THE WORLD: MIPC Missions Blog

Well Done!

2011-10-28T18:07:00.001-07:00

Standing Walls-Cliff, Roger, Tom

2011-10-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

Jeff Thiel Enjoys Rosa's Cooking!

2011-10-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

Luis and MIPC Guys

2011-10-27T18:36:00.001-07:00

Day One in TJ

2011-10-27T18:34:00.001-07:00

Good News About our Scholarship Students in Cambodia

2011-09-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

We have learned that this year eight of our scholarship students will be attending the university. These young women have been part of our scholarship program. They are poor students who would not have this opportunity without our financial help. They are part of PROJECT HALO, a program for children and young people who are orphans and live in the poorer areas of Phnom Penh.

A big thank you to all our sponsors and for the program that gives poor children a chance for a better life for them and their families.

This is much to celebrate!

Small Village Overcomes Stigma of Women Who Have Been Trafficked

2011-08-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

In Hop Tien Village in northern Vietnam, one village has overcome the stigma and power of trafficking. Predators had come to this village to recruit women and children as young as 5 or 6 to be sold over the border to China which was only 4 miles away.

Even after some victims had been rescued, the women who returned were disowned. Some built makeshift tents tucked high in the mountains, a long way from town, because they were not welcome in their village any longer.

But a woman named Vang Thi Mai took in some of these women and changed their lives and eventually their whole village. She employed them in a small textile cooperative run by her and her husband. She taught them to separate hemp stems into strands, spin, weave and dye fabrics. At first she was ostracized by the village for reaching out to the women, but gradually attitudes began to change.

Today the co-op is over 110 women strong. The women’s work has increased household’s incomes fourfold. Because of this, Mrs. Mai has been visited by Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong and has represented her culture (Hmong) at an international craft fair in Paris where NGO’s Oxfam and Caritas became involved with her co-op.

Although it has been hard to change the opinions of some of the older villagers, the younger ones no longer ostracize the once trafficked women and support Mrs. Mai in her work. Her village is better off than many others in her province thanks to the work of the victims of trafficking and Mrs. Mai’s vision.

-excerpted from NY Times article by Julie Cohn, 8-17-11,

Sengalese Village Wipes Out Malaria Thanks To a Determined Dad

2011-08-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

El Hadj’s daughter, 11, was just about to start school in her village in Senegal when she contracted malaria and eventually died. Malaria claims a life every 45 seconds.

But El Hadj vowed that malaria would never kill again in his village. He worked with a group of local women to protect the village. They cleaned the village and surrounding area of trash and removed standing water. In addition they gave new mothers and their babies mosquito nets. They taught the mothers how to use the nets, tucking in all the corners so no mosquitoes could bite them.

Next El Hadj recruited the village chief to go door to door to ensure every family used their nets nightly. They were fined 50 cents if they weren’t using the nets and the money went into a pot to pay for emergency transportation if there were emergencies.

Results? Amazing! The village has gone from 3,500 malaria cases a year to nearly none. Now they are going from village to village to implement the same program. Because of their effort, nearly 50,000 people are protected from malaria.

El Hadj has turned tragedy into triumph.

(Information from Fast Company.com, David Arquette)

Rescue News from IJM Bangalore

2011-08-02T12:53:00.001-07:00

After a week of persistent advocacy from IJM Bangalore, government officials responded to the evidence documenting a cruel slave owner and rescued 24 children, women and men from an abusive brick kiln.

The night before the laborers were freed, the owner and his friend threatened to lock the laborers in a shed and burn it to the ground. The families were not unused to verbal threats and physical abuse. In the past, several laborers had tried to run away from the harsh conditions, but they were tracked down and beaten in front of the others, an example of the punishment that awaited other subordinates who might try to escape.

Today, these families no longer live in fear - instead, they are safe in their home village, where IJM has helped them resettle.

Eastside Domestic Violence Statistics 2011

2011-07-27T14:19:00.001-07:00

In case you are wondering...

•10,069 Calls responded to on the 24-Hour Crisis Line
•4,700 Victims of domestic violence served
•42,361 Nights of safe shelter provided
•35,394 Individuals educated about domestic violence
•16,122 Hours of assistance provided by 538 volunteers
•109,386 Victims served since 1982

Eastside Domestic Violence Program (EDVP)
24-Hour Crisis Line (425)562-8840
www.edvp.org

Meeting for Initiative Against Sex Trafficking at UPC

2011-07-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

Lisa L. Thompson, headlines this special Christian abolition event on July 28th at University Presbyterian Church. Lisa is the Liaison for the Salvation Army's Initiative Against Sex Trafficking (IAST)

Date: July 28, 2011

Time: 6:30 pm

Location: University Presbyterian Church
Calvin Lounge
4540 15th Ave., Seattle 98105

Cost: Free ($5 donation suggestion at door)

Co-Sponsor: University Presbyterian Church Human Trafficking Task Force

Organizer: Hope for Seattle

MI Food Bank Needs Food!

2011-06-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

MI Youth and Family Services is in desperate need of food for the Food Bank. They need all kinds of food.

Now that school is out families have greater need for food since children are no longer getting meals at school.

Please bring food to either wicker basket located in front of the office and in front of the Community Life Center (gym) and we will deliver it to the MI Food Bank.

