Broadview Prayer Vigil June 14, 2013

 On Friday, June 14 at 7 am. an ecumenical gathering of church people gathered at the Broadview Detention Center near Chicago.  On Fridays the immigrant detainees are put white busses and taken to Ohare airport and returned to their country of origin.

 In addition to providing accompaniment for those being deported the vigil was the opening event of the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ.  It also honored the memory of Rev. Bob Sandman.  His wido, Olgha Sandman is here addressing the gathering.

After the vigil some of the activists gather for breakfast at a local restaurant.

Here is some coverage of the event from the Chicago Sun Times;
http://www.suntimes.com/news/20740886-418/religious-leaders-and-their-followers-calling-out-for-immigration-reform.html

From Guatemala

Update on Kidnapped COPIISCO Xinca Leader 
My apologies for the delayed note.   After a few days with other commitments, I was unable to inform you about don Roberto Ucelo.  Following is an update from our Communication Dept. Coordinator  Mayra Ramirez:

Brother and Sisters,

Yesterday, March 18th, in the late evening, Roberto González Ucelo was taken and abandoned in the department/state of Chimaltenango, Guatemala.    Mr. González Ucelo is president of the Xinca parliament and active leader of the North Eastern Region of Popular, Indigenous, Church, Union and Peasant Coordinating Organization, (COPIISCO).

Thanks be to God that he was found alive and although threatened to death, he continues and is committed to the defense of the natural territories.  We inform you that Rodolfo López y Rigoberto Aguilar were able to escape and we regret the extrajudicial execution of Mr. Exaltación Marcos, Xinca Parliament Secretary at Santa María Xalapán.

The four active indigenous leaders were kidnapped on Sunday March 17th after returning from a community consultation.  

We ask that everyone maintain the necessary security measures, in particular those who are at the forefront of the struggle and defense of our natural goods and assets.

Sincerely,
Mayra Rodriguez, Communication Dept. Coordinator
Ecumenical Christian Council of Guatemala

Postville 5th Anniversary

Postville raid: Five years later Public invited to remember tragic event May 10, in Cedar Rapids

A gathering commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Postville immigration raid is Friday, May 10, in Cedar Rapids. The purpose of the event is to remember the 389 persons who were arrested May 12, 2008; to reconcile with those who contributed to the injustices; and to advocate for the reform of immigration policies. The event will begin at 12 p.m. with a remembrance ritual at the park across from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, 111 7th Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids. A "Walk for Justice" at 12:30 p.m. to Immaculate Conception Church, 857 3rd Ave. SE, will follow. Here an interfaith prayer for reconciliation and a call for reform of our immigration policies will take place at 1:15 p.m. The assembly is being planned by a wide coalition of those involved in the response to the raid as well as those affected. It will include immigrants, who were part of the 2008 raid, church representatives who ministered to the immigrants and their families, lawyers who saw the injustice of the system, as well as others who are concerned about immigration reform. Five years ago on May 12, 2008, the largest single-site immigration raid at the time in the history of the United States occurred in Postville. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials raided Agriprocessors, the main producer of kosher meat in the United States, handcuffed immigrants and bused them to the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo. Most detainees were charged with identity theft and were shipped to prisons across the country where they spent five months before being deported. Immigration charges against the CEO of Agriprocessors were dropped. In a matter of hours on that fateful day, Postville lost a significant amount of its population and worse yet, hundreds of families were torn apart. The location in front of the federal Count was chosen both because of the court's role in the raid as well as because of the significance of the event to the on-going national conversation about immigration. For more information about the fifth anniversary commemoration and call for the reform of our immigration policy, as well as for resources for organizing events in communities or congregations to coincide with this commemoration, contact Rockne Cole at rocknecole@gmail.com or 319-358-1900 or Sister Mary McCauley, BVM, at mmccauley@bvmcong.org or 563-583-8989.

Funding Appeal Underway

The Illinois Maya Ministry is conducting its annual funding appeal at this time.  We have received about $2,800.00 in donations already.  Thank you to faithful friends of this ministry in Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala.

The main use of the funds received is to support our partners, particularly INESIN in Chiapas, and ACG in Guatemala.  We also use this to support a partnership of IMM and SiPaz!

If you wish to contribute make the check payable to: "Illinois Conference UCC."  Write "IMM" in the memo line.  Send the check to: Rev. Michelle Prentice-Leslie, 1221 Clearwater Drive, Yorkville, IL 60560.

Thank you.

