Wow. I just woke up from a long nap in MY BED!!! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. I made it home safely this afternoon and am waiting for David to get home from work.
I will definitely post pictures and stories soon. I am still processing everything we saw and did. I talked to some of you right before I left last Saturday and you know I did NOT want to go, however, I am SO glad I did. I was pulled and stretched and it was great because it just made more room for love and blessings to fill my life!
Last Sunday we worshipped in Tuscon and we sang a hymn I hadn't sung in a LONG time. The chorus has been running through my head all week.
"There's a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place.
And I know that it's the Spirit of the Lord.
There are sweet expressions on each face,
And I know they feel the presence of the Lord.
Sweet Holy Spirit,
Sweet Heavenly Dove,
Stay right here with us,
Filling us with your love.
And for these blessings,
we lift our hearts in praise.
Without a doubt we'll know
that we have been revived
When we shall leave this place."
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Disclaimer
I just posted about my trip to the border and thought I should offer a disclaimer. I know immigration is a hot issue and not everyone who loves me and reads our blog will agree with my choice to go on this trip. I wanted to offer the following:
I do not view the immigration debate as a Republican or Democrat. I approach the issue as a person of faith, wrestling with what it means to provide "hospitality to the stranger."
I believe the crisis at the border is indeed a humanitarian crisis. I am hopeful to learn more about why people migrate and how Christians can drive public policy toward a solution that is fair and just.
I posted earlier about my belief that Christians are called to the periphery to be in solidarity with the suffering people of the world. I am trying to respond to God's call to "be present at the bleeding points of humanity."
I will have no access to a computer while I am gone, but I am planning on journaling and will post when I return!
I do not view the immigration debate as a Republican or Democrat. I approach the issue as a person of faith, wrestling with what it means to provide "hospitality to the stranger."
I believe the crisis at the border is indeed a humanitarian crisis. I am hopeful to learn more about why people migrate and how Christians can drive public policy toward a solution that is fair and just.
I posted earlier about my belief that Christians are called to the periphery to be in solidarity with the suffering people of the world. I am trying to respond to God's call to "be present at the bleeding points of humanity."
I will have no access to a computer while I am gone, but I am planning on journaling and will post when I return!
Borderlands Trip
I leave on Saturday with a group of Iliff students to go to the Arizona/Mexico border to work with the organization "No More Deaths." (Just in case you don't know, I've embedded the link so click on No More Deaths for more info!) I received a schedule from my professor and thought I would post it!
Saturday, August 23: Arrive at the Tucson airport at 4:26 P.M. Dinner at the Fife's. Get acquainted. Sleep at the Lefebvre's and the Desert House.
Sunday, August 24: Background orientation, Worship at Southside Presbyterian Church. Volunteer training for NMD. Travel to camp near the border. Get acquainted with other volunteers.
Monday, August 25: Training in use of gps and map reading. Afternoon patrol looking for migrants and setting out food and water. Evening de-brief.
Tuesday, August 26: Morning and afternoon patrols. Evening de-brief.
Wednesday, August 27: Morning patrol. Pack and leave for Tucson. Rest. Evening de-brief of camp experience. Pack for Altar.
Thursday, August 28: Leave for Mexico. Stop at NMD Aid Station at the border. Travel to Altar, a staging area for migrants who will enter the U.S. Stay at a church migrant center. Conversation with staff and guests at the center.
Friday, August 29: Visit with migrants at the plaza in Altar about their experience. Return to Tucson . Rest. De-brief aid station and Altar trips.
Saturday, August 30: Morning trip to the Tohono Oldham reservation and the cultural center. Talk with Mike Wilson who saves lives in the most deadly section of the border. Return to Tucson. Rest. Dinner at the Lefebvre's and de-brief of the whole trip.
Sunday, August 31: Return to Denver
I am excited to go but VERY nervous! Prayers are always appreciated! =)
Saturday, August 23: Arrive at the Tucson airport at 4:26 P.M. Dinner at the Fife's. Get acquainted. Sleep at the Lefebvre's and the Desert House.
