“Isn’t that kind of…over?”

It is a surprisingly common reaction to my telling people what I do.

My name is Savanna Sullivan, and I am the Program Associate for the ELCA Strategy on HIV & AIDS. The Strategy on HIV & AIDS is a document the ELCA adopted in 2009 to direct the church’s engagement with communities living with and affected by HIV, and to outline our commitment to addressing HIV in the United States and the world. My work focuses on helping the ELCA live into the key commitments of the Strategy – like our commitment to theological reflection on our response to HIV and our inclusion of people living with HIV, our commitment to education and to effective prevention, treatment, and care of HIV, etc. And so, when I get a variation on that question, “Isn’t HIV over?” or comments like “It’s not as bad as it WAS,” I am frustrated, and then saddened, and then I get angry.

Because HIV isn’t over, but it could be.

What a simple thought, right? The reality is that there are STILL people being infected with HIV every day – 5,763 people every day, actually. That is 240 people an hour who are contracting a life-threatening illness. We know, too, that HIV doesn’t just affect people far away from us, in countries distant from our own. People in our own communities and congregations and fellow Lutherans in our companion churches are living with HIV.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes, “If one member (of the Body of Christ) suffers, all suffer together” (I Cor. 12:26). Friends, members of Our body are suffering unnecessarily.

Unnecessarily—because HIV is NOT what it was 30 years ago. Now, HIV is preventable.

Did you know there are prophylactic drugs available to reduce the likelihood of HIV infection during high-risk behavior (unprotected sex/drug use) to less than 30%? Or that there are medications that can prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV to less than 1%? Did you know there are drugs that can reduce an HIV positive individual’s viral load (amount of virus in their blood) to the extent that they are very unlikely to pass it to anyone else? Here are some other basic statistics about the HIV epidemic.

So why do people still get HIV?

The answer is complicated and wrapped up in problems surrounding access to education about HIV, testing availability, and access to prophylactic drugs or to HIV treatment. The answer is chained to systems of oppression that keep this information and access from marginalized populations – from communities of color, low-income communities and the LGBTQ+ community, among others. The answer is entangled with issues like availability of resources and gender inequality in developing countries around the world. So largely, the answer is colored – still – by stigma.

HIV isn’t over, in part, because we are still afraid to talk about it. And that “we” includes us, the Church.

These issues need to be tackled, and that may feel like quite the undertaking for us as the Body of Christ. So where do we start? Well, as I begin my work helping the church to implement the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS, I invite you to start by walking with me. I invite you to start by TALKING with me. It is high time we start conversations in our congregations and homes about HIV if we have not already. I invite you to pray with me for people whose lives have been affected by HIV. I invite you to repent with me for the ways the church has failed to include people living with HIV. Then, I invite you to act.

We in the churchwide office will be working hard to connect you all with resources for theological reflection in the coming months so you can check out ELCA.org/hiv for those resources, but you can also educate yourself about the HIV epidemic in the United States and around the world at CDC.gov/hiv. You can act with ELCA Advocacy to fight for healthcare for people living with HIV. You can start talking.

Because we are the Body of Christ – when one of us suffers from HIV, we all suffer together.

And because HIV and AIDS isn’t over, but it could be.

Here are some other links that you can check out:

• HIV Basics from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/index.html
• Interactive map depicting HIV and AIDS in specific states/regions: https://aidsvu.org/
• HIV Initiatives from the World Council of Churches: https://www.oikoumene.org/en/what-we-do/ehaia
• ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS: http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/ELCA_Strategy_on_HIV_and_AIDS.pdf
• Hear from leaders across the ELCA who participated in National HIV Testing Day June 27, 2017: https://www.livinglutheran.org/2017/06/working-erase-stigma-national-hiv-testing-day/

 

Savanna Sullivan is the program associate for the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS. She can be reached at Savanna.Sullivan@ELCA.org.

– Natalie Zielinski

Once you experience the Youth Gathering, you keep wanting to come back.

