A Letter to Mercer Island City Council from the MI Clergy Association

January 28, 2010

Dear Mayor Pearman and City Council Members,

As leaders of faith communities here on Mercer Island, we write to you to voice our concern about the temporary encampment ordinance that is currently under consideration by the council. In the introductory paragraphs of the proposed ordinance, you acknowledge our constitutional rights to do our ministry with the homeless, but in the details of the ordinance we believe that the city denies us those same rights if it were to be enacted.

We know Mercer Island to be a compassionate, generous, open-hearted place. Yet, we are embarrassed that our government would pass an ordinance that is the most stringent of any community in King County. Restricting the rights of poor people is not something any municipality should strive for and certainly not one with an existing reputation, in some circles, of being elitist. Further, we believe the ordinance creates a hostile environment for poor people, which is contrary to the desires of the vast majority of Mercer Island residents who want to dispel the notion that their community is not a caring, hospitable place. The voices of a few vocal and politically connected citizens are co-opting the open hearts of the majority. As you know, the vast majority of Mercer Island residents supported Tent City 4 on its last visit and will support Tent City residents when it returns.

As we mentioned above, the proposed ordinance would be the most stringent in the county and we believe that is not something this community should be known for. Among the specifics of the ordinance that we disagree with are as follows:

• The 90-day notification of a temporary encampment
• 18-month moratorium within ½ mile of an existing encampment
• Mandated additional background checks for those coming to Mercer Island
• The requirement that the hosting congregation hold the city harmless
• The suggestion that we would have to negotiate with neighborhood groups for our constitutional rights to practice ministry
• Fencing for the purposes of aesthetics
• Blanket permission given to a code officer to require additional conditions to any agreement with the city

In the past, city representatives have expressed to us that Tent City on Mercer Island would be a model of cooperation for King County. It seems to us that the ordinance as it is currently written provides only a model for cooperation between the city government and politically-connected and disproportionately vocal minority.

As faith leaders and citizens, we are fully aware of our constitutional right to do our ministry among the homeless. We prefer to exercise those rights in partnership with the city, but are prepared to move forward without it. We look forward to the council passing an ordinance that lives out the city government’s desire for Mercer Island to be a model of cooperation with the faith community, instead of the current version which restricts and mitigates the constitutional rights acknowledged in the ordinance’s introduction.

Respectfully,

The Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos
Mercer Island Covenant Church

The Rev. Dale Sewall
Mercer Island Presbyterian Church

The Rev. Leslie Ann Knight
Mercer Island First United Methodist Church

The Rev. Mark Travis
Congregational Church on Mercer Island

The Rev. Hunt Priest
Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Ms. Susan Carol Price
From the Bahai Faith

The Rev. Deanna Wildermuth
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church

The Rev. Beverly Hosea
Emmanuel Episcopal Church

The Rev. Susan Wanwig
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church

Ms. Kristen Jamerson
Mercer Island First Church of Christ, Scientist

The Rev. Eliana Maxim
Mercer Island Presbyterian Church

Mr. Kenneth Tracy
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Mercer Island

Invitation to an International Justice Mission Dinner

MIPC Missions Partners at Work in Haiti

At least 5 of MIPC Missions Partners are at work in Haiti.
• Habitat for Humanity
• Heifer
• Hopeforce (staffed by Chuck & Sue Duby, longtime children of the church)
• World Concern
• World Relief

In addition, our national organization, PCUSA, has a disaster relief team working to help in Haiti. If you would like to donate to PCUSA, go to www.pcusa.org and follow the links.

We had a GREAT time with the Urban Plunge on MLK Weekend.

A few highlights to share:

-Watching our students serve dinner to the homeless and residents at the Union Gospel Mission.
-Worshiping at Mount Zion Baptist Church and watching our students clap and sway along with the soulful music. Also experiencing another type of worship by attending the Compline service at St. Marks, that for all our students was a new spiritual experience.
-Probably the highlight for many of our students was playing Bingo with the residents of Plymouth on Stewart. It is so neat to see the long term relationship between MIPC and Plymouth
-Monday morning at World Relief we got to hear the powerful story of Kofi, a refugee from Togo who shared his heartbreaking story of the murder of his family, time spent in jail for his nationality, 15 years in a refugee camp and continued struggles today in Seattle trying to find a job — but throughout his whole story his acknowledgement of God’s providence and love for him and us.