IMM Meetings

On October 1, 2012, the Maya Ministry group met at Michelle's home in Yorkville, IL.  Here we are at lunch.  One of the key elements of the meeting was to plan the annual meeting schedule.  Some of the meetings will be face to face.  Others will be conference calls or electronic conferences over the internet.  The character of each meeting has not yet been determined, but here is the schedule:

• Thursday, October 18, 2012.  1:00 pm  Web-X meeting.
• Monday, November 12, 2012.  9:00 am.  With Felix Ortiz in Indianapolis.  Face-to-face.
• Friday, December 7, 2012.  7:00 am.  at Broadview Detention Center, Broadview, IL.  (This is the weekly prayer vigil.  Will meet for breakfast afterward.)
• Thursday, January 24, 2013.  Conference Call.
• Thursday, February 21, 2013.
• Thursday, March 21, 2013.
• Thursday, April 18, 2013. Conference Call, 10:30 am
• Thursday, May 16, 2013. Meet at Yorkville, 10:00 am
• June 2013 - Meet at the Illinois Conference Meeting.

More information will follow about the time and character of the 2013 meetings.  The days are correct.

Report from Denise - continued

This photo was taken in Morelia, a Zapatista caracol (which I always liken to a county seat).  We're standing in front of the Office for Good Government.  The Zapatista leaders were inside discussing how they would answer the questions we brought - all young, mostly women, many of whom speak only their indigenous languages (there were language groups present - so the meeting was quarto-lingual (is that a word?!), with Spanish sometimes serving as the common language).  When we met with them after a long wait, we were quite impressed with the way leadership was shared among the group, especially the way women and those with no facility in Spanish were encouraged to take a substantial role in the conversation.  There they were, putting their slogan into action right before our delighted eyes:  creating a world were all worlds fit.  In the UCC we talk (and sometimes even practice!) a good game of multi-culturalism.  We could take lessons from the Zapatistas in this!

Rev. Denise Griebler reports from Chiapas

(One of the partners of IMM and of Global Ministries is SiPaz.  Denise Griebler represents IMM on the Board of Directors of SiPaz.  Travel for this international board is expensive, and thus they meet intensively once each year in San Cristobal de Las Casas.  Here is Denise's report of that meeting.)

Chiapas Report

August 14 – 21 I was in Chiapas, Mexico for the annual SiPaz (International Service for Peace) board meeting. It’s always a privilege to accompany this amazingly faithful organization as they accompany communities and processes working toward establishing a true and lasting peace in Southern Mexico. NAFTA and the various other free-trade agreements combined with organized crime, the war on drugs, impunity and government corruption are enough to overwhelm. But SiPaz just keeps plugging along to defend human rights, educate toward peace, support people’s efforts to organize and have a say over their own lives and communities.

We were blessed to go to the countryside to visit with a Zapatista community – indigenous Mayan folk who are staking their claim to define, organize and govern themselves. It was inspiring to see women who speak only their indigenous language of Tzeltal emerging as leaders of the community. There are about 371,000 people in Chiapas who speak this language. Many speak no Spanish. And it's just one of the Mayan language groups in Chiapas!  80% of the people who live in Chiapas are Mayan, which is to say, Native American, indigenous, 1st Nations.  Everyone else is an immigrant!

After the interview with the community leaders, they invited us to have lunch with them – a cup of thick sweet rice water called “atole”. We felt so honored to share a meal and informal conversation with these people who say that what they are working for is a world where all worlds fit. I like that. The big mining companies who want what’s beneath their land do not. I pray the Zapatistas hold their ground.

The rest of the week was solid meetings back in San Cristobal de las Casas. We engaged in analysis of the current situation and strategized about how our little organization has and could make a difference on behalf of human rights

and peace. We committed to goals for this year. SiPaz board members are from France, Costa Rica, Germany, Colombia, Holland, Switzerland and the US.

- Denise

SiPaz Board

Women's Micro-Credit Enterprize

 On January 14, 2012, our Guatemala delegation spent the morning visiting our partner ACG - Guatemalan Cultural Action.  We travelled by pickup truck to a nearby community and had a conversation with a women's micro-credit group.  Each of us in turn introduced ourselves and each of them in turn introduced themselves and told us about their particular project, and how they were using the loaned money.  It was inspiring.  Pictured above are the women of the cooperative.

We then went back to the center and visited with the staff.  It is a difficult period for their work.  The international economic downturn has affected gifts to international NGOs also.  They are trying to determine how to continue to do quality work with diminished resources.

Critical Analysis

When the IMM delegation was in San Cristobal de Las Casas in May 2012 for the 15th Anniversary celebration of INESIN the group also made visits to other partners in town.  One of those long time partners is SiPaz.  SiPaz is an international NGO working for peace, and it was also established in the 1990s.

