Did you know that Faith Church has a Peace
Pole? Do you know what a Peace Pole is?
A Peace Pole is a six-sided wooden pole with
the words "May Peace Prevail on Earth" printed on one side in English. The same words in
each of five other languages are printed on
each of the other five sides. Our Faith Peace
Pole is located next to the West parking lot.
There is a circular flower bed around the
Peace Pole and our custodians have nurtured
the flowers over the years.
The Faith Peace Pole was a gift to the church
from Carol Anderson. Carol Anderson served
on the Presbytery Committee that adopted
Peacemaking, The Believer's Calling and
served several terms as chair of the Faith
Church Peacemaking Committee. She was
truly devoted to the cause of peace.
When I was a kid, we had fire drills, not active
shooter drills.
Meanwhile, the corporate gun industry is marketing
firearms to kids as young as six and telling parents
that guns in homes and schools make us safer.
That’s a lie.
If that were true, we wouldn’t have seen 558 gun
incidents in schools, including 15 deaths, since the
beginning of the school year.
Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Submitted by : Betty Forsberg
May 7 and June 4 are Food Bank Sundays
during the next two months. Barrels will be in the
breezeway on those two Sundays to receive gifts of
nonperishable food items to add to food boxes for
needy families. If you find it difficult to shop for and/
or carry packages of food to church, you can make
a monetary gift in one of the pink food bank envelopes to be found in the pew racks in the sanctuary.
All food and cash gifts received during May and
June will go to the Agua Fria Food Bank in Avondale and Valley View Food Bank.
MAY 16 at 10:30 AM
FOLLOWED BY LUNCH
Gene Lefebvre, a co-founder of the
migrant aid organization No More
Deaths, will be speaking about the
humanitarian crisis on the
U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona.
We will learn firsthand about the ongoing humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border, and the
forces that drive people to undertake the journey
north. The reality is stunning in sheer magnitude:
Since 1994, there have been more than 6,000
confirmed deaths on the border.
“That’s confirmed deaths, and people who have
had a lot of experience in the desert doing this
work ... they estimate the number of deaths are
five to ten times that many,” Lefebvre says. “We
don’t find the remains because of the vastness of
the desert, because of the way the desert treats
remains, like within three months they’re usually
gone ... If you go off the trails and you’re lost,
you’re not likely to be found, living or dead.”
In response to the dramatic number of deaths,
thousands of volunteers have volunteered to carry
water, food, and first aid into the desert to relieve
the suffering and death of victims.
Gene has received two national awards for his
humanitarian work: the Freedom From Fear
Award, and the Anne Bartow and Tom Driver
Award for Excellence in Non-violent Direction
Action in Retirement. He served as a pastor in four
Presbyterian Churches and two United Church of
Christ congregations in the Phoenix area. During
those years he was involved in several peace and
justice issues, including civil rights, peace delegations to Israel and Columbia and the Sanctuary
Movement.
Joining Gene when he speaks at Faith Church will
be his wife Sue who is writing a book on their
experience with No More Deaths. He will also be
showing a video which will further illustrate the
work that they and the many volunteers are doing
to save lives.
Learn what you can do to help the volunteers.
This is a program you won’t want to miss.
Be sure to buy your luncheon tickets on May
7th or 14th
Valley View Food Bank is celebrating its 10th year
of service in our community. There are 3 full-time
food banks and 4 thrift stores. The thrift stores
support the food bank’s mission of feeding the
needy. One store is at 99th and Greenway,
where you can drop off household items and clothValued Donations:
ing. Others can buy what you don’t need - giving
Peanut Butter, Pasta, Rice, Canned Meats and income to Valley View mission. If you have too
Fish, Canned Soups, Canned Vegetables, Boxed many items to donate call Jesse Ramirez,
Meals, Cereal, Protein Bars.
founder and president, at 623-933-3358.
Please place your donations in the bins in He will arrange a pick-up of your items.
Illingworth Hall. Thank you!
Submitted by: Barbara Munn