ELCA Blogs

Ryan P. Cumming

Exploring: Relief

In this series of posts, we will take a closer look at some of the areas of work ELCA World Hunger supports domestically and internationally. This week, our focus is on “relief.”

What Is Relief?

Relief is any response to immediate needs. When someone comes to the door hungry, they are fed. When someone is hurt, they are treated. Relief might not look toward long-term solutions, but it is the most immediate response we can offer when we encounter someone in need. Occasionally, relief can also be the best response to the needs of people who might never be able to reliably meet their own needs. For example, someone who is unable to work due to a very serious injury might never be able to earn enough income to feed themselves. Relief ministries can step in and fill this gap.

It is very important, though, to remember that RELIEF IS NOT THE SAME AS RESCUE. Whether someone volunteers at a food pantry, receives a hot meal at a church, or packs backpacks of food for children on the weekend, relief should always be thought of first and foremost as work we do together – whether we are receiving food or providing it. Relief done well creates a table at which ALL can be fed.

As Lutherans, we recognize that hunger takes many forms – physical hunger for food, emotional hunger for support or intimacy, spiritual hunger for fulfillment and so on. Relief ministries aren’t simply a way for struggling families to be fed with food; they are opportunities for those serving to be fed spiritually, socially and emotionally, by being invited to share in the meaningful relationships that can be created when God draws together people who might otherwise not encounter one another at work, school, or home. Seeing our mutual need as both recipients and providers can be an important first step in helping our ministry be guided by the dignity of the people involved on every side.

Roots of Relief

One of the clearest places we see relief in our scripture and tradition is in the miracle stories of the Bible. In the Old Testament, we hear of God providing manna to the wandering Hebrews. After they left Egypt, the people roamed through the wilderness, seeking the land God had promised them. This story gives us some helpful tips for what relief ought to look like.

First, God isn’t just an outside “hero” who rescues Israel. Rather, God is walking with them, accompanying them as they make their way to Canaan. Because God is traveling with them, God knows their need, and God provides.

Second, God’s relief is given during a time when the Hebrews simply could not support themselves. Without land, these agriculturalists would have been hard-pressed to provide for their families. God’s relief is given in response to the expressed needs of the people and with an eye toward their future well-being and livelihood. The goal isn’t to provide just enough of one kind of relief (manna) so that the Hebrews remain dependent. Nor is it given to assert God’s worth over and above the worth of each human being. It is given in love and hope, to support the Hebrews on the journey to a new life that they will build in cooperation with God.

Third, the Hebrews aren’t just passive recipients; they are part of a relationship with God and important actors in the progress of God’s plan for Israel. There is no covenant without God, and there is no covenant without people.

Finally, and this seems almost to go without saying, Moses isn’t God. No human leader, no human participant in the community is so elevated that they become replacements or substitutes for God. God’s way of relating gives all of us an ideal picture of what relationships can look like, but there is a big difference between helping our community meet its needs and being the Creator and Sustainer of all existence. In the wilderness, God uses the people’s gifts – Moses’ gift of leadership, Miriam’s gift of music, Jethro’s gift of counsel. Each gift counts, each person matters. There is a measure of equality among the members of the community; once they are confronted by the majestic powers of God, any minor distinctions between individual humans pale in comparison.

In the New Testament, Jesus provides excellent examples of relief in the stories of healing. On the surface, this relief seems pretty straightforward. Someone has a disease or disability; he or she asks Jesus for help; Jesus provides immediate help. End of story, right? Not quite.

As biblical scholars have pointed out, to have a disease like leprosy or a disability like blindness in Jesus’ time meant something very different than it does today. To have leprosy was to be an outcast, someone who could never be “clean” enough to dine with others or to go to synagogue. To have a permanent disability like blindness was thought to be a sign that a person was cursed by God for some failing. Jesus, by healing people around him – indeed, even by touching them – was turning both of these notions on their heads. People with disabilities weren’t cursed by God; they were loved by God – so much so, in fact, that Jesus is willing to break the law by healing on the Sabbath (Mark 3:16; Luke 13:10-17.)

Jesus wasn’t just healing people; he was subverting social mores that tossed justice and compassion out the window. Relief ministries of today, when done faithfully, are important witnesses against a society that believes people’s suffering is ordained by God or that people who have real needs will somehow “taint” the community. (If you don’t believe this happens today, I would invite you to read this fine article on recent laws passed to keep homeless people out of public spaces.)

Everyone Jesus meets is in need of healing, not just those who different physical abilities or illnesses. Providing immediate relief to people who hunger for food, for companionship, for fulfillment – when done in love, in solidarity, and with an eye toward future well-being – can be a powerful testimony to the worth and dignity of every human being, including those who have been invited to serve. And often, such a ministry can create a cycle, with clients of a ministry often using their talents and skills as volunteers or employees.

Examples of Relief

Relief ministries are some of the most vital ministries ELCA World Hunger supports. Here are some examples:

Peace Lutheran Fellowship in Port Ludlow, Washington, provides an average of 20 backpacks of food to children who are food insecure in their community. By working closely with the local school, they can identify children who might not have enough to eat during the weekends, when they are not receiving food at school.

Churches United of the Quad Cities Area is an ecumenical group of Iowa churches that maintains a network of 24 food pantries and 3 hot-meal sites. Together, they are committed to serving all who are hungry, without discrimination. Almost half of the people who receive free suppers at their hot meal sites are under 18, and all are food-insecure. By working together and with support in part from ELCA World Hunger, they are able to serve meals to over 29,000 people each year.

