Lobby Day June 12, 2012

Colorado group in Representative Gardner's Office

A group of six Coloradans delivered nearly 100 letters to our congresspeople Tuesday June 12th as we urged to them to place a circle of protection around programs vital to the hungry and poor people in the U.S. and around the world.

Thanks to contributions from 1st United Presbyterian in Loveland and Longmont Central Presbyterian the  beautifully written and incredibly inspiring letters had a profound impact on our visits. Since the Senate introduced the farm bill this week, much of our conversation centered on full funding for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs- formerly food stamps). Did you know that 400,000 Coloradans benefit from SNAP? The program is incredibly successful to with less than 1% fraud and most folks are only recipients for less than 9 months!

Secondly, we urged them to look at sustaining anti-hunger and anti-poverty program funding. This includes  domestic programs like SNAP and Women Infants & Children but also International Food Assistance and International Poverty Assistance programs. I have seen an example of the results of the Poverty Assistance programs first hand with our Zambian brothers and sisters as the U.S. is able to provide them with antiretroviral drugs for AIDS.

Finally, we asked them to work on the deficit reduction through a lens of diverse viewpoints...looking at lots of options including revenue generation. We urged them not to balance their budget on the backs of the poor and to place a circle of protection around programs vital to the hungry and poor people in the U.S. and around the world.

The meetings were well received in both Bennet's office (where we met with Grant Colvin) and Udall's office (where we met with Sara Kagey and Krysten Joyce). We also met with Jennifer Loraine in Representative Gardner's office who asked us for more information in order to become a stronger supporter of protecting programs that fight hunger.

I can't thank the congregations in the Presbytery of Plains and Peaks enough for the prayers and letters they sent us with. The letters are HUGE and are really influential having a big impact on the staffers and members of congress. Their eyes really light up and some started reading right away! These letters are extremely important and an integral part of our lobby day!  ~Phil G.

Notes from Presbytery May 4-5, 2012

Many of you know that at every Presbytery meeting we collect pennies/nickles/dimes and even the quiet money for those in our communities that don't have enough to eat. Money is collected at each meal and then is forwarded to a local mission.  During the May 4 & 5th meeting of Plains and Peaks Presbytery held at Highlands Camp we collected $76.92 which has been donated to the Crossroads Ministry of Estes Park. Crossroads' main ministry is to exhibit Christian love by providing basic human services to needy residents in the Estes Valley. Also at the Presbytery meeting, we urged folks to do some public policy advocacy in the form of letter writing to help support those who do not have a voice. (Proverbs 31:8) Here are four areas that you should contact your senator or representative about in order to address specific legislative topics before Congress: domestic nutrition assistance Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Women Infants & Children poverty-focused foreign assistance (.6%) 1,000 focus birth-2, medications, immunizations, safe drinking water tax credits for low-income families Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit international food aid emergency humanitarian response to malnutrition, famine & disaster

For more information about the offering of letters campaign, please go to Bread for the World. (bread.org)

Souper Bowl= Super Success!

More than 75% of the churches in Plains and Peaks Presbytery participated in the Souper Bowl collection for hungry people this year helping to get the combined National total to almost $6.5 million dollars!

Many of you know- this offering started when a youth group asked:  Why not use Super Bowl weekend, a time when people come together for football and fun, to also unify the nation for a higher good: collecting dollars and canned food for the needy? That was in '90 and since then over $81 million dollars have been raised for hungry folks in your communities. WOW! 

If you would like to see your church's history in fundraising with this campaign...plug in your zip code at SouperBowl site . You'll be amazed at what your members have accomplished!

Notes from Plains & Peaks Presbytery report Feb 11, '12

The Hunger Action Advocate's role is to work with churches to support their hunger ministries if 5 areas

Direct Feeding/Development Assistance - and example of this would be food drives, feeding programs and offerings to collect money for the hungry. Many churches participated in Souper Bowl Sunday collecting food and money for local hunger needs. We can rejoice because nationwide we raise $6.6 million dollars for the hunger. To see your church's results go to: http://www.souperbowl.org/find_profiles

 Public Policy: On of the ways that we can address the foundational causes of hunger is to address the issue with our members of congress. This Presbytery has been very active in writing letters to support those who receive Women Infant and Children funding, Food Stamps. The current campaign will urge congress to expand the circle of protection around programs that help the hungry and poor people. Contact Phil for more information or visit: http://www.bread.org/ol/2012/

Education: Learning more about the issues surrounding hunger...Phil has Lentin Study guide and many other resources at the chocolate table.

