Jubilee Act Update : new cospnsors/ senate version

Two great news items from Washington D.C. regarding the Jubilee Act.

First in the House of Representatives, we have secured the support of Representatives Peter DeFazio, Darleen Hooley and Greg Walden as co-sponsors of the Jubilee Act (HR 2634). Since we already have Blumenauer and Wu signed on, that means we have four out of Oregon\'s five representatives sponsoring the Act. Now, all we need is to have Representative Darlene Hooley sign on as a co-sponsor and we will have all the Oregon House delegation on board. PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL HER OFFICE IMMEDIATELY TO ASK FOR HER SUPPORT OF HR 2634 - The Jubilee Act.
Oregon Office phone: 503 557-1324Washington D.C. office: (202) 225-5711 phoneEmail: jennifer.wagner@mail.house.gov

Next, a companion bill has finally been introduced into the Senate The brand new Senate bill (S2166) currently has 6 co-sponsors: Senators Casey (D-PA), Lugar (R-IN), Dodd (D-CT), Biden (D-DE), Sununu (R-NH), and Obama (D-IL).

We're working hard to have the entire Oregon Congressional delegation stand up and speak out for an end to global poverty. So contact Wyden and Smith and ask them to co-sponsor S2166 now.

Pick up the phone and call the Capitol Switchboard: 202.224.3121.

Ask to be connected to your Senator's office. The receptionist will answer. Introduce yourself a constituent from Oregon and ask the Senator to support S2166, The Jubilee Act.

Thanks for your help - Andy Szatkowski

Mr. Salil Shetty, the Director of the Millennium Campaign for the United Nations will speak at St. Luke Lutheran Church on Tuesday, October 30th, at 7

The Millennium Campaign is based on the Millennium Development Goals that set a framework to end extreme poverty by 2015. In 2007, we are halfway there. Mr. Shetty's compelling presentation addresses how far we have come and what obstacles remain. This is a unique opportunity to hear first hand how the MDG's are working, and how we can help implement them.

For more information on the Millennium campaign, go to http://www.millenniumcampaign.org/ .

All are welcome. Free.

St. Luke is located at 6835 SW 46th Avenue , Portland, Oregon between SW Vermont and SW 46th Avenue (near Gabriel Park).

Mr. Shetty joined the United Nations in 2003 as the Director of the Millennium Campaign. In the last four years, Mr. Shetty has played a key role in building up the advocacy campaign for the MDG's in 50 countries. Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. Shetty was the chief executive of ActionAid, a leading international development NGO. There he worked in the field in sub-Sahara Africa and in South Asia and in fundraising and advocacy programs in the United States and Europe

Oregon Center for Christian Values presents: Faith & American Values Conference (oct 6)

Come to our 2nd annual Faith & American Values Conference Poverty & Politics:
responding to god’s call for action Featuring Dr. Ron Sider Author of “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger” and Founder of Evangelicals for Social Action
Register Now

“I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy and executes justice for the poor.”
Psalm 140:12

Do you want to:
Learn about how you can impact poverty in Oregon?
Join a movement to promote public policies for the common good?
Learn more about the biblical call to care for the poor?
Network with organizations addressing poverty in Oregon?
Then join us for a discussion on how the Christian community in Oregon can work together to address poverty in our communities

Event Details:
Date: Saturday, October 6th
Time: 12:45 – 4:00 PM
Where: Mosaic Community Church
1832 NE 39th Ave Portland, OR 97212

Lecture & Discussion, Book-signing to follow
Contact Laura at laura@occv.org or call 503-222-2072 to register for the event or get more information.

“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.”
Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963.

Join Jubilee Oregon this Sunday, August 12th to launch the Cancel the Debt Fast

David Duncombe to Preach on Purpose for Cancel Debt Fast

Westminster Presbyterian Church,

1624 NE Hancock Portland

Sunday, August 12

10:30 am

David Duncombe spent almost two decades as chaplain for the Yale School of Medicine and a lecturer at Yale Divinity School, his alma mater. In 1967, his chaplaincy at Yale was one of the first at a nondenominational American medical school.

He was active in the civil rights movement, and has long been involved in peace and justice protests. In recent years, his activism has taken the form of protest fasts in the name of peace and poverty. In his social justice ministry, he has been arrested almost 100 times and sometimes jailed.

NEWS ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION Friday, August 4, 2007

Contact: Ray Utech, 901-573-7477 ray.utech@gmail.com

Local pastor to fast for 40 days in the nation’s capital, send-off slated for Sunday, August 12, as part of

Hungry for Justice: Jubilee Debt Cancellation movement ‘s 40-Day National Fast September 6 – October 15

Jubilee Oregon is hosting a public event to encourage and support Reverend David Duncombe's trip to Washington D.C. to lobby for debt cancellation.

