wfn.org | Newsline for February 20, 1997

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Newsline            Feb. 20, 1997  

This is Newsline for the week of February 20. In the news today: 

1) Fifty-three Chinese immigrants will soon be released after 
       nearly four years in U.S. prisons. 
2) Disaster coordinators conference hosts pastor of burned church 
       that Brethren volunteers will rebuild this spring. 
3) Manchester (Ind.) College holds its biennial Discussion Days 
       event on American politics. 
4) Manchester Church of the Brethren unveils its new site on the  
       World Wide Web. 
5) Bethany Seminary may now be reached through a new online 
       address. 
6) Brethren/Mennonite Council is planning a June event in 
       California. 
7) Church World Service releases a resource packet in conjunction 
       with Ecumenical Year of Churches in Solidarity with
       Uprooted People. 
8) Interfaith Impact is looking for political advocates for its 
       April conference in Washington, D.C. 
9) Newsline correction.   

1) Nearly four years ago more than 270 Chinese men, women and
children fled their homeland for the United States seeking
freedom from persecution. By March 1, the 53 people who have been
detained by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service since
that time will finally be able to taste the freedom they have
seen only from behind bars.  

Having decided that their imprisonment no longer serves a useful
purpose, President Clinton on Friday announced that the remaining
detainees from the freighter "Golden Venture," which ran aground
off of Queens, New York, in June 1993, would be freed. Forty of
these immigrants reside in York County (Pa.) prison, less than
half of the 110 illegal Golden Venture immigrants sent to York
the day after they reached the U.S. coast. The remaining 175
detainees were sent to another Pennsylvania prison, as well as
prisons in New York, Virginia, Louisiana and California.  

The news that the 40 Golden Venture detainees in York and the 13
remaining in other prisons will be freed was an answer to many
prayers prayed over many weeks, including those of Harriet and
Ray Miller of Codorus Church of the Brethren, Loganville, Pa.
Harriet and Ray became involved in working and praying for the
detainees' release just two months after the immigrants arrived
in York. A story in a local paper describing the detainees'
plight led to a prayer vigil, which in turn led to the forming of
The People of the Golden Vision, a community group with the
mission of helping the immigrants receive their freedom and get a
good start at making their life anew.  

Each Sunday night for the past 182 weeks the ecumenical People of
the Golden Vision have met for a prayer vigil in the ankle-deep
weeds across from the prison, sometimes referred to as "the
church in the weeds," never missing a week. "We vowed together,
several weeks into the vigils, that we would have a vigil every
Sunday as long as the Chinese were incarcerated," said Harriet
Miller. "We kept our promise, and God kept his."  

At least a dozen Brethren from the York area have been active
with the People of the Golden Vision, advocating for the release
of all of the prisoners and assisting those who have already been
released. Harriet serves as Golden Vision's resettlement
coordinator.  

Between now and March 1 all of the immigrants will receive
background checks to ensure they are not convicted felons. Once
cleared, each immigrant will be granted parole and released.
However, each detainee then will need to be granted asylum to be
able to remain in the U.S. Grounds for the U.S. to grant asylums
include if the immigrants were forced or threatened with
abortions or sterilization, if they were persecuted for religious
or political beliefs or if they are artists. Many of the
immigrants, in fact, are artists, skilled at making paper art
which has been sold to raise money for their cause. Miller said
those whose asylum requests are denied have been told they will
be welcome in Canada.  

Once freed, the immigrants will face the daunting task of
starting their lives anew in a country far from the country they
used to call home. They will be forced to wait 60 days before
they can begin working legally; they also will have no prescribed
place to live. However, the People of the Golden Vision have
taken care of that.  

The immigrants will temporarily live with area volunteer
families. Then, in mid-April, a house currently being renovated
by Golden Vision, called the International Friendship House, will
be ready for the immigrants to take occupancy. Golden Vision
members and others will then try to assist the immigrants with
obtaining jobs, and then a permanent residence.  