Lutheran World Federation’s Kakuma Refugee Camp Assistance Program helps provide humanitarian assistance and protection for people fleeing violence and persecution in other parts of Africa, especially Sudan most recently. When refugees arrive at the camp in Kenya, they are given food rations and referred to other agencies for psychosocial needs. This year, LWF expects to assist 13,000 new refugees, including many asylum seekers, at the camp. LWF supports these new asylum seekers and helps them get connected with other agencies like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Each of the refugees will be given immediate assistance until long-term solutions can be found for their protection and well-being. In addition, the project helps improve educational opportunities for children, including providing accommodations for children with disabilities and has a program specifically for unaccompanied minors.

Chris Heavner, Clemson, SC

Warm-up Question

Why is eating such an important part of most gatherings?
Do You Have Anything to Eat?

“Do you have anything to eat?” My wife wasn’t raised in the South. Her cultural sensibilities would never allow her to ask for something to eat. I grew up in the South where when someone asked if you wanted anything, you were free to ask. What you were not free to do (in the rural South of my childhood) was to refuse food when it was offered to you. Eating was not only something you did to satisfy hunger; you ate as a way of showing respect and mutuality.

The weekly, ceremonial gathering of Christians is a meal. Jesus instituted this new custom while participating in a very old ritualized meal with his disciples. It is the Christmas dinner or the Thanksgiving lunch that show up in all the “ain’t it good to be home” artworks.

Sharing a meal; sharing food; eating – something happens here that far transcends our ability to understand or to explain. Something just feels right about it. Something about it speaks louder than any words or with greater clarity than any explanation. It speaks to our unspoken selves. It communicates to those parts of us which are accessible only by way of emotion and conviction.

Discussion Questions

Recall a time when sharing a meal allowed you to learn something about your host (or your guest) that you would have never thought to ask in general conversation.
Allow yourself to chuckle at a “dinner mishap”, something like the time my brother-in-law drank from the bowls of water set on the table for folks to rinse their fingers.

Third Sunday of Easter

Acts 3:12-19

1 John 3:1-7

Luke 24:36b-48

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Of course they had something to eat. There was almost always something there to eat. Only eight verses earlier they were prepared to share a meal with the resurrected Jesus when he suddenly disappeared (Luke 24:31b). Why did they not think to offer him something? Why was he left to ask?

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The text suggests it may have been a result of their being “startled and terrified.” When Jesus came and stood among them, they weren’t completely sure it was him. Luke’s narrative suggests they “thought they were seeing a ghost.” Before they can reclaim their wits (and their manners) they need to receive the promise Jesus spoke as he appeared among them – “Peace be with you.”

Jesus encourages them to not be frightened. He asks them to look at his hands and his feet. “Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” (Side note: this is the ONLY biblical passage that speaks of the “flesh and bones” of the risen Lord.) Jesus is no “ghost.” “Ghost,” in the ears of his contemporaries, implied the immortal soul of all the departed as they awaited whatever fate awaited them next. “Touch me and see (touch me and see with the eyes of faith?) that I am not merely a reinforcement of what others have tried to pass as the Truth.” In the resurrected Jesus we encounter something other than merely the desires and longings of those who consider one life-time as insufficient. “Touch me and see that the promises of God and the assurances of God are as real as the flesh and bone of my own body.”

It is after this encounter that Jesus asks for something to eat. Some have suggested he asks in order to show that he is not a “ghost.” The text tells us the disciples were “disbelieving and still wondering.” One writer suggested their disbelief is the enormity of what they have come to realize has happened. They are not wondering whether Jesus is resurrected, they are disbelieving that they would be front and center of this astounding occurrence. If we can begin to think such, then Jesus asking for something to eat might be seen as an acknowledgement of the need for the disciples to be active. What if Jesus is asking for something to eat, not in order to prove he is flesh and bone, but because he is hungry? What if he wants them to realize that seeing him and believing in him means following him and that means feeding the hungry? Earlier (in Matthew’s account,) Jesus had celebrated the sheep’s feeding the hungry. Later (in John’s account) he will instruct them to “feed my lambs.”

The Resurrected Jesus is not some disembodied ghost. He is not some celestial being. He remains the God who set aside the heavens in order to make his home among us. The Resurrected Jesus, no less than the Rabbi Jesus “opens our minds to understand the scriptures.” The forgiveness extended to us makes it possible for us to set aside concerns for ourselves and act on behalf of the other.

“Do you have anything to eat?” “Sure I do. I can offer you a bologna sandwich, a few scrambled eggs. Some boiled fish. And to feed the hunger that resides deep inside you I can offer you a morsel of bread and a sip of wine – both of which come with the assurance that she who receives it receives the peace which sets aside all reasons to be startled and terrified.”

“Come and eat. And when you are finished, maybe you will help me. You see, I have been given so much that I am sure it is enough to share with all the nations. And we will share it, together. And bear witness to the abundance that others will be bewildered to consider.”

Discussion Questions

What is the difference between an immortal soul (the belief of the Greeks) and a resurrected life (the teaching of the Christian Church)?
Might the culture’s fascination with “ghosts” and “ghost stories” prove to be a hindrance to understanding God’s actions on Easter morning?
The disciples need to be assured and calmed; but they were also being called into action. How do we balance these two objectives in our ministries?