Event: Reverend David Duncombe Send-Off for Jubilee's "Cancel Debt Fast"

Where: Irving Park; 875 Northeast Fremont Street, Portland, OR 97212

When: 1pm-3pm

Sponsor: Established in 2000, Jubilee Oregon, a coalition of religious and

community groups, is a part of Jubilee USA, a network of local

congregations and 80 religious denominations, faith-based networks,

development and community organizations in the US, including Sojourners, Action Aid International, and World Vision. Jubilee USA also partners on efforts to fight global poverty as a member of the ONE Campaign. Jubilee USA is part the global Jubilee network, with grassroots networks in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe

News/Press RSVP: Jubileeoregon@ gmail.com or call 503-287-7847 or 901 573 7477

PORTLAND, OR – The Rev. David Duncombe, whose water only ‘fast for life’ in 2000 in the halls of Congress convinced people like Jessie Helms and Ted Kennedy to approve debt cancellation measures for the world’s poorest countries, will begin a new fast.

Echoing his statement made then, the 77 year old United Church of Christ minister says now, “I've reached a point in my life in which it's very difficult for me to live on a playing field that isn't level. And it's very difficult for me to avoid the knowledge in my own life that there are millions of starving people and to go about my life as though there were not. I find it very undesirable to eat when other people can't.”

“I believe strongly that as a Christian that we are asked to love our neighbors and particularly people that are at a disadvantage and so this is a window of opportunity to express that. Being a pastor I wanted to do this in a pastoral way so I’ll go from office to office not only to talk about legislations but to try to get to know the staff as people and to understand where they're coming from. I intend to symbolize starvation. I want to do that because a lot of people in Congress -- by no fault of their own -- have never seen a starving person. Their only contact with starvation is that in a very abstract way they know that so many people are starving, but they have never seen it, they have never looked upon it they have never touched it. So I will go back to each office about once a week and let my starving body talk for itself and I hope that my message will get through and lift their consciences."

For additional information and background: http://www.jubileeusa.org/

Jubilee Jumble Success by St John the Baptist at Mission of the Atonement

The Lutheran and Roman Catholic Mission of the Atonement, on busy Scholls Ferry Rd, provided the perfect location of St. John’s first Jubilee fund raiser—a jumble (Brit for rummage) sale on June 30.

St. John’s location is a quarter mile off the road at Oregon Episcopal School. Member Valerie McIntyre caught a vision for the sale and saw it through netting over $800 divided between JubileeUSA and Jubilee Oregon. A good time had by all!

Jubilee Sunday

About a dozen congregations in the Portland/Vancouver metro area observed Jubilee Sunday in January. Some have chosen to become member congregations.

St John the Baptist Episcopal Church, off Scholls Ferry Road, celebrated the day with special prayers, music, a display, sermon and a forum. The response was strong and the February vestry (church council) meeting voted unanimously to become a Jubilee member, which includes prayer, study, simple action and a contribution. A plan for a Jumble Sale to raise a donation is in progress.

This decision is also seen as a way to participate in the Episcopal ONE Campaign, a parish focus for this Millennium Development Goals Sabbath Year 2007. Jubilee is a primary partner for the ONE Campaign focused on MDG goal for removal of odious international debt. Congratulations people of St John's Church!

Speak the Truth Boldly

Speak the Truth Boldly was the sermon title at Ainsworth United Church of Christ’s Jubilee Sunday service on February 18, 2007! We held our service a month after the actual Jubilee Sunday in order to lift up the Africa experiences of two Jubilee Oregon members, Rev. Lynne Smouse Lopez and Dr. Patricia Rumer who traveled to Kenya and Zambia in January.

Pat and Lynne shared how the Jubilee movement, South and North, is speaking truth boldly in demanding total debt cancellation to the United States government and in former “debtor” nations such as Zambia. Wangari Mathaai, Nobel peace prize recipient from Kenya, denounced the actions of the World Bank and IMF in a fiery speech at an Illegitimate Debt forum in Nairobi. She asked “how could the most powerful bank loan money to governments that could not pay without sacrificing the lives of people? We cannot tolerate these debts because they are literally killing our people.”

She and other speakers urged the churches to use their moral authority – “we have the numbers and the voices, but we don’t raise that voice! We cannot be silent while people suffer – we are the agents of the Lord!”

Lynne spoke of how debt cancellation is inextricably linked to trade justice. Although much of Zambia’s debt has been cancelled, the same harmful IMF economic conditions continue. The IMF is urging the Zambian government to impose a 17.5% value-added tax (VAT) on food, drugs and mosquito nets in a country that is malaria-ridden! She asked the congregation – how would we react in Oregon if the government imposed such a tax? Or if China, to whom the USA is in debt, suddenly imposed conditions that compromised our sovereignty by changing the Constitution or Congressional laws? How would we feel?

The service included a Scripture reading in Swahili by Geoffrey Bunyoli, Kenyan member of the congregation; a children’s sharing with Rev. Cecil Prescod in which the children were given basic school supplies and health aids and then, because of IMF conditions, all these supplies were taken back. The choir sang two special Jubilee hymns.

Living out our call to Jubilee! The service concluded with an altar call where congregation members pledged their involvement in local Jubilee Oregon activities – ranging from visits to Congressional representatives around debt cancellation legislation to participation in book discussion groups on global economic justice.

Ainsworth UCC has been a Jubilee congregation since 2001. Four AUCC members traveled to Africa in January – in addition to Pat and Lynne, Dustin and Cara Pattison also participated.

Pat Rumer
February 20, 2007