Join us on Saturday, October 23rd, 2010, from 7pm to 10pm at the Philadelphia Praise Center at 17th and McKean in South Philly. For complete details, visit the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia website at www.sanctuaryphiladelphia.org.

Here you can preview some of the items that have been donated for the silent auction that will be part of the evening. We'll be adding new posts to highlight donations including handmade Bolivian rosewood letter openers ..... framed photo from 1980s Sanctuary Movement by Harvey Finkle..... gift basket of natural body wash and lotions..... hand painted, hand carved, one of a kind walking stick made by the pastor of Arch Street UMC..... T-Shirt, Honey, and free ticket to Mill Creek Farm Benefit Party .... sculpture by Joe Brenman.... Hammock Chair.... painting by Michelle Ortiz.... more! So check back soon!

All proceeds from tickets and the auction will support the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia's "Community Leadership Development" project to cultivate leaders in directly affected immigrant communities.


Friday, October 15, 2010

Gift certificate for Indonesia Restaurant

Value = $20       Starting bid = $15

Gift certificate for the Indonesia Restaurant
Donated by Mrs. The Sian An and Mr. Indra

Enjoy lunch or dinner at this South Philly restaurant and savor a taste of Indonesia!  The menu has plenty of vegetarian options, and lots of interesting options to choose from.  Start your meal with a bowl of Sayur Asem (tamarind soup) or one of their other 8 soups.  The grilled marinated Satay on skewers served with peanut sauce would be great.  Or try some Nasi Goreng Mawut (chicken fried rice mixed with fried noodle, bean sprout and cabbage).  Ayam Bumbu Rujak (barbequed chicken in Indonesian style chili tangy sweet red bell pepper sauce) sounds good, too!

Preview the menu on the Indonesia Restaurant website at  www.indonesiarestaurant.com.

Handcarved Walking Stick

Value = $75   Starting Bid = $50

Handcarved Walking Stick
Donated by Rev. Robin Hynicka


Making a beautiful handmade, handpainted walking staff is a lot of work, but Rev. Robin Hynicka, pastor of Arch St. United Methodist Church, was determined to finish this one in time for our auction -- and he did!


Strong and surprisingly light, with a perfectly shaped grip to fit your hand, this walking stick will steady you for your journey, wherever it leads. And with it's bright colors and decorative patterns, we think it would make an excellent, eye-catching addition to any of our upcoming rallies and marches!

"Clasped Hands" original print

Value = $40     Starting bid = $30

Framed Original Print  -- Clasped Hands (print approx 12"h x 9"w)
Donated by Betty Pulse

Artist Betty Pulse designed  handmade note cards with this image of clasped hands that the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia has been using for personal correspondence. It is a symbol that evokes many feelings that represent what we're about -- -- strength, connection, alliance, prayer, urgent pleading, solidarity. 

We've had such a powerful response to this image that we have selected it to be used (with the artist's permission) on our  newly designed, official t-shirts!  Now you have a chance to take home the original print.  Bid generously!

Fig Jam, Raspberry Jam, and Peaches from Preston's Paradise community farm

Value = $20       Starting bid = $15

Gift basket of Fig Jam, Raspberry Jam, and Peaches
Donated by Preston's Paradise community farm in West Philly

Preston’s Paradise is a resource center for improving community health, happiness, and sustainability.  Our mission is to assist groups of neighbors in increasing their own self-sufficiency and inter-reliance.

The name Preston’s Paradise started a few years ago when some of our neighbors were sitting around admiring the fine work they’d accomplished on Preston St. in West Philadelphia.  “This is like paradise!” Now we’re taking that feeling and spreading it to other blocks.

Preston's Paradise operates in four main programmatic areas:  food security, neighborhood beautification, natural building, and energy conservation.  But primarily we work at being good neighbors with skills and a community to share.

Find out more at www.prestonsparadise.wordpress.com

Thursday, October 14, 2010

"Una Bicicleta" original print

Value = $25       Starting bid = $20

"Una Bicicleta" original print, approx 12"h x 9"w, unframed
Donated by Katie Baldwin

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Hammock Chair - Handmade in Nicaragua

Value = $40     Starting Bid=$25

























Hammock chair handmade in Nicaragua
Donated by Tim Esser-Haines

Alfredo and Roberto grew up living on the street in Managua, Nicaragua. As children they struggled with drug abuse, extreme poverty, and violence. Through the help of a local organization, many friends, and their own determination they have turned their lives around, going to school, learning the art of hammock making, and working hard to build new lives.

