Events

Mennonite pastors join other faith leaders to advocate for foreign assistance

charleyblogging May 3, 2019 0

On April 30 and May 1, pastors Ry Siggelkow of Faith Mennonite Church in Minneapolis and Gordon Smith of Mennonite Community Church in Fresno, Calif. came to Washington, D.C. They joined other faith leaders in an annual event to advocate for increased foreign assistance, including poverty-focused development and emergency relief. Natural disasters such as cyclones…

Contest winner calls for engagement with North Korea

kirstindemellomccorg March 28, 2019 0

Rachel Leininger, a senior at Bethany Christian High School in Goshen, Indiana, has won the $750 top prize in the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. Washington Office 2018-19 annual essay contest. Leininger’s essay, “Communication in Place of Isolation,” calls for the U.S. government to engage with the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea…

The shadows of Nigeria’s 2019 presidential elections

charleyblogging February 27, 2019 0

After postponing national elections by a week for logistical reasons, Nigerians went to the polls on Saturday, February 23 for presidential and national assembly elections. The presidential elections are now over, but they produced worrisome shadows and lapses to reflect on, particularly as gubernatorial and state assembly elections are slated for Saturday, March 9. The…

Washington E-Memo

Tammy Alexander January 8, 2019 0

January 7, 2019 Looking back at 2018 and ahead to 2019 As we begin 2019, we are grateful for the advocacy work that we have been able to do together with you over the past year. We celebrated reforms to our criminal justice system, legislation on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the renewal of…

Withdrawal of troops a step in the right direction

kirstindemellomccorg December 21, 2018 0

On December 19 President Trump announced that he would be withdrawing all U.S. troops from Syria. This is a step in the right direction, and we urge the U.S. to follow through on this commitment. We also continue to support an end to all foreign military involvement in Syria, as our partners in Syria have…

Washington E-Memo

cherelledessus December 5, 2018 0

Help us pass criminal justice reforms! President Donald Trump recently voiced his support for a bipartisan criminal justice bill, a revised First Step Act that would provide sentencing and prison reforms. The First Step Act would curb mandatory minimums for many low-level drug crimes, providing judges with more discretion over individual cases. The bill also aims to eliminate the…

Advocacy network implements immigration activities at home

cherelledessus December 4, 2018 0

Ariana Martinez Lott organizes advocacy events about immigration in her home community of Fresno, California, with the encouragement of a year-old advocacy network organized by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. Washington Office. In the past year, Martinez Lott has led several initiatives to educate nearby churches and her broader community on immigration, including a…