communities to advocate for justice and peace in El Salvador. Two of the many Americans who became involved in the movement for peace are Dr. Betsy Morgan, a university professor who went on to write a documentary about Salvadoran refugees, and her husband, Ron Morgan, who has volunteered in relief efforts and election monitoring. The Morgans, along with many of their students and their church community (Central Baptist Church in Wayne, PA), have become outspoken advocates for peace and justice in El Salvador both during and after the civil war.

Jamie Moffett, this filmʼs director, was one of those students who heard the stories of El Salvador and was compelled to act. Moffett decided to make a film in which he would travel with Betsy and Ron to reconnect with their friends in El Salvador, and hear and document stories of what happened during the war and what life is like now. He and his crew are traveling to a place teeming with past and current struggle, both to share the stories of pain and suffering that have been kept silent for too long, but also to document the stories of hope. They are going with the desire to understand and communicate the aftermath of war.

Moffett believes that everyday Americans are unaware of the profound impact of their tax dollars and decisions of their elected representatives upon the lives of innocent people. He believes this precisely because, until recently, he himself was ignorant of the particulars of American involvement in El Salvador. He says, “There was just so much that I didn’t know until I started to research. Now that I know, I’m disappointed, upset, and I want to make sure that other Americans are given the opportunity to know the facts.”

With this film, Moffett goes beyond simply educating his fellow citizens on the facts of history. This project is a call to action, urging Americans to become involved in not only knowing the past, but in building a more just and peaceful future.

For more about the documentary and to pre-order a copy of the film, visit the website http://www.returntoelsalvador.com/.

Here's a brief trailer introducing the documentary.Return to El Salvador trailer on YouTube

Invitation to "Postcards from El Salvador" Luncheon

“Postcards from El Salvador”
12:15pm following worship on Sunday, April 19th

Lunch will be provided by
the El Salvador Partners Mission Group

Join us for a slide show and reports from CBC’s delegation

Now that we have recovered from the excitement of our recent experiences in El Salvador, we have started organizing our stories and photos to share in various ways with the CBC community, as well as the Alliance of Baptists and the Baptist Peace Fellowship and others.

We have a lot to tell you about...

• the diversity of the 150 member SHARE delegation, including a large number of high school students from Oregon, college students from Georgetown and American University, a Jewish hunger advocacy group named MAZON, the National Lawyers Guild, and more

• the fascinating elections process and historic FMLN victory celebrations in San Salvador

• advocacy actions before the election and a post-election visit at the US Embassy

• bowling with Nora Pullen and youth from Shekina one night in San Salvador

• a beautifully relaxing afternoon and evening with some of the Shekina adults at a lake in the town of Suchitoto

We hope you’ll join us for lunch and a slideshow presentation on Sunday, April 19th!

--Caroline, Doug, Andy, John, and the El Salvador Partners Mission Group

Conversations with Ruth Orantes at 5:30pm on Sunday, Feb 22nd

Plans are coming together for a phone conference with Ruth Orantes to talk with her about the Global Baptist Peace Conference she attended in Rome. All are welcome to join us for the conversations at 5:30pm at CBC on Sunday, Feb 22nd.

Ruth sent 3 email reports to us during her time at the conference, including this note about the closing worship held in the Waldensian church:

There were prayers in various languages, many songs, profound liturgical actions, and the prophetic preaching of Ken Sehested. We also celebrated communion. It was a deep moment -- people of different colors, with different languages, from different countries and experiences -- with everyone gathered together at the Lord's Table.

Advocacy Training re: Immigration Reform and New Sanctuary Movement

Plan to attend the Advocacy Training Event at Central Baptist Church this Saturday, Feb 21st, from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Breakfast is included.

One of the topics to be addressed in small groups will be Immigration Reform, which we have identified as a focus issue for education and advocacy.

The CBC Board of Outreach has lined up 2 people to present information on immigration issues -- Antony Dugdale, who works with the Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union in Philadelphia, and Peter Pedemonti, who is co-director of the Philadelphia New Sanctuary Movement.

• Take a look at this article for info about the Philadelphia New Sanctuary Movement - http://www.phillyimc.org/en/comment/reply/76978
• And here is the main website for the New Sanctuary Movement -- http://www.newsanctuarymovement.org/
  

The advocacy training general session will be lead by Rev. Lisa Harris from ABC-USA National Ministries. She will address a number of issues including:

• How can we most effectively engage in the advocacy work that our faith calls us to?
• How do we know what legislation is out there? What resources are there to evaluate it?
• Where can we find out who our congressional representatives and who their staff are?
• Is there a new paradigm for citizen participation in the Obama presidency?