Sunday, August 24: Background orientation, Worship at Southside Presbyterian Church. Volunteer training for NMD. Travel to camp near the border. Get acquainted with other volunteers.
Monday, August 25: Training in use of gps and map reading. Afternoon patrol looking for migrants and setting out food and water. Evening de-brief.
Tuesday, August 26: Morning and afternoon patrols. Evening de-brief.
Wednesday, August 27: Morning patrol. Pack and leave for Tucson. Rest. Evening de-brief of camp experience. Pack for Altar.
Thursday, August 28: Leave for Mexico. Stop at NMD Aid Station at the border. Travel to Altar, a staging area for migrants who will enter the U.S. Stay at a church migrant center. Conversation with staff and guests at the center.
Friday, August 29: Visit with migrants at the plaza in Altar about their experience. Return to Tucson . Rest. De-brief aid station and Altar trips.
Saturday, August 30: Morning trip to the Tohono Oldham reservation and the cultural center. Talk with Mike Wilson who saves lives in the most deadly section of the border. Return to Tucson. Rest. Dinner at the Lefebvre's and de-brief of the whole trip.
Sunday, August 31: Return to Denver
I am excited to go but VERY nervous! Prayers are always appreciated! =)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Interfaith Worker Justice
Friday was the last day of my internship and tomorrow I leave for debrief in Chicago. I realized I haven't written anything about the work I've been doing this summer! Here is some basic info:
The internship I did was through an organization called "Interfaith Worker Justice." Their philosophy is:
1.The US faces a national crisis in terms of the rapid increase in workers earning poverty wages and the vast number of workplaces that routinely violate workers' rights. This crisis requires a broad-based approach to the work.
2.All religions believe that workers should be paid fairly and treated respectfully.
3.People of faith want to help low-wage workers but generally do not know how to get started. Getting people involved is an organizing challenge, not particularly an ideological one.
4.The majority of people of faith wants to help low-wage workers but do not see unions as vehicles for economic justice. Talking cannot change these negative stereotypes. Rather, people of faith must get to know workers who are struggling for unions and union organizers who are on the front lines of justice, which is why building local interfaith committees is so important.
This summer I worked at Service Employees International Union. SEIU is the fastest growing union in the U.S. and represents service employees like janitors, security guards, and home healthcare workers. Here are some things I learned about unions this summer:
1.In the 1950's union membership stood at a high of 35%. Unions helped negotiate social policies that helped all working people rise out of poverty and helped bring about Social Security, the 8-hour work day, paid overtime, vacations, and pensions.
2.Union membership now stands at 12% (8% in Colorado) which means there is less negotiating power. It also means that most workers don't know anyone personally who has benefitted from a union.
3.Unions are blamed for increasing costs and causing outsourcing. However, what has increased is CEO salaries, not low-wage worker salaries. Between 1973 and 2003, the average member of the top 1 percent of wage earners saw an after-tax income increase of 129%. During the same time period, the bottom 20% of wage earners saw an after-tax income increase of 4%. Regarding outsourcing, Sweden is 87% union and does not outsource.
4.In Japan, the average CEO makes 11x more than the average worker. In England and Germany, the average CEO makes 13 times the average worker. In the United States, the average CEO makes 540 times the average worker.
5.Unions help close the gap for women and minorities. Nationally, the gap between men's and women's pay is 32%, but between union men and women, the gap is only 5%. Latino union members earn 45% more than nonunion Latinos. African Americans earn 30% more if they are union.
6.Workers in the United States face some of the weakest worker protection laws in the industrialized world. In the US, over 10,000 workers are illegally fired each year for union activity.
7.80% of employers hire high-priced anti-union consultants and lawyers when they find out their workers are trying to organize.
8.Workers who try to organize are often punished by the employer. Employers change their shift, cut their hours, threaten job loss, and sometimes threaten deportation.
