CRISSY BROOKS AND WENDY TARR - THE CHURCH, IMMIGRATION AND POWER

FROM PACIFIST FIGHT CLUB: ROUND 3 - SATURDAY, SEPT.15, 2012
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JOIN US: ROUND 3 - "The Least of These"

Make plans now to join us for Round 3 of Pacifist Fight Club on Saturday, September 15th.

PACIFIST FIGHT CLUB

We will fight for peace, but we will do no violence

Saturday, September 15, 2012, 9:00 am to 2pm, Biola University.

Round 3- "The Least of These"
This is a FREE Event.

NOTE: *BRING YOUR OWN SACK LUNCH *WATER, COFFEE & TEA PROVIDED

Our Fighters will be:

*Crissy Brooks; MIKA CDC (Poverty and Immigration)
*Wendy Tarr; CLUE OC (Poverty and Immigration)
*Leia Smith; ISAIAH HOUSE (Poverty in Orange County)
* Dr. Deshonna Collier-Goubil; Author of "Does Religion Affect Peaceful Behavior?"  (Torture and Prison)

 

LOCATION:
Biola University, Business Building - Room 201.
Address: 13800 Biola Ave. La Mirada, CA 90639

Directions:

Biola is easily accessible off of the 5 freeway (coming from the North take the Rosecrans exit, coming from the South take the Valley View exit).

Details:

The Business building is #50 and is the first building on the right through the main entrance on Biola Avenue.

Parking:

Visitors can park in the visitors parking lot (Lot D) adjacent to the Business Building. Parking permits will be handed out the morning of the event.

 

Our Fighters for Round 2

This time around our "Fighters" will each take turns presenting their thoughts on a specific topic for about 30 minutes, then everyone will have an opportunity to ask questions, respond and engage one another about what we've heard.

Our Fighters will lead us in the following discussions:

*Christians in the Military -Thomas Crisp (Biola)

*Just War Theory vs No War Theory- Shane Crash (Pacifist Army)

*The Dangers of Christian Nationalism - Chase Andre (Biola)

*Christian Zionism: Israel, Palestine and the Kingdom of God  - Keith Giles (Pacifist Fight Club)

*Spiritual Warfare: How We Fight - Crissy Brooks (MIKA)

As before, Pacifist Fight Club will be a free event.

More details to come...

Faces of Reform: Immigration

Faces of Reform: Immigration
by Crissy Brooks

Roman was a pretty average student at the after school teen center where we met nine years ago. He was timid but he liked to joke around. As neighbors, I still saw him after graduation. He worked here and there and was always trying to keep his sister on track.

At the community center, church volunteers are great about helping kids with their homework. Volunteers coach kids in soccer. They teach Bible studies and put on Vacation Bible Schools. Our volunteers truly want good things for our students. They plan field trips and college visits. They take kids to the theater and sporting events to expose them to culture and our community.

People love to be a part of seeing an immigrant kid be the first one in his family to go to college. Volunteers take it upon themselves to help students fill out applications and some volunteers even help kids pay for college. It’s hard to argue with education. There aren’t too many arguments against educating immigrant kids. It is the way to get ahead, the way out of poverty, the hope for their future.

But what is the future of undocumented immigrant children? What is the future for students like Roman? There are 2.8 million of them who would benefit from legislation like the Dream Act- http://dreamact.info/. If they do go to college, which they legally can in the state of California, what is their future when they graduate with a degree? They still can’t legally work. Despite the fact that they have a bachelor’s degree, they cannot work even the most menial jobs. So are we holding out a false hope to our students by telling them, “If you work really hard, you can be successful”?

And what does this say about our stewardship as the Church and a nation? Our volunteers invest hours and hours of their time and energy. We give thousands of dollars to worthy programs to help students succeed. The director of an admirable program I spoke with last week estimates they invest $40,000 in one student over the course of nine years to make sure they attend and graduate from college. That doesn’t take into account the thousands of taxpayers’ dollars we invest in a student’s public education.

As the Church we are quick to invest in community betterment programs. Our ministry has been the grateful recipient of thousands of dollars to prepare students, many undocumented, to be leaders in our community. But we cannot go the distance. We cannot make good on our intentions for these students under the current system. Until we engage in systemic change, we are lying to kids and poorly stewarding our resources.

It is hard to find volunteers to fight for immigration reform. When it comes time for systemic change we spend our time debating and nitpicking while the kids we have poured so much into are literally dying. Last month Roman was found dead in the desert. After years of schooling and tutoring and field tripping with church volunteers, Roman was deported for fighting and on his way back home across the border he died in the desert.

Now you can say that he should not have been fighting. And you can say that he never should have come to the US without papers in the first place but the fact of the matter is that millions of children were brought here by their parents without having any say in the matter, were loved and educated by us, and were then failed by a system that does not go the distance for them.

We will engage in a life up to a certain point but will not participate in changing systems to ensure that those we care about will continue to succeed. A couple years ago, when we had an opportunity to reform the immigration system the Church, for the most part, did not engage. It was too controversial, too political. Some of us lament the sad situation but when it comes to speaking up, we shrink back. We don’t bother to get involved. We are silent. Is all we have worked for, for nothing?

We have two choices then. We can give up. We can see the futility with our current system and not even start to help undocumented students. We can realize that it is a risky investment- one that may end up dead in a desert. So we can choose to not even try.

Or we can work to change the system. We can recognize that these students aren’t “investments” they are beloved children of God. The same Father who from the beginning of communicating his heart to his people said, “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)

And we are aliens here. We are citizens of heaven and not of this world. In the Kingdom I am a citizen of it is heartbreaking that the neighbors we love are dying in the desert. In this Kingdom we speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. We speak up and judge fairly; we defend the rights of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:8-9)

Cornel West said, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” Roman is dead because we only loved him in the confines of our church buildings and community centers. He is dead because our love didn’t go far enough to ensure justice. Our voices were silent when we had a chance for change. For the sake of the millions of undocumented students like him, for the sake of obedience to the Scripture and the Church’s witness in the world, let us not be silent anymore.

Crissy Brooks

**
Visit her blog online
HERE

Meet Your Fighters: Crissy Brooks

Crissy Brooks is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Mika Community Development Corporation in her hometown, Costa Mesa, CA. Mika works with neighbors and church partners to transform their city through neighborhood organizing and youth development. Their desire is to see Costa Mesa reflect the justice and mercy of God’s Kingdom.

Crissy serves on the board of CCDA (Christian Community Development Association). She has a deep desire to see Comprehensive Immigration Reform and works toward that end. She loves to run, write, and travel.

Read Crissy's article "THE GOD WHO SEES" published at Sojourner's website:
HERE

Crissy's Recommended Reading List:
"Welcoming the Stranger" by Soerens and Hwang
"Christians at the Border" by Daniel Carroll

It's Coming - January 2012

PACIFIST FIGHT CLUB
We will fight for peace, but we will do no violence

The first rule of Pacifist Fight Club is, you do not talk about Pacifist Fight Club.
The second rule is, you must move from talk to action.
The third rule is, you must love all people, at all times.
The fourth rule is, you must engage in a fight to the death daily as you struggle against your own apathy, selfishness, prejudice and pride.
The fifth rule is, you must fight the status quo of your life.

Topics:
*Non-violence
*Solidarity with the poor
*Immigration reform
*Loving God
*Loving others

Our Fighters
*Brandt Russo
*Shane Crash
*Chase Andre
*Thomas Crisp
*Thomas Nixon
*Crissy Brooks
*Wendy Tarr
*Keith Giles

More info coming soon...