Blogs of the ELCA

Last Thursday a fairly momentous occasion happened in Haiti. A new project, that has involved many months of conversation, negotiation, community input and planning came together with the groundbreaking for the Gressier Model Village. This village of 200 housing units and community space will provide some of the hardest hit families of the 2010 earthquake [...]

The people of Syria are in our thoughts and prayers as the violence intensifies following lack of action by the UN Security Council.  China and Russia vetoed a Western-Arab U.N. Security Council resolution backing an Arab League plan for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside and end the government’s violence against its people.  The [...]

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will lead the new unity government of technocrats following a unity agreement by Fatah and Hamas, announced on Feb. 6.  Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reacted, saying Abbas and the Palestinians must choose between peace with Hamas or peace with Israel. Netanyahu points to the 1988 Hamas Charter, which does not recognize Israel and [...]

Contributed by Steven Alloway, Granada Hills, CA   Warm-up Question Have you ever suddenly been told you could no longer do something which you’d always been allowed to do in the past? What was your reaction? Did you continue to do it or did you stop? Filmmakers Prepare to Lose Capitol Building It’s an iconic [...]

Austin and Tanya Propst are the new ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) coordinators for Madagascar. They have just arrived in what will be their new home for the next four years. The YAGM  program is reliant on the coordinators who facilitate the young adults’ ministry and provide mentoring and spiritual guidance.  To support [...]

I have recently come to realize that an invitation can be a powerful thing. I know this is not an earth-shattering revelation, and I suppose I’ve always known it to be true, but I find myself focused on this idea these days. Let me start by saying I do not consider myself a blogger, but [...]

Doug Foster and Sue Wironen Foster are ELCA missionaries in Kumamoto, Japan, where they are ESL teachers.  To support them, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.   It does not seem possible that so much time has gone by since we moved to Japan and now we are planning the reverse move [...]

A group of ELCA leaders met with staff of the U.S. State Department Feb. 1-2 to help make nutrition a priority and support the “1,000 Day Movement” — an international initiative to promote maternal and child nutrition in the 1,000 days between pregnancy and age 2. At the meeting ELCA members, along with other religious [...]

The president has just declared two counties in Alabama (Jefferson & Chilton) federal disaster areas. This means they are now able to receive federal funds to help them respond to the effects of severe storms, tornadoes and flooding early last week. Other counties maybe included once the total assessment of damages has been carried out. [...]