In 2008 they came together and started the Chinceli project with the goal of helping other young people facing similar struggles to what they had experienced. The project is based around teaching hammock making to young people but also includes a soccer team, support with literacy and numeracy, and providing a safe place for kids to play and be themselves.

In 2010 almost 40 young people have been involved in the Chinceli project and there are plans to involve even more next year. Making and selling hammocks are Alfredo and Roberto’s principal source of income to keep the project going.

If you are interested in buying more hammocks, email Tim Esser-Haines at timesserhaines(at)gmail(dot)com

Stoneware Sculpture by Joe Brenman


Value = $500     Starting bid = $325





















Stoneware Sculpture of Reclining Woman (approx 15"L)
Donated by Joe Brenman, Philadelphia sculptor, muralist, ceramicist, and educator.


During his career as a professional artist, Joe Brenman has completed thirteen murals, as well as several major sculpture installations – working with the Mural Arts Program as well as with faith communities and private commissions.  He has also taught sculpture, ceramics, and drawing around the region.   Joe is an active member of Mishkan Shalom, the first congregation to become officially affiliated with the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia.

He is experienced in working with diverse cultural groups. Two recent interfaith projects include creating the Doorways to Peace mural project in partnership with Arts & Spirituality Center, the Al Aqsa Islamic Society and neighboring schools and community groups in Kensington South.  Joe also created “stations of the cross” which he donated to the Los Anonas community in El Salvador.  He traveled to El Salvador and installed the stations with a group from St. Vincent’s Catholic Church, Tabernacle United Church and the Romero Interfaith Center.


This beautiful stoneware sculpture of a reclining woman is from his recent series of works on this classic theme. You can find more of his work on his website at www.joebrenman.com.

Handthrown Bowl with yellow salt glaze

Value = $25     Starting bid = $20

Bowl with yellow salt glaze
Donated by Lucy Peterson

Lucy Peterson, an art history major at University of Pittsburgh, studied ceramics for two summers in Massachusetts.  She continues to develop her skills in her own home studio during college vacations.  Her special academic focus on Japanese and Chinese ceramics grows out of her personal passion for creating with clay.   Lucy contributes one of her handthrown ceramic bowls with a beautiful yellow salt glaze.

"Sanctuary Solidarity, DC, 1986" by Harvey Finkle

Value = $250       Starting bid = $190
"Sanctuary Solidarity, DC, 1986" - 11" x 14" black and white photo, framed
Donated by Harvey Finkle, documentary photographer


Philadelphia documentary photographer Harvey Finkle was honored in 2009 with a Bread & Roses' Tribute to Change award celebrating the accomplishments of community organizers and activists whose work inspires and creates real change.  In the video "Justice Behind the Lens" that accompanied the award, Harvey is called "an incredible human being" and  an unsung hero who has been photographing people for decades.  But he doesn't just take photographs.  Harvey is a witness who spends times with the people and communities he is photographing.  As one person said, "He uses a camera to advance humanity."  (Learn more about his legacy in this brief video from Bread & Roses.)

During the 1980s, Harvey was frequently on the scene with the Sanctuary Movement as it emerged and evolved in Philadelphia, photographing families, children, men, and women fleeing from Central America and seeking safety in the US, as well as local activists who reached out in solidarity to accompany them and advocate for change in US policy.  Nowadays, Harvey is again standing on the side of justice for immigrants and refugees -- showing up with his camera at rallies in support of Cambodians facing deportation, bus rides to marches on the Mall in DC for immigration reform, the NSM Public Forum calling for an end to police / ICE collaboration.  Look for him!  And find out more at his website www.harveyfinkle.com.

Harvey shares this photograph of a Guatemalan child and banner from a political rally for the Sanctuary Movement in Washington DC in 1986 as a sign of his support for our continuing struggle in today's New Sanctuary Movement.

Handmade Bolivian Rosewood Letter Openers

Value = $20 each      Starting bid = $15 for one

Bolivian Rosewood Letter Openers
Donated by Ron Morgan / Morgan Woodworks

These beautiful letter openers are handmade by Ron Morgan, an active member of the original 1980s Sanctuary Movement in Philadelphia.   Ron's on-going passionate commitments to social justice and solidarity,  especially with the people of El Salvador, are a source of inspiration to the New Sanctuary Movement. He is a member of Central Baptist Church, one of the original Sanctuary congregations in the 80s and now one of the NSM-affiliated congregations.