The training will also include small group breakout sessions when you will choose from one of several focus areas:

• Healthcare Reform – Dr. Stephen Gambescia, Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions
• Gun Violence Prevention – Pastor Dolores McCabe, Eastern University and Millcreek Baptist Church
• Immigration Reform – Antony Dugdale, Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union, and Peter Pedimonte, New Sanctuary Movement
  

Seeds of Hope Benefit Dinner for El Salvador farmers

"Seeds of Hope"
Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction

1:00pm to 4:00pm
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Whitsun Hall at Camphill Soltane
224 Nantmeal Rd. / Glenmoore, PA

Minimum suggested donations: $15.00 for a meal and a handcrafted pottery bowl, $8.00 for the meal only. Reserve your bowl now! Advance tickets and more information are available from Kathleen Bailey, who teaches at Soltane.

Proceeds of the fundraising event will support the SHARE Foundation's microlending project for farmers in El Salvador. See below for details about the food crisis in El Salvador and SHARE's new agricultural program.

At Camphill Soltane (www.camphillsoltane.org), the prevocational students have spent this school year preparing for a Benefit Dinner to support the Seeds of Hope Initiative as a way of adding a practical component to their experience of this year’s academic theme which is World Cultures. The garden class has grown, harvested and preserved herbs and vegetables for the dinner. The cooking class has chosen soup recipes and begun making and freezing soup. The library skills class created tickets and publicity flyers; the pottery class has a goal of creating 200 bowls, and the bicycle maintenance shop is donating a bicycle to the silent auction table.

On March 15, four members of our CBC congregation will be in El Salvador monitoring the presidential elections. We invite you to attend the Soltane Seeds of Hope Benefit Dinner on that day in an act of solidarity with them.

Seeds of Hope
There is an ongoing world food crisis happening before our eyes. Last year, in El Salvador the price of beans jumped from 45 cents per pound to $1.25, nearly twice the price of beans in the United States. The prices of corn and rice have also doubled or nearly doubled. In El Salvador, the combination of international trade policies, the succession of natural disasters such as droughts and flooding, competition for food and bio-fuel and the ARENA government’s dismantling of the agricultural sector for 19 years has profoundly compounded the crisis.

Yet in the face of this unfolding tragedy, a persistent group of small farmers across the Salvadoran countryside are finding local solutions to this crisis so that their families do not go hungry. These farmers are determined to stay on the land and feed themselves and their communities, as they have been asked to do for generations, despite the global pressures that are collapsing local food economies. Now they have turned to the SHARE Foundation for support. In response, SHARE has launched the “Semillas de Esperanza” (Seeds of Hope) Initiative in order to provide farmers with the supplies they need to sow seeds of hope, and to support this burgeoning movement towards food security and food sovereignty.

Salvadorans have been growing corn and beans since before the time of the conquest, so it would be easy to assume that there would be no shortage of these staples, and that Salvadoran farmers could produce enough for everyone on Salvadoran land, at prices consumers could afford. However, generations of land concentration and the more recent onset of economic policies that undercut local producers in favor of international trade (e.g. subsidized corn from Iowa) have made easy access to wholesome food a thing of the past.

El Salvador is literally going hungry – people are unable to feed themselves with what they earn -- and as a nation, more and more foods are being imported because local production is shutting down. Hunger and the resulting migration is proof that the current economic policies have failed to provide sufficient and realistic economic opportunities for poor Salvadorans.

However, the food crisis presents an opportunity. Salvadoran farmers have requested seeds of corn, beans and squash. If we can get seeds into their hands so that they can grow a crop that has increased in demand, we will be supporting both farmers, for whom basic grain production had ceased to be profitable, and consumers, for whom prices of basic grains have more than doubled in the past year. It is exciting to consider the possibility of famers regaining control of local food production so that they and their customers are not at the mercy of the global market.

The Seeds of Hope Initiative provides packages which include native seeds, organic fertilizers, and educational workshops about how to farm organically as a way to become more independent from high priced hybrid seeds and chemical inputs. A package costs $350 and will be offered as a micro-loan, the repayment of which will be used as a revolving fund for planting in the future.

For more information or to make an on-line donation, visit Seeds of Hope on the SHARE Foundation website.

El Salvador Partners to join international observers for elections in El Salvador

We are excited to announce that Andy Smith, John Thayer, Doug Norton, Caroline Cargo, and Bernie Peterson will travel to El Salvador with the SHARE Foundation's 150-person delegation that is part of an international consortium of observers calling for free and fair democratic process in El Salvador's presidential elections on March 15th. Nora Pullen is also participating in the SHARE delegation with a group of American University students.