Thanks!

Good News From Youthcare

2011-06-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

A message from Melinda Giovengo, Executive Director of Youthcare, one of MIPC’s Mission Partners:

On Thursday night I had the privilege of attending the Seattle Public Schools Interagency Academy Graduation.( our in house school at Orion, YouthBuild and the Bridge)

YouthCare had a total of 16 graduates this represented almost 25 % of all the graduates this year from interagency. Our young people beamed and were so proud as they paraded in cap and gown. They were cheered by 20 YC staff members who attended. If ever there was a moment to know we are on the right path THIS WAS IT. One young woman who had been on the run from the Bridge returned to most of the staff celebrating her success. She said she left but “could not go back out there on the streets, she was different now.”.. she is in foster care and calls us EVERY DAY.

Good News About Asa Mercer Middle School

2011-06-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

Principal Andhra Lutz has taken a new job in Washington D.C. as the instructional leader of a whole group of high poverty schools. To meet this challenge, she brings with her the story of the successful transformation of Asa Mercer Middle School. In the five years she has been at Mercer it has become a high achieving, high poverty school.

Some of MIPC’s tutors met with Susan Toth, former Associate Principal and new Asa Mercer Principal on June 7 to hear an update on Mercer’s year and plans for the future. Susan has had a chance to work with Andhra for the last 5 years and has been part of most decisions about the school. She will carry on the work that has transformed Asa Mercer’s identity.

At our meeting she told us that the free and reduced lunch program is used by 78% of the school’s population. They now qualify as a Title 1 school which means they have federal funding to help support their students.

Regardless of the high poverty rate, an example of the continued academic achievement is that five years ago, Mercer’s science test scores were at 18% and now they are at 70%...higher than other more affluent middle schools. The one word that Susan repeated several times about their commitment to academic achievement was “relentless.” Nothing will deter them from working for students’ academic achievement.

Our tutors have been privileged to see the transformation at Mercer over the eleven years that we have been there. As many of the tutors have said, “It’s a great place to be.” They speak of the talented and committed staff and the respectful and hard working students.

If you’d like more information about joining the MIPC tutor team, please contact Linda Fetters, lfetters@aol.com.

She’s 10 and May Be Sold to a Brothel

2011-06-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

KOLKATA, India

M. is an ebullient girl, age 10, who ranks near the top of her fourth-grade class and dreams of being a doctor. Yet she, like all of India, is at a turning point, and it looks as if her family may instead sell her to a brothel.

Her mother is a prostitute here in Kolkata, the city better known to the world as Calcutta. Ruchira Gupta, who runs an organization called Apne Aap that fights human trafficking, estimates that 90 percent of the daughters of Indian prostitutes end up in the sex trade as well. And M. has the extra burden that she belongs to a subcaste whose girls are often expected to become prostitutes.

M. seemed poised to escape this fate with the help of one of my heroes, Urmi Basu, a social worker who in 2000 started the New Light shelter program for prostitutes and their children.

M., with her winning personality and keen mind, began to bloom with the help of New Light. Both her parents are illiterate, but she learned English and earned excellent grades in an English-language school for middle-class children outside the red-light district. I’m concealing her identity to protect her from gibes from schoolmates.

Unfortunately, brains and personality aren’t always enough, and India is the center of the 21st-century slave trade. This country almost certainly has the largest number of human-trafficking victims in the world today.

To read more of this article, please go to the Opinion Section of the NY Times for June 2. The New Light Center was the recipient of MIPC's Gifts of the Heart Offering in partnership with Herzl ner Tamid.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner to Visit MIPC’s Christian Education class on June 12

2011-05-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Tun Channareth, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Cambodian advocate for a ban on landmines, will be teaching and telling A Story From the Heart in the Pressing Issues class at MIPC on June 12 at 9:15 AM. All are invited to attend.

Channareth (Reth) was born in Cambodia and was forced to leave Phnom Penh with his family in 1975. Much of his family was killed by Pol Pot’s soldiers and Reth had to flee Cambodia during the invasion of the Vietnamese in 1979. As a member of the resistance army, Reth was maimed by an anti-personnel landmine in 1982 and lost both legs. After eleven years in refugee camps, Reth returned to Cambodia.

Reth is an ambassador for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and has travelled the world urging governments to ban landmines. He also works with the Jesuit Service of Cambodia to make affordable wheelchairs for landmine survivors.

Send A Poor Child to School

2011-05-16T11:06:00.001-07:00

May is International Student Scholarship Month at MIPC. It’s a time to renew our commitment to send poor children to school and have another chance to sponsor a child in Cambodia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, or Vietnam. Hundreds of poor children have had a chance to go to school through our scholarships and some have even graduated from the university. Our in-country administrators are trusted friends who not only choose and support our sponsored children but also give additional support when a family is in crisis. We are blessed to have found such strong partners who care so deeply for our children and their families. If you are interested in learning more about ISSF (International Student Scholarship Fund)please contact Glo Ceteznik, Mission Director, at gloc@mipc.org.

Going Beyond Good Intentions Regarding Trafficking

2011-05-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

HOW TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE/From Presbyterians Today

Three key practices

1. Learn. We know more about human trafficking now than we did 10 years ago. Explore the real outcomes of efforts to help trafficked persons and consult the latest information.