Activity Suggestions

Give to each member of your group, Sunday School class, or member of your family an ample supply of your favorite on-the-go food. I am partial to those nut and salty granola bars; they come in a box of twelve. Instruct those to whom you give a box that they are to look for opportunities to give these away, one at a time, preferably to someone they don’t know. As they offer a snack, all they need to say is, “I was given these, and it is more than I need. Can I share one with you?” Try not to say anything more – if you can. It really is best if you don’t. If you must, you could share that at Easter you were reminded off all that you had received, and that in this Easter season you were encouraged to experience that abundance by having so many snack bars that you had to find opportunities to give them away.

Closing Prayer

Precious Lord, take my hand, assure me of your peace. Precious Lord, open your hand, allow me to see the wounds you suffered. Precious Lord, use my hands, to share that which has been given me. Together, let all God’s children say – Amen.

Peace Not Walls

The international community must urgently change its approach to Gaza and deliver on promises of reconstruction, The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) together with 45 other agencies said today in a new report on the lack of progress since last year’s conflict.

“Six months since donors pledged $3.5 billion towards Gaza’s recovery, many people are worse off and not a single one of the 19,000 destroyed homes has been rebuilt. 100,000 people are still homeless and many are living in makeshift camps or schools,” the report says.

The report, “Charting a New Course: Overcoming the stalemate in Gaza,” warns that further conflict is inevitable—and with it the cycle of destruction and donor-funded reconstruction—unless world leaders implement a new approach that addresses the underlying causes of the conflict. Donors must insist on a permanent ceasefire, accountability of all parties for ongoing violations of international law, and an end to the Israeli blockade that seals in 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza and keeps them separated from the West Bank. Rather than challenging the blockade, the report found that most donors are accepting ways to work around it.

Text above from LWF news release. Click here for full text.

Further details, including a copy of the report, can be found here.

Click here for the December 2014 letter signed by the ELCA about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Erin Haugen, Legislative Intern

I grew up in a quiet, safe, suburban neighborhood in Minnesota. I was fortunate enough to live in a place where crime and exploitation seemed like things that happened far away, to other people. To paint you a picture, some of the most common ‘crimes’ that were committed in my community were bored high-school kids throwing toilet paper on their friends’ front lawns or loitering in the McDonald’s parking lot past the city-mandated curfew. Needless to say, incarceration and exploitation were things that I rarely thought about, because I was privileged enough to not have to do so.

Part of understanding privilege is recognizing that while some, like me, have the ability to go through their day-to-day routines without worrying about the realities of incarceration or exploitation, others can’t go a day without being affected by them in some way. The NAACP reports that 1 out of every 31 adults in the United States are under some form of correctional control– whether it be prison, jail, or probation.

At a criminal justice reform briefing in January, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) noted that 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated people are in the United States, while we make up only 5 percent of the world’s population. He commented that it is a “great global shame” that this is the case. But incarceration (imprisonment) and exploitation (treating someone poorly in order to reap benefits) aren’t only present here in the United States. The Department of State estimates that there areover 20 million victims of human trafficking across the world, and factors like international trade agreements, environmental degradation, predatory behaviors toward the poor, and labor violence also contribute to exploitation around the world.

At the same briefing that Senator Booker spoke at, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called for Christians to take a stance on criminal justice reform, declaring, “if you believe that every person is endowed by their creator, that endowment doesn’t stop at sentencing.” This faithful conviction is echoed in the ELCA’s social statement “The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries.” As Lutherans, we recognize that we have yet to respond adequately to the cries of our brothers and sisters facing the criminal justice system.

On Friday, April 17 hundreds of Christians will arrive in Washington, DC to take part in discussion and advocacy surrounding mass incarceration and exploitation during Ecumenical Advocacy Days. Participating in events like EAD provide the Christian community an opportunity to confess this failure together as well as a broader opportunity to hear from those who have been impacted by the system, to learn about the ways that society continues to oppress incarcerated and exploited individuals, and to work together to address these challenges.

While I may have grown up without the worry of crime or exploitation affecting my life, the reality is that too many of my brothers and sisters in Christ experience the exact opposite. I am excited to engage with the Christian community next weekend for worship, education, and advocacy. I am excited for the chance to examine the ways that my upbringing affected my interactions with the justice system. I am excited to learn about ways to create positive changes in the lives of incarcerated and exploited persons. Above all, I am excited to be part of an active Christian community living out God’s call to care for all who cry out.

Will you be at EAD? Reach out to me on Twitter: @erinmhaugen or tweet @elcaadvocacy with your pictures and reflections!

ELCA Advocacy

Lutherans are taking action across the country! Below you will find our monthy State Advocacy Newsletter. Share with your friends!

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Washington, D.C.

Advocacy Director, Stacy Martin

www.elca.org/advocacy

Congressional budget resolution: This year, the U.S. Congress is working to pass a full budget

– an achievement that has not been accomplished for more than five years. As each chamber of Congress looks to combine their budget resolutions this month, ELCA Advocacy will be pursuing ways to enact faithful budget priorities to promote: holistic values that help raise families out of poverty, policies that protect our humanitarian efforts at our borders and abroad, and efforts to strengthen our national commitment to protecting God’s creation. Please join us in this effort as we hold our elected officials accountable. Visit our Action Center today!

U.S. releases climate change pledge: ELCA Advocacy applauds the recent announcement of the United States’ pledge to set new goals addressing the issue of climate change. This pledge includes a commitment to protecting public health by reducing pollution and promoting investment in abundant clean energy sources. The U.S. pledge is an important step toward the upcoming international agreement in Paris that will include similar commitments to addressing climate change. Sign our interfaith climate petition calling on the U.S. government to fulfill its commitment to addressing climate change at the upcoming United Nations climate negotiations.

