O Little Town of Bethlehem

  How would Jesus birth look in Bethlehem today? What would the sheepherders look like? How would Joseph and Mary get into Bethlehem?


[Video no longer available.]

Refugees can help us understand the Biblical times.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Migration, Trade and Brutality “Why don’t you just stay here and farm coffee?”

“Why don’t you just stay here and farm coffee?”

-David Schmidt

The Mixtec indigenous community of San Juan Coatzóspam, nestled in the lush, forested mountains of the southern State of Oaxaca, is like many other rural communities across Mexico in two regards. (1) It is a beautiful place, with abundant natural resources, an ancient local culture full of lore and legends, and a spectacular view of the unspoiled wilderness. (2) In the past 20 years, it has practically become a ghost town. 

Most people have left Coatzóspam to look for work somewhere else.

People don’t leave beautiful places like Coatzóspam for no reason. They leave because of the macro-economic policies that fuel our own consumer economy.

In the case of Coatzóspam, it all goes back to coffee. For years, the Mexican government provided a stable price for small coffee farmers like the campesinos of Coatzóspam. The government institution INMECAFE provided credits to smallholders and guaranteed a baseline price. Then the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed. INMECAFE was disbanded. Mexico’s economy became more dependent on the economies of the U.S. and Canada. And coffee farming became a gamble.

Ever since 1994, the price of coffee has shot up and down. Some years, the farmers of Coatzóspam would spend all year preparing for the coffee harvest, only to find that the price of coffee on the world market had dropped. The market price of coffee—a price discussed in air-conditioned offices thousands of miles away, a price dependent on the fluctuations of the stock markets in London and New York—would drop so low that farmers would actually lose money by farming coffee. A product that used to allow them to provide for their families had become a financial black hole.

So the farmers left.

I wish I could say this story only happened in Coatzóspam. But this is the story of hundreds of coffee-producing rural towns across Mexico. Across Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, South America. As neoliberal economic policies were implemented during the Reagan-Thatcher years of the 1980’s and 1990’s, international coffee-buying corporations like Nestlé and Sarah Lee gained more and more control of the coffee trade, at the expense of small farmers. Rural communities became more and more dependent on the fluctuations of coffee prices on the world market. 

I wish I could say this story was limited to coffee.

It isn’t. After NAFTA was signed, millions of smallholding peasant farmers across Mexico were driven off their land, as a result of the lopsided policies of NAFTA. Corn farmers could no longer make a living, as Mexico’s market was flooded with cheap corn from the U.S. And the U.S. corn is cheap for a reason—it’s subsidized with millions of dollars from the U.S. government. While Mexico was required to remove its subsidies for its own small corn farmers as a condition of NAFTA, the U.S. has continued to subsidize its own massive agribusiness. (To the detriment of small corn farmers in the U.S. as well.)

So people have left the countryside. If they can’t make a living there anymore, they leave.

In the case of Coatzóspam, the first time I visited the Mixtec native community in 2006, I saw a visible generation gap. I barely met anybody between the ages of 12 and 65—most of the people of working age had left to look for a source of income somewhere else. I was reminded of a friend who had visited the Soviet Union in the 1970’s and told me he had seen an entire generation of men missing—the men who were killed during Hitler’s invasion in WWII.

In the case of Coatzóspam, it’s not just the men who are missing—working age women and adolescent girls leave as well, looking for employment in the outside world. Mexico City. Sinaloa. Sonora. Baja California.

And many have crossed into the United States. Many Coatzóspam natives are working in the fields of the large factory farms in Salinas, Oxnard, Watsonville, Fresno. Rather than working on the plots of land their families have owned for generations, they are working to support the massive agricultural industry that drove their families out of business in the first place.

The young people come back to town every now and then. Sometimes they come back to visit during Saint John’s Day festivals in the summer, or during the Day of the Dead at the end of October. Sometimes they come back after being deported from the United States.

And many of them come back changed. Resentful. Angry. A slow-boiling rage churns in the bellies of many young men who come back to town.

We’ll look more closely at this anger in the next installment.

This article is part of a series, “Migration, Trade and Brutality: A Journey through Mexico and Central America”, written byDavid Schmidt regarding his travels in Summer 2012. David is a volunteer with World Relief Garden Grove serving all of Southern California.

David Schmidt is a freelance writer and multi-lingual translator in San Diego, CA. He is a proponent of immigrants' rights and fair trade, and works with worker-owned coops in Mexico to help them develop alternative, fair sources of income. He can be contacted at davidschmidt2003@hotmail.com .