2. Don’t go it alone. Develop and coordinate your efforts to assist trafficked persons with experienced social service, legal and government entities.

3.Keep trafficked persons in the decision-making seat. Explain the options available and do not coerce them into help they don’t want. Do not allow your desire to protect trafficked persons to override their ability to make choices about their own lives and situations.

IJM Recues Laborers in Brick Factory in India

2011-05-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE

Location: Chennai, India
Result: More than 500 people freed in IJM’s largest rescue operation ever

Last week, 522 people are returning to their homes in freedom after being rescued from a brutal brick factory in IJM’s largest operation ever.

Earlier this week, a man reported that his younger brother was being held as a slave in the brick

CHENNAI, India - Rescued from slavery, 143 families prepare to return to their homes.
My IJM colleagues and the local government partnered to release him and found not just one man, but hundreds of children, women and men desperate to escape. The team quickly moved into action, initiating the biggest rescue operation in IJM’s history.

Conditions in the factory were brutal: A government medical official saw scars that indicated many of the victims may have been tortured. The laborers were forbidden to leave the factory, and did not have enough food. The owner has been placed under arrest.

But today, these families know great kindness and care, due to the commitment of the government officials who not only ordered their release but even held a special ceremony to celebrate their freedom.

These great miracles of freedom would simply not be possible without your support. Thank you for standing with us.

Gratefully,

Gary Haugen
President and CEO
International Justice Mission

What's Important About Three Cups of Tea

2011-04-27T13:22:00.001-07:00

Just when you thought there could be no more bad PR for the war in Afghanistan, a crippling 60 Minutes investigation about celebrated author and humanitarian Greg Mortenson’s best-selling works, Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools, has cast doubts not only on the books themselves but on aid organizations in the region.

Author and adventurist Jon Krakauer, who once funded Mortenson’s nonprofit Central Asia Institute with thousands of dollars of his own money, added fuel to 60 Minutes’ fire by releasing the longform article “Three Cups of Deceit” [PDF] on Byliner. He had already alleged on the TV program that Mortenson “has lied about the noble deeds he has done, the risks he has taken, the people he has met, the number of schools he has built.”

The worse thing about the Three Cups of Tea scandal is the possible damage it could do to legitimate fundraising efforts to help the Afghan people, especially since Mortenson is now being accused of using donations for his nonprofit to fund expensive marketing of his books. His books have made people feel empowered and hopeful about giving to the cause of Afghan education, especially for girls. The Daily Beast’s Michele Goldberg worries about the backlash:

If this were just about one author’s reputation, the story would have few repercussions outside the publishing world. But Mortenson is not just a memoirist—he’s also the single most famous champion of the transformative power of education for girls in poor countries. If his downfall leads to skepticism about his cause, it would be not just a scandal, but a tragedy.
We can’t let that happen; we need to stay focused on the very real needs of Afghan girls and women. It was partially in their name that the war was fought in the first place, the plight of Afghan women serving as an emotional tool to garner support for the U.S. invasion back in 2001.

Regardless of how that war was marketed, Afghan women and girls still face tremendous insecurity and require consistent attention and commitment from the international community. More than 70 percent of Afghan women and girls are victims of violence, girls’ schools are regularly bombed, one in eight Afghan women die in childbirth, and there are widespread campaigns to make vocal women’s rights voices vanish.

Since Afghan women and girls have borne the brunt of more than 30 years of war, U.S. policy in the region can never be successful until women’s needs–for safety, education, health care and increased political presence–are addressed. A society that has experienced so much war cannot heal by excluding 50 percent of its population. It’s vital to invest in women and girls, not only because that’s what the U.S. said it would do, but because it is the winning strategy.

As the media and public gasp over Mortenson’s alleged deceit, the spotlight must be turned back to where it belongs: on Afghan women and girls. We should not be deterred from helping to improve their present situation and ensure a brighter future.

Another Voice Raised Against Trafficking in the US

2011-04-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

April 23, 2011

What About American Girls Sold on the Streets?

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

When we hear about human trafficking in India or Cambodia, our hearts melt. The victim has sometimes been kidnapped and imprisoned, even caged, in a way that conjures our images of slavery.

But in the United States we see girls all the time who have been trafficked — and our hearts harden. The problem is that these girls aren’t locked in cages. Rather, they’re often runaways out on the street wearing short skirts or busting out of low-cut tops, and many Americans perceive them not as trafficking victims but as miscreants who have chosen their way of life. So even when they’re 14 years old, we often arrest and prosecute them — even as the trafficker goes free.

In fact, human trafficking is more similar in America and Cambodia than we would like to admit. Teenage girls on American streets may appear to be selling sex voluntarily, but they’re often utterly controlled by violent pimps who take every penny they earn.
From johns to judges, Americans often suffer from a profound misunderstanding of how teenage prostitution actually works — and fail to appreciate that it’s one of our country’s biggest human rights problems. Fortunately, a terrific new book called “Girls Like Us,” by Rachel Lloyd, herself a trafficking survivor, illuminates the complexities of the sex industry.

