Illegal Guatemalan immigrant granted bail Tuesday
By Kyle Magin
North Lake Tahoe (NV) Bonanza
April 18, 2008
An Incline Village resident facing deportation proceedings was granted release on a $4,500 bail in Arizona court Tuesday.
…
A fund has been set up with St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Incline for Sandoval-Perez’s family. Meyer said the fund is meant to help them since Sandoval-Perez has been out of work for about one month now.
It’s all here …
Bishops seek thoughtful immigration debate
By Tim Carpenter
Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal
February 18, 2008
Three bishops serving Kansas congregations today issued a joint letter urging government officials to reform immigration policy in a manner that avoids demagoguery designed to spread fear.
As the Legislature prepares to consider bills written to discourage undocumented immigrants from residing in Kansas, the three leaders of the Episcopal, Lutheran and Methodist organizations expressed concern that Congress and President Bush had yet resolved the fate of millions of illegal workers in the United States.
The bishops -- Scott Jones of the United Methodist Church, Gerald Mansholt of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Dean Wolfe of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas -- said in a public letter that state legislators called upon to deal with the issue should reflect on the economic role immigrants filled in Kansas.
It’s all here …
Protestant bishops issue statement on immigration
2/18/2008
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Leaders of three Protestant denominations are calling on Kansans to reject fear and heated political rhetoric when dealing with immigration.
Issuing the statement are Bishops Dean Wolfe of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas; Scott Jameson Jones of the Kansas Area United Methodist Church; and Gerald Mansholt of the synod covering Kansas and Missouri in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.
They acknowledged that respect for the law is crucial and that the Bible commands believers to respect and obey government authorities. However, they said, the U.S. economy depends upon immigrant labor and federal and state laws do not reflect that reality.
It’s all here …
Episcopal church agrees to 'resist' illegal alien laws
By Julia Duin
The Washington Times
January 27, 2008
Virginia Episcopalians tangled over immigration yesterday, finally passing a resolution committing the 86,000-member diocese to resisting the "criminalization of persons providing humanitarian assistance to migrants."
Meeting at the Reston Hyatt for their annual council meeting, Episcopalians passionately debated whether they should "resist legislation and actions that violate our fundamental beliefs as Christians."
The resolution, "Working for a Just and Humane Legal Immigration Policy," also includes a provision that the council "opposes recent efforts by some local governments within our diocese to implement policies that deny rights, privileges and services to immigrants."
It’s all here …
Bishop exhorts Episcopalians to fund diocese
By Julia Duin
The Washington Times
January 26, 2008
Virginia Episcopal Bishop Peter J. Lee rebuked fellow Episcopalians yesterday for stinginess, saying the nation's largest Episcopal diocese is financially strapped because of the "continuing inability or unwillingness" of its churches to contribute.
Speaking at the annual diocesan council meeting at the Hyatt Regency Reston, he also revealed that the diocese has spent $2 million to date on a lawsuit involving 11 churches that left the diocese a year ago over differences in theology and the 2003 consecration of the openly homosexual New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson.
The diocese officially does not ordain homosexual clergy, although a resolution is on the table for today's meeting that would change that policy.
It’s all here …
Many churches call for compassion on immigration
By Patricia Farrell Aidem
01/25/2008
A Baptist, a Catholic, a Mormon and an assortment of other Christians fill the lengthy list of presidential candidates stumping the country as the pinnacle primary approaches.
All have talked about illegal immigration and offered solutions ranging from former Baptist minister Mike Huckabee's plan to deport 12 million immigrants in 120 days to Barack Obama's support for earned citizenship.
The question then - fair to ask as candidates espouse their own faiths - is this: What would Jesus do?
…
Working out of an Episcopal church in Atwater, the Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service is focused on helping refugees from the war-torn Middle East.
But the staff expects to expand its role should Congress approve immigration reform that includes some type of amnesty or guest-worker program, said Debbie Decker, the agency's community resource developer.
