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The C H A P   E-Newsletter

Welcome to the February issue of the CHAP E-Newsletter. Thank you for
your kind response to this publication. If you have friends and
acquaintances who would enjoy receiving it please forward a copy to
them. They may subscribe if they are interested. If you want to see any
back issues they are listed on the CHAP web page at (www.chapboard.org).

Lobby in Harrisburg Mark April 4, 2001 on your calendar for the second
CHAP HELP (Home Educator¼s Lobbying Program) day. It will begin with a
working breakfast at 7:30 AM at the Harrisburg Hilton. We are hoping to
have several legislators address us and maybe take questions.

This could be a momentous day. If you have been following the political
scene you know that there has been talk of changing the Pennsylvania
Homeschooling Law. There is a small chance that this meeting will
include announcements about this.

The theme of the day will be to get out the message that Homeschooling
Works for Pennsylvania. A sub theme will be to present information to
the legislators about the success of parents in all states regardless of
the type of laws they work under.


Comments from the previous HELP day: „I had a great time- Thanks for the
opportunity¾ a 16 yr. old boy.

„A great family experience!¾ a family that attended.

„This was a very positive learning experience! I¼d love to do it again.¾
a homeschooling mother.

How Can We Support Our Elected Senators and Representatives?

After the last e-newsletter we had an inquiry about what we could do to
get to know the legislators better. This current issue of the
E-newsletter will try to address some ideas for this.

Prayer As believers we have access to the creator of the universe
through prayer. Thus we should be in prayer often and we should use our
access to the throne of heaven to impact all situations that concern us.
We need to be in prayer for our representatives. They have a difficult
job. Our Sunday school class has been praying for Senator Santorum for
four years now. When I met him I was able to share that fact with him.
He was clearly touched by this expression of care and concern.

It is helpful if you can meet the legislator and ask for specific prayer
requests. Focused prayer will seem more urgent and valuable than generic
prayer. It is more satisfying for us and a more powerful witness to the
representative when specific prayers are answered.

Visit Their Office

Now is a good time to make contact with your representative. He has just
gone through the election/reelection cycle and is acutely aware of how
important the support of his constituents is. Congratulate him on his
recent victory. (You can do this even if you didn¼t vote for him.) Offer
to be of service. Tell him you would like to be a resource for him on
homeschooling matters. (If you need help call CHAP. We will help.)

All representatives have at least two offices; a district office and one
at the capitol. Visiting the district office is easy because they are
located close to home. If you schedule ahead you can often arrange to
meet your representative.

For this „get acquainted¾ meeting there are some things that you should
be prepared for. Dress for the occasion. We suggest you go in church
clothes. Your representatives are used to dealing with people who dress
in business clothes.  We also suggest that you take a suitable gift. The
gift should be similar to a hostess gift, inexpensive but useful. Home
baked goods are always welcome.

It is important to make a good introduction. You should introduce each
member of the family and tell some interesting item about every member
of the family. If your children can sing and might be appropriate to do

a short song. Early on you should state your goal for the meeting. It
will help your representatives to know what you hope to accomplish.

The representatives are used to people wanting things from them. If
instead, you go to offer things to them they will see you as quite
unique. One thing that we can offer to all the representatives is to
pray for their needs and concerns. Try to get specific prayer requests
from them and commit to pray for them on a regular basis. Ask if you can
check from time to time to see if the prayers have been answered or if
the prayer request change.

You can also visit their Harrisburg office. If you live any distance
from Harrisburg, your representative probably doesn¼t get many visits
from people at home. Thus, the extra effort of coming to Harrisburg may
be rewarded with personnel attention from you representative.

Ask Them for Easy Favors In Ben Franklin¼s autobiography, he tells a
story of how he was able to mend fences with a man by asking him for a
favor. Most people like to do favors for others, so you can become a

friend by putting yourself into their debt. It is important not to be a
pest though.

Some favors you can ask for are: Pennsylvania Road Maps Notary services.
Many offices have a notary public. If yours does ask them to notarize
your affidavit. Many pamphlets and information forms are available. Such
as: Guides to government services. Guide to Consumer protection services
The Pa Legislative Process The PA State Flag Let¼s Discover Pennsylvania
coloring book Pennsylvania Symbols sheet. Fifty Birds & Mammals in
Pennsylvania 
Work on Their Campaign As you get to know the representative you may
find that you would like to help ensure their success by working on the
campaign. Most campaigns need a lot of help. Your commitment to the
cause will not go unnoticed.

Donate to Their Campaign. Not all homeschoolers can do this, but some of
you may feel led to donate to their re-election funds. This will be a

very tangible sign of your support for the legislator.






What Should You Do? The following are ways that every homeschooler can
help to get a less restrictive homeschool law:

1) PRAY! This should be #1 on all of our lists as we seek our Lord's
guidance and His will in this matter.

2) Get to know your state senator and representative NOW. Be visible
with their staff. Let them know you are a homeschooler and that you
value your personal freedoms and less government control in your life.
Always be congenial even when disagreeing with their position. Ask them
how you can pray for them or their family and request that they would
let you know when they receive an answer to prayer. One family that we
know of developed such a rapport with their representative over several
years of time that the representative now has a daughter homeschooling
his grandchildren.

3) Sign up for the second lobby day!



Staff Editor		Bruce K. Eagleson Publisher	Doug Rothgaber



Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania PO Box 115 Mount Joy,
PA 17552-0115 717-661-2428 www.chapboard.org
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