Although the immigrants live with the knowledge that they could
be expelled from the U.S., they know that there is an even
greater threat lurking over them. In order to be permitted to
board the Golden Venture, each immigrant promised to pay
smugglers about $30,000, but most had nothing more than a down
payment. Thus, the fear is that the smugglers will seek out the
immigrants once they are released and demand payment.  

After three years and eight months of captivity, the action to
free the immigrants began with nothing more than a step in an
aisle. Having just completed his State of the Union address,
President Clinton reportedly made his way through the U.S. House
chamber and quickly spoke to Bill Goodling (R-Pa.), a
representative from York. Goodling, who also serves as chair of
the House Education Committee, reminded Clinton of the detainees,
which the president had known about for some time and had read
about again in the previous day's New York Times.  

The next day Goodling visited the White House to discuss
education, but again mentioned the detainees and gave Clinton
some of their paper artwork. Two days later Clinton phoned
Goodling to say the immigrants would be freed no later than March
1.   

2) Building bridges and tearing down walls was the theme of the
keynote speech given by Patrick Mellerson, pastor of Butler
Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Orangeburg, S.C., at
the Brethren Disaster Response Leadership Conference, Feb. 15, at
the New Windsor (Md.) Conference Center. Rebuilding of the Butler
Chapel church, which was destroyed by arson last April, will
begin this spring by Brethren volunteers.  

"This will show the community here that there are people across
the United States who don't care about color or creed and are
concerned with the burnings," said Mellerson. "When one church
burns, we all feel the flames."   

3) Manchester College, North Manchester, Ind., will host
Discussion Days, a two-day seminar scheduled for March 3-4. The
event, titled "Discussion Days: Politics and Morality," will
feature several speakers who will focus on American politics.
Three keynote speeches will be featured during the event, as well
as three panel discussions. Manchester has hosted Discussion Days
for the past 22 years, though the event is now held biennially.
It also is open to the public. For more information, contact
co-chairs Benson Onyeji at 219 982-5337; or Jill Lichtsinn at 219
982-5015.   

4) In other Brethren news from Manchester, Ind., Manchester
Church of the Brethren this week unveiled its new site on the
World Wide Web. The site can be found at
http://www.communinet.org/mcb/.   

5) Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond, Ind., may now be
reached at its new online address -- BethanySem@AOL.Com. Faculty
and staff may still be reached through their individual addresses
through Earlham College.  

In related news, Bethany's area code is changing from 317 to 765
as of this month. To reach Bethany by phone, call 765-982-1800.  

6) Brethren/Mennonite Council for Gay and Lesbian Concerns and
Womaen's Caucus will host "Wade on In: Dancing at the Water's
Edge," June 28-30, at the La Verne (Calif.) Church of the
Brethren. For more information, contact BMC at 612 722-6906 or
BMCouncil@AOL.Com.    

7) In conjunction with the Ecumenical Year of Churches in
Solidarity with Uprooted People, Church World Service Immigration
& Refugee Program released the resource packet, "A Moment to
Choose." For more information or to order a packet, contact
CWS/IRP at 212 870-3153 or at jane@ncccusa.org.   

8) The 27th Interfaith Impact Briefing is scheduled for April 6-9
in Washington, D.C. "We will focus on identifying the political
'illusions' that distract the nation from the core moral issues
of social and economic justice that the 105th Congress, the
Clinton Administration and the states will have to wrestle with
in the year ahead," said the event coordinators. "We are
beginning a new stage in the life of interreligious public policy
collaboration . . . (and) hoping this year's event will reflect
these new beginnings." This year's event includes a new young
adult program and enhanced training for first-time attendees, as
well as experienced advocates.  

The event is co-sponsored by the Interfaith Impact Foundation,
the National Council of Churches and its Washington Office and
the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute. For more
information, contact Interfaith Impact at 202 543-2800.  

9) In last week's Newsline, the e-mail address for Refugee and
Disaster Services was printed incorrectly. The correct address is
CoB.Disaster.and.Refugee.parti@Ecunet.Org.   

Newsline is archived with an index at
http://www.tgx.com/cob/news.htm.  

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