In the photo above Marina Pages, director of SiPaz,  presents a critical analysis of the situation in Chiapas.  Her presence at INESIN illustrates the network of groups who have slightly different missions and who at the same time work in harmony to address the needs in Chiapas.

SiPaz is a partner with IMM and INESIN, and also with Global Ministries.  While Felix Ortiz Cotto was present for the celebration at INESIN he was also able to meet with representatives of SiPaz to find ways that they could work together in the future.  The various groups together form a critical presence for positive effort.

Concejo Ecumenico Cristaino de Guatemala

Concejo Ecuménico Cristiano de Guatemala

 On January 17, 2012, a delegation of Illinois Maya Ministries members met with Vitalino Similox and Nora Colom in Guatemala City at the offices of Concejo Ecumenico Cristiano de Guatemala.  Vitalino and Nora had visited Illinois in the fall of 2011 and we had met them then.  This was a return visit to learn more about their work.  They are affiliated with Global Ministries in Indianapolis, and are developing a partnership with the Disciples of Christ Region that includes Illinois.

 The council does work coordinating a Christian witness in Guatemala.  The blue poster, above lists the member organizations.  Please note also the web address.  (You can also reach their website by clicking on the blue underlined name of the organization in the first line of this post, it is a hot link.)

We had a pleasant visit.  It was their first day back after their honeymoon - they were married earlier in January!

Our delegation was composed of Martha Pierce, Rev. Michael Swartz and Jeanne Omelia of IMM and Sydney of CRLN - the Chicago Religious Leadership Network.

Broadview Detention Center vigil

 The Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ began its annual meeting at 7:15 am with a Prayer Vigil at the Broadview Detention Center, on Friday June 8, 2012.  Broadview Detention Center is where undocumented persons are gathered up and staged for deportation from the United States, and Friday mornings is when the busses of shackled young men leave the center for Ohare Airport.  Religious persons gather there weekly to pray and sing for those being deported and to let them know that there are some people of good will who regret their plight.

The particular reason for this gathering of United Church of Christ conference participants was not only to express solidarity with those being bussed to the airport, but also to honor the memory of Rev. Bob Sandman, a longtime member of the conference who attended these services regularly when he was alive, but who died this last year.

In the top photo Rev. Denise Griebler, a member of the conference, leads worship.  In the bottom photo worshippers wave to the departing busses.  (Some of our bi-lingual pastors were able to board the busses and pray with the deportees and offer support.)

Gloria Vicente

 Illinois Maya Ministry met today, Friday, May 18, 2012 in Warrenville, Illinois, at the home of Rev. Denise Griebler, to listen to a very pregnant Gloria Vicente share about her work in Guatemala as a missionary through Common Global Ministries.  Gloria was able to explain in depth about her experience at Guatemalan Christian Action (ACG).  She also talked a little about her plans for her future work in Guatemala.  Part of the work of IMM is to accompany our missionaries with Mayan people.  

Honoring Bishop Samuel Ruiz

There are different ways of honoring someone who has  died.  Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia (3 November 1924 – 24 January 2011) died a little over a year ago.  He was instrumental in building positive ecumenical relations between and among Mayans, Catholics and Protestants in the Diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas, where he served for many years.

The top photo is of the Mayan altar that was used during the Fiesta at INESIN.   This is a Mayan way of honoring a person, as we would at a memorial service in our church.  We too use candles and flowers.  The basked and bowl are filled with earth and water, respectively.  The various colors of flowers and candles represent the cardinal directions.  This is a way that Mayan folks honor Bishop Ruiz.

The lower photo is of our group from Illinois Maya Ministries including Felix Ortiz-Cotto of Global Ministries.  We are standing on the foundation/slab/footing of a new building that is being constructed at INESIN.  This is how North American Protestants honor someone who has died who was beloved and appreciated.  IMM set a goal of a $10,000 to help build this building that will include an assembly room named for Bishop Ruiz.  And we have met our goal and sent the $10,000.  And we know that additional gifts have been sent by the Wisconsin UCC Conference, and by other donors. 


INESIN is able to receive and benefit from various sorts of contributions to honor one of their spiritual founders.

INESIN Anniversary Event

 It was a full day of meeting at INESIN on Saturday, May 5, 2012.  Here is Hermana Lucy sharing some memories of the beginning of the project 15 years ago.  She was one of several such speakers.

 This is one of the discussion groups talking about what we have heard.  This particular group is international partner groups.  Around the table are folks from Switzerland, South Africa, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and mainland USA.  We are Mennonite, Reformed, Catholic, Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ.

 This is the next step.  Here is Felix Ortiz Cotto, our Executive for Latin America and the Caribbean from Common Global Ministries, reporting back to the whole assembly what we talked about in our smaller group.