I was lucky enough to attend the past two Gatherings. They were both were life-changing experiences for me. The Gathering helped me find my faith at a time where I was struggling. When I went to my first Gathering in New Orleans, I was getting ready to be a freshman in high school. I spent the past year battling an illness no one could figure out, and I was being bullied for having to use crutches and a wheelchair to get around. I was depressed and felt very alone, and I needed something to help me feel like I belonged.

Everyone I knew talked about amazing experiences at a Gathering and how it had changed their lives. I just hoped maybe it would change my life, too. It ended up having a bigger impact on my life than I ever imagined. When we got there the first night, I was amazed at the sheer number of youth that were surrounding me. Just standing in the sea of youth was such a powerful experience all on its own.

After hearing people like Nadia Bolz-Weber, Shane Claiborne, Leymah Gbowee, and so many others speak throughout the week, I had an “aha moment.” I heard all of the different stories and struggles other people faced and I started to not feel so alone.

The Gathering made me realize that I wasn’t the only one who felt out of place and didn’t know where to go. I realized I was part of a bigger story.

The Gathering made me realize that God has a plan for me, even if I don’t understand or know all of the plan.

I wouldn’t be the same person I am today if I hadn’t been to a Gathering.

By Ruth Ivory-Moore

^“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”  (Galatians 3:28 NSRV)

Without justification or rationality, we have injected gender bias and inequality into our mode of operation and thinking. This rejects the created goodness and dignity God gives to every human creature and violates the reconciliation accomplished through Jesus Christ. Biases not only prevent those most qualified from working but deny and attack gifts (given by the Holy Spirit) of all on the basis of gender.

Gender inequality is especially prominent in the climate change arena.  Climate change has the greatest impact upon people who are vulnerable, marginalized and the poor. They are often the least equipped to deal with natural hazards, like extreme weather, droughts, floods, and hurricanes, which often result from climate change. For populations that depend on natural resources, like firewood for cooking, the situation can become grave. This plight describes the situation that many women face. Additionally, women often are shut out from participating in decision-making processes and labor markets which compounds inequalities.

But in 2015 the global community took significant steps to address gender disparity by adopting the Climate Action Plan (henceforth Plan) and the 2030 Agenda (henceforth Agenda). The Plan is an outgrowth of the December 2015 Paris Agreement, which embedded gender equality and empowerment of women. The Agenda was adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. Both were highlighted during the first week of the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Bonn, which took place from May 8-18.

Gender Climate Action Plan: The Climate Action Plan includes five key areas: capacity building; knowledge sharing and communication; gender balance and participation; coherence within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other UN agencies; gender-responsive implementation and means of Implementation; and monitoring and reporting. Each are critical to integrating gender into the climate discussion. (Photo right: Intergovernmental Negotiation Process at work on Gender Action Plan)     

 

(Photo left: The opening session of the Gender workshop featured encouraging words from Patricia Espinosa (Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)) shown at the far right)

Gender Equality, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the 2030 Agenda: The conference also featured a  panel presentation on the 2030 Agenda  which among other things identifies impediments to women’s participation in climate change policy development processes. The 2030 Agenda consists of 17 goals that includes zero hunger, no poverty and gender equality. To better understand gender equality the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) developed an analysis of the status of gender equality in national climate policy in light of the Paris Agreement. In implementing the Paris Agreement countries submit their plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Each country commits to reducing emissions by what is termed their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The UNDP analysis presents a framework for integrating gender equality into NDC planning and implementation.  Women, because of their responsibilities in many societies have firsthand knowledge of the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions.  Women must be included in all phases of solution development and implementation.

But as identified by the UNDP there are impediments/gaps that limit participation. The gaps include: how to implement developed policies for results; capacity development at all governmental levels; inadequate coordination on gender issues; and processes that promote participation of women.

Besides the need for gender equity, because it is the right thing to do, women are valuable in negotiations. According to the United Nations women’s participation at the political level tend to yield greater negotiated results, often increasing cooperation across party and ethnic lines and delivering more sustainable peace.

