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Dear Justice-Seeker,

This issue of MFSAVoices is jam-packed with resources and information. So much so that it won't all fit in your email message so be sure to click view entire message at the bottom of this email to view the entire issue. Our newsletters are designed to be used all month long. So take a quick glance and take note of important dates to add to your calendar but also come back in the following weeks to work your way through the action items. 

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We continue to see the urgency of our work to make broad systemic change. Change that honors the dignity and worth of all people, puts people over money, and honors the earth and all her inhabitants. COVID-19 continues to highlight the inequities in our society that has literal life or death consequences. Since 1907, MFSA has been shining a light on injustice and organizing to change it. 

You make our collective work possible by your witness for justice every day in your church, community, and Annual Conference. MFSA does not receive any financial support from the United Methodist Church's giving channels. 100% of our budget is funded through your membership dues and your generosity in giving.

Racial Audit Team Reflection

I was invited to be part of the MFSA Racial Audit Task Force as a person who has worked alongside MFSA in many collaborative projects and whose job at a sibling organization (Reconciling Ministries Network) is in the same general universe (UMC social justice work). When I saw what MFSA was undertaking and committing to in this audit I knew I wanted to be a part of it. Not because I had ANY answers at all, but because I knew (and know) that this is a journey I needed to continue personally, and that RMN needs to engage with also.

We started our journey together back in the "literally just before COVID" days of February 2020, spending a couple of days being immersed in learning the process and framework from Crossroads, our partner and guide in this work. Together we crafted a Commitment to Courage statement and signed a commitment form, agreeing that we would... work harder than we thought, engage in hard emotional labor and struggle against the need to absolve. 

All these have proven to be true. 

Following the framework provided by Crossroads we have dug deeply into MFSA as an institution and the ways in which whiteness has been centered and systemic racism has been allowed to remain. 

These are not comfortable conversations for an organization whose focus is on social justice and the marginalized. These are not comfortable conversations for me, personally, as someone who hopes or intends to be present in the world as someone who advocates for justice and equity. 

Over and over we have come to the place of committing to being in the place of discomfort. When we thought we had dug as deeply as we could into a specific area, we were encouraged to peel back more layers, discover more, be more honest, tell more truth. 

Recognizing all along, that as a white person in this process, my experiences of discomfort are minor compared to what my siblings of color have endured and continue to experience. 

I have needed to constantly remind myself to pause the impulse to move toward solutions. I’ve been reminded over and over that seeking to “fix” the issues we’ve uncovered is often to avoid sitting with the truth of what has been revealed, and it prevents us from leaning into deeper truth that remains to be illuminated. It's natural in a way, that when we see where something is wrong we want to immediately fix it. However, I have been taught in this process, that as white people especially, we often rush to action - we want to feel better about ourselves, and quickly. When we do this, we perpetuate the centering of white comfort and we find so-called solutions that do not end up creating the systemic change that is really needed. 

I am grateful to be on this journey with you all, as we continue our baptismal commitment to resist evil, injustice, and oppression, by dismantling white supremacy in my own life and in our shared lives together in MFSA, RMN and the wider UMC connection.

Advent Devotional Week 2

December 12, 2021
Luke 3:1-6

By John Wagner, co-chair of United Methodists for Kairos Response

Scrooge’s goodhearted nephew Fred has come to his uncle’s office to wish him a happy Christmas. Scrooge calls Christmas a “humbug” and angrily declares it has no real meaning and no real value. Fred responds that for him it is a sacred time, but also “a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time” and the only season, “when... one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely” and remember how we are all “fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.” Of course, by the end of the story, Scrooge is completely won over to Fred’s point of view, in large measure because he is given the extraordinary opportunity to peer into the lives of those who were previously invisible to him. He now sees their well-being as intimately connected to his.

Charles Dickens, the creator of these characters in “A Christmas Carol,” wrote during the Victorian era in England, and along with social reformers like the early Methodists might appear today as paternalistic in their concern for the poor and marginalized. But accepting other people as real children of God, bearing witness to their afflictions, and then being moved to action … is a necessary step for those living in any century.

In 2008 an odd set of circumstances led my annual conference to send me on a tour of the Holy Land sponsored by the General Board of Global Ministries. Afterward, I was supposed to teach the United Methodist Women’s study on Israel and Palestine at their School of Mission. I have to say that prior to this I had no real inclination to visit that part of the world – it was never on my bucket list. But I went and encountered people and situations previously invisible to me. The suffering and oppression I’d only read about was real. I came back home determined to respond to the call of Palestinian Christians who were asking us to do what we could to help.