Children’s Health Insurance Program: Last month, the ELCA Advocacy Network took action to help renew health care access for low-income children through the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Concerns for the program were flagged after its funding was threatened in ongoing budget resolution negotiations. After receiving waves of messages and calls from Lutheran advocates and members of the faith community, the funding successfully passed in the U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming bipartisan margin (392-37).

Vulnerable Immigrant Voice Act: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., reintroduced the Vulnerable Immigrant Voice Act in Congress, which would appoint needed legal counsel in immigration courts for unaccompanied children and people with developmental issues. Lack of access to counsel has resulted in children, asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants having to represent themselves in court. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, an ELCA partner, has strongly supported the legislation since it was first introduced last summer. As a church that recognizes the dignity of all God’s children, the ELCA supports the bill and its efforts to give vulnerable migrants the right to tell their stories in front of a judge.

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New York, NY

Advocacy Director, Dennis Frado

U.N. Commission on the Status of Women: Last month, the 59^th session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women took place in New York March 9-20 with a focus on achievements and remaining challenges since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action in 1995. LOWC hosted 30 Lutheran delegates (six international Lutheran World Federation and 24 ELCA members) and organized or collaborated in events including:

•”Faith, Justice, & Culture” meet-up, led by ELCA Young Adults;

•”Silent No More: How Can Faith Communities Address Sexism and Gender Based Violence,” led by the ELCA Young Adult cohort;

•”Three Lives of Women 20 years after Beijing,” in collaboration with the World Council of Churches with reflections from Lutheran women from Palestine, Kenya and the United States;

•”Local People, Global Impact: The role of community-based organizations in the fight against the Ebola virus” (in West Africa), in collaboration with Nobel Peace laureate Leymah Gbowee’s foundation, with testimonies of the impact of the Ebola virus on communities – especially in Liberia – and what local women are doing about it; and

•Stocktaking event: “The role of faith in realizing the promise of Beijing” (toward gender equality) in collaboration with the ACT Alliance and the World Council of Churches.

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California

Mark Carlson, Lutheran Office of Public Policy- CA 

www.loppca.org

The Policy Council of the Lutheran Office of Public Policy – California met at the Southwest California Synod Office in Glendale with excellent attendance. Discussed was priority legislation related to child poverty (the bill repealing the CalWORKS/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families “Maximum Family Grant” limit for new babies passed its first committee) and care for creation (a new climate change law expanding the renewable energy portfolio, reducing fossil energy in transportation, and improving building energy efficiency faces its first committee April 7). There was moral deliberation on proposed assisted-dying legislation and alarm over the latest bizarre manifestation of direct democracy: initiative language submitted, but unlikely to qualify, that calls for shooting sodomites – recalling for some the murder of a gay couple in Redding in 1999, after which the killer asserted in a TV news interview that “It is not a crime to shoot a sodomite.”

Early childhood policy: The annual “Watercooler Conference” included an award presented to ELCA member Carol Larson, CEO of the Packard Foundation. Nobel economics laureate James Heckman of the University of Chicago stressed that compassion and economic efficiency converge in investments in early childhood.

Upcoming:

• Participation in a showing of ELCA World Hunger-supported “Thirsty for Justice,” on the human right to water, to San Francisco Friends School 8th graders visiting CalEPA

• Helping with the pre-Detroit Sierra Pacific Synod youth gathering (with Ryan Cumming of ELCA World Hunger)

• Organizing events for the Rev. Joe and Joyce Ellwanger, civil rights/justice leaders (“Strength for the Struggle”) in Northern California, including Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary

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Colorado

Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – Colorado

www.lam-co.org

Minimum wage: The Colorado General Assembly recently considered legislation to raise the state minimum wage from the current $8.23/hour. House Concurrent Resolution 1001 would have put a measure before Colorado voters in 2016 to approve an incremental increase up to $12.50/hour by 2020. The resolution failed to achieve the required two-thirds yes vote, but citizen petitioners have vowed to gather signatures to put the measure on the 2016 ballot anyway.

Other legislation: Director Peter Severson recently testified at a hearing in support of House Bill 1258, which would establish a family and medical leave insurance program in Colorado. Currently, only 12 percent of Colorado workers have access to paid leave to care for new babies, seriously ill family members, or themselves. Lutheran Advocacy Ministry–Colorado continues to support other bills related to child-support payment benefits for low-income families, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and increasing the cap on appropriations for school lunches.

In the news: Labor activists held a press conference on the Capitol steps in support of raising the Colorado minimum wage (see photo). A House committee also recently killed a broadly-worded “religious freedom” bill similar to the one in Indiana after a press conference in which many political, business and religious leaders spoke out against it, including the Rev. Brian Rossbert, interim associate pastor at House for All Sinners and Saints Lutheran Church.

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Illinois

Jennifer DeLeon, Lutheran Advocacy – Illinois www.lutheranadvocacy.org

Budgeting: The proposed Illinois budget for fiscal year 2016 includes drastic cuts to human services programs that would affect people at-risk, including those served by our partner member Lutheran Social Services of Illinois.

