briefly - presbyterian peace fellowship · 2018-07-24 · kairos usa, led by the presbyterian peace...
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...BRIEFLYPresbyterian Peace Fellowship
Vol. 68 Winter 2012www.presbypeacefellowship.org [email protected]
Trusting the Nonviolence of Jesus Christ Today
Hearing the Bethlehem CallBy Rick Ufford-Chase
More than 60 representatives from 15 countriesaround the world met in Bethlehem in December andagreed to continue the work of Kairos Palestine bycalling for a Kairos Movement for Justice around theworld. Presbyterian Peace Fellowship Executive Di-rector Rick Ufford-Chase and National Committeemember Judith Lee participated in the conference.(See the entire text of the Bethlehem Call on the PPFweb site.) Christian Palestinians cry out from within the suffer-ing in their country. They suffer under the Israeli oc-cupation. They cry for hope in the absence of allhope. These Christian Palestinians gathered over 60people from 15 countries to Bethlehem to hear theircry, to hear their hearts breaking. Church leadersfrom every tradition spoke to the Kairos Palestinedocument they wrote two years ago. The group lis-tened to the Christian leaders in Palestine interprettheir own Kairos Palestine. Those gathered in Bethle-hem heard the hearts of the occupied Palestiniansbreaking, then met in small, diverse groups, and lis-tened to one another.
This conference wasn’t just a plea to support the Pal-estinians; it was an invitation to contextualize thework of Kairos in new places around the world. It wasa call to South Africans to awaken the S. Africanchurch from the “Kairos siesta” - a complacencywhich has overtaken them in the years since Nelson
Mandela took office. It was a call to people from Indiato the Philippines to examine the church’s inactionthat results in the suffering of the oppressed. It is acall to western European countries to re-examine theirown complicity in Israel’s ever-expanding occupationof Palestine, and to insist that the church will step-up. It is a demanding call to the churches in the USA toacknowledge the ways in which our timidity has em-boldened the USA to cause immeasurable sufferingnot only to Palestinians but the poor and oppressedthroughout the world.
Together, more than 60 representatives from 15 coun-tries around the world agreed that they will take onthe work of building a Kairos Movement for Justice. Together they wrote The Bethlehem Call. The Bethle-hem Call is a bold, prophetic, poetic, pastoral and de-manding call on Christians around the world to live asGod intends and to be concerned for both the op-pressed and the oppressor and end systems of injus-tice.
Kairos USA, led by the Presbyterian Peace Fellow-ship and other concerned Christians, has taken a firststep toward answering Palestinian Christians and TheBethlehem Call by calling Christian scholars, theolo-gians and leaders from around the country to StonyPoint to listen, to answer, and to write a Kairos USAdocument that will be a call to the church to end itscomplicity in the suffering of peoples around theworld. We’ll have a progress report on this work atour April convocation (see p 8).
The Journey to
BethlehemBy Judith Lee
Rick and I entered Bethlehem via anIsraeli checkpoint that led to a passagethrough the 26 ft. concrete wall thatsurrounds Bethlehem. It is a city withan 8-meter wall that even snakes withinit, dividing Palestinians from each oth-er. The wall divides family members,businesses from customers, and farmersfrom their olive groves and their land. Bethlehem is surrounded by illegal Is-raeli settlements that keep expandingand encroaching into Palestinian land. Yet I saw faith and hope where therewas no reason for either. I sat withRami (an Israeli) and Bassam (a Pales-tinian) in a restaurant dedicated to pro-viding a place where all people canmeet in peace. Rami's daughter isdead. Killed by a Palestinian suicidebomber. Bassam's daughter is dead. Killed by an Israeli soldier as she skip-ped home from school. Children killedby this awful, raging occupation andsystemic violence. Yet we hugged, andthen visited for hours. The lives of Bas-sam and Rami overflow with the pas-sion to act against the violence, to tellschool children how the violence andthe occupation must end now. Neverhave I seen more love than I witnessedthat day between these two unlikelybrothers. They have chosen one anotherwith faith, hope, and love. Jesus was born in Bethlehem under occupation by theRomans. Bethlehem is still occupied, but now by Is-rael. I saw the faith and hope of our Palestinian Chris-tian sisters and brothers, crying out to us. Will weanswer? Will we make a difference? Maybe it's ourlast chance. I thank God for our Muslim, Jewish andChristian sisters and brothers so far away, determinedto seek justice nonviolently, in love. How will werespond?
