Offering of Letters

* just posted this to my local church Newsletter

Every spring members of our congregation faithfully write personal letters to their representatives in Congress urging our leaders to find ways to help hungry people and those suffering from poverty. It is truly an “offering” because we prayerfully offer them to God before sending them to Congress. This outpouring of concern sends a powerful message to our political leaders and helps us move closer to our goal of ending hunger.

On or before June 7^th we are hoping that many of you will participate in this campaign by writing letters regarding Foreign Assistance reform. This issue is of great interest to our congregation because of the implications it can have for our brothers and sisters in Zambia. An example of how this foreign assistance is working is the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. A big element of this program is the provision of antiretrovirals for people with the HIV virus. If it not for this program over 2 million people would not be alive today.

Please use the links below to educate yourself and write Congress to urge them to continue to reform and strengthen Foreign Assistance by:

• Making poverty reduction a primary goal of U.S. foreign assistance.
• Make foreign assistance more efficient and effective so that it will have a greater impact on poor and hungry people around the world.
• Have the institutional capacity and organizational structure that has the ability to implement the types of foreign assistance that is needed.

Letters need to be written on or by June 7^th where they will be offered from our congregation to congress. Phil and Alex Goerner will gather all available letters and hand deliver them our congress people when they visit them June 16^th.

More information and updates will be available in during the coffee hour from now until June 7^th. Recently the House has introduced a reform bill, H.R. 2139 and we are asking members (Rep Betsy Markey, Rep Jared Polis) to co-sponsor that bill.

Important links:

Foreign Assistance background info and principles:

http://www.offeringofletters.org/our-goals.html

Urgent message from Bread for the World President, David Beckman

http://www.offeringofletters.org/component/content/article/88.html

Great background information can be found on the podcast: Breadcast http://www.bread.org/get-involved/on-the-web/breadcast.html

Or- contact Phil Goerner (pgoerner@gmail.com). Thank you for your help!

Foreign Assistance Bill ACTION!

Now is the time to act with in support of foreign assistance reform. There is now a House Resolution submitted by Rep Howar Berman (D-CA-28) and Rep Mark Kirk (R-IL-10). On April 28th introduced H.R. 2139, the “Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009,” to direct the president to develop and implement a comprehensive national strategy to further the U.S. foreign policy objective of promoting global development, and for other purposes. For more information.

Your calls and letters are already making a difference. Now, we urgently need your help to win passage of this truly historic legislation:

• Call or write a letter to your representative in Congress and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 2139

David Beckman, President of Bread for the World urges us to write. He states "U.S. foreign assistance is helping save millions of lives, improving agricultural productivity and increasing school enrollment. But more lives can be saved and more can be done if we improve how we deliver foreign aid."

Please take action today!