Lloyd is British and the product of a troubled home. As a teenager, she dropped out of school and ended up working as a stripper and prostitute, controlled by a pimp whom she loved in a very complicated way — even though he beat her.
One of the most vexing questions people have is why teenage girls don’t run away more often from pimps who assault them and extract all the money they earn. Lloyd struggles to answer that question about her own past and about the girls she works with today. The answers have to do with lack of self-esteem and lack of alternatives, as well as terror of the pimp and a misplaced love for him.

Jocular references to pimps in popular songs or movies are baffling. They aren’t business partners of teenage girls; they are modern slave drivers. And pimping attracts criminals because it is lucrative and not particularly risky as criminal behavior goes: police arrest the girls, but don’t often go after the pimps. (In fairness, pimping is a tough crime to prove, partly because the star witness is often a girl with a string of prostitution arrests who leaves a poor impression on a jury.)
Eventually, Lloyd did escape her pimp after he nearly killed her, but starting over was tough, and she had trouble fitting in. When she showed up at church in a skirt she liked, four women separately came over to her pew with clothing to cover her legs.
“Apparently skirts need to be longer than your jacket,” she recalls. “Who knew?”
Then Lloyd came to the United States to begin working with troubled teenage girls — and found her calling. In 1998, at the age of 23, she founded GEMS, short for Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, a program for trafficked girls that has won human rights awards and helped pass a landmark anti-trafficking law in New York State. On the side, Lloyd earned a college degree and then a master’s, graduating summa cum laude.
Lloyd’s story is extraordinarily inspiring, as is the work she is doing. One of the girls she rescued from a pimp later graduated from high school as valedictorian. But Lloyd’s memoir is also important for the window it offers into trafficking in this country.

Americans often think that “trafficking” is about Mexican or Korean or Russian women smuggled into brothels in the United States. That happens. But in my years and years of reporting, I’ve found that the biggest trafficking problem involves homegrown American runaways.

Typically, she’s a 13-year-old girl of color from a troubled home who is on bad terms with her mother. Then her mom’s boyfriend hits on her, and she runs away to the bus station, where the only person on the lookout for girls like her is a pimp. He buys her dinner, gives her a place to stay and next thing she knows she’s earning him $1,500 a day.

Lloyd guides us through this world in an unsentimental way that rings pitch perfect with my own reporting. Above all, Lloyd always underscores that these girls aren’t criminals but victims, and she alternately oozes compassion and outrage. One girl she worked with was Nicolette, a 12-year-old in New York City who had a broken rib and burns from a hot iron, presumably from her pimp. Yet Nicolette was convicted of prostitution and sent to a juvenile detention center for a year to learn “moral principles.”

Our system has failed girls like her. The police and prosecutors should focus less on punishing 12-year-old girls and more on their pimps — and, yes, their johns. I hope that Lloyd’s important and compelling book will be a reminder that homegrown American girls are also trafficked, and they deserve sympathy and social services — not handcuffs and juvenile detention.

Interfaith Evening at Herzl ner Tamid a Success

2011-04-20T13:14:00.001-07:00

No One Should Be Forced Educates and Engages Audience

About 200 people attended "No One Should Be Forced", hosted by MIPC and Herzl ner Tamid, on April 13. The purpose of the event was to build momentum and to educate about modern day slavery, both locally and internationally. The evening was successful in further motivating the audience to work together toward that goal. The event planning team chose April 13 intentionally, so that two significant holidays, Passover and Easter, would unite both congregations in this interfaith effort to further the universal message of freedom, rebirth, and renewal. Thanks to the good number from MIPC who attended.

All Seven Houses Finished in TJ

2011-04-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

One of the sites that is done!

Good food in TJ

2011-04-08T11:33:00.001-07:00

Leslie Ferrell and Don Luis enjoy a homemade lunch for the work crew made by our good friend Rosa.

More From Tijuana

2011-04-08T11:30:00.000-07:00

A good hair day in Tijuana

Day 5 Pictures from Tijuana

2011-04-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Steve Smith roofing a casa.

Steve Swedstedt painting his house.

Clara Vu paints her house.

More News From TJ

2011-04-07T10:08:00.001-07:00

Mayah Singh-Barrett and Christina Williamson sharing smiles during a Popsicle Break on
Cement Day (Monday) during Mexico Spring Break 2011.

Work Crew Lunches-Spring 2011

News From Tijuana

2011-04-07T10:02:00.001-07:00

Pink Panthers Take Popsicle Break

Wall are going up!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/DOXA/167523783262151?sk=wall#!/album.php?fbid=212946258719903&id=167523783262151&aid=64307

MIPC Joins IJM to Eradicate Slavery

2011-03-31T11:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Mercer Island,

Thank you for joining with IJM and calling on President Obama to make the eradication of modern-day slavery a priority for his Administration. Last week, I had the honor of delivering our letter - signed by you and nearly 21,000 other modern-day abolitionists! - to Gayle Smith, Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director at the National Security Council. Ms. Smith is responsible for global development and humanitarian assistance issues for the Obama Administration, and has been a leading voice on foreign aid reform. I talked with her about how we can secure more resources for combating slavery around the world, especially in the context of proposed deep cuts in U.S. foreign aid.

Ms. Smith told me, “It is amazing that when there’s so much going on in our own country, 21,000 Americans want the President to know that they care about trafficking victims abroad.” She said that the strong bipartisan support around the country is very important to confronting slavery.

