Monday, May 21, 2007

Pre-trip Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 21, 2007

WHITWORTH STUDENTS TRAVEL TO ARIZONA BORDERLANDS WITH CPT DELEGATION

Kyle Navis, Tyler Schroeder and John Williamson, students at Whitworth College in Spokane, travel to Tucson, Arizona on Thursday, May 24 as part of a delegation sponsored by Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). More than 205 migrants died in the Arizona borderlands last year as tightened borders led economic migrants to risk their lives in the inhospitable desert. Douglas, Arizona, where CPT's seasonal presence has been based, is considered the most militarized city in the U.S. because of the large presence of U.S. Border Patrol agents. National Guard troops have also contributed to this militarization, even while private security contractors have taken over some border control functions. Anti-immigrant vigilantes have been active in the region as well.


Members of the CPT delegation will monitor human rights, engage in violence-deterrence activities, and confront unjust immigration policies through non-violent public witness. They will also meet on both sides of the border with human rights groups, government officials and individuals affected by the immigration policies.


Schroeder, Navis and Williamson will be available to share what they have learned about the challenges facing the people of the Arizona border region after June 6 and will return to Whitworth College in September.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonites, Church of the Brethren and Quakers) with support and membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations. CPT sends teams of trained peacemakers to places of conflict around the world, with a seasonal presence in the Arizona borderlands since May 2004. For more information about CPT, contact the Chicago office at 773-277-0253 or email peacemakers@cpt.org.

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Support Letter

Hello friend, This summer (May 24-June 4) John Williamson, Tyler Schroeder, and Kyle Navis will be going to Arizona to participate in Christian Peacemaker Team delegation that will seek to gain an understanding of the issues facing migrants and residents in the region. We will meet with representatives of human rights groups, government officials, and individuals on both sides of the border as part of the delegation. Our itinerary is not yet fully determined, but at this point we will spend at least half of our time in Mexico, visiting three to four different cities and meeting with migrants and those with whom they work in each of those places. According to our delegation leader, we'll also try to do at least a few days of a “border watch” in which we do a public witness where migrants are being detained in the desert. The goal of the trip is to learn about the situation on the border and to bring attention to the level of violence in the region. The motto of Christian Peacemaker Teams is to reduce violence by “getting in the way.” CPT says that it “embraces the vision of unarmed intervention waged by committed peacemakers ready to risk injury and death in bold attempts to transform lethal conflict through the nonviolent power of God’s truth and love.” CPT is an ecumenical organization solely focused on the working of peacemaking around the world. For more information, go to http://cpt.org/publications/history.php. In order to go on this trip, we collectively have to raise $1600 to cover transportation, food, and other expenses on the ground. Any financial resources that you would be willing to contribute would be highly appreciated! [Financial contributions can be directed towards individuals or the group fund, which will be split evenly among the three of us.] Even more so, we might be putting ourselves in situations of violence and conflict, so prayer is absolutely vital and central to our work. Please keep us in your prayers as we enter into this unfamiliar and possibly dangerous environment. We will work to keep you updated during the trip via Michael Vander Giessen, a friend who will be in Spokane during the trip (mvandergiessen09@whitworth.edu). We approach this trip with the utmost humility that we can muster. We do not claim to have the answers to every situation, nor even the experience to inform such answers. Rather, we seek this trip to be a time of growth and learning based on the conviction that nonviolence and peacemaking are more Christ-like alternatives to systems of violence. We are thankful for your support, in whatever form that takes!