 We took a bit of a break from all the talking and planted a tree to represent a commitment to the future.  The whole group did it with some ceremony, but we were so crowded together it was difficult to get a picture.  Here is Marina from SiPaz and her young son giving the new tree a little bit of water.  The tree will bear at least two kinds of fruit - it is grafted together.  An apt symbol for an organization promoting ecumenical work.

And the day concluded with Mariachi music and dancing.  This is, of course, Mexico!

Celebration Opens with Mayan Prayer Service

 After a few opening and welcoming remarks from Ernesto Martin, the three day celebration of the 15th Anniversary of INESIN began on Friday, May 4, 2012 with a Mayan Prayer time led by spiritual leaders from Huixtan, Chiapas, Mexico.  The prayers centered around an altar formed on the ground; a circle of flowers and candles, oriented on the four cardinal directions.  

Rhythmic prayer in the Tzotzil language was accompanied by stringed instrument music and maracas played by several of the congregants.

Here one of the women worship leaders moves around through the congregation with copal incense.  The copal is placed on hot charcoal in a terra cotta censor which she is able to hold in her hand by the base.  It looks like a big chalice.  She then blows on the charcoal and is able to direct puffs in incense smoke in particular directions.


After the Mayan prayer service there were the lectures about the historical context of the area, followed by a substantial lecture General Secretary of a Swiss mission sending association which has been deploying young adults at INESIN for several years.

Melel Xojobal

This morning we visited with one of our partners in San Cristobal, Melel Xojobal.  They work with indigenous children in the area, provide a nursery school, and do an outreach to children who work on the street in San Cristobal.  Here is their website and you will enjoy how colorful it is.  http://www.melelxojobal.org.mx/   


This is Rebecca posing in front of part of their mural in the garden

Mujeres de Maiz

It was a busy today.  In the morning we went to a Maya medical herbal museum and learned about Mayan spirituality, use of natural plants, and agricultural plants also.  Found out that tomorrow is a big day on the Mayan calendar - the day for the blessing of the seeds and planting in this area.  The museum is called OMIECH.


In the afternoon we took a combi cab up to San Andreas Larrainzar, a community a little over an hour away to the northwest.  There we met with a women's weaving cooperative called Mujeres de Maiz (Women of the Corn) and learned something about their experience.  They showed us some of the things they have made, and we did some purchasing.  They prepared a meal for us and we ate together.  They are pretty traditional Mayan women and somewhat reluctant to be photographed.  However they consented to a picture of us in the back yard.  There is a deep ravine behind us and on the other side is the local cemetery which you can almost see in the background.


Tomorrow we visit with two partner groups - those that Illinois Maya Ministry works with on a regular basis.

Delegation Assembles

Here are all eight members of the delegation gathered for lunch at Tierra Dentro in San Cristobal de Las Casas, today, May 1.  Six of us had flown in today from Chicago and two were already here.  We are here to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of INESIN - an ecumenical and intercultural institute dedicated to peace building.

May Delegation

A delegation of Midwestern church people are off to Southern Mexico to celebrate the 15th anniversary of INESIN, an ecumenical organization whose purpose is to bring together religions and cultures, particularly Mayan people.

The delegation will take place May 1-8 and travel will be to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.  Participants include clergy and laity, United Church of Christ (UCC) and Disciples of Christ (DOC); Rev. Paula Bidle and her husband George Moore (UCC), Rev. David Geenen and his wife Sonya Geenen (DOC), Rev. Michelle Prentice-Leslie (UCC), Jeanne O'Melia (DOC), Rev. Michael Swartz and his daughter Rebecca Swartz (UCC).  They will be joined in Mexico by Area Executive for Latin America and the Caribbean, Rev. Felix Ortiz Cotto, of Common Global Ministries.

The main purpose of the delegation will be to joint together with INESIN - the intercultural institute in San Cristobal.  We are attending to respond to their invitation to us to join in their Fiesta.  (Here is their website, both English and Spanish:  http://www.inesin.ironie.org/  )  We will also visit with other partner groups in the area to learn from them about their concrete experience and to accompany them in their witness.

We ask your prayers for traveling mercies and that our efforts will provide support and encouragement to all those involved.  We also ask you to keep INESIN in your prayers - that they may continue to grow and serve in this conflicted area of God's world.

The Death of a Saint

From the San Cristóbal Diocese



Today, January 24 2011, at 10:00 am, Mons. Samuel Ruiz Garcia, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristobal de las Casas, ended his pilgrimage on earth and passed into full Life.