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Migration, Trade and Brutality STOP ONE: The Coffee Mountains of Oaxaca

Downtown Coatzóspam

-David Schmidt, Guest Contributor

San Juan Coatzóspam is a beautiful town. Located on the edge of the highest mountain around, it affords visitors a spectacular view. You can see the surrounding valleys, villages and settlements for miles around. An enormous river snakes through the valleys below, a day’s hike downhill from Coatzóspam. The town is so high up the mountain that the clouds rise up to meet it, caressing the cheeks of the town’s residents.

San Juan Coatzóspam is a fertile town. It is nestled amidst lush mountain forests, enormous trees hanging with Spanish moss, wilderness that threatens to overtake the small plot of land occupied by the town and reclaim it for Nature.

San Juan Coatzóspam is one of the few places on earth that have the right climate for growing coffee. Just high enough to sustain the fickle plants that produce the high-quality “Arabica” beans. Cool enough for the shade-grown coffee plants to survive and be productive.

San Juan Coatzóspam is far from the concerns of modern urban life. For most of its existence, this rural village has been separated from the dangers of city life—drug addiction, street crime, gangs, alcoholism, family violence, divorce, homelessness, poverty—by a thick veil of mountains and jungle. For most of its existence, Coatzóspam has been a self-sustaining community.

San Juan Coatzóspam is even insulated from mainstream Mexican culture. Many people in Coatzóspam, to this day, do not even speak the Spanish language. The community is inhabited by Mixtec indigenous people. The Mixtecs have lived on this American continent for thousands of years. They have their own language, their own culture, their own traditions, their own way of perceiving the world, the heavens, society, the economy, the natural world around them. The Mixtec way of life predates the Hispanic and Anglo cosmologies by millennia.

And San Juan Coatzóspam is a ghost town.

Ever since 1994 when the North American Free Trade Agreement—NAFTA—was signed, the Mixtec indigenous community of San Juan Coatzóspam saw a sudden evacuation of its people. This is a town where, just a generation ago, people stuck together to farm each others’ gardens and coffee fields.

Now, most people leave and go work somewhere else.

Why would anyone leave such a beautiful place? The answer lies in global neoliberal economics. The answer lies in worldwide economic policies that have drained Coatzóspam, and thousands of towns like it across Mexico, of their lifeblood.

The answer lies in the same policies that create migration all across the continent, that force people to leave their home communities and look for their livelihood elsewhere. The same policies, the same global forces that push people to leave beautiful communities like Coatzóspam, are also the policies that have created violence and brutality in other places.

In Coatzóspam, as in the rest of this continent of Las Américas, migration, trade and brutality go hand in hand. 

This article is part of a series, “Migration, Trade and Brutality: A Journey through Mexico and Central America”, written by David Schmidt regarding his travels in Summer 2012. David is a volunteer with World Relief Garden Grove serving all of Southern California.

David Schmidt is a freelance writer and multi-lingual translator in San Diego, CA. He is a proponent of immigrants' rights and fair trade, and works with worker-owned coops in Mexico to help them develop alternative, fair sources of income. He can be contacted at davidschmidt2003@hotmail.com. 

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

The Justice Conference in Southern California

The 2013 Justice Conference will be simulcast in Southern California at Friends Church Yorba Linda February 23 + 24. Registration is already available online here. Check it out and watch more more details and announcements.



The Justice Conference 2013 Promo from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.
We need volunteers! Answer questions at a table, usher, help manage social media. For more information on volunteering contact Glen Peterson. 

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

"I was a stranger" Challenge Launch Call November 29th

On Thursday, November 29 at 1 PM Eastern Time, 10 AM Pacific (8 PM, 5 PM Pacific, in Spanish) World Relief, in partnership with the National Association of Evangelicals, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Christian Community Development Association, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, and others, is launching the I Was a Stranger… Challenge. If you have trouble viewing or submitting this form, you can fill it out online: here. I Was a Stranger… Challenge Launch Call Thursday, November 29th, 2012 IN ENGLISH: 1pm-2pm EST Call-in Number: 866-952-1907 Code: LAUNCH IN SPANISH: 8pm-9pm EST Call-in Number: 866-952-1907 Code: ESPAÑOL

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Migration, Trade and Brutality

A Journey through Mexico and Central America

 [PART 1]

Before I left San Diego, California for Tijuana, Mexico, a San Diegan friend warned me: "Be careful, David. It's dangerous in Mexico."