Here are some pics from Chicago and Denver:
The internship I did was through an organization called "Interfaith Worker Justice." Their philosophy is:
1.The US faces a national crisis in terms of the rapid increase in workers earning poverty wages and the vast number of workplaces that routinely violate workers' rights. This crisis requires a broad-based approach to the work.
2.All religions believe that workers should be paid fairly and treated respectfully.
3.People of faith want to help low-wage workers but generally do not know how to get started. Getting people involved is an organizing challenge, not particularly an ideological one.
4.The majority of people of faith wants to help low-wage workers but do not see unions as vehicles for economic justice. Talking cannot change these negative stereotypes. Rather, people of faith must get to know workers who are struggling for unions and union organizers who are on the front lines of justice, which is why building local interfaith committees is so important.
This summer I worked at Service Employees International Union. SEIU is the fastest growing union in the U.S. and represents service employees like janitors, security guards, and home healthcare workers. Here are some things I learned about unions this summer:
1.In the 1950's union membership stood at a high of 35%. Unions helped negotiate social policies that helped all working people rise out of poverty and helped bring about Social Security, the 8-hour work day, paid overtime, vacations, and pensions.
2.Union membership now stands at 12% (8% in Colorado) which means there is less negotiating power. It also means that most workers don't know anyone personally who has benefitted from a union.
3.Unions are blamed for increasing costs and causing outsourcing. However, what has increased is CEO salaries, not low-wage worker salaries. Between 1973 and 2003, the average member of the top 1 percent of wage earners saw an after-tax income increase of 129%. During the same time period, the bottom 20% of wage earners saw an after-tax income increase of 4%. Regarding outsourcing, Sweden is 87% union and does not outsource.
4.In Japan, the average CEO makes 11x more than the average worker. In England and Germany, the average CEO makes 13 times the average worker. In the United States, the average CEO makes 540 times the average worker.
5.Unions help close the gap for women and minorities. Nationally, the gap between men's and women's pay is 32%, but between union men and women, the gap is only 5%. Latino union members earn 45% more than nonunion Latinos. African Americans earn 30% more if they are union.
6.Workers in the United States face some of the weakest worker protection laws in the industrialized world. In the US, over 10,000 workers are illegally fired each year for union activity.
7.80% of employers hire high-priced anti-union consultants and lawyers when they find out their workers are trying to organize.
8.Workers who try to organize are often punished by the employer. Employers change their shift, cut their hours, threaten job loss, and sometimes threaten deportation.
Here are some pics from Chicago and Denver:
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Denver Urban Gardens/SAME Cafe
The group of young adults I work with at Trinity UMC have been studying Shane Claiborne's "Simply Enough" DVD series. In response to the lesson on "food," we decided to visit Denver Urban Gardens and volunteer at Delaney Farm. Delaney Farm is in the middle of a suburban/urban community and grows organic produce for the community. Never being much of a gardener myself, I have a whole new appreciation for the work that goes into producing food. We were pulling weeds and I bent down and there were carrots popping out of the ground. I nearly shouted! It's pretty cool to see the vegetables in the ground/on the vine/on the plant! =)
After pulling weeds, we had lunch together at SAME Cafe. SAME is an acronym for "So All May Eat" and is a restaurant in Downtown Denver that was started by a husband and wife. They were frequent volunteers at food banks and shelters and were discouraged by the quality of food served and the fact that people who ate there had no choices. They decided to open a restaurant that uses local, organic produce to create healthy (and delicious!) meals, and the best part is that it's "pay as you can." There are no set prices so people who can't afford to pay a lot don't have to. If people can't pay at all, they can trade an hour of work at the restaurant (washing dishes, serving, cooking) for a meal. Pretty cool! =)
After pulling weeds, we had lunch together at SAME Cafe. SAME is an acronym for "So All May Eat" and is a restaurant in Downtown Denver that was started by a husband and wife. They were frequent volunteers at food banks and shelters and were discouraged by the quality of food served and the fact that people who ate there had no choices. They decided to open a restaurant that uses local, organic produce to create healthy (and delicious!) meals, and the best part is that it's "pay as you can." There are no set prices so people who can't afford to pay a lot don't have to. If people can't pay at all, they can trade an hour of work at the restaurant (washing dishes, serving, cooking) for a meal. Pretty cool! =)
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Protesters and Prophets
Last night I went back to Aurora to support the day laborers at El Centro. Again, we held a rally outside of City Hall before the city council meeting. At first, the turn out was small, but slowly workers and religious people began to congregate. I've only been twice, but some of these folks have been coming to every city council meeting for the past couple of months. I sometimes wonder at my own ability to persist when the "newness" of an issue wears off. I admire people who continue to come and continue to struggle, even when an issue gets "old."
