Journey of Hope..Events Diary Blog

Friday, 27 December 2013

The Journey celebrated its 20. anniversary this year by doing an Indíana Journey of Hoe Tour and Conference.
The first Journey of Hope began at my house in Portage, Indiana in 1993.
we honored the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and their Project," World Day Against the Death Penalty."
This was the 11. annual World Day Against the Death Penalty.
We called this year`s Journey of Hope " World Day Against the Death Penalty Tour".
It began on October 4 and we journeyed around the state, sharing our stories until October 29.

We did something this year we had never done before as part of the Journey. We organized a World Day Against the Death Penalty conference October 10-13 while we were in the Indianapolis, the state capital. We began with a press conference in the capitol rotunda on October 10 to commemorate World Day Against the Death Penalty. Nick Hess, Producer of WCTY channel 16 news in Indianapolis sent me a link of the entire conference. This is great to have for our archives. ^{http://indianapolis.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=cdaf9e55-896c-1031-9706-22318e376968}

^{The Journey of Hope web site link ^{https://www.journeyofhope.org/on-tour/annual-journeys/2013-indiana/conference/}^{details the weekend long conference in depth.}

It was a great conference. Many great people were involved and I had a lot of help with the organizing. Colleen Cunningham, ^{Equal Justice USA}^{was the chief organizer and the main reason the conference was so successful.}

As I am sure you heard, Paula Cooper was released from prison in June after over 28 years in prison. I did interviews that were aired around the world. ^CNN^,^{Democracy Now}^,^A^BC^{National News Australia}^,^BBC^,^{Red Letter Christians}^, a ^{YouTube composite}^and^{CBS News Chicago}^{were some of the better ones. Unfortunately I have not heard from Paula Cooper since she has been released. It is almost 6 months now and I am quite surprised and disappointed. I visited with her 15 times while she was in prison and for the last two years we exchanged mails every week.}

I have heard rumors that she has been taken in by a support group and is doing well. I am happy about that because I was quite concerned about how she would do upon her release. I understand that she wants to further her education. I was told that she wants to avoid media and fears that associating with me would bring unwanted attention. I have been approached by the Piers Morgan Show, Travis Smiley and Cornel West Show, Restorative Justice Groups and many others who want to talk to both us so I understand her fears and concerns about the media.

I was in Madrid for the 5th World Congress Against the death penalty June and was able to talk about ^{love and compassion}^{there. I stopped in Indiana on my way back to Alaska. I had planned for years to meet her at the gates of the prison when she was released, but shortly before Paula got out she told me her mother was picking her up and her mother didn’t want me to be at the prison so I agreed not to go. I was hoping to hear from her as I visited with my children and grandchildren in Indiana the following week, but have not heard from her since.}

I just finished a 12 day tour in NE Italy for the Community of Sant Egidio and their ^{Cities For Life}^{Project. I often spoke three time a day, cumulatively to more than two thousand high school students; I spoke at prayer services, a}^{press conference}^{, a home for the elderly, at a college, etc. Here are some links from my trip to Italy.}^{http://www.oggitreviso.it/node/75440}^,^{http://cittaperlavita.blogspot.com/2013/11/treviso-e-citta-per-la-vita-e-illumina.html}^,^{http://www.oggitreviso.it/no-alla-pena-di-morte-75597}^,

My friend Delbert Tibbs ^{passed away}^{from cancer on November 23. Delbert was on the first Journey of Hope in Indiana in 1993. He was a member of}^{Witness to Innocence}^{. He will be missed.}}

^{Edward Mpagi and Ronald Katongole}^{were able to come to the Indiana Journey of Hope thanks to the WCADP. After the Indiana Journey the three of us went to visit Kathy Chism of}^{Dream One World}^{. I am a Global Advisor for Dream One World and Edward’s school is one of their projects. Edward and Ron did not go back to Uganda}^{empty handed}^.

I also had an opportunity to travel to Washington DC in November to attend the annual conference for the ^Campaign ^{for the Fair Sentencing of Youth}^{. I am also on their advisory board and it was a great highlight that closed the conference. There was a panel of 7 men that were sentenced to life without parole when they were juveniles. Each was released for one reason or another and each of them have become respectable citizens and are doing great things in their communities. It was great to hear each of them speak.}

There was a lady there I had met before by the name of ^{Mary Williams}^{. She was with a man, Israel Oshea, who as a juvenile killed her son. Mary forgave him and they travel and speak together now. Their story is very powerful. I told Mary I was jealous.}

If Paula Cooper would have been there with me, I don’t even know if I could have spoken. I think I would have cried every time I would open my mouth.

