Canadian Mennonite
Volume 9, No. 04
February 21, 2005
Churches sought
to offer sanctuary
Kitchener, Ont.—A coalition of Waterloo Region churches, with representation from Mennonite, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Ethiopian Orthodox congregations, is looking for local churches willing to provide sanctuary as a last resort for refugee families facing deportation.
At present, 10 local refugee families—encompassing 20 adults and 30 or more children and teens from Central and South America—are facing deportation, according to the group that includes Eunice Valenzuela, the executive director of the Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support.
Group members hope local churches will band together to provide financial and other types of support to any congregation willing to provide sanctuary, which they consider a justified form of civil disobedience. Refugees chosen for sanctuary in local churches would be selected based on the risk of death or persecution if deported to their country of origin.
Currently, a dozen churches across Canada provide sanctuary for refugees facing deportation.
To promote its cause, the coalition has organized a forum at Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church, Kitchener, on March 10 at 7 p.m. Mary Jo Leddy, a theologian, social justice advocate, author and refugee advocate, is the keynote speaker. Leddy is the executive director of Romero House in Toronto, where transitional shelter and support is provided for newly arrived refugees. She will speak on the ways refugee advocates and those involved in the sanctuary movement are attempting to reform this countrys refugee laws.
—From a February 5, 2005, K-W Record news article.
MCC asks for
20,000 kits
Akron, Pa.—Mennonite Central Committee is asking for 20,000 relief kits to be donated by February 28. The kits will be shipped to Aceh province in Indonesia, where they will be distributed by the YAKKUM Emergency Unit (YEU), the emergency arm of an association of Indonesian hospitals. MCC has provided $253,000 for YEUs work with tsunami survivors.
For information on how to make the kits and where to send them, visit the MCC website at www.mcc.org, or phone toll-free 1-888-622-6337. Provincial MCC offices also have the information.—From MCC release
2004 Index
is available
The 2004 Index for Canadian Mennonite will not be printed in the magazine this year. It is available on our web site or in print form. If you would like a free copy of the Index, contact the Canadian Mennonite office, phone toll-free 1-800-378-2524, or e-mail: office@canadianmennonite.org