Your help does make a difference. Thanks in part to those of you who supported this effort last year, the President requested an increase of $400,000 more for the Trafficking in Persons office in 2012 over his request for the previous year. Having been active in the human rights field for twenty-five years, I am increasingly aware that building the political will to protect the most vulnerable among us requires an active constituency of people who care enough to speak up to those in power. Thank you for raising your voice on behalf of children, women and men who are living in bondage. IJM greatly appreciates your partnership in this work.

Warmly,
Holly J. Burkhalter
Vice President for Government Relations

Sunday's Luncheon at Simon's Apartments

2011-03-30T13:35:00.001-07:00

Several helpers were at our luncheon at Simons this week including three adults and three teen boys. We arrived at Simons at 11:00 AM and left 1:00 PM, altogether a total of 12 hours. We had a larger than usual crowd. We served about 50 people with 15 or more coming back for seconds, so about 65 lunches altogether.

Simon’s is part of Plymouth Housing and is for seniors, many of whom are veterans.

No One Should Be Forced

2011-03-24T14:31:00.000-07:00

No One Should Be Forced:
An Interfaith Dialogue on Modern Slavery

Herzl-Ner Tamid, Mercer Island Presbyterian Church and Seattle Against Slavery invite you to help us expand a growing movement for freedom and human rights around the world.

The evening is timed to coincide with the holidays of Passover and Easter, holidays which embody a universal message of freedom, rebirth and renewal. It will feature Urmi Basu, director of New Light (an organization that rescues children from trafficking) in a live feed from Kolkata, India; and Sheila Houston, a minister who reaches out to young people who are trafficked in Washington state.

I Am My Brother's Keeper: Confronting Islamaphobia

2011-03-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

May 6th and 7th, 2011

St. Mark's Cathedral
1245 10th Avenue East
Seattle, WA

An interfaith conference of Jews, Christians and Muslims presents an opportunity for your organization to show its support for respect and understanding for Americans of all faiths.

This event will include outstanding speakers, workshops, and an interfaith prayer service, led by Episcopal Bishop Greg Rickel, Iman Fazal Hassen of the Eastside Islamic Center, and Rabbi Jim Mirel, of Temple B'nai Torah.

Good News About Asa Mercer Middle School

2011-03-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

As the morning paper continues to carry disturbing news about the Seattle School District administration, it is great to see Mercer Middle School continuing to thrive under its hardworking and dedicated staff.

I hope you all have a chance (even if you are not currently tutoring) to appreciate the colorful bulletin board in the main hall that tells of two recent rewarding events. One is the attendance of a number of students at a reading by Sherman Alexie at the University Village Borders bookstore. There are many photographs of students meeting the author and receiving his autograph as they talked with him and asked many good questions. The other half of the bulletin board shows an oversize check for more than $7,300 from the state to the school in recognition of their STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum. Mr. Ettinger, science and math teacher extraordinaire accepted the check on Mercer's behalf at a press conference.

We rejoice with students and staff alike as their hard work is noticed and rewarded!

Coming up: Spring Break April 18 - 22.

Linda Fetters, Asa Mercer Tutor Coordinator

A Way to Contribute to Japan

2011-03-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) staff are working to respond to the massive earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck Japan March 10, killing unknown numbers of people and sending tsunami waves across the Pacific. Denominational leaders have issued a call to prayer. The Rev. Gradye Parsons, stated clerk; Elder Cynthia Bolbach, moderator of the 219th General Assembly; and Elder Linda Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Mission Council are urging Presbyterians to pray for all those affected by the disaster — victims and their families, aid workers, faith communities and leaders. “The magnitude of this kind of tragedy is difficult to grasp. Yet, our faith leads us to affirm that in even greater measure is the presence of God in the midst of the devastation,” states the call. The 8.9-magnitude earthquake is the world’s fifth largest since 1900 and the biggest to hit Japan in 140 years.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has set up a direct response account for donations. Individuals can give through their congregation, by calling PresbyTel at (800) 872-3283, on the secure PC(USA) website (https://gamc.pcusa.org/give/make-a-gift/DR000117/), or by sending a check to:

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700

Gifts should be designated for account DR000117 — Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

Volunteer Opportunity with Youthcare

2011-02-23T09:46:00.001-08:00

Volunteer Opportunity: Youthcare, a downtown organization that reaches out to teens on the street, needs help sending out thank you's after their fundraising luncheon on March 22 at the Westin in downtown Seattle from 2:30 until about 5 PM. They need a group of 8-10 people. Would you like to get some friends together to help or would you be willing to join a group to do this. Contact Glo Ceteznik, gloc@mipc.org for more details or to sign up.

Need Somewhere to Donate Your Furniture?

2011-02-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

Share House provides furniture for people moving from homelessness to permanent housing. Share House is a program of the Church Council of Greater Seattle located at 5706 Second Ave South. If you go to their website, www.thesharehouse.org you will find a list of furniture they accept. Their phone number is 206-767-5280.

Each year the formerly homeless about move into 2,000 newly established homes.