Photo right: Gender Equality in National Climate Action:  Planning for Gender-Responsive Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) panel discussion. Pictured from left to right are the panelists:  Barbara Schaefer (German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety); Stephen Gold (Head, Climate Change, UNDP); Fleur Newman (Gender Focal Point, UNFCCC); Felope Osses (Senior Climate Change Negotiator for  the Ministry of  Environment, Government of Chile); Sandee Recabar (Chief, Implementation Oversight Division, Philippines Climate Change Commission; and Stephen King’uyu (Deputy Director Mitigation, Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources of Kenya)

Women are still not equal participants in the processes to address climate change. However, it appears that internationally we are finally moving in the right direction. ELCA Advocacy is playing a role as a member of the ACT Alliance Climate Change Group.  ACT Alliance is a coalition of 144 churches and church-related organizations working together in over 100 countries. ELCA Advocacy will lead an ACT Alliance Climate Change Principles subgroup that will cover gender issues.  This subgroup is tasked with developing concise policy briefings (plus lobby points) well in advance of COP23.  It is important that we all work together to remedy gender disparity while seeking God’s guidance.

“Direct us, Lord God, in all our doings with your most gracious favor, and extend to us    your continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your holy name; and finally, by your mercy, bring us to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.”  (See Evangelical Lutheran Worship.)

 

Today’s post is from Ellen Acconcia, staff at Christ the King in Great Falls, VA.

 

Pastor Hank Langknecht, of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Great Falls Virginia, recently asked his congregation the following questions:

How does a tree praise? How does a tick praise? A raccoon? The south wind?

The questions came during his sermon delivered on June 11 at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, Virginia as the congregation worshiped in the outdoors. Not simply, “moving the indoor worship outdoors,” as Pastor Hank noted, the service focused on the group’s natural surroundings, the moving waters of Colvin Run; the listening for a bird call, the organic elements used in the preparation for the service.

 

 

Langknecht noted that worshiping along the run allowed him to reflect on the fact that the waterway is currently being remediated by a wetlands conservation engineering firm. “It was an interesting (though unspoken) background symbol for how humankind interacts with natur,” said Langknecht, “Problems arise (human generated or not) and we try to fix them … do we always make things better in the process?”

 

Pastor Hank concluded his sermon,

The fulfillment of God’s mission occurs

when all of creation gathers at the river

the crystal tide forever…

… that flows by the throne of God

… and flows out to bring life and healing

to everything …

Shall we gather at the river?

We shall!

 

 

 

The group then gathered for fellowship and a picnic lunch at the service’s conclusion.

 

 

 

Photo Information: With a focus on their natural surroundings, Christ the King Lutheran Church, Great Falls, Virginia gathered on Sunday, June 11 to worship. Images courtesy Christ the King Lutheran Church, Great Falls, 2017. www.gflutheran.org

 

 

Let’s talk about HIV.

Maybe you’re thinking “What? HIV? I thought this blog was about racial justice.” or “Isn’t that issue over now?”

But consider this: as of July 2015, African Americans made up 13.3% of the US Population.¹ Yet African Americans made up 48% of HIV infections in 2015.² Latino folks made up 17% of the US population and 24% of HIV infections. Similar statistical trends hold true for other minority communities in the US.

This, siblings in Christ, is an injustice.

It is an injustice that black and brown communities do not have equal access to education about HIV, HIV testing, or sustained healthcare. It is an injustice that black Americans are over eight times more likely to test positive for HIV than white Americans. It is an injustice that this reality means that many people in this country get to believe that “HIV is over” when it is clearly not.

Not only is HIV not over, friends, and it is threatening resurgence now more than ever before. The US government is rescinding aid to those suffering from HIV both domestically and abroad. The new budget proposed by the current administration outlines cuts to Medicaid and the CDC that would be devastating for HIV patients in the U.S. along with cuts to the Global AIDS Fund and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Initiative (the latter enacted by President W. Bush) that would leave communities around the world without HIV education or treatment.³

The risk is again growing, especially among communities of color. The U.S. government’s commitment to care for HIV-positive citizens is waning. Our church must step up.