General Assembly Internship with PPF
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship (PPF) is seekingapplicants for an internship at the PC(USA) 220thGeneral Assembly, June 29- July 7, 2012. Applicantsought to be energetic, engaged, and interested inlearning about and participating in the GeneralAssembly (GA) advocacy and legislativeprocess—particularly as it relates to peacemaking,nonviolence, and justice. These interns will assist PPFwith drafting briefing papers for commissioners,staffing our exhibit hall booth, helping with the PeaceBreakfast, monitoring a GA committee, meeting withPPF National Committee members, staff, and ourpartner organizations, and helping coordinate overtureadvocates.
Applicants are to be under 30 at the time of the 220thGeneral Assembly in Pittsburgh, PA, June 29- July 7,2012. Interns’ expenses will be paid by the PPF,including travel, housing, and some GA meals such as the Peace Breakfast. The application deadline isFebruary 15, 2012. See the PPF web site at www.presbypeacefellowship.org for information.
...BRIEFLY is the newsletter of the
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship17 Cricketown Road Stony Point, NY 10980
presbypeacefellowship.org 845-786-6743
Roger Powers and Libby Shannon, Co-Moderators
Len Bjorkman, Moderator Emeritus
Judy Lee, Secretary Will White, Treasurer
Peggy Howland, Asst. Treasurer Carrie Dixon, Bookkeeper
Shannan Vance-Ocampo, Colombia Program Director
MaryAnn Harwell, Office Administrator
Matt Black, Webservant [email protected]
Linda Eastwood,Colombia Accompaniment Coordinator
216-502-5434 [email protected]
Maggie Leonard, Heeding God’s Call Coordinator
[email protected] 919-260-8593
Rick Ufford-Chase, Executive Director
Fritz Gutwein, Associate Director 202-681-3437
BRIEFLY is funded entirely by gifts from our readers, members &friends. Send donations, address change/ subscription needs toMaryAnn Harwell at our StonyPoint office. Write to the editors at:Jan Orr-Harter PO Box 930, Aledo, TX 76008 [email protected] & Marilyn White 2705 Edenwood Dr Austin, TX78745 [email protected] 512-450-2766.
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Carrying a Cross at the SOA VigilBy Shannan Vance-Ocampo
“Guillermo de Jesús Ariza.”
That was the name on the cross that I was given tocarry at the School of the Americas Vigil inNovember. The SOA research team writes this aboutthe massacre that killed Guillermo:
On 11 November 1988 heavily armed men drove intrucks into the center of Segovia, opened fire andthrew grenades indiscriminately, killing 43 people,including three children, and wounding over 50others. The regular garrisons of the police andmilitary (belonging to the Batallón Bomboná of the16th Brigade) stood by while the killers moved freelythrough the town for over an hour. Their entryappeared to have been facilitated by the removal ofmilitary checkpoints normally stationed on the roadinto the town. The paramilitary force made itsgetaway in three vehicles in which they traveled fromSegovia through the neighboring town of Remediostowards Puerto Berrío. No attempt was made by thesecurity forces to detain the group. Local armyspokesmen immediately attributed the killing toguerrilla groups, but after the army version waschallenged by survivors, the then Minister of theInterior, César Gaviria Trujillo, said a "right-wingparamilitary group" was responsible. Now I had a cross with his Guillermo’s name on it inmy hands twenty-three years later, a cross I carriedwith me all day, lifted high in the air with each“Presente!”, a cross I placed into the gates of amilitary base in my own country that has trained somany people who have returned to their countriesthroughout Latin America to commit massacres,torture, and intimidation of their people. I thoughtabout Guillermo all day during the Vigil outside thegates of Ft. Benning—I wondered about his life, andwho he was—and I prayed for the family that I amsure is still grieving the senseless loss of his life. This past year the Presbyterian Peace Fellowshipworked tirelessly along with our other grassrootspartners to try to stop Congress from passing theUS-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. One of the
main reasons for this was that we have been told byour partners in Colombia that the CFTA will allow forgreat incursion of multi-nationals to take over andexploit the land of Colombia. Our program ofAccompaniment in Colombia is with displacedcommunities and a church that has committed its lifeand mission to walking beside and serving thedisplaced people of Colombia. We worked againstthe CFTA because we know it will only increaseland-grabs and forced displacement in Colombia.
The cross I carried at the SOA for Guillermo de JesúsAriza represents the struggle that we have been aboutthis past year. Land grabs. Multinationals teamingup with paramilitary forces and even parts of theColombian armed forces to keep local people off theland that multinational interests want to exploit foreconomic gain. Greed that leads to death of peopleand death of a way of life.