It’s all here …
Parishioners embrace Burmese baby in need of care
St. Paul Pioneer Press
January 16, 2008
She's little and cute, and at 1-week-old, Angela Say Kyi is already one of the most popular girls in Rogers Park.
Embraced by the parishioners of St. Paul's Church By the Lake, at 7100 N. Ashland Ave., little Angela, born on Dec. 30, is need of baby items. Angela's parents, father, Thaw Kyi, and mother, Say Htoo, both arrived in Rogers Park last August from a Thailand refugee camp, where the family spent seven years after fleeing Burma.
It’s all here … http://www.pioneerlocal.com/newsstar/news/741702,SN-BurmeseBaby-011608-s1.article
Healing languages comfort clinic's patients
Refugees, immigrants find lack of English isn't a barrier
By Deborah Yetter
The Courier-Journal
January 18, 2008
"Como te llama?" the receptionist asked.
The simple question -- "What is your name?" -- was enough to light up Eliza Mejia's face as she approached the counter at a Louisville medical clinic to register as a new patient.
Recently arrived from Mexico, Mejia knows little English, so she decided to visit the new Family Health Center Americana in the Southside neighborhood, where services are available in multiple languages.
…
Karen Hill, a volunteer from St. Matthew's Episcopal Church who accompanied Ah Mu to the clinic, said access to health care and interpreters has been an enormous help to the family, who came to the United States from a refugee camp in Thailand.
It’s all here …
Wind-power goal in reach, group says
BY STACEY ROBERTS
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
January 18, 2008
FORT SMITH — Arkansas has a chance to help move America toward a goal of generating 20 percent of available energy from wind by 2030, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Wind Energy Association.
That goal was part of the challenge presented to more than 220 people gathered for a Wind Energy Conference at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith on Thursday. Gov. Mike Beebe opened the conference by voicing his support for renewable energy sources.
Larry Flowers, the laboratory’s director, said the group has set a challenge for the country to meet that will benefit the economy and the environment. Currently, the United States produces less than 1 percent of its energy using wind power, according to the laboratory’s tracking.
It’s all here …
Richmond-area plan to end homelessness
Nonprofit outlines five goals to prevent people from living on streets
By WILL JONES
Richmond Times-Dispatch
January 18, 2008
A new plan aims to end homelessness in the Richmond area in 10 years.
But Ronald White can't see life beyond the streets anytime soon.
"I'm not going to worry about myself," White, 53, said yesterday before a lunch for Richmond's homeless at St. Paul's Episcopal Church downtown. "I'm accustomed to the street. I got two pair of pants and take off one when it gets hot."
Homeward, a nonprofit coordinating agency for homeless services in the Richmond area, yesterday released its 10-year plan to end homelessness following 18 months of work.
It’s all here …
Coat donations a warm gesture
By BOB VOSSELLER
Asbury Park (NJ) Press
January 17, 2008
WARETOWN — Lin Murdoch was afraid that due to the unusually warm winter weather last week that people donating coats for her church's ongoing coat drive would forget about the need and not come out. She shouldn't have worried — parishioners of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and residents turned out in droves to provide hundreds of coats for the needy on Friday.
Murdoch is the coordinator of the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church coat drive and was among six volunteers who worked in the parish hall to organize the donated coats.
It’s all here …
Zoning issues ruffle residents, commissioner
By MARY MARAGHY
Clay County (FL) Sun
January 18, 2008
…
In April, Waste Not will be forced out of its home at Grace Episcopal Church because the day school is expanding.
"If you turn us down, we'll cease to exist," said Sandra Staudt-Killea, Waste Not's board chairwoman.
Bush, who lives at the opposite end of Carnes Street, rallied his neighbors and other residents to speak out in opposition Tuesday calling it bad practice to spot zone to accommodate one group.
It’s all here …
Bush Urged to Add Iraqi Refugees to Mideast Agenda
Aaron Glantz
OneWorld US
Jan. 9, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 8 (OneWorld) - The heads of 21 international humanitarian organizations have sent a letter to George W. Bush, demanding the U.S. president address Iraq's "refugee crisis" during his week-long trip to the Middle East, which begins Wednesday.