Lifestyle Integrity: Often we have great power with the purchases that we make. Using fair trade roducts like chocolates, coffee and other items can supplemental cooperatives that can directly benefit the grower, farmer or small business. NOW is the time to order sustainably harvested Palm Frons for Palm Sunday. These frons are part of a cooperative that helps native peoples in many positive ways and can be ordered through March 8-14th. For more information http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/enough/eco-palms/

If you would like Phil Goerner to support your hunger ministry, contact him at pgoerner@gmail.com

Boulder County CROP Hunger walk

I have the honor of coordinating this walk with Dennis Hurianek from Niwot. Neither of us had done this before, so we had a lot to learn! We were pleased to host 100's of walkers from all over the county participated in the 10K walk to raise money for Church World Service, Community Food Share and Bread for the World. 

Numbers are not quite ready to publish, but we are very grateful for all the walkers and feel strongly that our first walk was a success...much like these walkers from Longs Peak Methodist Church in Longmont.

Offering of Letters update!

Thank you for writing letters to your members of congress at the beginning of summer!  I am proud to say that we collected almost 100 letters from members from Central and Loveland Presbyterian Churches and had successful meetings with each office.

The letters you wrote on behalf of hungry people had a tremendous impact on our leaders. Because of the debt ceiling debate our request changed a bit to ask for protection for the programs that help hungry people. All members were receptive to our requests but as many of you know, wrestled with the budget ceiling debates late into July. Your letters, personal emails, phone calls made a huge difference for the hungry.

While many programs were saved in the initial round of cuts, the bipartisan “super committee” must consider all parts of the budget which might include cuts to some programs essential to the hungry.  Much is still at risk, and we will need your help to protect these important programs during the next stage of this process. We must ensure that long-term reforms are balanced and spending cuts are fair, so that the burden of deficit reduction doesn’t fall on the most vulnerable people.

If you would like to continue to be involved as a voice speaking on behalf of the hungry- please contact Phil Goerner (pgoerner@gmail.com) for more information.

Thank you for the role you play in helping hungry and poor people in the United States and around the world!

Are you curious about the churches in the Synod of Zambia?

While Chawama Central Church is similar to our church by tracing its origin roots from Scotland, they have a different organizational structure than in the US. It is quite interesting and may be the reason why churches are growing so rapidly in Zambia!

As some of you may know, here in the US, the Presbyterian Church, USA, is organized in a democratic/representative manner. There are over 11,000 congregations which are organized into 173 Presbyteries (district governing bodies). Our church is one of 41 churches in northern Colorado and Nebraska that sends representatives to the Presbytery of Plains and Peaks, which meets quarterly. Our Presbytery sends representatives to the Synod of the Rocky Mountains and then to the national governing body, the General Assembly.

The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) has only one Synod in Zambia, with 10 Presbyteries and around 60 congregations.  Then, the structure gets interesting.

Each congregation is responsible for sharing their faith and fellowship with the surrounding communities. So, each church begins to plant “prayer houses” which are groups of people meeting together in a home, classroom or other available space.  These prayer houses have both members and elders from the home church who help run the service, preach and organize.

There is greater need for prayer houses because transportation is often an issue (most folks walk to church). So, a 3rd level of outreach is established in areas called “preaching points”. The purpose of the preaching points are to send elders and members to areas where a prayer house may be welcome.

Once a year or more, all the prayer houses meet at the host church. Easter is an example a time when all prayer houses meet at the host church to share a 2-3 day festival and communion. Krista and I were a part of such a celebration last November with the induction of the new minister at Chawama, Abusa (Reverend) Daniel Tembo.

The prayer houses have many of the same responsibilities as the church. Elders are ordained, offering taken (of course!) and Sunday School is offered. These prayer houses often grow quickly and can request to the Presbytery to form their own Church.

When Central Presbyterian first started their relationship with Chawama Central in 2008, there were 5 prayer houses and 2 preaching points.

• Chawama (Means “It is good”)
• Lilayi (rural area, meets in school on police compound/training grounds)
• Kamwala (means “good hope)
• Kabwata
• Kafuela

About a year ago, Kamwata and Kafuela prayer houses were growing so quickly that they began plans to make their own church which they planned to call St Peters. They made a formal request to the Chawama Session to begin this process. It was approved, but the project (like a new church development project here) needed to have representatives, elders and families to help “grow” the church. They had several requirements such as regular services with substantial attendees and good offering receipts to show their sustainability. All these steps were approved so they were able to call a minister in December of 2011 and he was inducted in January 2012.