In our churches, we gather with people of all sorts who have all kinds of approaches to politics and the Bible. Yet as a pastor for 40 years I can attest to the fact that when injustice is seen up close most Christians want to do something. We may strongly disagree about how to go about it, but the stakes are high enough that we have the energy to work through those differences. I’ve been privileged to see courageous Christians confront their own prejudices and side with unpopular causes time and time again.

Fred, Scrooge’s nephew, is right. This season, more than any other, invites us to connect ourselves to the fates of other human beings, to view them as fellow passengers in this life and “not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.” We get a sense of this when the angels proclaim “glad tidings of great joy for all people.” (Luke 2:10) Let’s not wait for ghostly visitors on Christmas Eve to tell us what we already know, namely, that we Christians are to act on what we’ve seen and heard, and do so with the strong hope that the love of Christ can be made real in this world.

You make our collective work possible by your witness for justice every day in your church, community, and Annual Conference. MFSA does not receive any financial support from the United Methodist Church's giving channels. 100% of our budget is funded through your membership dues and your generosity in giving. 

Register: Stealing the Earth Part 3 

Register for part three in Stealing the Earth webinar series: "Pervasive & Self-Perpetuating: The Continuous Falsifying of Narratives" December 8, 2021 at 1PM ET. We will discuss how dehumanization and violence are used to perpetuate the Doctrine of Discovery and how that continues today.

Speakers:

LaRenda Morgan is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and is also part of the Otoe Missouria Tribe. She attended Carter Seminary Indian boarding school and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a B.A. in Social Sciences and a Masters in Human Relations.  Since then she has held a wide variety of offices within her tribe and Oklahoma state government, and is currently the Governmental Affairs Officer for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.  She’s also been involved in electoral politics on the local and national level, was Tribal Liaison for the Oklahoma Democratic Party, and a 2016 Democratic Candidate for Oklahoma House District 93. She was also Oklahoma Campaign Co- Chair for Bernie Sanders in 2020.  She regularly speaks on the topics of Intergenerational Trauma, Historical Trauma, Cultural Competency, Foster Care Recruitment, Indian Child Welfare Act Compliance, Barriers to Native Voting, Native Political Engagement, Native Voters, Tribal State Relations, Women in Gaming Empowerment Tools, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Epidemic and Domestic Violence in Indian Country. La Renda Morgan is a United Methodist who also participates in traditional Cheyenne ceremonies.  She’s been married for 27 years, has two children and a dog, and is a proud Cheyenne descendent of “Shell Woman,” a survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864.  

Leon (Kaulahao) Siu is of Hawaiian and Chinese ancestry and hails from the island of Hawaii. While he is well known as a recording artist with the group “Leon & Malia,” he also plays a vital role in the movement to restore the Hawaiian Kingdom as a sovereign nation. To that end he is currently serving as its Minister of Foreign Affairs with the goal of restoring diplomatic relations with other nations. He also serves as a director of the Koani Foundation. In 2016 Mr. Siu was awarded the Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Kamehameha, was nominated for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize and in June 2017 he received the Decree of Consecration Diploma and Gold Medal “UN Peacemaker Sergio Vieira de Mello Award” from the International Parliament. He is co-author of the book, Modus Vivendi Situation of West Papua and the editor of two seminal works: Perpetuated in Righteousness and Hawaii the Fake State – A Nation in Captivity. Leon Siu is striving to promote understanding, cooperation, creativity and good will. As a follower of Jesus, he is committed to glorifying God in all he does. He is one of the founders of Aloha Ke Akua Ministries, which encourages native peoples to seek God through the gifts God has deposited in their own cultures. He also served on the steering committees of many indigenous religious organizations and is an elder in an indigenous church called Ka Ohana O Ke Aloha.

Watch the latest webinar in our Doctrine of Discovery series titled, "Stealing the Earth Part 2: 'Whose Land?' The Doctrinal Legitimization and Theft of the People’s Land" sponsored by MFSA, Native American International Caucus (NAIC), and United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR). 

Friends of Wadi Foquin

Wadi Foquin is a village in the occupied West Bank that is losing generations-old farmland due to the settlement construction and extension of Israel's separation border. Israeli military checkpoints and Israeli-only bypass roads constrict village life limiting access to markets, jobs, school, and healthcare facilities.