Close to 5 million Iraqis have been forced from their homes since U.S. troops invaded the country in 2003; more than half of them have fled to neighboring countries and over 2 million are displaced internally within Iraq.
"This displacement crisis has grave humanitarian implications as well as potential negative ramifications for regional security," the letter said.
Among those signing the letter are the directors of Refugees International, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Human Rights First, and the International Rescue Committee. Faith-based groups including Episcopal Migration Ministries, the Jesuit Refugee Service, Mennonite Central Committee, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) also signed on.
It’s all here …
Churches in Eastern Shore village, black and white, gather at worship
By Rona Kobell
Baltimore (MD) Sun
December 23, 2007
NANTICOKE - The distance between the two Methodist churches in this Eastern Shore village is little more than a mile. Yet for decades, it seemed as if a great gulf separated them.
One church was black. The other was white. Though the two communities in the watermen's town got along fine, come Sunday, people went their own way.
White families flocked to Nanticoke Road for prayers at the picturesque Nanticoke United Methodist Church. Black families followed the narrow roads east to the equally pretty Asbury United Methodist Church on Hickman Lane.
It’s all here …
Immigrants are changing the face of faith in South Florida
Houses of worship embrace area's changing population
By Gregory Lewis and Alva James-Johnson
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 23, 2007
The European traditions at St. Benedict's Episcopal Church are now spiced with Caribbean and Latin American flavor.
Jamaican lilts and Spanish accents blend harmoniously with the sounds of standard English at the church in Plantation. Traditional hymns mix with old black spirituals. And potlucks create a multicultural medley of foods, ranging from potato casserole to curried goat.
The trend started with Caribbean immigrants who poured into the pews during the 1990s. Now the Central and South Americans are coming.
It’s all here …
'Lost Boys' return to Sudan years after horrors of youth
As children in 1987, many fled genocide. Now, as U.S. citizens, a few men revisit their homeland and families
By Patrick May
Contra Costa (CA) Times
12/23/2007
It's early Friday morning in San Jose. James Atem Tuor walks out the front door of his apartment and is engulfed by darkness, dragging two flea-market suitcases packed with clothes and toiletries -- ordinary cargo for an extraordinary journey into his past.
One of the so-called "Lost Boys of Sudan," Tuor joined thousands of child refugees who fled their war-ravaged land in 1987. He eventually settled with other Sudanese in San Jose.
It was a shotgun blast of an exodus, a diaspora defined by families ripped apart and villages set ablaze.
Tuor now heads for a waiting car, the first steps that will take him over three continents to a refugee camp in Kenya and the parents he last saw 20 years ago when he was 7 years old.
It’s all here …
Protesters in Naco decry border fence
By Cindy Skalsky
Sierra Vista (AZ) Herald/Review
December 17, 2007
NACO, Ariz. — Approximately 40 bundled-up protesters and a few of their pets gathered several hundred yards east of the Naco port of entry between the United States and Mexico on Sunday to speak out against the border fence that continues its way west through Cochise County.
…
Seth Foley, the vicar of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bisbee, called the fence an “impediment to fellowship and community” and said that policy makers were attempting to dictate people’s relationships and connections.
To whistles and applause, Foley told his listeners, “This wall will not divide us. We will not go away.”
It's all here ...
Priest fears for wife, son stranded a world away
By Charles Honey
December 11, 2007
Press Religion Editor
GRAND RAPIDS -- The Rev. Zachariah Char was trying to study for an exam at Kuyper College on Monday, but his head was filled with terrifying images of last week's attack on his wife and year-old son.
…
"I'm thinking a lot about what happened to my family, and I'm really worried about my son," said Char, 25, pastor of Sudanese Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids. "He's really scared at the sound of guns, which is the same thing that happened to me when I was 5 years old when the war broke out in Sudan."