The ELCA outlines its own call to fight the HIV epidemic in the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS, adopted by the Churchwide Assembly in 2009⁴. This Strategy acknowledges the realities of HIV in the U.S. and around the world, the church’s shortcomings in addressing these realities in the past, and our renewed commitment to walking alongside all who are affected by HIV – including disproportionately affected communities of color. The Strategy calls us to act through education, theological reflection, worship, and advocacy to ensure access to HIV resources for all.

I work as the Program Associate for this Strategy, and want to offer myself and the ELCA as a resource for you and your communities of faith as you wrestle with issues of healthcare, racial justice, and faith. Over the coming weeks and months I look forward to working with the ELCA Racial Justice program and with you all, communities across the ELCA, to tackle these issues together.

So how can you get involved?

1. Be sure to check our Facebook page for updated resources and information: https://www.facebook.com/ELCAHIVandAIDS/
2. Join us!

_{This year, our church will intentionally reflect on the call we accepted in the Strategy on HIV/AIDS on three separate days:}

• _{On June 27th, National HIV Testing Day – we encourage all ELCA members to lead by example in their communities and get tested for HIV, and to talk about HIV with their families and congregations.}
• _{On September 10th, “God’s Work, Our Hands” Sunday, we encourage ELCA congregations to spend this intentional day of service reaching out to organizations that serve People Living with HIV.}
• On December 1, World AIDS Day, we encourage all ELCA congregations to take time to learn more about the HIV epidemic in the US and around the world, and to incorporate HIV-specific language into their Sunday worship services.

3. Contact the ELCA Strategy Team with any questions, ideas, or for additional resources: sullivan@elca.org

The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:26 that “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

Our HIV-positive friends in Christ are suffering. Disproportionately they are poor or black or brown or LGBTQ+ or women. Our church will not be silent about this injustice. We will pray for healing and we will get to work to advocate with and for People Living with HIV/AIDS together.

 

Join us.

Savanna Sullivan
Program Associate, Strategy on HIV/AIDS

 

 

¹ https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/

² https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/racialethnic/africanamericans/index.html

³ http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/05/25/529873431/trumps-proposed-budget-would-cut-2-2-billion-from-global-health-spending

⁴ http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/ELCA_Strategy_on_HIV_and_AIDS.pdf

 

There is a Time for Everything, and a Season for Every Activity Under Heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Pointing Forward:

So let’s consider the 5 P’s of gardening:

Planning

Planting

Perspiring

Picking, and

Putting to bed.

We’ve planned, we’ve planted, and if we haven’t already, now is the time to Perspire!

Once you have planted your garden, there are no two ways about it—keeping a garden in good shape is hard work! But gardening can also help keep you in good shape! One way to work through the toil of hoeing and pulling weeds is to think of it as part of your daily workout. Yes, you can count working in the garden as part of your regular exercise routine! In fact, it can be part of a weight loss plan if you are so inclined. It is estimated that most people will use about 230 calories per hour while gardening. Of course, that varies from person to person and depends on how hard you are working. If you’d like to get more specific for your body weight, height and gender, the following website might be helpful: https://www.fitday.com/webfit/burned/calories_burned_Gardening_general.html.

Of course, most of us may not use gardening as a weight loss plan. Another way to approach the work of gardening is to use your time in the garden as a time of meditation. Some may choose to meditate on scripture during their gardening time. One verse you might use as a source of contemplation is Psalm 128:2 which states:

“You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours” (NIV).

The often sweaty work of maintaining gardens and fields has been part of the spiritual discipline of men and women religious in monasteries and convents for centuries. St. Benedict, for example, believed that they should rejoice in this labor, “for then are they monks in truth, if they live by the work of their hands, as did also our forefathers and the Apostles” (Rule of St. Benedict, #48). Martin Luther was no fan of monasteries, but he, too, believed that tending to fields and gardens was work that was “pleasing to God [and] instituted by God” (Luther, Lectures on Genesis.) For both monastics and Luther, digging, planting, and harvesting provided an opportunity to reflect on God’s good creation—and to participate in it.