I was honored to receive Guillermo’s cross, to havethe opportunity to go back and figure out who he wasand to be reminded that the struggle we in PPF were apart of this fall is part of a larger and deeper struggleof conscience against war, militarism, death, andviolence. Carrying his cross last Sunday was an actof faithfulness for me. I keep thinking about howhonored I was to carry Guillermo’s cross.
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Peaceseekers to be honored at General Assembly
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship will present the 2011 Peaceseeker Award to Victor Makari and the 2012Peaceseeker Award to Alice Winters at the General Assembly Peace Breakfast on July 4 in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania.
2011 Peaceseeker: Victor MakariBy Len Bjorkman
For 20 years the Rev. Dr. Victor Makari served thePC(USA) as an Area Coordinator with World Mis-sion, relating at various times to partner churches inthe Middle East and Asia Minor, Europe, and Southand Southeast Asia. His service included working asCoordinator/Executive Director of the Jinishian Me-morial Program (ministering with Armenians in Ar-menia and the Middle East), and relating ecumeni-cally to the Middle East Council of Churches, the Fel-lowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches, theWorld Council of Churches, the World Alliance ofReformed Churches, the National Council of Church-es in the US, and the PC(USA) offices of InterfaithRelations and Witness in Washington, D.C.
He was instrumental in the formation of four Mid-dle East Mission Networks related to partner churchesin Israel-Palestine, Iraq, Syria-Lebanon, and Egypt. As he related to partners in the several regions, hedealt, through formal and informal consultations, withmany sensitive issues among the churches and with allof their interfaith and governmental concerns. As anArea Coordinator, he presented the PC(USA)’s con-cerns at General Assemblies and their Committees asthey formulated policy positions on innumerable as-pects of the Church’s relationships nationally and glo-bally. In collaboration with the Presbyterian UnitedNations Office, he represented the PC(USA)’s MiddleEast policies and concerns (particularly vis-à-vis Is-rael and Palestine) to the United Nations and its bu-reaus that relate to international non-governmentalorganizations.
A regular part of his responsibilities was interpret-ing the Church’s policies to its constituency throughpublic speaking at meetings of congregations andpresbyteries, writing for church publications, and con-sulting with mission committees. Occasionally, hewould lead travel seminar groups visiting partners andbringing common and mutual concerns of justice,peacemaking and mission relations to a deeper sense
of awareness. Hefacilitated invita-tions of partnersfrom the respectiveregions he served totake part in pro-grams such as theInternational Peace-makers, InterfaithListening, and Ecu-menical AdvisoryDelegates and Rep-r e s e n t a t i v e a tPC(USA) GeneralAssemblies.
Among his ma-jor duties was thepresentation and
review of mission position requests coming from ourpartners, helping in the process of selection and orien-tation of missionary candidates and the supervision ofmission personnel on the field, and facilitating theirrelations with partners.
Victor was born in Egypt and received degreesfrom Assiut American College at Assiut, Egypt, andthe Evangelical Theological Seminary at Cairo (B.Th., 1959). In the US he studied at Princeton Semi-nary (M. Div.,1964), Columbia Seminary (Th.M.,1965), and McCormick Seminary (special graduatestudies in1965), and Northwestern University's MedillSchool of Journalism (special studies, Fall 1965). AtTemple University he received an M.A. in 1972, and aPh.D. in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in 1976.
In his retirement he continues his interest in manyconcerns dealing with the Middle East and Muslim-Christian relations, as is evidenced by his article in theSept. 2011 issue of Presbyterians Today, entitled,“Reaching out to neighbors in faith.” The summary is“Understanding what Muslims believe can help us bebetter peacemakers as well as better witnesses to JesusChrist.”
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2012 Peaceseeker: Alice WintersBy Shannan Vance-Ocampo
As the Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia writes, theRev. Dr. Alice Winters is “a woman dedicated toreading and teaching the Bible from the experienceand hope of communities.” The Presbyterian PeaceFellowship is overjoyed to present our 2012 Peace-seeker Award to the Rev. Dr. Alice Winters for herservice as a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-worker in Colombia, South America from 1977-2011. Alice holds a special place in the life of the Presbyte-rian Peace Fellowship. She has helped us as an orga-nization dedicated to the work of nonviolence andpeacemaking to respond to the call of our sisters andbrothers in Colombia and to find our grounding in theexperience of community and the Bible.