Char walked 1,000 miles to flee that civil war, the first leg of a harrowing journey that brought him to the U.S. in 2001 as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan.
But having survived that terror, Char faces new fears and frustrations as he tries to become united with his wife and a son he has never met.
It's all here …
Episcopalian sees need to adapt for minorities
By ERIN SMITH
The Pueblo Chieftain - Star Journal
November 17, 2007
DENVER - Antonito native Stan Perea is an evangelist in a church not much known for evangelism.
Perea is an Episcopalian, a member of a church often thought of as stuffy, with pews occupied by the privileged. But the Episcopal Church is changing.
Perea was born a Roman Catholic but later sought evangelical churches wherever he and his wife Glenda moved to follow his profession as a certified public accountant.
The 58-year-old Perea is the author of “The New America: The America of the Moo-shoo Burrito,” a book revealing the changing face of mainstream churches - churches that must change with the times and court immigrants and non-whites.
It’s all here …
Church revival: St. David's not only survives, it thrives
By Carrie A. Moore
Deseret Morning News
Nov. 17, 2007
PAGE, Ariz. — At Steve and Jean Keplinger's Thanksgiving table, there will be turkey, ham and sauerkraut, mixed with traditional foods reflecting a potpourri of cultures. Nearly 200 people have been invited, and if you happen to show up, they'll squeeze you in somehow.
That the rector of St. David's Episcopal Church has invited his entire congregation to dinner at home is not unusual in this tourist-trade-dependent, desert community. Thursday's modern-day re-creation of the first Thanksgiving will be complete with gratitude — served up in large portions — for the survival and growth of a tiny church some said had died a long death and would never be resurrected.
They were wrong. In fact, St. David's has become so vibrant and full of life that a new sanctuary is now under construction, destined to the be the newest of 12 churches that line Lake Powell Boulevard in what may be one of the most diverse small-town faith communities in America.
It’s all here …
St. Paul's Episcopal's new steeple rises high
By Gretchen Becker
Indianapolis (IN) Star
November 17, 2007
Pointing toward the heavens as a symbol of faith, a 60-foot copper steeple was hoisted atop a tower at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Friday afternoon.
"This means to us that we want to be more visible in the community," said the Rev. Rich Winters, St. Paul's rector.
A 5-foot brushed aluminum cross was placed at the steeple's peak, making it 125 feet in the air, Winters said.
"It's pointing to God, so to speak," Winters said.
It’s all here …
Anglican Bishop accuses Govt. of interference
By Sam Strangeways
Bermuda Royal Gazette
November 8, 2007
The Anglican Bishop has accused Government of interfering in church affairs in an "entirely inappropriate" way over the issuing of work permits to non-Bermudian clergymen.
Bishop Ewan Ratteray has reignited a long-running row with the Department of Immigration about the issue in his November newsletter to churchgoers — and hit out at some members of his own flock whose behaviour he describes as "reprehensible".
Bishop Ratteray, who said relations with current Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess were greatly improved, writes that the Anglican Church's relationship with Government with respect to appointments to parishes has long been a "matter of deep concern" to him.
It’s all here …
Archbishop demands Govt apology for raids
By DAN EATON
The Press (NZ)
7 November 2007
New Zealand's top ranking Anglican archbishop has waded into the row over last month's anti-terror raids, comparing police treatment of Maori to the persecution of the Jews in ancient Egypt.
Archbishop Brown Turei, leader of the Maori strand of the church and the most senior of New Zealand's three Anglican primates, called for the Government and police to apologise for the way the raids were executed.
He likened the Terrorism Suppression Act used in the raids to efforts early last century to assimilate Maori.
"This is Pharaoh and the Hebrews in Egypt all over again," Turei said.
It’s all here …
Uganda: Bank Officials Arrest Impersonator
John Augustine Emojong
The Monitor (Kampala)
7 November 2007
SECURITY officers at Orient Bank Kampala on November 1, arrested Sekisambu Godfrey alias "Joshua" for impersonating the Chaplain of the Bishop of Bukedi Diocese, Rev. Joshua Iroota.