Ron is an award-winning furniture maker who has been designing and building wooden furniture for 25 years.   He says that he finds inspiration for his projects in the infinite variety of color, figure and texture found in woods from around the world.  Presently, Ron works in a wooden barn designed and built in Chester County, Pennsylvania, specifically to house his shop. You can check out some of his  work at www.morganwoodworks.com.     

Friday, October 8, 2010

T-Shirt, Honey, and free ticket to Mill Creek Farm Benefit Party

Value = $35           Starting bid = $20

T-Shirt and Honey, plus a ticket to Mill Creek Farm Benefit Party at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center on Dec.5th!

Donated by Mill Creek Farm , an educational urban farm in West Philly dedicated to improving local access to fresh produce, building a healthy community and environment, and promoting a just and sustainable food system.


The Mill Creek Farm is located at 4901 Brown Street in the Mill Creek Neighborhood of West Philadelphia.  Part of the site has been home to a thriving community garden for over 15 years and the rest of the lot had been vacant for over 30 years. Thanks to funds allocated by the Philadelphia Water Department in partnership with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the land was awarded in the summer of 2005 to begin an urban farm.

Mill Creek Farm implements its mission through farm-based learning programs, by cultivating and distributing fresh produce, and by demonstrating ecological technologies and creative resource use to provide for basic needs. In addition to growing food for local distribution, MCF is an education center, giving tours to groups and hosting field trips and community skill-share workshops. The farm employs youth in a summer job training program and partners with the existing community garden to facilitate inter-generational exchange between school age groups and elders. 

We believe in food justice: that everyone has a right to affordable, healthy, quality, culturally appropriate food that is accessed in a way that is community-controlled, environmentally sustainable, and socially just.

Gift basket of three jars of homemade jam (and a copy of Conspire! magazine)

Value:  $30      Starting Bid:  $20

Gift basket of three homemade jams and copy of CONSPIRE! magazine
Donated by:  Dee Dee Risher, editor of CONSPIRE! magazine, retreat leader, writer, and longtime Germantown resident


Dee Dee Risher and her kids pick fruit all summer at New Jersey farms around Glassboro, then trap all those great mornings in jam. They usually put up about five kinds of jam. Here she's sharing 3 jars of strawberry, blackberry, and blueberry jam to celebrate regional farms as well as all the generations of farm workers who have harvested their fruit.

We're also including a copy of CONSPIRE! magazine.  Conspire! exists to explore in a collaborative, creative, and corporate way some of the unique issues that arise from community life.  At the same time, it engages the struggles of many who are not in such communities.  The theme of this most recent issue ("The Economy of God:  Your Money Or Your Life") is packed with creative and courageous responses to how to reshape your economic life to reflect the bounty of God.

Gift basket packed with natural care products

Value = $60        Starting Bid = $30

Gift basket of natural care products
Donated by Tanya and Brian Regli

This gift basket of all natural bath products includes moisturizing body wash, lotion, foaming bath, handmade soap, a body sponge, and lip balm.  And there's also an aromatherapy votive candle to help you unwind! 

Bid on this beautiful collection and share it with someone you know who would enjoy the luxury of a little extra relaxing time at the end of a long day after coming home from one of our New Sanctuary Movement actions at the DA's office and City Hall -- or maybe even a march in Washington!

Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical

Value:  $17       Starting bid:  $12

Autographed copy of Follow Me to Freedom by John Perkins and Shane Clayborne

Donated by:  Shane Clayborne, founder of The Simple Way in Kensington

John says it’s a book on leadership. Shane says it’s a book on followership. The truth is… it’s probably a little of both, and that’s exactly what we need. In an age of division over race, class, age, theology, and politics this book brings together an unlikely duo with a radical message of reconciliation. Their backgrounds are very different, but the future they invite us to imagine is exactly the same. Claiborne and Perkins harmonize their voices in this fresh, winsome, and insightful look at what it means to embody with our lives the gospel that we proclaim with our lips. Follow Me to Freedom is a call to lead—a life, a community, a revolution that moves the world a little closer to God’s dream.

Jesus for President -- Politics for Ordinary Radicals

Value:  $17     Starting Bid:  $12
























Autographed copy of Jesus For President:  Politics for Ordinary Radicals (by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw) -- signed by Shane

Donated by  Shane Claiborne, founder of The Simple Way in Kensington

Jesus for President is a radical manifesto to awaken the Christian political imagination, reminding us that our ultimate hope lies not in partisan political options but in Jesus and the incarnation of the peculiar politic of the church as a people “set apart” from this world. In what can be termed lyrical theology, Jesus for President poetically weaves together words and images to sing (rather than dictate) its message. It is a collaboration of Shane Claiborne’s writing and stories, Chris Haw’s reflections and research, and art and design.