Alice Winters’ career in ministry began in themid-1970’s with study at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. She then spent time in Guatemala learning and work-ing alongside local base communities. She traveledduring that time to Colombia, resulting in a formalinvitation from the Presbyterian Church in Colombiato the Presbyterian Church in the United States for herto serve as a mission worker in Northwest Colombia. Alice’s service in Colombia began in 1977 and sheserved as a traveling preacher and teacher to the con-gregations of that region. Early in her tenure Alicebegan to set up teaching academies for lay membersof the church in Colombia, offering local leaders in-struction on how to teach the Bible, literacy, andpreaching. From the start, Alice was committed to empowering and engaging local communities andidentifying local leaders. She made special efforts toreach out to women in these communities, and to takethe opportunity to preach and teach on the Biblicalmandates about the leadership of women in ancientChristian communities.
Alice founded the Bible Institute in Valencia, Co-lombia, and was a part of the leadership of the Presby-terian Theological Seminary in Bogotá, Colombia,which later became the Reformed University based inBarranquilla, Colombia. She served as Rector from1987-1991. Alice’s classes in Colombia have alwaysbeen popular among people of all theological persua-sions. Her method of teaching was never to put uptheological walls in her classroom, but to allow theBible and the experience of the people to speak—andto then allow the opportunity and space for people to
come to theirown theologicalc o n v i c t i o n s . Alice has re-marked tha tbecause of thisopen method ofteaching, manyp e o p l e w h ohave come intoher classroomshave experi-enced changesin their theolog-ical viewpoints.
Alice hasm o d e l e dthroughout her
time in Colombia a deep and profound trusting of theSpirit—allowing its winds to blow when and whereGod chooses. She has always prioritized the voicesof women, displaced persons, farmers, and local com-munities in her classes and writings on the Bible, al-lowing their experience to speak to the current realityof life in Colombia and what God is doing in theirmidst and where they and we are called to in the fu-ture.
Over the last eight years, Alice has been instru-mental in the formation and support of the ColombiaAccompaniment Program—a ministry of the Presby-terian Church (U.S.A.) of community accompanimentat the request of the Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colom-bia. Alice’s advocacy, in the United States, for thechurch in Colombia was a key part of the formation ofthis program and she has taken the time to meet withnearly every accompanier who has served in Colom-bia and to engage them in the study of the Bible, help-ing them to hear the voices of the local communityand to listen for the leading of the Spirit in their lives. Without Alice this incredible program of direct, non-violent human intervention in places of violence andfear in Colombia never would have taken shape. Itsunderpinnings are in the many decades of relation-ships that Alice has built in local communities in Co-lombia and the United States and in the leadership shehas exhibited in the Presbyterian Church in Colombia.
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A Peacemaker’s CalendarMarch 1-5: Colombia Accompaniment TrainingStony Point, NY
Can you give a month to accompany our Colombiansisters and brothers in the Presbyterian Church of Co-lombia as they work for human rights work and tosupport of the communities who have been displacedby the over forty years of violence in their beautifulcountry? They ask us to act as international accompa-niers in order to provide a measure ofsafety—international eyes—for their work. If you be-lieve you could help, then plan to come to one of ourupcoming training sessions: March 1-5, August 16-20and October 4-8, 2012, all at the Stony Point Center,New York.
For more information, visit our web-site athttp://www.presbypeacefellowship.org/two/colombia/accompaniment and then contact Accompaniment Co-ordinator Linda Eastwood at [email protected]. We, and our partners inColombia, look forward to working with you!
March 23: Compassion, Peace and Justice TrainingDay at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church,Washington, DC
Join the Office of Public Witness and all the minis-tries of Compassion, Peace and Justice to explore“Presbyterians and Economic Justice.” Participantswill have a full day of practical church based trainingand investigate the role Christians must play intoday’s changing society particularly on issues of eco-nomic justice. Topics of plenaries and workshopswill include faith-based community organizing, prac-tical tools for simple living, justice as discipleshipmaking, social responsibility through investing, andmany more! Learn more and register athttp://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/washington/
March 23–26: Ecumenical Advocacy DaysWashington, DC
Join other Christians in seeking a global economy anda national budget that break the yoke of injustice, pov-erty, hunger and unemployment throughout the world.
Learn about “Economy, Livelihood and Our NationalPriorities” from plenary speakers Margaret Aymerand Gary Dorrien. PPF Director of Colombia Pro-grams Shannan Vance-Ocampo will lead a workshopon “How Bio-fuel Production Is Causing Bloodshedand Displacement in Colombia.” Learn more and reg-ister at advocacydays.org.
