ELCA NEWS SERVICE March 4, 2004 Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice MEDIA ADVISORY Date and Location: March 5-8, 2004, Washington, D.C. Media contacts: Kirsten Anderson-Stembridge, phone (202) 669-4712 Mark Brown, phone (301) 706-4110 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Delegates from across the nation converge here March 5 to advocate for global peace with justice. The conference and visits to congressional representatives are being sponsored by a coalition of 26 churches and religious groups. About 100 Lutherans are among the registrants. The focus will be on four regions of the world -- Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East -- and on trade, debt issues and nuclear disarmament. Middle East policy experts will join U.S. church leaders for a look at the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Delegates concerned about Africa will hear reports on U.S. trade policy toward Africa, HIV/AIDS, water rights, and conflicts in the Sudan and Liberia. North Korean militarism, human rights and humanitarian aid will be the focus of the Asia track. Issues related to Colombia, which until recently was the third largest U.S. aid recipient, will headline the Latin America track. In 2002 Colombia received more free U.S. military training than any other nation. Sessions held March 5-7 will take place at the Doubletree Hotel, Crystal City, Va., and on March 8 at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation here on Capitol Hill (212 East Capitol Street). The theme of the Advocacy Days, "I Will Feed Them with Justice," is a quotation from the book of the prophet Ezekiel. Among the prominent speakers will be Rev. Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches and former head of the National Council of Churches of Kenya; Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat professor for peace and development, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.; Peter M. Beck, director of research, Korean Economic Institute, Washington; Ellen Laipson, president, Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington; and Lee Sigal, director, Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project, Social Science Research Council, New York. Other speakers include Rev. Syngman Rhee, a Korean American born in North Korea, former president, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC), and former moderator, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Rt. Rev. Andudu Elnail, Anglican bishop of Kadugli-Nuba Mountains, Sudan; Rev. Bernice Powell Jackson, executive minister of Justice and Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ; Jim Winkler, general secretary, United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society; Rev. Milton Mejia, noted peace leader, Presbyterian Church, Barranquilla, Colombia; Marino Cordoba, Association of Displaced Afro- Colombians; and Lisa Haugaard, director, Latin America Working Group. Neville Gabriel, coordinating secretary, Justice and Peace Department, South Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference; Bishop C. Dale White (ret.), United Methodist Church, Rhode Island; Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, general secretary, NCC; Jonathan Dean, advisor on Global Security Issues, Union of Concerned Scientists; Eric Olson, consultant, Amnesty International; and Michael Tarazi, Legal Advisor, Palestine Liberation Organization, will also speak. All sessions of the conference are open to the media and interviews with individual speakers or delegates from particular states can be arranged. For a list of event sponsors and other information, visit http://www.advocacydays.org/ on the Internet. The home page of the Lutheran Church of the Reformation is at http://www.reformationdc.org/ on the Web. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news