The Urban Plunge is always one of my favorite Middle School Rock events. Our students get to learn about homelessness, poverty, and other cultures right here in Seattle through education combined with experience.

-Alan Waite, Middle School Director

Urban Plunge This Weekend

Our annual Urban Plunge is coming up this MLK Jr. Weekend, January 16-18th. This weekend is geared towards middle schoolers who want to serve in their own backyard and learn more about life in an urban setting. We have some great activities planned this year, including working with a food bank, serving dinner at a homeless shelter, and working with two transitional living facilities, as well as various cultural activities including two worship services quite different than MIPC, using urban public transportation, sampling alternative cuisine, and learning more about refugees in Seattle. I am very excited about this weekend, it is always a great time to watch our students grow and be challenged in thinking deeper about missions and life that is different from their own.
-Alan Waite, Middle School Director

Prayer for Haiti from PCUSA Disaster Relief Website

God of compassion
Please watch over the people of Haiti,
And weave out of these terrible happenings
wonders of goodness and grace.
Surround those who have been affected by tragedy
With a sense of your present love,
And hold them in faith.
Though they are lost in grief,
May they find you and be comforted;
Guide us as a church
To find ways of providing assistance
that heals wounds and provides hope.
Help us to remember that when one of your children suffer
We all suffer.
Through Jesus Christ who was dead, but lives
and rules this world with you. Amen.
(Adapted from Book of Common Worship)

To donate to PCUSA Disaster Relief for Haiti, go the PCUSA website, www.pcusa.org, and you may donate on that page to get funds there as quickly as possible.

Or you may send a check to MIPC-Haiti, and we will send all the checks to PCUSA Disaster Relief.

Education in Tijuana at Casa Azul

As part of the Homes Without Boundaries Education Program, Casa Azul provides an afterschool tutoring space for 20 scholarship children as well as 20 students from the community. The Education Committee is thrilled that 20 more students from the community come in for tutoring help.

Homes Without Boundaries supports MIPC's house building program in Tijuana.

Medical Mission Continues in Vietnam

This March MIPC doctors Carter Hill and Graham Nichol will continue their medical work in Vietnam. Dr. Hill and his team will teach emergency medicine to doctors in Hue. This has been an multi-year project between a medical team from Seattle and doctors in Vietnam, led by Dr. Hill.

In addition, Dr. Graham Nichol, with a team of three other doctors, will teach a seminar in emergency medicine to 96 deans of medicine from medical schools in Vietnam and 4 deans from outside Vietnam. The Minister of Health in Vietnam wants this standard of emergency medical care to be implemented in all medical schools in Vietnam.

Middle Schoolers Provide Clean Water for Over Nine Families in Africa

Middle School Ministries took their annual offering at LIVE (Tuesday evening youth group) on December 15th’s Christmas LIVE. The offering was for Blood:Water Mission, an organization that seeks to provide safe drinking water for families in Africa. For $85, a family will be provided with a bio-sand filter for their home to cut down on disease from the local well. Our middle school students brought in $783.50 in one night, enough to provide over 9 families with clean drinking water for the next 20 years!! Amazing! For more information, check out www.bloodwatermission.org

Have You Heard About Microsavings to Help the Poor?

NY Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof, wrote about microsavings in one of his recent columns. He says, “One of the ugly secrets of global poverty is that a good deal of suffering is caused not only by low incomes but also by bad spending decisions. Research suggests that the world’s poorest families (typically the men in those families) spend about 20% of their incomes on a combination of alcohol, cigarettes, prostitution, soft drinks and extravagant festivals.”

Kristof goes on to say that those men don’t have a secure way to save money and neither do poor people in general.

In Kenya, two economists paid the fees to open small bank accounts for peddlers. Within six months, the women peddlers invested 40% more in their businesses, mostly buying more goods to be resold.

Kristof concludes, “The world’s poor might benefit hugely from the ability to bank their money safely.” Check out www.matchsavings.org to learn more.

Thanks from Van Asselt Elementary in Seattle

Missions was able to make a donation for a new playground at Van Asselt Elementary School in Seattle, responding to a request from MIPC member Jeanine Fitch, a student teacher there. El Doris Turner, Principal at Van Asselt, sent us a thank you note for our "incredible support and generosity for the playground build project." MIPC Missions already supports Seattle Schools through our tutoring project at Asa Mercer Middle School and also welcomed the chance to support Jeanine in her student teaching experience. Van Asselt has one of the highest free and reduced lunch programs in Seattle schools.