Interfaith Gifts of the Heart at MIPC

2011-01-05T15:15:00.000-08:00

Just finished our Gifts of the Heart Campaign at MIPC. We will donate $13,000 to the New Light Center in Kolkata, India in partnership with Herzl ner Tamid Synagogue on Mercer Island. Jews and Christians coming together to support Hindus and Muslims. Amen to that!

SE Asia Trip

2010-12-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

Jean Carter practices English with bright and joyful students in Hanoi.

SE Asia Trip

2010-12-06T15:28:00.001-08:00

Rev. Rita Lou Clarke has a great time practicing English with students at the Temple of Literature.

SE Asia Trip

2010-12-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

At the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, our group sees the President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, walking through the gardens. She is in Hanoi for the ASEAN Conference.

SE Asia Trip Continued

2010-12-06T15:19:00.000-08:00

Jean Carter, MIPC Missions Elder, in the lobby of our hotel in Hano.

Some Photos from MIPC's Mission Trip to SE Asia/Nov.

2010-12-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

Vietnames art in our hotel, our first night in Hanoi.

Dress Up at the Orphanage

2010-10-27T10:03:00.001-07:00

Dance Floor Antics at the Orphanage

2010-10-27T10:02:00.001-07:00

More Bonding at the Orphanage

2010-10-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Dress Up at the Tutoring Center

2010-10-27T09:59:00.001-07:00

Bonding with the children in Mexico

2010-10-27T09:56:00.001-07:00

Men's Mexico Trip Update/The Final Stretch

2010-10-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Men's Mexico Trip Update/A Day in the Life of an Intern

2010-10-22T14:43:00.001-07:00

Men's Mexico Trip Update/All Ages Bonding

2010-10-22T13:36:00.001-07:00

Men's Mexico Trip Update/Ready to Head Out Day 3

2010-10-22T13:00:00.001-07:00

Men's Mexico Trip Update/Framing & Standing Walls

2010-10-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

Men's Mexico Trip Update/slab # 2 is complete!

2010-10-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

Men's Mexico Trip Update

2010-10-21T12:21:00.001-07:00

Cement & foundations Day

Men's Mexico Trip Update

2010-10-21T12:20:00.001-07:00

Brad, Mark & Steve

Men's Mexico Trip Update

2010-10-21T12:19:00.001-07:00

Everyone takes a turn at KP!

Men's Mexico Trip Update

2010-10-21T09:24:00.001-07:00

And we're off...!

Men's Mexico Trip Update

2010-10-21T09:23:00.001-07:00

Leveling sites.

Men's Mexico Trip Update

2010-10-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

Cooking for 42 amigos from MIPC and Capitol Hill PC

Team MIPC at Seattle AIDS Walk

2010-10-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Marnie and Perry Holen for leading us in this year's AIDS Walk and thanks to all who helped fund the important work for brothers and sisters affected by HIV/AIDS.

Anti Poverty Saves Lives

2010-09-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

According to Nicholas Kristof's article in the NY Times, 9/22/10, antipoverty work saves around 32,000 lives each day...based on the calculation of how many children died in 1960 (20 million) and the number dying now (about 8 million a year).

Twelve million lives are saved annually...roughly one every three seconds gives us some hope regarding the effectiveness of anti-poverty programs.

Affirming Human Dignity WorldWide

2010-09-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

This information was sent to us by Dr. Nancy Murphy,Executive Director, Northwest Family Life. The information comes from Justice: A Global Adventure by Walter Burghardt.

Among industrialized countries the United States ranks number one in military technology, military exports, Gross Domestic Product, the number of millionaires and billionaires, health technology and defense expenditures; ranks sixteenth in efforts to lift children out of poverty; eighteenth in the gap between rich and poor children; twenty-second in infant mortality; and ranks last in protecting our children against gun violence.

Globally the statistics are staggering for children.

Over half a billion children are struggling to survive on under $1 per day

250,000 children and young people are infected with HIV/AIDS every month

130 million children lack access to education and 246 million children are child laborers

8.4 million children are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities

500,000 young people under 18 are exploited as child soldiers and 30,000 children die each day from preventable diseases

The Importance of a School Uniform

2010-09-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

"A South African study found that giving girls a $6 uniform every eighteen months increased the chance that they would stay in school and consequently reduced the number of pregnancies they experienced."

From Half the Sky
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

From Half the Sky...Some Lessons Learned

2010-08-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

Three lessons learned from a story of a rescued girl from a brothel in Cambodia

First, rescuing girls is complicated and uncertain. It is most productive to focus on prevention and putting brothels out of business.

Second, never give up. Helping people is difficult and unpredictable, and interventions don’t always work out. But successes are possible and incredibly important.

Thirdly, even when a social issue is insoluble in its entirety, do what you can. It is important to the ones you are able to help, even if you can’t help them all.

Hope for Pakistan

2010-08-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

Third Family Mission Trip to Peshastin

2010-08-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

Both churches, MIPC and Peshastin UCC had a wonderful time doing VBS together from July 28-August 1. The picture of the lake and lovely beach is Lake Wenatchee State Park, where we spent Friday afternoon after VBS ended.

Summer Camp is Over... Muchas Gracias!