Last year Lutheran Social Services of Illinois served more than 73,000 people through 190 programs at 85 sites across Illinois. The demographics of the clients served generally reflect those of Illinois’ population, with one important exception – more than 80 percent of clients report an annual household income under $15,000, compared to just 12 percent of all Illinois households. The organization provides critical programs for the state’s most vulnerable residents, including foster care, adoption, mental health services, alcohol and drug treatment, affordable senior housing, residential programs for people with developmental disabilities, and programs that help formerly incarcerated individuals integrate back into society.

Lutheran Day 2015: On April 14 join Lutherans from across the state in Springfield to study, pray and take action for greater justice and compassion in Illinois.

For details and registration, visit www.LutheranDay.org.

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New Jersey

Sara Lilja, New Jersey Synod

logm@njsynod.org

State budget: Here in New Jersey, we are working on the proposed 2016 state budget. We are in a fiscal crisis. There is little money to support programs that assist the poor and other vulnerable populations. New Jersey has awarded more than $4 billion in tax subsidies and credits to businesses over the past six years in an attempt to spur economic activity and boost the state’s recovery from the Great Recession. The unprecedented growth in subsidies, however, has so far done little to significantly improve the state’s economy. New Jersey’s economic recovery remains far behind our neighboring states. Just 40 percent of the jobs New Jersey lost in the recession have been recovered; the state has the highest share of workers who have been unemployed for more than six months, and the state continues to lead the nation in the percentage of homeowners (1 in 12) who are in foreclosure. All this is shocking when you understand that New Jersey is also the fourth most affluent state in the nation!

We at LOGM are asking that policymakers take concrete actions to slow the subsidy surge and bring more transparency and accountability to the use of these tax breaks by placing meaningful caps on spending, requiring more information from companies receiving subsidies, including an automatic sunset provision, eliminating subsidies for existing jobs, and developing more stringent standards for these awards.

Care for communities: We are urging the state to include in the 2016 budget the following assistance for families in economic distress: restoring the Earned Income Tax Credit, expanding preschool, and expanding health care coverage. It comes as no surprise that food insecurity is also on the rise! We are supporting the expansion of the Breakfast After the Bell program, expanding state funding for SNAP, and increasing the staffing levels at county welfare agencies to deliver assistance in a timely manner to all those who are in need.

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New Mexico

Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – New Mexico

www.lutheranadvocacynm.org

2015 legislative session: The regular session of the New Mexico Legislature came to an end at noon on March 21. This was a difficult 60 days with the Senate controlled by one party and the House by the other. LAM-NM worked on behalf of legislation that reflected our focus on issues that can affect the lives of the many people living in poverty and hunger in our state.

We worked in coalitions to successfully stop the passage of several major initiatives, including so-called “right to work” legislation and the elimination of drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants. We also worked with the Fair Lending Coalition to block passage of harmful predatory lending bills, while also proposing a 36 percent cap on storefront loans.

LAM-NM worked on a successful effort to increase the TANF monthly cash assistance amount by 5 percent and to add an additional clothing allowance for TANF children. We helped to secure funding for the SNAP Double Up program, which doubles the amount of SNAP benefits families can use at local farmers’ markets. A bill requiring that eligible inmates be covered under the Medicaid program immediately upon release from incarceration passed both houses of the Legislature and heads to the governor’s desk for consideration.

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Ohio

Nick Bates, The Faith Coalition for the Common Good nick@oneohionow.org

Ohio budget: The Ohio Legislature continues to focus its time on Ohio’s two–year budget (HB 64). This budget accepts a new normal of higher poverty and fewer resources. The biggest component of the budget is another tax shift increasing taxes on many while cutting the income tax to benefit the wealthiest Ohioans.

The Faith Coalition for the Common Good is an ecumenical coalition formed to advocate through the budget process for increased state funding for food security and affordable housing (and other services to help low-income Ohioans), and expanded resources for education. All of these things are possible if Ohio foregoes the proposed $5.6 billion in tax cuts.

The coalition organized a panel on March 18 in front of the Finance Health and Human Services Sub-Committee. The Rev. Gregory Kenderick (United Methodist Church) facilitated the panel of individuals who have experienced poverty. About 60 people from the faith community showed up to support this panel’s testimony. The testimony focused on the importance of public investments that help people transition out of poverty. The Ohio House Finance Committee is currently receiving amendments to the budget. We also submitted testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee opposing the proposed income tax cut.

The budget bill will move to the Senate in late April and to the governor’s desk by June 30.

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Pennsylvania

Amy Reumann, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania

Tracey DePasquale, Associate Director

www.lutheranadvocacypa.org

Education: Tracey testified and brought presenters before the Basic Education Funding Commission to bring the discussion of trauma (poverty, homelessness, violence) as a possible weighting factor in funding. Watch the hearing. We also continue to meet with lawmakers regarding a basic education funding formula proposed by the Campaign for Fair Education Funding. Analysis of recent federal data shows Pennsylvania is the most inequitable state in funding public schools.

Immigration: Tracey led an advocacy workshop for Dreamers at the first statewide Immigrant and Refugee Rights Convening. As an outcome, LAMPa’s Immigration Leadership Circle is assisting Dreamers in organizing a statewide caravan to tell their stories. In other immigration-related work, we applied to LIRS and the York County Prison Board for funding for the immigration detainee visitation program Walking Together/Caminandos Juntos.

Hunger: Amy met with John Hanger, secretary of Planning and Policy, to present recommendations developed by the statewide food security coalition.

Environment: LAMPa’s Creation Care Leadership Team held a conference call on water issues with Jennifer Quinn, outreach coordinator for PennFuture. Outcomes include agreement to work statewide on storm water issues and to facilitate education and action on water issues with youth connected to the ELCA Youth Gathering and Walk for Water.

