Order your Harvest of Justice Table Prayers

2005 marks the 40th anniversary of the historic table grape strike begun by farm workers in Delano, Calif. In April 1967, one and a half years after it began, the United Farm Workers signed the first ever farm worker contract with a grower.

Despite a number of important farm worker victories, most recently the Coalition of Immokalee (Fla.) Workers, as many as two million undocumented farm workers harvest food produced and consumed in the United States. Many cannot speak English and are too intimidated to speak up for even the most basic human rights.

Learn more about farm worker issues in your congregation by sharing the Harvest of Justice Table Prayers during the four weeks between the Canadian and American Thanksgiving holidays, Oct. 10 to Nov. 24. Brochures of prayers in English or Spanish along with a worship resource are available from DHM at no charge. Additionally, for $7.50, you can receive a copy of the Blessing the Hands: A Farm Worker Curriculum Leader's and Participant's booklet, which is comprised of seven 45 to 60 minute self-contained sessions, designed for adult and high school groups and they include prayer, facts, scripture, activity, and suggested actions.

RIM launches new program

DHM's Refugee and Immigration Ministries (RIM) recently launched a new program that helps congregations respond to the needs of refugees globally. RIM is known throughout the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for its refugee resettlement program, and for the assistance it gives to congregations attempting to help persons with immigration problems. Now RIM, in partnership with Week of Compassion and Church World Service, is responding to refugee needs around the world.

Less than 1 percent of the world's refugees ever have the opportunity to find safety and security by being resettled into another country. More than 7 million of these refugees have been living their lives in refugee camps or in segregated settlements for 10 years or longer.

Working through Church World Service's "Durable Solutions for Displaced Persons" program, RIM is offering congregations the opportunity to help around the world and receive Week of Compassion credit for their donations. The following projects are already underway:

• Material assistance to Burmese refugees along the Thai/Burma border;

• Health care for Afghan refugees in Pakistan and the internally displaced in Afghanistan;

• Educational films for refugees in Kenya and Tanzania;

• Post-primary education for Burundian refugees in Tanzania;

• Reconstruction of village infrastructure by refugees returning to Senegal;

• Assisting Colombian refugees transit Ecuador and Peru for resettlement in Chile; and

• Research on the treatment of Haitian refugees deported back to Haiti and advocacy on their behalf.

To learn more about these projects and how your congregation can become involved see www.discipleshomemissions.org/RIM and click on Worldwide Response or contact Jennifer Riggs, (888) 346-2631 for our Worldwide Refugee Response brochure.

Refugee and Immigration Ministries announces new Alternative Giving catalog

As we celebrate the birsth o fthe baby who became a refugee by fleeing to Egypt, let us remember the refugees of our world. This Christmas, you can give a gift to your relatives and friends that takes up no space in their crowded homes and helps improve the lives of refugees here and around the world.

The RIM Alternative Giving catalog can be found on the DHM Web site.

Disciples pledge to return to new and existing gardens

At the 2005 Portland (Ore.) General Assembly, Disciples witnessed the launching of a new way to approach