I smiled at him.

"No, I'm serious, David. Be careful. Mexico isn't safe. Trust me, I know."

This is a friend who has spent a total of one weekend of his life in the Republic of Mexico, in a resort hotel in Puerto Vallarta.

* * * *

As I was on my way to the Tijuana International Airport, the taxi driver asked where I was headed. "Mexico City?" he said, incredulous. "Man, you better watch your back there. Mexico City is a dangerous place. Lots of crime."

* * * *

I had coffee with a friend in Mexico City. When she heard I was headed to Oaxaca, southern Mexico, she told me a few anecdotes from friends who ran into some trouble. "Don't travel at night, and be on your guard," she warned me. "Oaxaca isn't safe like Mexico City."

* * * *

Once I reached Chiapas, at the southern tip of Mexico, multiple locals warned me about crossing the border into Guatemala. "Things are really violent in Guatemala," they told me. "Don't go out at night, don't talk to anybody, stick to the tourist areas. And don't even think about going into Guatemala City, the capitol. That country is very dangerous."

* * * *

I'm leaving for Nicaragua tomorrow. The bus will cross through El Salvador. Some Guatemalan friends have told me, "El Salvador is dangerous. Be careful, David."

* * * *

I can only imagine that this pattern would continue, ad infinitum, if I were to continue traveling southward. Nicaraguans would warn me about Costa Rica, Costa Ricans would warn me about Panama, and so on and so forth, until I reached the tip of Patagonia, where the Chilean locals would warn me:

"Don't even think about crossing over into Antarctica. The penguins will rob you and stab you."

I recently traveled through southern Mexico and Central America. I went for a few reasons—translating work. Language research. Cultural preservation projects. Touching bases with some Fair Trade contacts, following up on some alternative coffee trade efforts. Researching some writing projects and book ideas.

And simply because I had never been to Central America, and figured 2012 was as good a time as any to go.

At every step along the way, however, I kept running into common themes.

In Oaxaca, Mexico, at the southern tip of Mexico, in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the same issues kept coming up.

Migration.

Desires to migrate. Perception of migrants. Perceptions of the opportunities that migration will bring. Hopes dashed when migration fails to meet these expectations.

Violence.

The reality of violence—of brutality, murder, torture.

And the illusion of violence—the myth of extreme violence as a foreign phenomenon. The perception of other places, other regions, other nations, “The Other”, as inherently violent. As extraordinarily violent.

Passing the buck on violence—blaming it on “The Other”, rather than seeing our own connection to the violence that others face as part of their daily reality.

Trade.

The interconnectedness of our region. The jobs, money, economies that link us all. The unfair trade policies that push people to migrate.

The connection of violence and migration to trade policies, past and present.

The blogs that follow are a series of discussions of these travels, at each stop along the way.

I invite you to join me on the journey.

Before leaving, I watched Oliver Stone’s film “Savages” in a movie theatre in Tijuana, northern Mexico. The film portrays violence and brutality as a uniquely Mexican phenomenon—the gringo heroes of the movie are pained by torture and kidnapping, drawn into such “savagery” by their conflict with Mexican narcos. [See here for my full move review]

As my friends and I left the movie theatre, one of them warned me, “Be careful in Mexico City, David. It’s dangerous down there.”

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This article is part of a series, “Migration, Trade and Brutality: A Journey through Mexico and Central America”, written by David Schmidt regarding his travels in Summer 2012.

David Schmidt is a freelance writer and multi-lingual translator in San Diego, CA. He is a proponent of immigrants' rights and fair trade, and works with worker-owned coops in Mexico to help them develop alternative, fair sources of income. He can be contacted at davidschmidt2003@hotmail.com. David is a volunteer with World Relief Garden Grove serving all of Southern California.

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Life, Liberty, and the Law: Global Ministry Momentum: Nov. 14 + 15

  Register Now!

Register online: Register at: http://helpingimmigrants.eventbrite.com 
 or through World Relief Garden Grove--gpeterson@worldrelief.org

 
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 8:00 AM - Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 5:00 PM (PST)  Santa Ana, CA

November 14^th and November 15^th

8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

First Presbyterian Church of Santa Ana

600 North Main Street

Santa Ana, CA 92701-4189

Cost: $149 (without lunch)*

Register at: http://helpingimmigrants.eventbrite.com

World Relief is proud to offer an overview of how church leaders can engage immigrant populations in their communities.  This event will give attendees information that will equip them to be able to minister to immigrants in a variety of ways.  Information will be presented on how to offer immigrant legal services; support the receiving of refugees into the U.S.; become involved with anti-human trafficking work; engage the detained immigrant population and much more! 