April 14-17: SOA Watch April Days of Action Washington, DC
SOA Watch supporters will return to the streets of DCfresh off the energy from the November 2011 vigil inFort Benning, and ready to train, lobby, engage incivil disobedience and celebrate the resistance!Schedule: Wednesday, April 11-Friday, April 13: Di-rect Action Training Camp - come and learn the skillsyou'll need to make election year exciting and get theSOA and militarization on the national agenda!Saturday, April 14 and Sunday April 15: Strategy Ses-sions - learn about other struggles, the SOA Watchmovement and put heads together to see where we areheaded, and how we are going to do it!Monday, April 16 and Tuesday, April 17: Lobbyingon Capitol Hill and street actions. Take what you'velearned and get your Congress member to cosponsorHR 3368! And don't forget lively parades in the street,and who doesn't want to get arrested speaking out forjustice??!
Art, culture and music will be an integral part of themobilization. Learn more at soaw.org.
April 26-29: Convocation of PeacemakersStony Point, NY
Join peacemakers from across the country at the Pres-byterian Peace Fellowship’s third annual convocation:Peace Church Beta. Fellowship, planning and orga-nizing will focus on The PC(USA)’s discernment tobecome a Peace Church, Israel/Palestine, GeneralAssembly Advocacy, Antiracism, Preventing GunViolence, and Colombia Accompaniment and Advo-cacy. Learn more at www.presbypeacefellowship.org.Email [email protected] for scholarship infor-mation.
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Looking Ahead to General Assembly
Plan now to join the Peace Fellowship at the 220th
General Assembly of the PC(USA) in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania June 29-July 7. There is a volunteer op-portunity for you if you have an hour to spare or ifyou want to work with us all week!
The Peace BreakfastMark your calendar now for the General AssemblyPeace Breakfast, 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, July 4 atthe Westin Convention Center hotel. Please help ushonor our peaceseekers, Victor Makari and AliceWinters, and welcome our keynote speaker, J. HerbertNelson from the Office of Public Witness.
AdvocacyOvertures and resolutions are expected on Is-rael/Palestine, immigration, Iran, economic justice,and many other peacemaking topics. Help is neededbefore General Assembly to review overtures anddraft briefing papers. Voices for nonviolence andcompassion are needed at GA open hearings. Observ-ers are needed to make notes during committee meet-ings for our summary reports.
InternsApplicants under 30 are invited to apply for a GA in-ternship with PPF (see page 2). Your housing andtransportation costs will be covered.
Media TeamBloggers, photographers, reporters, tweeters, andfacebook artists can help us keep folks at home intouch with the General Assembly action every day.
HostsHelp accompany our special guests to scheduledevents, welcome participants to our breakfast, set upfor or lead a booth conversation, or run errands.
To volunteer for any of these opportunities, pleasesend an email to [email protected] Ourvolunteers will have access to our block of budget-friendly hotel rooms, meaningful work, and great fel-lowship throughout the GA week. Please also let us know about any overtures that your presbytery issending to GA.
The Sanctuary of Presente
The fence was transformed
Once again
Into an unseasonable sacred space
A sanctuary of nonviolence
By the power of the spirit
Festooned on chain-links and barbed wire
White crosses and stars hung
Carrying names of the disappeared
Their holy images
And banners with messages of hope
This quiet metamorphosis
Emerged from simple acts of many hands
As tears welled
The remembered rang through stately wood
Of brilliant and falling leaves of autumn
In solemn preparation
Of a joyous spring
Presente
......Ken Kennon
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Join peacemakers from across the country to fellowship, plan, and organize:
·The PC(USA)’s discernment to become aPeace Church
· Israel/Palestine
·General Assembly Advocacy
·Antiracism
·Preventing Gun Violence
·Colombia Accompaniment andAdvocacy
Stony Point Center, Stony Point, NY
"Beta" is a term used in software development to indicate that the software is still in testing—it's not a final release, andnot all questions have been answered. We chose this term to indicate the status of the PC(USA)'s discernment inembracing nonviolence as church policy— what will it look like for the PC(USA) to become a peace church? Whatquestions are yet to be answered? This event aims to be instrumental in helping the PC(USA) ask itself those questionsand others. This not a normal conference, but a working meeting for peacemakers, organizers, and activists from acrossthe church to plan together for effective advocacy and action. Register at www.presbypeacefellowship.org Scholarshipsare available: To inquire about a scholarship, please email us at [email protected]
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
17 Cricketown Road
Stony Point, NY 10980
www.presbypeacefellowship.org
...Briefly Winter 2012Vigil at the SOA - p3
Report from Bethlehem - p 1-2