The United Methodist Church, through the General Board of Global Ministries, supports a community development project in Wadi Foquin, called Friends of Wadi Foquin. Involvement began with fundraising for beehives in 2009 and new projects have been added every year. 

Recently, plans have been made to confiscate more land in Wadi Foquin to allow for the construction of an apartheid road to develop Israel's settlement infrastructure. Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Congressman David Price issued a letter to the State Department requesting intervention for Wadi Foquin, and 20 other congressional offices have signed on to the letter. 

You can watch the recording of an online forum from October 27, 2021 where the most recent "on the ground" updates about Wadi Foquin were given and progress reports made on efforts to avert land confiscation and property demolition. Check out Friends of Wadi Foquin's website to watch the online forum recording, a webinar series, and access more resources on how you can join the efforts of Friends of Wadi Foquin.

"Sister Cities with Palestine: Activism that Challenges the Narrative"

Check out the recording and resources from United Methodist for Kairos Response (UMKR) and MFSA's latest webinar titled "Sister Cities with Palestine: Activism that Challenges the Narrative." 

Now's the Time for Action

Here are a few ways you can seek justice and work for broad systemic change:

1. Sign up for Coalition of Immokalee Workers Fair Food mailing list to learn more about what you can do to advocate for farmworker rights. 
2. Contact your members of Congress and tell them to stop the use of Title 42 policy to deny Haitian migrants' rights to seek asylum, restore asylum protections, and stop all deportation flights and expulsions to Haiti.
3. Urge your members of Congress to co-sponsor HR 2590: Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act. 
4. Call your representatives and Senators and tell them to pass the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act. 
5. Join the #WelcomeWithDignity movement by signing the pledge to reimagine the way our country and our communities treat people seeking safety.
6. Contact your Senators and Representatives to pass common sense legislation that saves the lives of farm workers like the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act.
7. In solidarity, join workers demanding $15/hr and tell McDonald’s to raise wages now.
8. Check out what military acquired by your local law enforcement, and sign the petition to demanding more police transparency.
9. Contact your elected officials and demand Congress cut funding for ICE and CBP and defund hate.
10. Tell your Member of Congress to support the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All (AAIA) Act, an act that can help bridge the digital divide that disproportionately impacts Black, Latinx, Indigenous, rural, or low-income people.
11. Write to the leadership of the township of Fairfield, CT to contact Sturm Ruger, the largest firearm manufacturer in the United States with headquarters in Fairfield, and demand the company suspend weapon and bullet sales to Israel.
12. Tell President Biden and Vice President Harris to hold Israel accountable to its obligations as an occupying power and insist that Israel provide COVID-19 vaccines equally and fairly to Palestinians living under its occupation.
13. Contact your elected officials to take an intersectional response to the incidents of AAPI hate and to center the needs of those most impacted, Asian American women and elders.
14. Check the State Voting Bills Tracker to find out if your state lawmakers have introduced one of the 253 bills aimed at suppressing voting rights, and contact your state lawmakers to demand they support voting rights.
15. Sign the petition and tell Congress to abolish the federal death penalty.
16. Has your country signed on to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons?  Contact your elected officials to support the end of nuclear weapons in the world.
17. Check out the BDS Toolkit and learn what economic actions you can take to fight along the side of Palestinians and their struggle.
18. Manufacturing in an illegal Israeli settlement is a war crime.  Tell General Mills to stop making Pillsbury products on stolen Palestinian land by signing the petition, sending an email to the CEO, and #BoycottPillsbury.
19. Write a letter and join the grassroots organizing for the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.
20. Sign the petition and join Palestinian Cry for Hope: a Call to Decisive Action, a global movement set by Kairos Response that "rouses churches to action and awakens civil society to the reality of Palestinian suffering."
21. Take free online university courses on systemic racism.
22. Host a virtual Card Writing Party to write and mail letters to immigrants in detention via The Casa Mariposa Detention Visitation Program.
23. Call your legislators (202-224-3121) and advocate for permanent federal paid sick leave, expanded unemployment benefits, SNAP increases, and a moratorium on evictions, utility shut-offs, and payments. 

In Case You Missed It

1. Access the latest webinar and resources from MFSA and UMKR's webinar "Sister Cities with Palestine: Activism that Challenges the Narrative." 
2. Watch the second webinar in the Stealing the Earth series: "Whose Land?” The Doctrinal Legitimization and Theft of the People’s Land
3. Access the webinar and resources from MFSA and UMKR's webinar "Black-Palestinian Solidarity"