Values Advocacy Council

A Voice For Christian Values

Values Advocacy Council

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VAC Luncheon Review

Volume 1. Issue 5, May 2008

The bimonthly luncheon meeting of the Values Advocacy Council was held on May 13th at the Home Church in Campbell. Larry Pegram informed everyone that 1,122,000 signatures were collected supporting the CA Marriage Amendment. These signatures were separate and then trucked to the registrar of voters in each county. After being verified and certified , we will hear if this measure qualified to be on the November ballot. Thank you to all who collected signatures!

Larry Pegram
President

The Marriage Amendment will change our State Constitution by defining marriage as between a man and a woman. This will take the issue away from the legislature, the governor, and the courts (reverse the May 15th California Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage). If homosexual marriages are mandated in California , pastors may be required to marry homosexuals and churches not complying with this mandate could well lose their tax exempt status.

Visitors:

Frank Chavez, candidate for County Supervisor , District 2. Currently President of the Board of Trustees at Alum Rock Union School District .

Pat Waite, candidate for San Jose City Council District 2.

Representatives from CityTeam Ministries attended the meeting as did a team from Pioneer High School who are assisting in gang prevention. Thank you for coming and for your service to our community!

Coming VAC Luncheon

Date: July 15, 2008
Time: Noon to 1:30 PM
Location: Home Church
Speaker: To be announced

Rally for Marriage

September 28, 2008
Speaker: Tony Perkins, President,
Family Research Council

Please mark your calendars!

Recommended reading:

by Harry R. Jackson & Tony Perkins

Urgent need for VAC

Financial Donations Needed.

Contact Ginny Stafford (408) 267-0800

Your donation will help us to:

Collect the necessary signatures to place SB 777 on the ballot (yes, we're going to try again!)

Have pornography filters installed on the computers in the San Jose Public Libraries to block images to protect our children.

Publish our June 2008 Values Voter Guide.

To donate contact Larry Pegram at (408) 267-0800 or go to www.vac.org

"Jackson and Perkins advocate building upon the pro-life, pro-family issues that have been the mainstay of the religious Right. They intend to expand the religious Right's influence into immigration policy, poverty and social justice, racial reconciliation, and global warming. " (quote from www.frc.org)

SPEAKER OF THE DAY:

Chief Rob Davis, San Jose Police Department

"Gangs: why they exist and how we can solve this problem"

Chief Davis said that in the 70's and 80's the police force didn't want to talk about the gang problem, thinking if we do discuss it, it will grow. "If we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always got." Something needed to change to solve this problem. In the early 90's, police departments realized they needed community help to solve this problem.

Why do young men join gangs?

1	Generational: fathers who were in gangs encourage this even with their young sons (though many parents want their children out of gangs).
2	Youth need to belong and feel valued. "They don't feel that there's any adult that cares for them."

Truth:

"we're brothers" often changes when youth are caught, separated, and questioned. The bonds that they thought were so tight dissolved when they're looking at prison time.

How do we attack this problem?

1	Prevention: Keep youth from joining gangs in the first place.
2	Intervention: Get the youth out that wants out.
3	Suppression: Put the hardened ones in jail.

Mayor Susan Hammer started the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force (MGPTF) in 1991 to connect social services, non-profit organizations, faith-based groups, schools, parents, and government services to work together to solve the gang problem. They have technical and policy teams that work together.

(For more information on this task force's national recognition, go to http://www.sjmayor.org/press_room/gangprevention.html or to www.sanjoseca.gov/mayor/goals/pubsafety/MGPTF/mgptf.asp to read about Mayor Chuck Reed's continuation of this task force. At this website you can scroll down to 2005-2007 Strategic Workplan.)

PACT (www.pactsj.org) has helped with this issue. So has Victory Outreach (www.victoryoutreach.org) and other organizations.

Gang issues have to be addressed on a state and national level as gangs migrate. Other cities are now looking at San Jose's model because it's working. The 13 cities in the Santa Clara county are working together, meeting regularly to discuss how they can best help to mitigate the need for gangs and how to get the mostly 14-16 year olds out of them. The police chiefs meet every few months to discuss issues that affect all communities.

At a recent parent meeting at Alum Rock Youth Center, many asked the question, "Where are our churches? Why can't our pastors and priests be more involved in gang prevention?" Separation of church and state was originally intended to prevent one church from running the government, not eliminate faith-based groups from public life. Let's all work together!

The California Youth Outreach was started by Pastor Tony Ortiz, a former gang member, helps former offenders (www.cyoutreach.org/01/about.html, see the video on this page).

What can you do?

1	Be on a volunteer task force to eliminate graffiti (used by gangs to designate their territory) within 12 hours.
2	Be a volunteer tutor at a school or tutoring center to help the youth gain the academic skills to stay in school and succeed.
3	Mentor a youth (male role models are very important!).
4	Be available to play basketball at a gym on a Friday or Saturday night to give young men alternatives to gang activities.
5	Hire a high school student to work in your company. The job helps prepare him for manhood, the job teaches him skills, a mentor takes time to counsel and teach him, and he has an activity he has to go to that gives him an excuse not to be with the gang.

Please call Chief Rob Davis's office and talk with Sergeant Kihm to ask what you might be able to do. He welcomes your questions and ideas! (408) 277-4212

You don't have to be an expert on gangs to help. We can each do our part as we work together to solve this problem!

Chief Rob Davis closed with his appreciation to those who pray for he and his officers working in our neighborhoods to keep us safe. He appreciates your prayers and support!

Please remember to pray for VAC, our local leaders, and for God to touch our community and nation!

-- Contributed by Wanda Puder --

Take Advantage of VAC Membership!

Become a VAC member! Membership for an individual is $250.00 for 2008. With membership you will receive a complimentary lunch at all of our VAC luncheons, a complementary breakfast at each VAC Leadership Breakfast, and complementary copies of our VAC e-newsletters keeping you up to date on local public policy actions. You will also be supporting your voice in public policy matters. Click here to make a tax deductible donation.

What can you do?

Can you inform one or two other people of the need for internet pornography filters on the computers in our public libraries? Can you help find others to collect signatures to protect marriage between a man and a woman?

Please ask them to visit our website at www.vac.org to register for Operation Values Matter. They will receive alerts regarding the progress of the proposed internet pornography filter policy the San Jose City Council and how they can help and a custom Values Voter Guide for each election.

Also, they will receive updates on the efforts to protect marriage as well as a Values Voter Guide before each election.

Questions or comments?
E-mail us at contact@vac.org or call 408-267-0800