I lost count of how many people spoke at the meeting, but we filled the speaker podium for over an hour. Three gentlemen from the Colorado Minutemen spoke angrily about illegal aliens who break the law and deserve the despair they experience, but most of the speakers were "El Centro" volunteers, faith leaders, and day laborers themselves.
I was SO proud of the group I was with. They spoke articulately and respectfully about the plight of day laborers in the community. The clergy I am proud to call my friends quoted Amos and Isaiah. One of my bilingual friends at Iliff told the council that the name "Aurora" in Spanish means "new beginning." She asked the council members to vote against the bill that would prevent "new beginnings" for so many people. She called for a "new beginning" and new relationship between city government, local businesses, and non-profit groups like El Centro, and pleaded with them to vote against the bill and instead come to the table and talk about a solution that works for everyone. Another of my Iliff friends spoke about being a woman of faith and a mother, and she told the council she wasn't sure how she would explain this to her children.
At the end of the night, city council voted to pass the bill 7-3. El Centro and the day laborers lost.
After leaving the meeting, we stood on the steps where we had rallied a few hours before. Even though we lost, there was a good spirit in the air. I am confident that El Centro will continue to serve day laborers in Aurora, whether it is illegal or not. Hopefully, city council will reconsider their invitation to the table.
What struck me the most about the evening was the significant difference between protesters and prophets. Shane Claiborne says we have too many protesters and not enough prophets. While protesters complain, prophets point us in a better way. I am grateful for the prophets I saw speak at the City Council meeting last night.
I lost count of how many people spoke at the meeting, but we filled the speaker podium for over an hour. Three gentlemen from the Colorado Minutemen spoke angrily about illegal aliens who break the law and deserve the despair they experience, but most of the speakers were "El Centro" volunteers, faith leaders, and day laborers themselves.
I was SO proud of the group I was with. They spoke articulately and respectfully about the plight of day laborers in the community. The clergy I am proud to call my friends quoted Amos and Isaiah. One of my bilingual friends at Iliff told the council that the name "Aurora" in Spanish means "new beginning." She asked the council members to vote against the bill that would prevent "new beginnings" for so many people. She called for a "new beginning" and new relationship between city government, local businesses, and non-profit groups like El Centro, and pleaded with them to vote against the bill and instead come to the table and talk about a solution that works for everyone. Another of my Iliff friends spoke about being a woman of faith and a mother, and she told the council she wasn't sure how she would explain this to her children.
At the end of the night, city council voted to pass the bill 7-3. El Centro and the day laborers lost.
After leaving the meeting, we stood on the steps where we had rallied a few hours before. Even though we lost, there was a good spirit in the air. I am confident that El Centro will continue to serve day laborers in Aurora, whether it is illegal or not. Hopefully, city council will reconsider their invitation to the table.
What struck me the most about the evening was the significant difference between protesters and prophets. Shane Claiborne says we have too many protesters and not enough prophets. While protesters complain, prophets point us in a better way. I am grateful for the prophets I saw speak at the City Council meeting last night.
Way to go, David!
David got an 82 on his first Pharmacology test! The class average was 72, and in a class of 48 people, there were only 9 grades higher than his. Way to go, David!!!
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