The work of the election observers delegation members actually begins well before arriving in El Salvador. Already we have received a 30-page election observers training manual to review, and SHARE is providing frequent updates and analysis of the political campaigns. When we arrive in San Salvador on March 10th, we will have a busy schedule, including instruction in specific roles for election observation teams, explanation of our official data keeping and report writing tasks, visits to the Legislative Assembly, accreditation by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and press conferences. After the elections, we are expected to prepare final reports that we will deliver to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and to the U.S. Embassy, as well.

Although the mission of this delegation is clearly focused on supporting the presidential elections process rather than visiting with our sister church communities, we are hoping that we will have an informal opportunity to connect with some of our friends from Shekina and Shalom since SHARE is likely to send a team of observers to the voting sites in Santa Ana. Also, Caroline Cargo will be arriving early in El Salvador in order to spend several days with Ruth and Alex Orantes and other members of Shekina prior to the official start of the SHARE delegation.

We look forward to reporting back about our experience! We have tentative plans for a CBC luncheon in April. Doug Norton is coordinating a presentation to Villanova University's Center for Peace and Justice Education, which provided some financial support for the delegation. And we plan to share written reflections with the Baptist Peace Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists, both of which organizations have endorsed and promoted this election observers delegation as an official Baptist witness and presence in El Salvador .

Briefing on Upcoming Elections in El Salvador

We invite you to attend a briefing on the upcoming national elections in El Salvador. The gathering will take place at 7:00pm on Tuesday, January 13, in the Gomez Room at Central Baptist Church.

Jose Artiga, Executive Director of the SHARE Foundation, will be present to discuss the election and SHARE's election monitoring plans for the March 2009 presidential elections.Since the Peace Accords were signed in 1991, SHARE has facilitated a US Observer presence for each national election in support of the communities that SHARE has partnered with in its development, human rights and citizen participation programs. This March, over 100 observers will be a part of SHARE's effort.

Expectations are high that the 2009 elections may finally break the right wing ARENA partyʼs hold on the presidency. The FMLN candidate for president, Mauricio Funes, is a 49 year old TV commentator who has often been critical of ARENA. For the first time in this election, the FMLN has nominated a person who was not a guerilla commandante during the 12 year civil war. Members of our sister churches have been highly motivated to support his candidacy. The attached photo shows Pastor Alex Orantes, from Iglesia Shalom, participating in a public forum with Mauricio Funes recently.

José Artiga, Executive Director of the SHARE Foundation: Building a New El Salvador Today, has over 27 years experience in the United States working on El Salvador and community development issues. After arriving in the United States from his native El Salvador in 1980, barely escaping the death squads, he helped develop the Sanctuary Movement in the U.S. to help other refugees fleeing oppression and violence. He also led the “Going Home Campaign” to provide support to Salvadoran refugees based in Honduras returning to their country.

Please join CBC's El Salvador Partners in welcoming Jose to talk to us about the March 2009 elections.

7:00pm, Tuesday, January 13, in The Gomez Room
Central Baptist Church / 106 West Lancaster Ave. / Wayne, PA 19087

IMPORTANT NOTE: For this evening gathering, enter through the church office entrance located in the back, across from the main post office and public library on West Wayne Avenue.

Click here for directions and parking info.

Ruth Orantes to attend Global Baptist Peace Conference in Rome

We celebrate the good news that Ruth Orantes will be attending the Global Baptist Peace Conference in Rome in February 2009. The invitation for CBC to sponsor Ruth as a delegate for the conference came to us following Ruth's participation in the Alliance of Baptists convocation in New Orleans in 2008.

This global event will inaugurate the 400th anniversary year of the Baptist heritage being recognized in various locations around the world. Like previous conferences in Sweden (1988), Nicaragua (1992), and Australia (2000), this gathering will bring together Baptists who are active in nonviolent struggles for justice and for strengthening the witness of Baptist peacemaking in various global contexts.

The conference will consist of six days including intensive training in conflict transformation, nonviolent prophetic action, and other relevant topics, inspiring speakers, workshops, and worship.

The Global Baptist Peace Conference is sponsored by numerous Baptist organizations from around the world, including the Alliance of Baptists, American Baptist Churches, Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Unione Cristiana Evangelica Battista d'Italia, Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia, and the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

Funding for Ruth's travel and registration for the event has been made possible through the generosity of a number of congregations and groups: Central Baptist Church / Wayne, PA; First Baptist Church / Madison, Indiana; Protestant Church of Holland (a sister congregation to Shekina); Alliance of Baptists "Bridges of Hope" 2008 grant; Global Wellness Treaty Fund.

To learn more about the conference, visit www.globalbaptistpeace.org. We look forward to an official report from Ruth upon her return!