2010-08-02T09:44:00.001-07:00

“Rosa, Maru, Elvia, Vicki, Paola, Kimberly and Zoraida ... girls who were every day with the kids and that made it possible for every child have fun and learn at this camp ... hopefully next summer and we're all volunteers to receive and learn with children ... much cooler from the city of Tijuana mexico all we thank each of you who made it possible for this small but great effort to ensure that children have a different summer ... as some of the children a camp that I may not forget ... Gracias

Visit to the Museum With Summer Camp in Tijuana

2010-07-28T10:01:00.001-07:00

Two New Plymouth Houses Ready to Open

2010-07-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

Combined, these buildings will provide 122 new homes for chronically-homeless people in our community.

We had an overwhelming response from local organizations and people in the community who donated household items to build Welcome Baskets for our new residents, many who will have no belongings when they move into Plymouth.

Thank you to the following groups for their generous support in furnishing our new apartments: Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, Emily Fries & Sarah Hartman, Fauntleroy Church, Fortune Bank, Kira & Andy Turner, Marc Stiles, Matthew G. Norton Company, The McHale Family, Microsoft, Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, Pacific Coast Feather, Puget Sound Labor Agency, Seattle Works Volunteers and Sunnycrest Elementary School.  Parking Street parking is available on Cedar Street, 1st Avenue and near Blanchard Street. Pay parking lots are also available along 1st Avenue between Lenora and Cedar Streets.
Bus King County Metro Bus Routes 15 and 18 stop along 1st Avenue between Cedar Street and Blanchard Street.

For more information, please contact Mary Ann Lambert at mlambert@plymouthhousing.org or call 206-374-9409, ext. 144.

More on Social Justice News from General Assembly

2010-07-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

The PCUSA is to become "an HIV and AIDS competent church," including encouraging all Presbyterians, especially ministers, to be tested to help eliminate the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS testing.

Girl Pictured in Bulletin Has a New Sponsor!

2010-07-20T15:11:00.000-07:00

A family of lawyers from MIPC sponsored Pin to go to school...all the way through law school if she desires. Pin lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Name: Kong Srey Pin
Age: 17
Date of birth: 10/10/92
Place of birth: Prek Tapouv Village, Prek Pra Commune
Home: Prek Tapouv village
School : Chbar Ampouv II, grade 11
Family Detail: Father died ten years ago. She lives with her mother, grandfather and one sister.
Caregiver: Mother
Future Dream: Lawyer
School favorite subject: Mathematics.

Social Justice Updates from General Assembly

2010-07-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

PCUSA's General Assembly voted to pay increased attention to human rights, particularly in the areas of human trafficking, detention of immigrants and the continuing problem of torture.

MIPC's partnership with International Justice Mission directly works on rescuing trafficked persons and our International Student Scholarship Fund indirectly is a preventative to the threat of young girls being trafficked because of a lack of educational opportunities.

Summer Day Camp off to a Good Start in TJ

2010-07-14T14:08:00.001-07:00

Update on Thai Scholarship Students

2010-07-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

In a recent update from Mekong Minority Foundation in Chiang Rai, Thailand, we learned that four of our scholarship students recently graduated from universities. One of the students earned the Prince Royal Scholarship to continue her studies in nursing.

We continue to pray for the lives of all of these girls, that God will be with them as they use their education to better their lives and the lives of their families and their community.

POF Walkathon July 10

2010-06-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

2010-06-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

2010 Peshastin Trip
July 28-Aug. 1

Contact Jennifer Reeve-Parker jenniferrp@mipc.org or Glo Ceteznik gloc@mipc.org to find out more or reserve your spot. Cost is $125 for breakfasts, lunches, pool fees and thank you gift to Peshastin UCC church.

This year our trip to Peshastin includes a landscaping project at a home for developmentally disabled adults. This project is in addition to the Vacation Bible School that we run at the UCC Church in Peshastin.

Our schedule runs like this:
Breakfast together at the church
Morning mission-VBS or Landscaping
Lunch together at church
Afternoon to the swimming pool in Leavenworth with VBS kids
Late afternoon free time
Dinner at our restaurant of choice
Evening time together at the church
Bed time

Special Events
Saturday afternoon group activity…inner tube float? Water slides?
Saturday evening community celebration…homemade pies, ice cream, fire truck rides.
Sunday morning-worship service and potluck before departing for home

"You Will Always Have the Poor With You..."

2010-06-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

Remember in Mark’s Gospel when Jesus says, “For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish: but you will not always have me.” 14:7

The context of the story is that Jesus is at the table with a leper. Jesus is making an assumption about his disciples’ continuing proximity to the poor.

“Jesus is making an assumption about his disciples’ continuing proximity to the poor. He is saying, in effect, ‘Look, you will always have the poor with you” because you are my disciples. You know who we spend our time with, who we share meals with, who listens to our message, who we focus our attention on. You’ve been watching me, and you know what my priorities are. You know who comes first in the kingdom of God. So, you will always be near the poor, you’ll always be with them, and you will always have opportunity to share with them.”
-Jim Wallis, God’s Politics

SE Asia Trip Planned for Fall

2010-06-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

MIPC Missions is planning a trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand from October 28-November 7 to visit our scholarship and mission partners in Hue, Vietnam; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and Chiang Rai, Thailand.