Youth: Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod youth leaders invited LAMPa to discuss advocacy issues involving youth and how they might engage in service-related advocacy after returning from Detroit. We continue to work on final details for Lutheran Day at the Capitol, this year part of Gettysburg Seminary’s Spring Academy.

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Virginia

Marco Grimaldo, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org

Hunger: Since the conclusion of the Virginia General Assembly session, advocates have begun to regroup and focus more of our attention on government commissions and agencies. On March 25, Bishop Jim Mauney convened the Virginia Synod’s Child Hunger Task Group with the aim of coordinating the work of Lutheran churches and their partners in the community to feed more hungry kids and their families. Together we reviewed which schools participate in backpack programs, which churches and communities need more summer meals locations, and what schools should do to expand school breakfast and breakfast in the classroom. We also invited the governor’s staff to help us coordinate with state agencies. What we learn through task group efforts will also inform our advocacy efforts.

Payday Lending: We also worked to organize public testimony for the Richmond public hearing on payday lending held by the federal Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. The event included hundreds of people from all parts of Virginia and a strong representation of the faith community at the hearing. We also helped moderate the roundtable community conversation with the bureau’s administrator, Richard Cordray.

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Washington

Paul Benz, Faith Action Network

www.fanwa.org

Only Three weeks left to go – so it’s budget time here! Of course, there are bills that are still alive and going through the legislative process, such as reforming our LFO (legal financial obligations) system, an anti-human trafficking bill, and a transportation bill providing more apprenticeships for communities of color and women. Both the House and Senate have approved their budgets, and these will now go to the budget leadership teams for negotiations to form a final budget to be sent to the governor – hopefully by the last day of session, April 26 – but we may need to go in to a special session during May. The House budget has new revenue in it, but the Senate budget does not – that is the main difference in terms of what gets funded and what doesn’t.

Washington budget: The budget programs that FAN is working on include:

• Emergency Food Assistance (food banks)

• State Food Assistance (additional assistance targeted to our Pacific Islander community who were brought here in the 1950s due to U.S. nuclear testing on their islands)

• WIC/Farmers Market Nutrition Program (supports local growers and low-income households)

• Breakfast After the Bell (expands time and location offerings for serving breakfast at public schools)

• Housing & Essential Needs/Aged, Blind, & Disabled (monthly cash assistance for the most vulnerable and those waiting for their SSI application to be processed)

• Pesticide Drift Proviso to assess needs for a neighborhood notification system

• Post-secondary education for inmates

Our primary budget issue is keeping revenue in the final budget – that is the BIG budget battle. FAN is doing its part by collecting signatures on a petition that will be delivered to budget leadership before the session ends.

Faith-based organizing: FAN is preparing for our four regional summits (Spokane May 17, Vancouver May 31, Seattle June 7, and Yakima June 14), where we gather by political districts for conversation on the key issues for our communities. We continue to grow our statewide network of advocating faith communities in terms of number (now at 97) and in terms of depth of relationships by keeping our liaisons engaged.

Spring denominational assemblies (FAN will be present with a staff person and display):

• ELCA in Pasco and Everett (April and May)

• United Church of Christ in Spokane (April)

• United Methodist Church (Pasco in June)

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Wisconsin

Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin

www.loppw.org

Joint Finance Committee public hearing: LOPPW’s director gave a statement about the governor’s proposed budget. Read the statement by clicking here.

Advocacy Day on April 29: LOPPW is part of the People of Faith United for Justice to organize a biennial advocacy day. Our focus will include threats to our safety net programs and legislation related to voter IDs. The LOPPW director is working with three additional groups to address specific safety net concerns.

Safe harbor: LOPPW and Cherish All Children held a rally to WI2

support legislation to help young victims of sex trafficking. The director attended a round table at the Department of Children and Family Services and another at the Department of Justice. She also met with the director of Wisconsin Women’s Council to discuss possible partnerships. June Kjome (see photo at right), age 94, traveled from La Crosse to speak at the rally. When seeking justice “it’s good to be the headlights instead of the tail lights,” she said.

Megan Brandsrud

The Romani, or Roma, population has an extensive history in Europe, dating back to the 13^th century. Today, with more than 10 million people, the Roma population is recognized as one of the European Union’s largest minority groups. Roma people often face discrimination and poverty, and Roma settlements typically lack important infrastructures such as healthcare, education and transportation.

Today, April 8, is International Roma Day. It is a day to celebrate the rich culture of the Roma people, to raise awareness about the difficulties facing Roma people and to fight for justice.

Lutheran Disaster Response, in partnership with Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization (EHO), has been working hand-in-hand with Roma people since May 2014, when a cyclone hit Serbia and many Roma villages were severely affected by landslides and flooding. We initially helped provide immediate relief resources, and we are now working in the communities on home rehabilitation and livelihood development.

While several Roma settlements were impacted by the cyclone in 2014 in Serbia, Roma people are often marginalized and live in areas that are difficult to travel around, so they received little assistance. Lutheran Disaster Response is committed to working with people who are most vulnerable to disasters, and we are pleased to be working with Roma people in Serbia to rebuild villages and increase capacity and resiliency.

In honor of International Roma Day, here is a story from EHO of a family we have worked with following the 2014 cyclone and flooding in Serbia.