Godfrey Sekisambu from Nfufu Zone in Zaana,Wakiso district was after his arrest detained at CPS Kampala. Sekisambu who was also in possession of a fake ID purporting to be a driver of Global Transporters used Postal Add ress 70 Pallisa in his transactions.
Tororo District CID Officer Mr. Stephen Akol told The Daily Monitor that Sekisambu communicated to Canon Keith Price from the Anglican Church in UK claiming to be Rev. Joshua Iroota from Bukedi Diocese. Canon Keith is a friend and development partner of Bukedi Diocese.
It’s all here …
'America's Toughest Sheriff' Takes on Illegals
Joe Arpaio Employs Controversial Methods to Cut Illegal Immigration in His County
Sheriff
From ABC's Nightline
By JEFFREY KOFMAN
Oct. 18, 2007
Long before the sun comes up to bake the Arizona desert, the Maricopa County sheriff's deputies get ready for the day's pursuit.
Their prey? Illegal immigrants. Their method? Look for minor traffic violations. "Nightline" recently rode along with Sgt. Manny Madrid.
…
But the labor market still seeks them out. For six years Cave Creek's Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church has offered itself as a safe place, no questions asked, for employers to meet laborers. This month Arpaio's deputies began random traffic stops of vehicles leaving the church, arresting any illegal immigrants found inside.
It’s all here …
Novel campaign reaches to starving in Sudan
By Bill Lewellis
Bethlehem (PA) Morning Call
October 19, 2007
Three summers ago, about 160,000 expatriate Sudanese had come back across the southern Sudan border from resettlement camps in northern Uganda when Kajo-Keji County in southernmost Sudan was experiencing a drought. It created a desperate situation.
''We must act now to prevent people in Kajo-Keji from starving to death,'' Bishop Paul Marshall of the Diocese of Bethlehem wrote on diocesan Internet lists. Local churches of the 14-county Episcopal diocese in eastern and northeastern Pennsylvania responded immediately, with $80,000 to have food delivered.
Trucks loaded with staples traveled from Kampala, Uganda, over rutted roads in the Kajo-Keji area. The first shipments of food reached Kajo-Keji in time to prevent mass starvation.
''What the Diocese of Bethlehem has done,'' wrote a correspondent in Sudan in 2004, ''will enter the history books of Kajo-Keji.''
It’s all here …
Valley church reaches out to immigrants, but sheriff could stop it
Reported by: Lori Jane Gliha
KNXV-TV, Phoenix (AZ)
9/30
Behind the walls of the Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church, volunteers help day-laborers find food, water and work.
But because many of the day-laborers are illegal immigrants, the Maricopa County Sherriff’s office could stop the program.
Ralph Mozilo started the program nearly seven years ago.
It’s all here …
New laws thrust Cave Creek into migrant-debate spotlight
Beth Duckett
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 1, 2007
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is latching on to new Cave Creek laws in his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.
The Cave Creek Town Council last week passed two new ordinances: one toughening a ban on loitering, and another that prohibits drivers from stopping on town roads.
Touted as safety measures, the laws are expected to trigger more arrests of day workers - many of them undocumented immigrants - and possibly the employers who hire them.
It’s all here …
Simi church will be the site of anti-illegal immigration protest
Ventura County (CA) Star
September 14, 2007
An anti-illegal immigration group is planning to protest Sunday in front of a Simi Valley church that is offering sanctuary to an Oxnard woman who is in the country illegally.
Save Our State, which has organized similar protests at other Southern California churches, plans to demonstrate at the United Church of Christ from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Liliana, who won't reveal her last name for fear of repercussions to her family, was told in May she was about to be deported. She was offered sanctuary in an Episcopal church in Long Beach. Then last month, she and her infant son moved to United Church's parsonage in Simi Valley.