The Presbyterian Church in Zambia is growing rapidly.  Our partnership with Lusaka Central Presbyterian Church is flourishing and needs regular communication and commitment to remain strong.  The new St. Peters congregation, which contains many original members from Lusaka Central, will also grow and reach out to welcome new members.  They, too, will seek a sister church.  These partnerships benefit both congregations, expanding awareness and compassion for each other’s lives and challenges through faith and the love of our savior, Jesus Christ.

Presbytery 8/13

6am -

Report:
Hunger Action Advocate report
Update on Offering of Letters: Many thanks to all the folks that wrote letters and emails to their members of congress urging them to put a circle of protection around the poor and programs that protect them such as WIC, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program etc.  Thankfully these programs were not cut during the recent budget ceiling proposal.


Crop Walks in our Presbytery
Take advantage of this opportunity to raise funds for hungry people. Funds raised are split with Church World Service and local hunger needs. Join a walk in your area!

·         Boulder County CROP Hunger Walk 2011 October 23, 2011

·         Estes Park CROP Hunger Walk 2011 September 11, 2011

·         Fort Collins CROP Hunger Walk 2011 October 2, 2011

·         LaSalle CROP Hunger Walk 2011 October 8, 2011

·         Loveland CROP Hunger Walk 2011 October 1, 2011

·         Northeast Colorado CROP Hunger Walk 2011 September 11, 2011

·         Windsor CROP Hunger Walk 2011 October 2, 2011

fj

Disaster relief in Horn of Africa

fd

Huge drought conditions have resulted in famine and now disaster. CARE has identified 29,000 children under 5 have died from starvation, 600,000 Somalians are fleeing (PCUSA) and 12.4 million people are at risk for starvation in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti according to the UN. The need is great- and scientists predict that  conditions will continue until December.

If you have members that would like to contribute to disaster relief please use PCUSA disaster relief number DR999999. This will guarantee that 100% of all donations go directly to the affected area.

East Africa drought

Need an update on the incredible famine in the Horn of Africa? Here are some resources
From the PCUSA-Christian agencies warn that 10 million people face famine in Horn of Africa -

Ten ways to help...including texting gifts! http://bit.ly/r4sC0O

Church World Service explains the situation, some responses and then specific areas of concern. East Africa Drought. Great article!

Offering of letters

Megan Marsh, Phil Goerner, Jed and Crystal Foust

It is the eve of Lobby Day and I find myself as the humble servant delivering letters on behalf of congregations in north eastern Colorado. My fellow Colorado Bread for the World members and I will be visiting Senators Bennet and Udall and Representative Gardner's office.

We are excited and prepared to ask them to consider poor and hungry people as they make budget decisions and to reform foreign aid that more directly benefits the hungry. 

We have about 100 letters we brought with us to share with the congressmen. These letters are beautifully hand written with many personal stories sharing faith and hope that our leaders show compassion to the hungry.  For security reasons, all letters need to be taken out of envelopes so tonight as I was doing this a friend found this letter written by a 12 year old:

What a dynamic statement for all of us going tomorrow on your behalf. We know that poor people do not use a disproportionate amount of resources. We know that we should share the burden of the deficit fairly. On your behalf we'll be telling congress that tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers and support. 

Key points to consider for offering of letters

In the next few weeks, I'll be presenting information to churches about how to become advocates for hungry people.  Each year, hunger activists write to their members of Congress, advocating for policies that help end hunger in the U.S. and around the world.

This year Bread for the World members are focusing on the issues surrounding Global Assistance reform.

We are hoping to bring light to four areas:

• A stronger U.S. government focus on reducing poverty.
• Clearer accountability for how U.S. aid dollars are spent and their results.
• A transformed U.S. development agency.
• U.S. aid that meets the needs and wants of local people.

Is your church considering hosting an offering of letters? Please prayerfully study the issues for this year's Bread for the World offering of letters, think about the biblical basis for advocacy for hunger or contact more information!

Great story about this year's offering of letters

Hunger Fast- Budget cuts can be a hardship for the poor!

Ambassador Tony Hall

Monday I had the opportunity to take part in a Washington DC prayer vigil that marked the start of a 7 day fast by world hunger leaders. The #hungerfast was idea of the Ambassador Tony Hall who writes about  Why I'm Fasting. 

The fast is a way of protesting and bringing light to the US budget cuts that are disproportionately affecting those suffering from poverty and hunger. This is a crucial time as congress debates the shortfall and budget balancing. It is important to contact your member of congress to urge them to not balance the budget on the backs of the poor.