Husband and wife S.J. (60) and N.J. (59), both disabled, lived in an apartment without electricity for 10 years. After that, they were given accommodation in shelters composed of a single room and bathroom, but they now had electricity and so were happy with the move. The shelters were in the village of Veliki Crljeni, 12km from the town of Lazarevac, and functioned as accommodation for socially vulnerable families, provided by the town authorities and the Kolubara power company.

That May morning, when the waters began to advance, N.J. was woken by neighbours. Her husband S.J. is hard of hearing and she needs crutches to get around, so they barely had time to take a bag with their documents and medicines and get out. The water was already coming into the apartment. They managed to get out with the neighbours at the last minute and flee to a nearby hill in the direction of the school, where they were accommodated temporarily.

roma family

Pictured: S.J. and N.J. stand in front of their temporary shelter where they now live after flooding in May 2014 damaged their home.

After a couple of days, the police and fire service transferred them to the sports centre, and they lived in a sports hall for almost six months. Now they are in temporary accommodation again, in different shelters, awaiting a more permanent solution.

With Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization, we provided the family a stove so that they could cook and have means to warm their home while they stay in the temporary shelter. The cyclone and flooding in Serbia occurred almost one year ago, but there is still a lot of recovery and rebuilding that is needed. We will continue to work alongside the Roma population as they navigate this process.

We ask that you hold the Roma people in your prayers today and every day – pray that their culture is shared through stories and actions of reconciliation and justice.

Anne Williams, Ankeny, IA

Warm-up Questions

In a world with Instagram, selfie sticks and duck lips, how often do you take selfies? How often do you like someone else’s selfie?
Have you ever thought about why you take a selfie and post it on social media? Are there times when you should or should not post a selfie?

Do You Need to See it to Believe it?

At the end of March both Coachella and Lollapalooza announced that they were banning selfie sticks as reported by NME, the music news site. Both Coachella and Lollapalooza are big-deal music festivals. Coachella happens in California in April. Lollapalooza takes place in Chicago at the end of July into August.

shutterstock_238002061edit

These two events are just the latest in a growing list of places and events that ban selfie sticks (or as the Coachella website says: “selfie sticks/narcissists”). Buzzfeed reports that the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, the Coliseum in Rome, and the Palace of Versailles in France have all banned visitors from using selfie sticks (also called monopods, camera extension poles, narcisticks, and a number of other names). In England a number of music venues have also banned the use of selfie sticks.

While organizers acknowledge that taking pictures is a part of the live music experience, they want to discourage anything that would block others views, according to the NME article. The Coachella website lists selfie sticks as one the things which are not allowed, lumping them with fireworks, knives, chains, drones, laser pointers, Hula Hoops, and explosives.

People want to take pictures of the things they are doing. They want to share those pictures with their friends and followers on social media. Selfie sticks produce great pictures. On the flip side, you’ve got about three feet of possible hazard and traffic jam that makes getting around selfie-takers a pain.

Discussion Questions

Iis using a selfie stick a sign of a big ego – narcissism, or is it a way to get a great pic?
Do the pictures posted on social media tell us more about what our friends are doing than text posts?
Do you need to see it to believe it?

Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:32-35

1 John 1:1-2:2

John 20:19-31

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

The week after Easter, we meet Thomas, who didn’t witness the miraculous events of the Resurrection first hand. He got the message but told the messengers that he would have to literally touch Jesus before he believed that he had been raised from the dead. He would have to see it to believe it. Jesus calls him out for it too, asking “Have you believed because you have seen me?”

What would Thomas have said had he had the chance to respond to this question? “I wanted to believe so much, but I was just so afraid to hope!” Or “Look Jesus, you died. What was I supposed to believe?” We don’t know why Thomas didn’t believe.

We don’t know why Thomas had to see it to believe it. In some ways, it doesn’t really matter because Jesus doesn’t give Thomas a chance to respond and gives us a not-quite beatitude: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” For those of us who live as Christians two thousand years after Jesus’ life and ministry, this not-quite beatitude could be considered a great consolation. We don’t get to meet Jesus face to face, so our belief without sight should keep us close to him right? Could it be that we turn too quickly to rely on this not-quite beatitude.

Do we look hard enough to see Jesus in the people we meet? Do we search for Jesus in our world and in the troubles we encounter? Do we expect to find Jesus in new places and situations we find ourselves in? What if we were all a little more like Thomas? What if we were a little thirstier to see the face of Christ all around us, to touch Christ when we hug a friend in need or to feed Christ when we serve the hungry? Would we believe it more if we saw it more? Maybe a better question:, Would we see it more if we believed?

When it comes right down to it, if we say that Jesus is in those we serve and those we meet, like in Matthew 25, maybe being a little more like Thomas – a little more see it to believe it, would serve us well.

Discussion Questions

What would you guess Thomas was feeling in the aftermath of the terror of Good Friday and the miracle of the Resurrection?
Can you relate to Thomas? Do you need to see something to believe it or are you more willing to take someone’s word for it?
Have you ever seen the face of Jesus in the face of someone in need or someone you have served?
How can you learn to see the face of Jesus among your friends and family and the people you meet everyday?

Activity Suggestions

Prepare this one in advance: get a bunch of photos together where it’s hard to figure out what exactly is going on without a description (or if you have it, use something like Every Picture Tells a Story by Youth Specialties). Spread the photos out around your space and ask students to individually or in pairs come up with an explanation of what’s happening in each photo. Compare notes amongst the group. Ask questions like, “How did you arrive at your story or explanation for what’s happening?”
Have the group take selfies. Take a long look at them together as a group. Discuss the following questions: Can you tell where you are? Would people know you are at church? Among Christians? Why don’t selfies tell the whole story?