It’s all here …
Churches Recruiting Clergy for Hispanics
By AMANDA LEE MYERS
The Associated Press
September 13, 2007
PHOENIX -- They're in a new country, working a new job and living a new life, but for the Latin American immigrants who come to the United States every year, going to church doesn't have to be any different from worshipping back home.
Churches across the nation are actively pursuing clergy from Honduras to Argentina to meet the demands of an ever-growing number of Hispanic parishioners.
Some Roman Catholic dioceses send recruiters to Latin America to bring priests or seminarians to the United States. The Episcopal Church, through its Central and South American Province, has a direct connection to Latin Americans who want to serve here. And Southern Baptist churches rely on word of mouth to find Latin American ministers.
It’s all here …
Sanctuary pastors decry deportation
By Connie Llanos and Rachel Uranga,
Long Beach (CA) Press-Telegram
8/20/2007 09:27:43 PM PDT
…
In Los Angeles County, where the undocumented single mother was arrested outside Our Lady Queen of Angels church in downtown L.A., more than a dozen churches have declared themselves sanctuaries for illegal immigrants facing deportation.
St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Long Beach, as well as San Pablo's and neighboring North Hollywood church Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish have signed on to the New Sanctuary Movement.
It’s all here …
'We can't all hate each other'
Unity vigil aims to bring dignity, respect to area immigrants
By Susan Tuz
Danbury (CT) News Times
DANBURY -- For Angel Curillo it was important to bring his family to Sunday's unity vigil at Kennedy Park.
A native of Ecuador who has lived in Danbury for 16 years, Curillo came to pray with the clergy and others gathered at the downtown park.
"We can't hate each other," Curillo said. "We are all of different colors but we all come from one God. When God gave man the land (the earth) he didn't give him a passport or a visa. But now we do that and divide each of us from the other."
Curillo's sentiments were echoed by the seven clergy members and three lay speakers at the vigil. Some 60 people turned out for the gathering, and applause, song and prayer punctuated the afternoon.
The unity vigil was organized by Danbury resident Jean Hislop and the Rev. Gail Keeney-Mulligan of St. John's Episcopal Church with the goal of bringing respect and dignity for the immigrants in the area.
It’s all here …
Not enough English classes to go around
By KAREN KELLER
North Jersey Herald News
August 13, 2007
CLIFTON -- Try taking orders as a waitress who doesn't speak English.
Erica Diaz somehow gets by. She works at the Peruvian restaurant El Fogon on Main Avenue, and has to sound out the English translation of dishes like "lemon-marinated fish," or ceviche, listed in both Spanish and English on the menu.
When Diaz, 30, arrived in Clifton from Lima, Peru, three years ago, she researched English language classes but found them only in Paterson and Passaic. Since she doesn't have a car, she never went, she said. Her English has suffered as a result.
…
English classes in the city are offered through the school district at Clifton High School, and at the Clifton Public Library, according to Ilia Villanueva, executive director of the Paterson nonprofit Community Action for Social Affairs Inc. More recently, they've been offered at St. Peter's Haven, the charitable arm of St. Peter's Episcopal Church.
It’s all here …
Experiencing life’s lessons
By MEGAN CRAWFORD
Maryville (MO) Daily Forum
August 13, 2007
Through extreme poverty, poor living conditions and bad farmland three locals spent six days learning the rich cultural tradition of the Lakota Indian tribe.
Maryville’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Church teamed up with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church out of Cleveland, Tenn. to complete a mission project on the Cheyenne River Lakota Indian Reservation in Eagle Butte, S.D.
The Episcopal Church has merged the Lakota language and much of the culture with its traditionally Episcopal views to provide an interpretation of Christianity in word and song for this specific group of Native Americans.
Several members from Episcopal churches traveled to the reservation to prepare an unused rectory for future use.
It’s all here …
LCCM celebrates its silver anniversary with a splash
By JEREMY LONG
Lebanon Daily News
As Gary and Judy Lowe stared down Lebanon’s Locust Street yesterday, they wondered where they would be if it were not for Lebanon County Christian Ministries.
