Presbyterian News Service
06276 May 18, 2006
PC(USA) churches urged to join Bread letter campaign
Effort calls for $5 billion more in U.S. anti-poverty aid
by Evan Silverstein
LOUISVILLE - Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) partner organization Bread for the World (BFW) is calling on Christians and churches to get involved in a unified letter-writing effort aimed at pressuring Congress to approve funds for fighting domestic and international poverty.
This year's Offering of Letters campaign, "One Spirit. One Will. Zero Poverty," urges Congress to approve an additional $5 billion in poverty-focused development assistance for the 2007 fiscal year.
The increase is necessary, advocates say, to fulfill the United States' commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, which envisions cutting poverty in half in developing countries by 2015.
To keep its part of the commitment, the U.S. would have to provide an estimated $25 billion by 2010, which averages $5 billion a year, according to BFW, a Christian anti-hunger group based in Washington, DC.
Andrew Kang Bartlett, associate for National Hunger Concerns with the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP), said Presbyterians are among an increasing number of people concerned with rising poverty in the U.S. and the difficulty, especially for people in Sub-Saharan Africa, of escaping poverty.
"This year's offering of letters tells politicians that Americans want to do more to end hunger by addressing the structural problems of debt, unfair trade rules and aid that is not targeted to reduce poverty," he said. "Our elected officials need to hear the voice of people of faith."
Bartlett said PHP has sent offering letter kits to its Hunger Action Enablers and presbytery resource centers. For more than 35 years the hunger program has provided a way for Presbyterians to get involved in the fight against hunger through direct aid and advocacy.
While churches vary on how they participate, some write letters to Congress in support of hunger-fighting legislation during coffee hour following Sunday worship, Bread said. The next Sunday they might place the correspondence in the offering plate, dedicating the letters to God and saying special prayers for hungry people.
Each letter should be personal and unique, Bread for the World advises, making a concise and clear request for specific legislative action. Participants should include their name and address, as well as their personal motivation for writing. Church members should mail their letters separately, not in bulk, to the Washington, D.C. office of their respective congressional representatives.
Because the development of the 2007 budget is an extended process, BFW continually adapts its strategy, using specific language and emphases that will most effectively reach the appropriate legislative audience.
Before congregations embark on letter-writing, they should check Bread's Web site for its current sample letter, which is available along with a variety of other resources at: www.bread.org/take-action/letters.html.
The need for the offering of letters was made clear earlier this month, BFW leaders said, when the House of Representatives released proposed spending figures for foreign aid for 2007. While President Bush requested a $3 billion rise, the House allocated only a $600 million increase.
"We are at a historic crossroads to make real change in the developing world, and poll after poll tells us that Americans want to do more to help people in poverty," said the Rev. David Beckmann, BFW president."The proposal by the House of Representatives ignores the will of the American people and the suffering in poor nations. Even in a time of fiscal constraint, Americans can always afford to keep our promises."
Beckmann said Bread now looks to the Senate "to show real leadership" as it deliberates its budget by honoring Bush's request. He also called on lawmakers to do even more "to save lives and restore hope in the developing world."
Bread for the World is a 54,000-member, non-partisan Christian organization founded in 1974. Its members lobby for public-policy changes addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty. The organization is backed by 2,300 churches and more than 45 denominations and church agencies, including the PC(USA) and PHP.
The Offering of Letters campaign follows 2005's ONE Campaign, an anti-poverty movement that united nearly 2 million people in an effort to spur greater U.S. participation in poverty-ending efforts. More than 1,000 congregations and college campus groups participated in that letter offering, which mobilized an estimated 250,000 letters, according to Bread.
The PC(USA)'s General Assembly Council endorsed the ONE Campaign last September during its meeting in Sacramento, CA.
"The odious debts faced by poor countries, if not cancelled, will drag down any efforts to meet the modest objectives of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs)," Bartlett said. "The United Kingdom government and a group of international charities have identified at least 60-70 countries that would need 100 percent debt cancellation to meet the MDGs, and many more nations require cancellation of odious and illegitimate debts."
A list of regional organizers, who can provide support and resources for churches, is available at http://www.bread.org/about-us/contact-us/regional-offices.html. For more information visit the Bread for the World Web site at http://www.bread.org/. or call 1-800-82-BREAD.