************************

In Betty’s Corner

Director of Community Ministries

 HAITI and HOME

The out pouring of aid for the devastated folk in Haiti is a wonderful example of a world response to unbelievable catastrophe. The United States mobilized quickly (much quicker that for New Orleans, but let?s not go there) Food, water, and rescue teams were on the way within hours. Our President assures the people of Haiti that they are not alone; they can count on us! Doctors, nurses and all kinds of medical folk put their lives on hold to respond to the disaster; money continues to pour in. The sto-ries of aid are heartwarming and moving. It is good to know that we live in a country that responds in the face of such destruction. But in the back of my head, as I hear the stories and watch the Holly-wood stars raise money, there is this little voice saying “But wait, what about….”

-a migrant worker, Juan helps a lady who has a little market. He works all day once or twice a week moving stock. The owner gives him ten dollar each day he works and she lets him live in a shed be-hind the store. The shed has no water or electricity and the roof leaks, but Juan feels lucky because at he is not living on the street. Juan has a wife and two little girls back home. Any money that he makes is sent home to support them. Juan lives on bread, crackers, peanut butter, canned tuna, and whatever fresh fruit the food Pantry has to offer. He is most grateful for an occasional shower.
-about violence, Martha said: „It was so peaceful when I lived in the creek. The deer don?t bite. Now I live in the Green Shutter and the violence happened every night under my window. And the bedbug bite”

-Alisha is a single mom with a job and two children. The company where she works keeps cutting back her hours. Sometimes they “furlough” workers for a few days. Alicia has not figured out how to “furlough” her children?s needs so she comes to the Pantry when she must. The Pantry supplies the food so she can pay the rent. She is always embarrassed.

-Robert was looking for work. In the meantime he volunteered in many places; at his church, at the food pantry, with community action network. Robert needed lung surgery. He had no insurance. No surgery was done. Robert died.

-Ilia is a tiny woman; under five feet, maybe 80 pounds. She lives on an equally tiny pension. Ilia is a smiling, healthy 89 year old. She has with no living family. Many years ago she was a professor at the University of Mexico. About once a week she arrives at the Pantry to pick up groceries. Once she won-dered aloud what will happen to her when she can no longer make the walk across the park. There was no answer.

-In the last quarter of 2009 the South Hayward Parish Emergency Food Pantry fed 926 hungry, undu-plicated folk. Most of them live in the same Zip code as our church. Forty-one percent of them were under the age of 18. Sixty- three of them were homeless. Forty-one of them were over 70. “Unduplicated” is a key word here. Over half of those 926 folk come to the pantry for food every week.
In the back of my head, there is this little voice….

SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS WATCH - 2009 -

FORT BENNING, GEORGIA

About Our Minister

Our Pastor, John Wichman, came to Westminster Hills in May of 1993. Ten years later he was asked how he felt about working with what he describes as Òthis wonderful collection of disciples in this exciting and vibrant community”

"I write this as I sit in a community garden in a poor neighborhood in a midsize city in the San Francisco Bay Area. This garden is the joint effort of an interfaith coalition and the neighborhood collaborative of which it is a part. This small garden is tilled, planted, and harvested by 20 diverse neighborhood households: Afghan, Mexican, Guatemalan, African-American, single parent, same gender, Euro-American, Vietnamese. It is a real symbol of the vibrant potential of the global reality of what is urban America. Its existence and the dynamic of its creation is a real vision of the reign of God, or the communal expression of Divine or corporate presence of Christ in this world. This becomes the reference for describing the characteristics of any church or organization where I would want to work. It actualizes all the theologizing conjecture, biblical interpretations, doctrinal pronouncements about the vision toward which we strive as people of faith. In other words, a congregation whose mission is informed by the dirty and calloused hands, creatively challenged minds and open compassionate hearts.”

“I have herded cows in Spanish in Cuba. I have cursed rats in Cantonese in Chinatown San Francisco. I have sung New Yorican Doo Wop in small town night clubs in Puerto Rico. I have served the Eucharist on the run from the migra in avocado fields of southern California. I have case-managed developmentally disabled Spanish speaking school age children and recovering addicts. The closer I am to people who represent the rainbow of humanity, the happier I am. And I do what I can within the limitations of my musical skills of Afro-Cuban leanings to weave the rhythms of this colorful garden Earth into the celebration of life and its Giver in worship, even and especially by the River of Babylon.”