If you are planning to donate some of your harvest to the local food bank, you might consider meditating on Acts 20:35: “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive” (NIV).

I also think that gardening is part of a commonsense approach to life that gives us all tools to help God help us through the production of our own food supply. So, when I am in that mode, I contemplate Proverbs 12:11: “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense” (NIV). Sort of a bit of humor thrown in at the end of that verse!

What is involved in keeping your garden in good shape?

There are four basic steps in keeping a garden in good shape once it is planted:

1. Watering;
2. Fertilizing;
3. Weed control; and
4. Pest control.

For watering the general rule of thumb for most gardens is that you need the equivalent of about 1 inch of rain per week. If you are in a dry climate, this amount may be a bit higher. One deep watering that gets to the roots of the plants is more efficient and has a better hydrating effect than does several light waterings. Consider using a soaker hose that you might leave on the garden for an extended time. Some gardeners have developed an automated drip system that can be place in ground to help direct the water to the plant’s root system.

Linking Back

Remember when we discussed composting in the second blog in this series? The second step in keeping your garden in good shape is fertilizing. If you have been composting all Winter and Spring, you may have a great source of fertilizer in your compost bin. You will need to apply compost or fertilizer every 3-4 weeks during the growing season. There are also several very good fertilizers on the market. One that my sister-in-law uses is Happy Frog (http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/category/happy-frog.html). It really is an asset with vegetables. We have had good success using this with tomatoes.

Weed control can be taxing. One good way to stay ahead of weeds is by using mulch, such as leaves, bark, or hay. We used an old rug several years to cover big spaces. These mulching methods cover the areas where weeds might grow and make it difficult for weeds to find sunlight to nourish their development.

But we are almost always forced to weed. One good way is to wait until you’ve watered, then pull the weeds by hand when the soil is still moist and the weed is more likely to come out by the root. If you get the entire root, that weed will not be able grow back.

Pest control may be an issue. Hand picking small insect invasions is helpful but does not always solve the problem. Trying biological methods such as ladybugs may help offset some insect infestations, such as aphids. For more ways of dealing with specific pests, the following website may be useful: http://eartheasy.com/grow_nat_pest_cntrl.htm.

For more information about these steps you might want to access the following website: http://www.gardenguides.com/68971-basic-vegetable-gardening.html.

Now let’s consider a recipe using this year’s early harvest. If you planted your potatoes early, by July you may have some small potato tubers ready to harvest. If your peas are doing well, you may have some pea pods ready to pick. One of our family favorites is creamed new potatoes and peas with the early season harvest that was a delicious addition to our Fourth of July celebration meal. You may substitute the milk and cream in the recipe below with vegetable stock and/or a non-dairy milk such as almond milk to provide a vegan option. You may also substitute margarine for butter. To make this a gluten-free option, you can use cornstarch as a thickener instead of flour. Make sure you mix the cornstarch with cold water before stirring the cornstarch mixture into the liquid ingredients.

Until next time, remember,

There is a Time for Everything, and a Season for Every Activity Under Heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Blessings to you!

Creamed Garden Potatoes and Peas

TOTAL TIME: Prep/Total Time: 25 min.

MAKES: 12 servings

Ingredients

• 2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered
• 3 cups fresh or frozen peas
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons butter (margarine may be substituted)
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups 2% milk (non-fat milk, vegetable stock, or non-dairy milk may be substituted)
• 1 cup half-and-half cream (non-fat milk, vegetable stock, or non-dairy milk may be substituted)

Directions

1. Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-12 minutes or until tender. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, place peas and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Drain.
3. In a large saucepan, sauté onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until blended; gradually add milk and cream. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in potatoes and peas; heat through. Yield: 12 servings.