This training will be two full days of information geared towards empowering local church leaders to reach out to immigrants in their areas.  The participant will leave this event understanding the steps to becoming involved with ministering to immigrants as well as learning about and connecting with those involved in this service in their area. 

Lunch will be catered for those who wish to participate.  Lunch tickets must be purchased in advance.  There are some restaurants in the area, but lunch tickets will not be available for purchase at the event.  The price includes lunch for both Wednesday and Thursday.


We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”


We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Two Day Introduction to Immigration Ministry 11/14-15 [Update]

Life, Liberty, and the Law: Local Ministry Connection

November 14^th and November 15^th

8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

First Presbyterian Church of Santa Ana

600 North Main Street

Santa Ana, CA 92701-4189

Cost: $149 (without lunch)*

Register at: http://helpingimmigrants.eventbrite.com

Opportunities for ministry with and among immigrants in the United States are all around us. The Bible speaks of welcoming the sojourner who lives among us and identifies Christian believers as strangers headed for another country. Come join us for a two-day event geared toward equipping church and ministry leaders to care for immigrants in the United States. World Relief, who inspires, engages, and empowers the worldwide local Church to serve the vulnerable, brings its best legal staff, field office practitioners and local experts to offer an overview of how you can engage immigrant people in your community in a variety of creative ways. Topics will include:

• Thinking Christianly about immigration   
• Immigration law and policy
• How to offer legal services to immigrants
• How to reach out and minister to refugee families in your neighborhood
• How to become involved constructively with anti-trafficking work
• Stewardship of influence on immigration policy
• Engaging and serving detained immigrants
• Opportunities to partner with other agencies 

You will leave this event understanding the steps to becoming involved with ministering to immigrants, how to move ahead with accreditation for legal services, and how to connect with others involved in immigration services in Southern California communities and beyond.

Register early! These prices are only good until November 7, 2012. Cost for tickets purchased after that date will be $179 (without lunch).

A reduced rate is available for students with a valid school ID, please contact Courtney Tudi for details.

* Lunch tickets are available in advance at time of registration for $15, which includes lunch for Wednesday and Thursday.

Please contact Glen Peterson at gpeterson@wr.org or 714/210-4730x101; or Courtney Tudi ctudi@wr.org or 443-451-1900x207 with any questions

 

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

Life, Liberty, and the Law: Global Ministry Momentum

  SAVE THE DATE!

 November 14-15, 2012 An introduction to immigration ministry in Santa Ana California. More information and registration coming soon.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 8:00 AM - Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 5:00 PM (PST)  Santa Ana, CA

World Relief is proud to offer an overview of how church leaders can engage immigrant populations in their communities.  This event will give attendees information that will equip them to be able to minister to immigrants in a variety of ways.  Information will be presented on how to offer immigrant legal services; support the receiving of refugees into the U.S.; become involved with anti-human trafficking work; engage the detained immigrant population and much more! 

This training will be two full days of information geared towards empowering local church leaders to reach out to immigrants in their areas.  The participant will leave this event understanding the steps to becoming involved with ministering to immigrants as well as learning about and connecting with those involved in this service in their area. 

Lunch will be catered for those who wish to participate.  Lunch tickets must be purchased in advance.  There are some restaurants in the area, but lunch tickets will not be available for purchase at the event.  The price includes lunch for both Wednesday and Thursday.


We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

The Justice Conference--February 22+23, 2013 in Philadelphia

The Justice Conference will be impacting a generation for justice in February. Check out the newly released video with Micah Bournes. [Looking for a place to host a videocast of the conference in Southern California--contact me if you would like to talk about that.]

The Justice Conference 2013 Promo from The Justice Conference on Vimeo.


We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”

SAVAGES--Movie Review

by David Schmidt

“I have seen much of the rest of the world. It is brutal and cruel and dark. Rome is the light.”
-Maximus Aurelius, Gladiator

 North American drug dealers are noble, altruistic men with chiseled abs and beautiful hair. They develop personal relationships with the ill people who need their medical marijuana. They spend their free time setting up water purification systems in sub-Saharan Africa. They are sensitive souls, pained by the violence implicit in their trade.

Mexican drug dealers are brutal sadists who torture people, rape women, set men on fire, and chop civilians’ heads off.

At least, this is what Oliver Stone’s film Savages would have us believe.

