wfn.org | Newsline: Faith Expedition visits Chiapas, Mexico

[cobnews <cobnews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service -- Feb. 26, 2009
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director
800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews@brethren.org

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN FAITH EXPEDITION VISITS CHIAPAS, MEXICO

(Feb. 26, 2009) Elgin, IL -- Church of the Brethren members returned in ear ly February from a 10-day Faith Expedition to the region of Chiapas, Mexico , sponsored by the Brethren Witness/Washington Office in partnership with E qual Exchange and Witness for Peace.

The delegation spent several days in the town of San Cristobal exploring th e history of Mexico and the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreem ent on this southern neighbor of the United States. In addition, issues of  militarism and immigration were addressed in regards to policy decisions ma de by both Mexico and the United States.

The group met with organizations representing  governmental and nongovernme ntal structures in regards to development and humanitarian support of the M exican people. Concerned emphasis was given to the indigenous communities w ho remain persecuted and impoverished, most often due to governmental suppr ession. A sobering highlight of the trip was a visit to the nonviolent comm unity of Acteal, that only 11 years earlier had been tragically attacked by  paramilitary, leaving 45 dead.

This expedition also provided an opportunity for delegates to visit an indi genous community that produces coffee sold through a regional cooperative.  The cooperative markets the coffee as organic, fair-trade coffee to Equal E xchange, as well as other fair-trade companies in the US and Europe. Member s of the group were able to see the entire production cycle of the coffee t hat ends up in their cups each morning. The average producer of this coffee  works in difficult conditions to earn less than $3 per day.

The 18 delegates completed their trip with a day of developing strategies t hat will enable them to clearly articulate their experiences, work toward s trengthening free-trade policies, develop fair trade partnerships, and dire ctly advocate on behalf of the people of Mexico.

For more information on this, or other Faith Expeditions, contact the Breth ren Witness/Washington Office at washington_office_gb@brethren.org or 800-7 85-3246.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continu ing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in  community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith t raditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated it s 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts more than 125,000 members across the  United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nig eria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

># # #

>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
>Director of News Services
>Church of the Brethren
>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
>800-323-8039 ext. 260
>cobnews@brethren.org