Nicaragua delegation

Less than 3 months ago, Francisco Garcia Valle, a well-known educator in Bluefields, Nicaragua, was brutally assassinated in his own home while his wife, Dr. Maria Luisa Acosta was meeting with a delegation from IFCO/Pastors for Peace. Dr. Acosta, human rights lawyer and coordinator from the Center for Legal Assistance for Indigenous Peoples (CALPI,) believes the assassination was intended for her.

Right now, your solidarity is needed more than ever!

On this urgent fact-finding mission, delegates will:

	Visit Dr. Acosta to give support during her time of mourning and to learn more about the judicial situation of the struggle to defend indigenous people and land on Nicaragua's Atlantic coast;
	Travel by plane and boat to the Atlantic coast indigenous communities throughout the Pearl Lagoon Basin which are engaged in a gallant struggle to defend the fraudulent procurement and sale of their land by Peter Tsokos, a US citizen;
	Talk to community leaders whose land is being threatened by the dry canal project;
	Meet with Nicaraguan non-governmental organizations, such as the Nicaraguan Human Rights Center and the Humbolt Center; and autonomous universities, such as the University of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua.

The cost of the delegation is $660. Your participation fee will cover all meals, accommodation, domestic transportation in Nicaragua including a flight and several boat trips, and the full program. You will be responsible for your own flight to and from Managua, Nicaragua.

Flights should be scheduled to arrive on August 8 and can be scheduled to depart on Saturday, August 17.

For more information and an application to participate, contact: IFCO/Pastors for Peace tel: 212-926-5757 fax: 212-926-5842

email: p4p@igc.org

web: www.ifconews.org

Some blogs worth visiting

Voices of Sophia blog

Heather Reichgott, who has created this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:

After fifteen years of scholarship and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy, students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and thoughtful community.

Witherspoon’s Facebook page

Mitch Trigger, Witherspoon’s Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!

You can post your own news and views, or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you.

John Harris’ Summit to Shore blogspot

Theological and philosophical reflections on everything between summit to shore, including kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology, politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a member of the Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian Church in Flushing, NY.

John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive

A Presbyterian minister, currently serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton, Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and lightening up.

Got more blogs to recommend?

Please send a note, and we'll see what we can do!

Plan now for ...

GHOST RANCH PEACE & JUSTICE WEEK
July 27 - August 2, 2009

Now's the time to make reservations to be a part of the 2009 Peace & Justice Week at Ghost Ranch, July 27-August 2. There are eight seminars to choose among, including the Witherspoon-sponsored class “New Eyes for Peace & Justice from the World Church” led by Clifton Kirkpatrick.

More
information >>

If you like what you find here,
we hope you'll help us keep this website going ... and growing!

Please consider making a special contribution -- large or small -- to help us continue and improve this service.

Click here to send a gift online, using your credit card, through PayPal.

Or send your check, made out to "Witherspoon Society" and marked "web site," to our Witherspoon Bookkeeper:

Susan Robertson
9650 Clover Circle
Eden Prairie, MN 55347

Check out our report from the Conference
on
Terror, Torture,
and Security