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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. 

MFSA would not be what it is without our Justice-Seekers. If you would like us to feature and celebrate the life of a Justice-Seeker, please contact mfsa@mfsaweb.org.

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.

Webinar: APARTHEID THEN AND NOW:
A Conversation with South African and Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Activists

What is apartheid? How are the South African and Palestinian experiences the same? Different? How can and should apartheid be opposed?  Join MFSA and UMKR on March 10th for a conversation with South African and Palestinian anti-apartheid activists, Rev. Kelvin Sauls and Sandra Tamari respectively, addressing these questions.

Reclaiming and Living Covenant

A Lenten Experience of Scripture, UMC Social Principles and Antiracist Action to Build Beloved Community 

In this year's Lenten Season, follow the Baltimore Washington Conference in a six-season Lenten study of Scripture, UMC Social Principles, and antiracist action to build Beloved Community.  Begin each week's lesson "with Scripture followed by exploring United Methodist Social Principles, learning from the witness of United Methodist ministries around the world, and reflecting on how God is calling each of us to faithful action in the face of evil forces that seek to divide and demean the human family."

MFSA Co-Sponsors and Supports the Swift Passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act

February 3, 2021 

Dear Member of Congress: 

As members of a broad coalition of organizations that promote economic opportunity for women and vigorous enforcement of antidiscrimination laws, we strongly urge you to co-sponsor and push for swift passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act as a top priority of the 117th Congress. Despite federal and state equal pay laws, gender  pay gaps persist, and earnings lost to these gaps are exacerbating the financial effects of COVID-19, falling  particularly heavily on women of color and the families who depend on their income. This legislation offers a  much needed update to the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by providing new tools to battle pervasive pay gaps and to  challenge discrimination. 

Boycott Pillsbury

Did you know that Pillsbury makes its frozen baked goods in an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory, violating international law and contributing to gross human rights abuses?

Take action today:

1. Learn more and sign the letter to the CEO of Pillsbury's parent company to stop doing business in illegal settlements.
2. Boycott Pillsbury products until the company stops manufacturing on stolen land, and bake for Palestinian rights!
3. Join the No Dough for the Occupation campaign by sharing photos of your baking creations with the caption: “I made this without any Pillsbury products. #BoycottPillsbury”

Save the Date

National Farmworker Awareness Week
March 25-31

"[O]ne of the most dangerous jobs in the United States," farm work is an essential work that is too often invisibilized.  Without our farm workers and their labor, we wouldn't have the supply or the same access to fresh fruits and vegetables since "85% of our fresh fruits and vegetables are handpicked."  And yet, farmworkers are not afforded the same rights and protections such as overtime and unemployment insurance like other jobs.  "Farmworkers were excluded from almost all major federal laws passed in the 1930s," and the 1978 amended Fair Labor Standards Act mandates "minimum wage for farmworkers on large farms only and it still has not made provisions for overtime."

Let us join our food heroes, our farm workers and learn, educate, and raise overall awareness on farm worker issues and rights during National Farmworker Awareness Week.

Chapter Update: Perpetual War

By Rev. Brian Carter, Iowa MFSA

As 2021 dawns the U.S is involved militarily with “Wars on Terrorism” in 80 countries. In Somalia 700 troops were deployed 3 years ago, after President Trump, with Pentagon approval, declared part of that country an “area of active hostilities.” Loosening of military rules of engagement, repeated multiple times, makes it easier for the US military to conduct airstrikes, drone attacks and worse aggressions.

In the first seven months of 2020, the Trump Administration launched 43 airstrikes in Somalia. The total number of airstrikes under the Bush and Obama administrations there, 2007 - 2016 was 41. To be fair, airstrikes were increasing under Bush and Obama, not only in Somalia, but in many countries where hostilities or terrorism occurred. In December 2020 President Trump finally announced the withdrawal of troops from Somalia, but it remains unclear when/if troops will leave.

Justice-Seeking Community Update: Sanctuary is Hard

By Rev. Dr. Jill Hardt Zundel, Senior Pastor of Central UMC Detroit

In 2017, the ministry team of Detroit:Central United Methodist Church voted to become a sanctuary church.  We had an apartment in the church that wasn’t being used.  How hard could it be?  We found out the next year.

On January 15, 2018, the Rranxburgaj Family moved in to our church seeking sanctuary. Ded and Flora had been living in the United States undocumented for 17 years.  When they first arrived here, they applied for asylum from the communist rule in Albania.  That is a legal process.  They were denied asylum.  While their case was in appeal, Flora was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis which now has her confined to a wheel chair.  Because of this, both Flora and Ded were given stays of removal on humanitarian reasons.  Every year they have to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and every year for 17 years they have been given stays of removal.  Ded never broke the law, paid taxes, and worked to provide for his family.

Central United Methodist Church in Detroit, MI is a Justice-Seeking Community.
If your church, small group, ministry group, or community is interested in becoming a Justice-Seeking Community, please click the link and check out the JSC Covenant: https://bit.ly/2HUTgA1

The New Federation of Asian American United Methodists (NFAAUM) offers their first "Game Changers” Virtual Immigration Training for Youth and Young Adults on April 23-24, 2021.  The two-day virtual training, in partnership with General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR), is open to all Asian American youth & young adults ages 14-35 years old who are active members of The United Methodist Church.  Mainly focused on worship, story-telling and leadership training regarding immigration issues, racial injustice and the challenges of COVID-19 specially among the most vulnerable people (immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees and undocumented), the two-day training will provide youth and y young adults with the skills to organize their respective faith communities to support and advocate for the most vulnerable people.

Now's the Time for Action

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

1. Register for NFAAUM's "Game Changers" virtual immigration training if eligible and share widely.
2. The Biden administration's 100 day moratorium on deportations has been indefinitely halted by a federal judge, BUT the Administration does not have to continue deportations and at its current rate.  Sign the petition and demand the Administration stop individual deportations.
3. Sign the petition and tell Congress to abolish the federal death penalty.
4. 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.
5. Check out the BDS Toolkit and learn what economic actions you can take to fight along the side of Palestinians and their struggle.
6. 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.
7. Write a letter and join the grassroots organizing for the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.
8. 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."
9. Take free online university courses on systemic racism.
10. Host a virtual Card Writing Party to write and mail letters to immigrants in detention via The Casa Mariposa Detention Visitation Program.
11. 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. Read the first and second devotions of MFSA's Lenten Devotional series.
2. Access recording and resources from the latest UMKR and MFSA webinar "Unmasking the Evil of Colonialism"
3. Watch the discussion with the I’m Black. I’m Christian. I’m Methodist. writers and editor Rudy Rasmus, moderated by M. Garlinda Burton.
4. MFSA Reflection on January 6 on Martin Luther King Jr Day
5. Understand what to expect from the new Congress and new Administration related to Palestinian rights.
6. MFSA has a new website! www.mfsaweb.org Our new site has a new and improved resource section, along with the ability for you to renew your membership through your chapter directly on our site. 

We at MFSA encourage you to be a witness and a good neighbor. Please continue to do your part in flattening the curve by practicing physical distancing.