What’s bringing so many children and families to decide a dangerous trip, not accompanied by parents and smuggled into the U.S. with an uncertain future, is better than their alternatives? According to a recent article in the New York Times, workers at the San Pedro Sula morgue in Honduras said the number of murdered bodies they receive is significantly higher today than it was a year ago, including those of children. Stories in the media speak of young children forced to work as lookouts, messengers or spies for the gangs. Eight children, between the ages of seven and 13, were […]

pouring fuel on the flames is not going to make the fire go out.

The idea that the smartphones lead to rape in eastern Congo is a handy message for organizations who want to mobilize support in a hurry.

Norma, a single mom, was walking with her kids one night when she was arrested for trespassing on private property. The charges were later found to be baseless but she was deported anyway. Her 16-year-old daughter is now looking for a job to support the family. Norma’s 9-year-old son cries himself to sleep at night. Daniel, who fled Mexico in the 1990s to escape violence, was pulled over for a faulty exhaust system on his car and subsequently put into immigration detention. He had no criminal record and served as a community safety volunteer. Daniel’s 13-year-old son is pleading for […]

On April 12 th of this year, approximately 40 people gathered around a white metal cross in Nogales, Mexico, close to the U.S. border fence. Eighteen months earlier, a 16-year-old boy named José Antonio Elena Rodriguez was killed by U.S. Border Patrol in that spot, the cross erected in his honor. Rodriquez was walking to meet his brother late one night in October 2013. He was shot multiple times through the fence by the U.S. Border Patrol, mostly in the back. Border Patrol claims he was throwing rocks, though witnesses on the Mexican side of the fence say he was […]

Jesus’ teachings about helping those in need are constant throughout Scripture.

A t-shirt memorial to 201 victims of gun violence in Philadelphia last year. (MCC photo/Agnes Chen)

May we better heed Jesus’ call to love our neighbors as we seek shalom in the public policy of our nation.

Peace looks at what comes next and how to work towards healing and justice for all.

A bridge in Isfahan, Iran. MCC photo by Cheryl Zehr Walker.