“I pray to God that they will be here every day,” Gary Lowe said. “They have helped me out with my medication when I did not have enough money.”
…
Their meals are served the first Tuesday of every month at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at Sixth and Chestnut streets.
It’s all here …
Tent City moves to Issaquah church
By Sonia Krishnan
The Seattle Times
Tent City 4 was expected to move to the parking lot of the Community Church of Issaquah today.
The roving homeless encampment has often sparked community opposition — and legal battles — as it sought permission to move to various cities on the Eastside. But the sentiment from Issaquah residents has been nothing short of supportive, say church leaders.
"It's just feels like the whole community is saying, 'We want this to work,' " said Elizabeth Maupin, outreach minister.
…
The encampment, which will have 84 people in Issaquah, was previously at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Bellevue. Tent City 4 typically stays about 90 days in each city. On average, people stay about six weeks, then move on, Thomas said.
It’s all here …
Coalition helps hungry neighbors in Port Chester with weekly harvests
By GREG CLARY
Westchester JOURNAL NEWS
August 12, 2007
PORT CHESTER -Rosa Orlana looked into her clean, canvas grocery bag yesterday afternoon and predicted her dinner menu.
"The squash. We'll make something with a cream sauce and some meat," the Port Chester woman said, using better English than a reporter's Spanish as she paused to answer questions. "And rice. We'll have it with rice."
More than 100 low-income families were planning their meals yesterday, loaded up with farm-fresh vegetables harvested and handed out by a coalition of church groups, hospitals and community organizations trying to ease food shortages for those in need.
…
The Rev. Hilario Albert served as the host, with long tables set up across the shaded side yard of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, where he serves the community.
It’s all here …
Kaua‘i families receive keys to new homes
by Nathan Eagle
THE GARDEN ISLAND
Aug 10, 2007
Mayor Bryan Baptiste joined county officials, local businesses, volunteers and families to bless six new Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity homes Thursday on the Westside.
The mayor complimented the nonprofit group’s efforts while emphasizing that plenty of work needs to be done to provide affordable homes to low-income residents.
“We’re pleased that six more Kaua‘i families have achieved their dream of homeownership at ‘Ele‘ele ILuna, and look forward to assisting with the completion of the remaining units at that site as well as other affordable housing projects that are underway,” Baptiste said Friday.
Koloa Union Church Rev. Nani Hill and St. John’s Episcopal Church Rev. Mary Lindquist delivered a Hawaiian-style blessing at the ceremony on Mehana Road, sprinkling holy water onto the houses for joy, peace and family well-being, said Amy Hill, Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity’s resource development director.
It’s all here …
Minister takes active role on border issues
By Jonathan Clark
Sierra Vista (AZ) Herald/Review
July 28, 2007
BISBEE — Since arriving here in March 2006 to preside over the St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bisbee and the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Douglas, the Rev. Seth Polley has taken an active interest in border issues.
For example, he has helped run the Naco Wellness Initiative, a monthly health screening offered free of charge to people in Naco, Sonora.
In March, Polley and his parishioners conducted a binational border procession in Naco to help promote friendship and human rights in the region.
And last weekend, he helped convene the Arizona Episcopal diocese’s border, immigration and migration program group for a conference in Scottsdale on the theme of theology, economics and immigration.
He even traveled to Washington in June as part of a regional task force lobbying Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
For Polley, who came to the area from Virginia after a one-year stop in Tucson, border activism is part of his job.
It’s all here …
Groups plan to demonstrate over woman's sanctuary.
By Greg Mellen
Long Beach (CA) Press-Telegram
07/26/2007
LONG BEACH - Proponents from both sides of the immigration debate are likely to square off on Saturday.
Save Our State, an anti-illegal immigration group, is expected to protest a recent decision by St. Luke's Episcopal Church to offer sanctuary to a 29-year-old illegal immigrant and her U.S.-born infant son.