The cost of the two country trip is $2,550 including all flights, hotels, visa fees etc. The three country trip, including the trip to Chiang Rai, will cost about $3,200.

We have designed this trip to meet some of our scholarship children, and to evaluate and be an encouragement to our mission partners.

If you are a scholarship sponsor and would like to meet your child, or if you are thinking of sponsoring a child, or just want to meet our mission partners in SE Asia, please consider coming along on this trip. You will be joined by several of our Missions Committee members and Binh Nguyen and Glo Ceteznik.

Please contact Glo at GloC@MIPC.org, 206-232-5596 x. 206 for more information.

Girls in School/Gifts of the Heart

2010-05-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

2010 Gifts of the Heart: The Girl Scholarship from tucker fitzgerald on Vimeo.

Sending Girls to School for This Year's Gifts of the Heart

2010-05-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

Please watch our video for Gifts of the Heart, created by Tucker Fitzgerald.

http://vimeo.com/11717588

Meet Grade R at the Child Academy (kindergarten)

2010-05-07T11:52:00.001-07:00

Seattle Against Slavery Benefit Dinner

2010-05-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

Meet the Preschool at the Child Academy

2010-04-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

The Child Academy is supported through MIPC's International Student Scholarship Fund (ISSF).
We have about one hundred $350 scholarships there.

Dinner at the Jubilee Women's Center

2010-04-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

MIPC Jubilee Team served its first dinner at the Center on April 27.

Keeping Hope Alive

2010-04-26T14:32:00.000-07:00

This young girl in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, had to drop out of school after her aunt became ill and could no longer support the family. An MIPC family had been sponsoring her to attend school and when they heard she had to drop out, they asked what the living expenses of the family were each month. After they heard, they agreed to sponsor the family as well...but this time for living expenses. Now this young girl will return to school in the fall, giving her and her family hope for a better life through education.

A Day of Grooming at Plymouth on Stewart

2010-04-19T13:31:00.001-07:00

Pray For Freedom and Justice on Issues of Slavery and Trafficking

2010-04-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Fight Trafficking On May 1

2010-04-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

World Concern is doing a 5K to fight human trafficking on May 1 in Seattle http://worldconcern.org/5k/

TJ Work Crew Team-Spring 2010

2010-04-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

Finished Houses Look Bright and Colorful

2010-04-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

Getting On That Sunscreen

2010-03-31T09:16:00.001-07:00

Day 4 in TJ

2010-03-31T09:13:00.001-07:00

Fun, Fun, Fun in Tijuana

2010-03-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

The Importance of Clean Water

2010-03-22T11:29:00.001-07:00

"One child dies every 15 seconds, every single day, from water-related illnesses. Almost a billion people do not have access to safe water and 2.5 billion lack basic sanitation. At any one time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water-borne diseases. It kills more people than malaria, AIDS, and TB combined with a catastrophic result: 2 million, most preventable deaths, every year."

-from the Washington Post, March 22, 2010

IJM Rescues Thirteen From Rice Mill in India

2010-03-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

Breaking News Update
Location: Chennai, India
Date: March 12, 2010
Result: 13 slaves, children, women and men, were rescued from a rice mill.

Human Trafficking in Washington State

2010-03-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

Sara Lerner, a report at KUOW has a four-part series on human trafficking in Washington State began Monday and continues through Thursday, March 18 on KUOW in the Puget Sound area.
You can also hear all four stories online, here: http://www.kuow.org/specials/humantrafficking.php
(The website also has photos, resource links, and extra audio…)

Read today's Seattle Times article about Tent City and Mercer Island Ordinance

2010-03-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

Just follow this link for a summary of the issues regarding the new ordinance passed by MI City Council. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011347755_mercertent15m.html

The Intervention That Gets the Most Bang for the Buck

2010-03-12T14:30:00.000-08:00

"Girls' education may be the single most cost-effective kind of aid work. It's cheap, it opens minds, it gives new career opportunities and ways to generate cash, it leads them to have fewer children and invest more in those children, and it tends to bring women from the shadows into the formal economy and society. It's not a panacea...but overall, educating girls probably has a greater transformative effect on a country than anything else one can do."

-Nicholas Kristof
March 8, 2010
NY Times, On the Ground

Watch for MIPC's Gifts of the Heart offering this May to support girls' education.

Another Way to Help Haiti Recover

2010-03-10T10:03:00.001-08:00

Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, an MIPC Mission Partner, is sponsoring a Gala Dinner Auction to help raise funds for their work in “helping the developing world to walk again.” They are especially focusing on prosthetics work in Haiti.

Enjoy a 4-course dinner and bid on vacations, unique dining experiences, gifts, and hundreds of other items. Have a great time and help people walk again.

Saturday, March 27th, 2010 5:00pm
Meydenbauer Center
Complimentary Parking

Tickets $125 each or $1,200 table for 10

To register, visit www.pofsea.org/auction or call 206-726-1636.

MIPC members Katherine Robbs and Susan Stanley are POF board members. Would you like to sit at their table? Just ask when you register!
For more information about POF, go to www.pofsea.org

Support MIPC Students Housebuilding in Tijuana

2010-02-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

Here is a link you can follow to learn how you can partner with those going to Mexico to build houses over Spring Break. Thanks for your support! http://www.teensbuildinghouses.org/