More later, Peace, Bill

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Bill Pelke

Bill Pelke, Anchorage AK -- Bill authored a book entitled Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing, which details the May 14, 1985 murder of his grandmother Ruth Elizabeth Pelke, a Bible teacher, by four teenage girls. Paula Cooper who was deemed to be the ringleader was sentenced to die in the electric chair by the state of Indiana. She was fifteen-years-old at the time of the murder. Pelke originally support the sentence of death for Cooper, but went through a spiritual transformation in 1986 after praying for love and compassion for Paula Cooper and her family. He became successfully involved in an international crusade on Paula's behalf and in 1989 her sentenced was commuted to sixty years in prison. Over 2 million people from Europe, mostly Italy, signed petitions that Paula be removed from death row. Pope John Paul II’s request for mercy, Paula was taken off of death row and her sentence commuted to sixty years. Bill, a retired steelworker, has dedicated his life to working for abolition of the death penalty. He shares his story of forgiveness and compassion and the healing power of forgiveness. Pelke has traveled to over forty states and ten countries with the Journey of Hope and has told his story thousands of timesFactsPresident and Co-founder of Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing; Chair - PresentBoard Member Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing; 1997-PresentBoard: National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty; 1996-Present Chair 2004-08 Founding Board Member of Murder Victims Families for Human Rights 2004Board Member MVFHR; 2004-PresentIncorporator of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation;1993Board Member MVFR; 1991-1998Board Member; Alaskans Against the Death Penalty Cofounder Abolitionist Action Committee; 1993 Author: Journey of Hope…from Violence to HealingLinks to Bill's JourneyThe Hard Road to Forgiveness - Yes Magazine - Mary Sue PennMoving Towards Abolition - The Witness Some murder victims' kin reject capital punishment; others endorse the sanction - Richmond Times-DispatchIn Memory of James V. Allridge III Bill Pelke's portrait at "Our friends in prison"The Optimism Club - Bill Pelke "Forgiveness vs revenge"Interview with Swiss organization "Lifespark"the greatest part of God’s love is the forgiveness that

George White

George White, ALOn February 27, 1985 in Enterprise, Alabama, George was living his little piece of the American Dream. Husband of Charlene and father of Tom and Christie, he was a successful, business-degreed executive, Sunday school teacher, little league coach and PTA president -- a yuppie in southeast Alabama. That evening everything changed.When George, vice-president of Townsend Building Supply, Inc., and his wife, Char, stopped at his store after business hours, they thought they were doing a favor for a man who urgently needed an item for an emergency home repair. Instead, they experienced firsthand the insanity and horror of murder. A masked gunman entered the building and shot the pair repeatedly during an armed robbery. George suffered gunshot wounds to his left arm, thigh and abdomen during a struggle with the gunman. Following emergency surgery, George survived. His wife was not so lucky. Char was pronounced dead at the hospital after sustaining two gunshot wounds to the head. Tom and Christie were only twelve and five at the time of their mother's death. The nightmare had only just begun.Sixteen months later George was charged with the murder of his wife. The State sought the death penalty, and, following a trial that was later characterized as a mockery and a sham, George was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Incarcerated for a total of two years, one hundred and three days, the conviction was overturned in 1989. George remained in legal limbo for nearly three more years. On April 10, 1992, the prosecution asked that the charge be forevermore dismissed when the proof of George's innocence finally surfaced. The trial court so ruled. The ordeal had lasted for more than seven years.As a survivor of a violent crime, husband of a murder victim, suspect, accused, indigent defendant, convicted murderer, and innocent man exonerated, George understands fully how easy it would be to advocate revenge. However, as a family the Whites reject the death penalty as a solution to heal the wounds of their loss. George says, "I believe that society's laws must offer relief for a victim's anger and loss, and we must be afforded protection from those who would harm us; however, one cannot stop the shedding of blood by causing more blood to be shed. No amount of killing would restore Char to my family or take away the pain of losing her. What began with a horrible act ofviolence should not be memorialized with an act of vengeance." By Abe BonowitzFactsJourney of Hope Cofounder Journey of Hope Board Member 1997-2003; 2006-Journey Ambassador MVFR Board Member 1994-1998