BFW Pres David Beckmann

Hall was joined by Sojourners President Jim Wallis, Ritu Sharma, president and co-founder of Women Thrive Worldwide, and Bread for the World President Rev. David Beckmann.  Beckmann feels strongly saying "We hope our fast will help draw public attention to threatened cuts to programs that help hungry and poor people,”

Joining the fast are several other hunger leaders, students and even members of the media.  Take a minute to read why AJWS President Ruth Messinger   is fasting or New York Times food critic Mark Bittman is fasting. 

This is an important time. Please consider following those who are fasting on facebook, twitter and more importantly share their stories and the stories of the poor with others. We need your help to urge congress to seek justice for the poor.  

Twitter: @tony_p_hall @davidbeckmann, @jimwallis @ruth_messinger @bittman @journeyscript and more!

SOUPER Bowl was Super!

Thanks to all of you churches that collected and reported your hunger offering for Souper Bowl Sunday! Thanks to the help from all the churches in our Presbytery, the SOUPERBOWL currently has raised over $6.7 million dollars for hungry people! Groups just like the above from Longmont Central Presbyterian Church worked really hard for this! Nice Job!

It was just overnight....

Working in my building this week with educators supporting the new teachers in our district. We have some very talented, bright folks here who really know their stuff!

I'm working tech support and liaison for our building and was asking the presenter for the plenary what equipment she needed for the next day. She said all she needed was an overhead in the auditorium for the 150 folks. I asked if she was joking. She was very good natured about it, saying that she knew she needed to step up. I encouraged her to think about content rather than be overwhelmed about the technology.

We chatted for a while and she felt pretty confident that she and her husband could work that evening and get her preso changed to Keynote. Next morning came- and she was incredibly confident and proud saying that she got it! (finished about 2am!:)

You might have guessed that not only was her presentation relevant and meaningful, but it was so well done that folks really got what they needed out of it. Not only that- she ran the whole presentation from a new app she downloaded from her iPhone! VERY COOL! :)

So- I guess I learned that sometimes we can be the people that gently nudge others to do great and important work. Sometimes change takes place overnight!

Water Research

In looking for resources for a presentation I'm doing at Fort Collins 1st Presbyterian, I ran across this video from Think Outside the Bottle campaign.

There are lots of PCUSA resources too! Visit:
http://www.pcusa.org/trade/thirst.htm

We pray for Haiti

PCUSA.org has already posted a way to respond to the crisis in Haiti. Prayer and our energies and resources could all go a long way.

Funds from One Great Hour of Sharing are already helping with the initial response to the crisis, but you can contribute to the ongoing relief through PDA account number DR000064.

Two PC(USA) mission workers Sharyn Babe and Mark Hare have been located and are safe. Read more about the situation and future response by clicking here.

Haiti Earthquake- HELP NEEDED!

From Church World Service:
A 7.0-magnitude quake struck Haiti Tuesday, shattering buildings and forever changing lives. While authorities still don’t know the extent of the damage, it is estimated that 3 million people may be affected by Haiti’s worst earthquake in 200 years. One survivor reports there are thousands of people roaming the streets, looking for shelter.
Haiti is already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 8 out of 10 people living in extreme poverty. It’s a place where many in the world have turned their backs. But not Church World Service. (CNN story)

Now, a massive earthquake has hit this already vulnerable island nation, and the needs there are greater than ever before.

Presbyterian Disaster Relief has already set up a donation line for help. They are also gathering information about the safety of mission partners. We pray for Haiti

Contributions may be directed to PDA account number DR000064.

Plains and Peaks offering to Hunger Fund

At the August meeting of Plains and Peaks Presbytery, it was voted that the offering collected go to the Presbyterian Church USA, General Hunger fund #H999999

This is tremendous support for Hunger work! The fund helps support five major areas:

• Direct Food Relief
• Development Assistance
• Influencing Public Policy
• Lifestyle Integrity
• Education

For more information visit: Hunger Fund! at http://www.pcusa.org/hunger/give.htm

HR 2139 has 100!

Bread for the World President David Beckman just sent this email message of good news:

Hallelujah! As of today, we have just reached 100 cosponsors for H.R. 2139, the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009! Thank you. This would not have happened without your phone calls, visits, personal letters, and emails.

Reform of U.S. foreign aid is getting the momentum and traction it needs!

If you would like to see if your Representative is co-sponsoring this bill, please go here and click on SHOW COSPONSORS
You will find a complete list of current co-sponsors. To date, our regions only cosponsor is Rep. Diana DeGette [D-CO1]. Please continue to contact your representative and urge them to co-sponsor.

Also- during the fall recess, Bread for the World is encouraging home state visits to both your representative's office and senator. Please check back to this blog for further information as these meetings are set up. Or- contact me directly!