Savages centers on a love triangle between two southern California weed dealers, Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch), and their shared girlfriend, Ophelia (Blake Lively). Chon is a hardened war veteran; while rough around the edges, he has a steely sense of duty to the people who are close to him. His partner Ben is a dreadlock-wearing Buddhist who, when not working in the hydroponics lab, conducts development projects in the Developing World. Ben and Chon have managed to produce a highly potent strain of marijuana with THC levels of 30 percent and higher. When the Baja Cartel catches wind of their success, the Mexican narcos makes a business proposition to the boys. The gringos reject it and, in order to urge them to reconsider, the cartel kidnaps their girlfriend Ophelia.

Savages is narrated by the blasé character Ophelia, a shapely So Cal girl who has all the personality of a bag of sawdust. After she is kidnapped, viewers are left to wonder why on earth two able-bodied young men would risk their lives to save Ophelia, when she could be easily replaced with a cardboard cutout of Kathy Ireland. The story of Savages jerks along haltingly and uncertainly, featuring long stretches of insufferable dialogue punctuated by horrific violence. Conversations between Ben and Chon flow with the forced, disingenuous tone of a high school play; you can practically see the actors’ eyes scanning the cue cards.

The moral of Savages, as the film’s name implies, is that violence makes savages of us all; by participating in violence we lose the moral grounding from which to criticize it. If this were the film’s sole focus, it would be a largely innocuous morality tale. This ostensibly primary message is overpowered, however, by a much stronger subtext: that of violence as a foreign [read: Mexican] phenomenon. The lovable North American drug dealers are dragged into the world of murder, torture and kidnapping, but only out of loyalty to their curvaceous blonde lover. The film implies, with all the subtlety of a flaming school bus, that brutality is second nature for Mexican (not North American) drug dealers. When the Mexican narcos commit horrific atrocities, they do so because it is “in their nature”. When gringos do the same thing, it is because the poor, tortured souls have been forced to take drastic measures for a higher cause.

While both sides refer to each other as “savages” in the film, this assessment is lopsided. Ben and Chon call the Baja Cartel “savages” for chopping off heads and maiming other humans; the Mexicans call the gringos “savages” for sharing the same girlfriend. It’s clear who we, the viewers, are meant to side with.

In addition to being blatantly xenophobic and ethnocentric, the mentality present in this film goes hand-in-hand with much of the anti-immigrant discourse that has been tossed around for centuries. Immigration is described as being bad for the country receiving immigrants because, according to the conventional wisdom, “those people” are savage, brutal, backwards, etc. Arizona State Senator Steve Smith expressed it well when he said:

“If…you wanna bring your language with you, your gangfare with you, stay where you were! Or face the consequences.”[1]

(Feel free to read my open letter to Steve Smith on this subject.)

The myth of “violence as a foreign phenomenon” is a powerful one. It is also blatantly false. It is a lie that has backed up two contradictory, yet intricately linked, policies throughout history—(1) Invasion and intervention in other countries, and (2) rejection of immigrants from those countries. We invade their lands because “they are savage, and must be taught how to live”. Then when they come here because we’ve bled their nations of their wealth, we reject them at the gate, “because they’ll negatively affect our society with their savagery”. 

The same belief in the “inherently violent nature” of other nations and cultures leads us to pass the buck when it comes to the reasons people migrate. When the talking heads discuss the causes of immigration, it is often to suggest that “they should fix their own countries”. Or that “they” don’t know how to run their own countries to begin with. There is no consideration of the possibility that our own economic, trade, military, and political policies could have a hand in forcing people to leave their own homelands in the first place. This—along with a whole host of other myths—lets us continue to comfortably blame immigrants for their own problems.

In spite of its half-hearted overtures towards a progressive critique of violence, Oliver Stone’s film Savages essentially toes the line of most of Western discourse: the “savages” are “those people out there”.

 

David Schmidt is a freelance writer and multi-lingual translator in San Diego, CA. He is a volunteer at World Relief Garden Grove, proponent of immigrants' rights and fair trade, and works with worker-owned coops in Mexico to help them develop alternative, fair sources of income. He can be contacted at davidschmidt2003@hotmail.com

 

---

[1] SOURCE: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/jul/28/freshman-senator-takes-enduring-immigation-issues/

We append the following disclaimer on all posts: “Please note that the views expressed by guest bloggers represent their own personal views, and not necessarily those of everyone associated with Loving the Stranger or any institutions with which the blogger may be affiliated.”