MCC, Advocacy, and Beaver Tails

Want to learn about MCC?  Want to learn more about MCC's work in advocating for changes to our government policy?

Want to skate on the canal in Ottawa and eat beaver tails in minus 20 degree weather with students from across Canada?

Then sign up today for the MCC Ottawa office student seminar "Advocacy and MCC: Loving our neighbour through witness to government."

For more info, visit the Ottawa office website.

I plan to go along.  If you want to carpool from KW or Toronto, please email me after you register.

Internship in Ottawa

A month ago I included some info about MCCs advocacy work in a post called Loving our Neighbour through Witness to Government.

Since I know this type of work interests many of you, I wanted to let you know of an opportunity to get involved...(see the info about internship possibilities below, copied from the MCC Ottawa office website)

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Mennonite Central Committee's Ottawa Office offers three unpaid internship terms each year. The dates for each are flexible and depend on the selected intern’s availability. Both full-time and half-time internships are available.

• Winter/Spring Term (January-April): applications will be reviewed starting November 15
• Summer Term (May-August): applications will be reviewed starting March 1
• Fall Term (September-December): applications will be reviewed starting July 1

The Advocacy Intern is part of a team that provides expertise and assistance for MCC Canada’s advocacy efforts.  For further information and to apply for this position, please contact Marsha Jones with a cover letter and resume.

Compassion :: This Generation

Attention youth and youth leaders...

For those of you in Kitchener-Waterloo...

What are you doing this Thursday?  And the next?  If you have some flexibility with your schedule I would encourage you to read on.  Below are two interesting events that you should to check out:

The first is an invitation from my friend Steve who works with Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support to a Rally for Refugees on Nov. 4th.  The second, an invitation from my colleague Matthew to an Interfaith Peace Vigil on Nov. 11th.

"...democracy is not a spectator sport"

MCC's Ottawa Office tracks legislative developments in the Parliament of Canada that directly relate to our priorities, approaches, and values. It does this by documenting government or private member bills that have the potential to impact MCC's domestic or international program partners.

Follow the MCC Ottawa Office Legislation Log.

["Because democracy is not a spectator sport" ~ US presidential election slogan, Democrats (2004)]

Want to learn more about the whole federal parliamentary process?  Click here.

Loving our neighbor through witness to government

Many of you are energized by following Jesus call to love our neighbors.  There are many ways that you can do this and I would encourage you to think creatively with others about how this might look in your community.

One way to love our neighbours, both near and far, is through political advocacy.

When we claim that Jesus is Lord we are claiming that (as the early church and as many Anabaptist communities have done for 500 years) our political leaders and structures are not Lord. This doesn’t mean that we call for anarchy and disregard order.  But it means we must be willing to speak out (even to our government representatives) when our convictions as Christians come face to face with injustice.

Good thing we don’t have to go it alone…there are people that can guide us along the way.  To get you started, check out these helpful sites:

Advocating for a Poverty Free Ontario

MCC Advocacy Webpage