A counter-protest has also been organized by Fast Respond Network, Workers in Resistance and Cuauhtemoc Dance. These groups support the New Sanctuary Movement, which placed Mexican native Liliana, whose last name was withheld, and her son Pablo with the Long Beach church.
Chelene Nightingale, media and events director for Save Our State, said her group plans to rally from 10 a.m. until noon.
The counterprotesters plan to convene at 9 a.m.
It's all here ...
Immigrants bound for D.C.
Orlando Sentinel
June 16, 2007
EAST ORLANDO -- -Immigrants from Orlando are boarding a bus to Washington on Sunday to join others who say they want to "show the human faces" of the immigration-reform debate.
More than 450 people from Florida are expected to make the trip, hoping to tell lawmakers that they want changes that would benefit illegal immigrants and their families.
"We want a solution that takes the needs of our communities in consideration and we want to tell them that immigrants are not machines, but human beings," said Juan Pablo Chavez, an activist with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, which represents dozens of advocacy groups in the state.
Orlando participants will meet at 10 p.m. the Iglesia Episcopal Cristo Rey, 26 Willow Drive in east Orlando. The group has collected about 6,000 signatures from people who support their views on immigration reform.
It’s all here …
Detroit Iraqi immigrants say familiarity, family ease adjustment
By JEFF KAROUB
The Associated Press
6/16/2007
DETROIT (AP) — Rafat Ita calls Iraq his country, but the United States home.
The 43-year-old fled Iraq in 1991 in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War and the sectarian uprisings that followed and came to the U.S. in 1994. The Iraqi Army vet left after experiencing what he described as discrimination for being Chaldean — the largest Catholic community in Iraq.
"Even though Iraq is my country and I'll love it until I die, I still feel it's not the place (I) belong to," said Ita, who now helps other refugees in his job with Lutheran Social Services of Michigan. "I had to leave and build my future where I know I belong — the United States."
…
"The community here is very large. You can go to any gas station or (convenience) store or restaurant ... and see Chaldeans working there or owning the business," said Ita, whose agency is the local affiliate for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and Episcopal Migration Ministries, one of the main resettlement agencies working with the U.S. State Department.
It’s all here …
Aid organizations prepare for first wave of Iraqi refugees
By JEFF KAROUB
Associated Press Writer
May 31, 2007
The government's decision to accept the first group of 7,000 Iraqi refugees offers some direction to front-line immigration aid workers preparing for what ultimately would be the largest Iraqi influx since before the 2003 invasion.
The Department of Homeland Security said this week it's approved the applications of 20 cases involving 59 Iraqis and they should be arriving in the "coming weeks," without offering firm details of where they would settle. The department is interviewing refugees for potential resettlement and has already completed interviews for more than 300 cases affecting more than 700 people.
It’s all here … and this:
N.C. marchers seek immigrant rights
(Raleigh) News & Observer
Apr. 06, 2007
RALEIGH - Advocates of more rights for immigrant workers began a march in Raleigh this morning that will culminate in a religious service at noon at the state Capitol.
About 200 people are expected to participate in the two-hour service, said Gail Phares, director of the Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America, which organized the march, now in its 21st year.
Bishop F. Joseph Gossman, retired bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, and the Rev. Canon Michael Hunn of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina will be among the speakers.
It's all here ...
No `politics of fear' in S.J.
RELIGIOUS, CITY LEADERS TAKE STAND ON IMMIGRATION RAIDS
By Brandon Bailey
San Jose Mercury News
04/07/2007
A group of religious and political leaders vowed their support Friday for the San Jose Police Department's hands-off policy on immigration enforcement, adding that a recent lawsuit should not make residents wary of encounters with local officials.
"We won't enforce the politics of fear with our local police department," said San Jose's Vice Mayor Dave Cortese at a news conference outside City Hall.
The event was organized by the community group PACT and clergy members who are campaigning for immigration reform.
It’s all here …
glad tidings!
Recent Comments