Irrestible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

Value:  $15         Starting Bid:  $12
























Autographed copy of Shane Claiborne's book: The Irresistible Revolution

Donated by  Shane Claiborne, founder of The Simple Way in Kensington

During college, Shane heard one of his professors say:  “Being a Christian is about choosing Jesus and deciding to do something incredibly daring with your life.” Taking up that challenge, Shane’s faith led him to dress the wounds of lepers with Mother Teresa, visit families in Iraq amidst bombings, and dump $10,000 on Wall Street to redistribute wealth. In The Irresistible Revolution, you’ll be challenged by a radical Christianity passionate for peace, social justice, and alleviating the suffering found in the local neighborhood and distant reaches of the world. Live out your faith with little acts of radical love as you join the movement of God’s Spirit into a broken world.

"Papel Amate" - 1980s Nahua painting from Mexico on handmade paper

Value = $125     Starting Bid = $80

Framed Mexican "papel amate" painting ca. 1980-85 (15"h x 10"w)

Donated by:  Caroline Cargo and the Robert Cargo Folk Art Gallery

Nahua people have inhabited the region of the Balsas River in the Mexican state of Guerrero since pre-Columbian times.  In the 1960s, Nahua artists in several remote villages began creating "papeles amates" -- paintings on paper made from the bark of fig and mulberry trees by traditional methods.  Typically amate paintings depict colorful scenes of village life -- family celebrations, farming, hunting, pottery-making, weddings, funerals, religious and community fiestas.   In the 1990s, traditional Nahua artists used this conventional artistic medium of papel amate to transmit an unconventional message of political protest when a proposed hydroelectric dam project on the Balsas River threatened to dislocated tens of thousands of Nahua people living in 22 villages.   In the midst of the community struggle, papel amate artists began painting scenes protesting the dam, and those images were reproduced and passed out at meetings and roadblocks to raise funds and educate people who would not otherwise learn about indigenous resistance.  The Mexican government failed to obtain World Bank financing for the proposed dam and the project was canceled in 1993.

This framed, traditional papel amate painting from the early 1980s combines several glimpses at everyday village and family activities. Let it be a reminder of the strength of the indigenous Nahua community to launch successful creative opposition through multiple channels -- prayer, political protest, and progressive art.

Portable Emergency Power Generator


Value = $100      Starting bid = $50

Portable emergency power small generator with built-in air compressor, jumper cables, and flashlight

Donated by Blaise Tobia

Always be prepared!  Operate small appliances or recharge electronics for power any where anytime.

This portable Duracell® Powerpack features 300 watts of AC power to operate and charge electronics during a power outage to keep you safe and connected.  At home, the powerpack can be your backup source of portable power for a lamp, cell phone, laptop, TV and more. Or when you're at a camp-site, beach or park, you can connect a portable cooler to the power pack's DC socket, or easily inflate a bicycle tire and beach ball.

The Duracell® Powerpack 300 would also be great to keep in your car.  It features a built-in air compressor for inflating tires, jumper cables to boost your vehicle battery without needing another vehicle, and a detachable LED flashlight that makes it easy to find your way in the dark.

"Return to El Salvador" DVD documentary film by Jamie Moffett

Value = $25      Starting Bid = $15

Autographed copy of DVD documentary film "Return To El Salvador"
Donated by Jamie Moffett, a Philadelphia-based documentary filmmaker

Return to El Salvador is the latest documentary from director Jamie Moffett, who explores the reconstruction of El Salvador after the civil war of 1980 to 1992. The 12-year conflict between the Salvadoran Army and leftists guerrillas killed over 75,000 people and displaced nearly one-fifth of the population.  

Return to El Salvador brings the struggles of this country back into view and examines what drives over 700 Salvadoreans to flee their homeland each day, often risking their lives to illegally enter countries in search of a better life for their families. It also profiles a Salvadoran couple who fled death threats in the 1980s, finding asylum and a political platform in the United States. We meet another couple who, after escaping during the war, returned to El Salvador to work with churches and poor communities. And a family speaks out about their continued hunt for the truth about a murdered anti-mining activist.

This film explores the hopes of the Salvadoran people and walks with them in their journey. Return to El Salvador represents the power and audacity of solidarity and challenges North Americans to question the global impact of their government on struggling nations.

To learn more, join the Return to El Salvador Facebook page and visit the website!