He died in Mexico City, where he had been hospitalized for two weeks, due to pulmonary and renal insufficiencies, coronary and carotid problems and prolonged diabetes.
His remains were taken today to the Cathedral of San Cristobal, where, beginning at 7:00 pm, they will be on review, for the prayers of the faithful and the farewells of the communities.
In the Cathedral, masses will be celebrated at different times, principally at 12:00 and 7:00 pm; in particular, this Tuesday, there will be a celebration of his 51st episcopal ordination.
He will be buried in the Cathedral on Wednesday January 26, beginning with an internment mass in the Cathedral Plaza at 12:00 pm.

He was born on November 3, 1924, in Irapuato, Guanajuato. His studies were done in the Seminary of Leon, Guanajuato. He was sent to Rome for specialized studies in Holy Scripture in the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Biblical Institute, where he obtained a doctorate.

From 1952 to 1959, he was a professor , prefector of studies and rector of the Seminary of Leon.

He was named Bishop of Chiapas on November 14, 1959 by Pope John 23, and consecrated in the Cathedral of San Cristobal on January 25, 1960, becoming the 35th bishop of this Diocese.

He has received different recognitions, distinctions, prizes and medals in different parts of the world.  He participated in the four Vatican II Councils, from 1962 to 1965.  From 1965 to 1973, in the Episcopal Conference of Mexico, he presided over the Commission for the Indigenous, instilling a renewed spirit to indigenous pastoral work.  In 1968, he participated in the II Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) in Medellin, Colombia, and was elected President of the Department of Mission of the CELAM, which concerned indigenous pastoral work.

In 1970, he convened and presided over the "Xicotepec" Meeting, which revolutionized pastoral work with the indigenous: there would no longer be an "indigenist" pastorate, in which the indigenous are merely objects of evangelization, but they would grow and become actors within their own church and society.  In 1974, the state government entrusted him with the development of the Indigenous Congress, in which different ethnicities of Chiapas gave their pronouncements and demanded their human rights.  In 1975, he convened the first of the Diocesan Assemblies, which have been continued to be held without interruption since that date. In that year, he also initiated the Permanent Diaconate, primarily within indigenous communities, as a form in which the church could incarnate and grow within those cultures. At the end of his service in May, 2000, there were 341 permanent deacons.

From 1982 to 1995, he compelled attention to the refugees which had fled from Guatemala, because of the war in that country.  In 1993, he published his Pastoral Letter: "In this Hour of Grace", in which he warned of the gravity of the injustices against the indigenous.  From 1994 to 1998, he served as Mediator in the conflict between the EZLN and the federal government, and founded the National Commission of Mediation (CONAI) in October, 1994. On February 16, 1995, he participated in the signing of the San Andres Peace Accords.

On July 20, 1994, he convened the III Diocesan Synod, which was formally initiated on January 25, 1995 and ended on November 3, 1999, the day he turned 75 years of age. On that date, faithful to the that which had been prescribed by Vatican II, he signed his resignation from the Diocese, which was accepted on March 30, 2000. From that day until May 1, 2000, he functioned as the Diocesan Administrator until the arrival of his successor.

In order to respect the pastoral work of his successor, he moved to the city of Queretaro, where he lived until the end of his life. From there, he continued to serve the indigenous and the cause of the poor, in whatever place and circumstance which required his presence.

The theme of his episcopate was: To Teach and to Instill. Alluding to this theme, he ended his homily on January 25, 2010, on the golden anniversary of his installation as bishop, in the Cathedral Plaza: "We give infinite thanks to the Lord, Triune and One, for having made us His children, and for having called us as pastor of His Church, to educate and instill His Kingdom of justice, love and peace."

He leaves as his legacy his efforts in:

1. The promotion of the integration of the indigenous, that they may be actors within the church and the society.
2. The preferential option for the poor and the liberation of the oppressed, as a sign of the Kingdom of God.
3. The freedom to denounce injustices before any arbitrary power.
4. The defense of human rights.

5. Pastoral involvement in social realities and history.

6. The adaptation of the church to the culture, promoting native, autochthonous churches in different cultures--indigenous and mestizo--as was urged by the Council of Vatican II.

7. The promotion of women's rights and her equal responsibilities in the church and society.
8. A Church which is open to the world and a servant of the people
9. Ecumenism not only with other Christian confessions, but with all religions.
10. Mutual pastoral work with shared responsibility.
11. Indian Theology, as a search for the presence of God in the original cultures.
12. The Permanent Diaconate as a specifically indigenous process.
13. Reconciliation within the communities.
14. Unity in diversity.
15. The affective and effective communion with Peter's Successor and the Church Universal (III Synod, 571).