Closing Prayer

Loving and gracious God, you have given us eyes to see. Help us to see you in our families, in our friends, in those we serve. Help us to be models of seeing and doing and being is believing – of being able to find you at work in our world. Moving and Powerful God, help us to be those who are doing your work in the world so that others might see and come to believe, while always reminding us it’s about you and not us! In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Peace Not Walls

The Easter Message of the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem states,

“Along with all people of good will, we are deeply distressed by the level of violence still being falsely perpetrated in the name of religion in parts of the Middle East and elsewhere in recent times. Members of some of the ancient Christian communities in this region – especially in Egypt, Iraq and Syria – have been among those most directly affected, along with other minority populations. There is no true religion which advocates violation of the human person or the victimization of minority groups in society and we condemn such actions in the strongest possible terms. Those who engage in such barbaric behaviour dehumanize not only their victims, but themselves.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we urge people everywhere not to fall into despair. The very existence of this city of Jerusalem is paradoxically a sign of hope that God’s kingdom of peace, love and justice will prevail. There are indeed signs of darkness around us which make this a painful time to live through, but the darkest part of the night is often shortly before the dawn. The joyful proclamation of the Resurrection at dawn on Easter Sunday assures us that the last word lies not with violence and inhumanity but with God’s purpose of love, justice and hope which runs like a thread throughout history and will find its ultimate fulfillment in the coming fullness of his Kingdom.”

Full text of Easter Message

Peace Not Walls

In his Easter mesage from Jerusalem, Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), writes, “But at this moment, I am telling my people to hold fast to the hope of the resurrection. We must always look to the empty tomb, trusting that because Christ is risen, God will never allow any stone to crush our spirit. Because Christ is risen, God will not allow the hearts of politicians and world leaders to remain cold as stone, caring only for their own interests and power. Because Christ is risen, God will not allow these peoples to be divided forever. Because the stone was already rolled back on that resurrection morning, we hold steadfast in the hope that God is at work even now, opening the eyes of the politicians, the churches, and the world—even as God has opened the tomb.”

Full text of the Easter Message

Dennis Frado, Director, Lutheran Office for World Community

The Gospel liberates from sin, death, and evil and motivates the Church to care for neighbor and the earth.

– “The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective”

Lent always refocuses me on the fact that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us through his death on the cross and his resurrection, which overcame death. The good news of God’s salvation is the gospel. The excerpt above and the one below from the ELCA’s social statement succinctly summarize why I am grateful to have the privilege of a job that calls for engaging every day in advocacy.

The witness of this church in society flows from its identity as a community that lives from and for the Gospel. Faith is active in love; love calls for justice in the relationships and structures of society. It is in grateful response to God’s grace in Jesus Christ that this church carries out its responsibility for the well-being of society and the environment.

Many days here at the United Nations we are confronted with the failures of humanity – war, refugees, seemingly intractable disputes, and horrible violations of human rights. But the loving call to do justice does not grow weary, and we should not either.

Fortunately, we are also able to get to know the work of the peacemakers, the aid workers, the negotiators, and the rights defenders, give thanks for their work and lift them up to others as among those pursuing the better path for the common good. These folks are the ones who thankfully undercut my pessimism and reinforce my hope for a better world. Many, but not all by any stretch, are Christians.

International structures, like all that are the work of humans, are prone to sin. But we are reminded:

God institutes governing authorities, for example, to serve the good of society. This church respects the God-given integrity and tasks of governing authorities and other worldly structures, while holding them accountable to God. …

This church must participate in social structures critically, for sin also is at work in the world. Social structures and processes combine life-giving and life-destroying dynamics in complex mixtures and in varying degrees. This church, therefore, must unite realism and vision, wisdom and courage, in its social responsibility. It needs constantly to discern when to support and when to confront society’s cultural patterns, values, and powers. – “The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective”

So, why again are we about this work?

Jesus frees Christians to serve others and to walk with people who are hungry, forgotten, oppressed, and despised. The example of Jesus invites Christians to see people near and far away, people of all races, classes and cultures, friends and strangers, allies and enemies as their “neighbor.” – “The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective”

In 2013, The Lutheran World Federation, working with other religious groups, made manifest this understanding by initiating a series of affirmations from the leaders of a wide variety of faith traditions titled “Welcoming the Stranger“:,

A core value of my faith is to welcome the stranger, the refugee, the internally displaced, the other. I shall treat him or her as I would like to be treated. I will challenge others, even leaders in my faith community, to do the same.

It is this kind of effort, this kind of statement of common values crossing many boundaries, where Lutherans have and can continue to make a contribution to that goal stated in the U.N. Charter: “…to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom …” and also offer tangible signs in a myriad of ways of: “… a faith that is active in love, a love that seeks justice, and an insight that strives to discern what is right, good, and fitting…” (The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective).

Exploring: Relief

April 19, 2015 Do You Have Anything to Eat?

LWF Advocates for Gaza Reconstruction: World Not Delivering on Gaza Reconstruction Promises, New Report Warns

Learning about God’s call to care for all who cry out

ELCA Advocacy Update – April 2015

International Roma Day 2015

April 12, 2015 Do You Need to See it to Believe it?

Easter Message from the Heads of Churches of Jerusalem

Easter Message from Bishop Younan

Lenten reflection: The loving call to do justice