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Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Peace and Justice Participating in the annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Peace and Justice is one of hundreds of ways in which Medical Mission Sisters around the world try to be a healing presence to others today. “A Place to Call Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples,” was the theme of the 2010 Ecumenical Advocacy Days, held from March 19 – 22 just outside Washington, D.C. Over 600 attendees had the opportunity to worship, study and dialogue with other people of faith. Sister Janet Gottschalk and Mrs. Susan Thompson, who work together in our Alliance for Justice Office, attended the three-day event and participated in a variety of ways. The theme fit nicely with our Sisters’ current justice focus on migration in all its ramifications. Susan explains, “Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD) is a gathering of members of the Ecumenical Christian community to recognize our shared tradition of justice, peace and integrity of creation. The goal of the event, through worship, theological reflection and opportunities for learning and witness, is to strengthen our Christian voice and to mobilize for advocacy on a variety of U.S. domestic and international policy issues.” The work of the conference was divided into seven tracks: Africa, Latin America, Middle East, Domestic, Global Economic Justice, and Peace and Global Security. Susan participated in organizing the Global Economic Justice track and moderated a plenary session, "Economic Justice and Migration: Biblical Roots and Present-Day Realities." She also helped with the Latin America track in the workshop, “Humanitarian Crisis on the Border: How to Build Sensible and Humane Policies.” On Sunday afternoon, conference attendees were able to participate in the Rally and March for immigration rights in Washington, D.C. Both Sister Janet and Susan attended and thought it was a huge success with more than 200,000 people present and a great variety of speakers, including President Obama (by video cam).
The Ecumenical Advocacy Days also offer the opportunity to share, network and plan with people from around the world. Susan and Sister Janet met with Mark Adams, a featured speaker at the last Justice Co-Mission gathering, to discuss border issues. They also spoke with Colin Raja, a Program Director at the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Susan explains, “We also had input from Njoki Njehu, Director of Daughters of Mumbi Resource Center in Nairobi, Kenya, and Magda Lanuza, from El Salvador, who serves as the Latin American facilitator for the Agribusiness Action Initiative.”
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