 

Nutritional Information (per 2/3 cup serving)

Calories: 156

Fat: 5g (3g saturated fat)

Cholesterol: 18mg

Sodium: 345mg

Carbohydrates: 22g (6g sugars, 3g fiber)

Protein: 6g

Diabetic exchanges: 1½ starch, 1 fat

In this series by guest writer Ethan Bergman, we will consider the 5 P’s of gardening – planning, planting, perspiring, picking, and putting to bed – over the course of the next few months. Ethan is a Master of Divinity student in the Distributive Learning program at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn. Bergman is also the associate dean in the College of Education and Professional Studies and professor of food science and nutrition at Central Washington University, Ellensburg. He was named CWU Distinguished University Professor in 2001-2002 and was named by the Washington State Dietetic Association as Outstanding Registered Dietitian of the Year in 2000. He is a past delegate and past President of the American Dietetic Association as well as speaker of the Academy’s House of Delegates. He has served on the Academy’s Educator’s Task Force on Education Reform in Dietetics Education and on the Evidence-Based Practice Committee. Bergman earned his doctorate from Washington State University.

 

Photo by Tori Soper, a Chicago Commercial photographer specializing in corporate and editorial photography as well as event coverage for meetings and conventions.

– Allison Tice

As I walked through the streets of Detroit to Ford Field one evening, I witnessed disciples that covered the streets with hope, grace, and love. That evening, I saw a man that was part of the Gathering give his leftovers to a homeless man. It was one of the most moving moments I saw unfold. I witnessed the tears and love shared between the two. Witnessing the simple gesture of sharing a meal and being Christ-like to one another showed me that even the smallest of gifts to others made the biggest impact. I quickly realized that the Gathering needed me, and needed us to show that we aren’t there to “fix” them or “fix” their city, but to walk in servanthood together.

It was then I could answer, “Why the Youth Gathering?” In that moment, I realized why we were there: to build bridges, to show love, and to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

It was hard for me to grasp the idea that the service projects we would be doing were not monumental, yet they made the greatest impact in Detroit. Through my service project, I helped a local community garden begin planting for the upcoming season. I knew that even through pulling weeds and shoveling dirt, this meant the world to the community in which we were helping. While we were working, it began to rain. In that moment, I could choose to be angry that it was raining… or I could rejoice. I simply chose to remember that I am a called and baptized Child of God. I saw this as God “showering” us with grace and never-ending love.

Why the Youth Gathering? To simply be. Be the church, be the light, and be like Jesus with and among God’s people.

 

At the 2016 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, ELCA World Hunger staff fielded questions and gathered feedback from the folks packing a room in the New Orleans’ Ernest Morial Convention Center. For an hour, we shared updates, heard comments about our resources and programs, and listened to stories of congregations responding to hunger and poverty in communities across the ELCA. At the very end of our time, amidst the ruffling of papers and gathering of bags as people prepared to leave for the next session, an energetic man approached the microphone. In a few short words, he silenced the room with his story.

“I have sat here and listened as everyone has talked,” he began, a thin smile on his face. “Now, I decided, I want to talk.” We sat riveted as he described how the violence of civil war came to his hometown in Sudan and how it claimed the lives of so many of his friends and neighbors. He told us how he chased after his brother, both of them running alongside other young boys, toward a truck that promised safety and an escape from the conflict. The truck bore the letters “LWF,” an acronym he didn’t know at the time stood for Lutheran World Federation. His older brother pushed him on the truck, and he began a years-long journey, first to a refugee camp and then to Michigan, where he settled and started a family.

“L. W. F. Before I even knew what those letters meant,” he said, “they saved my life.”

Today marks the 17^th annual World Refugee Day, a day set aside by the United Nations to draw attention to the challenges faced by people around the world who have fled their homes – by choice or compulsion – seeking safety, opportunity, and a place to call home. It is a chance to celebrate the individuals and families who have built new lives in new places, to mourn those who have lost their lives while on the move, and, for Lutherans, to remember our own history as migrants and refugees.

The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that more than 65 million people are displaced from their homes around the world, with more than 22 million fleeing violence, poverty, and persecution as refugees. This is an almost-unprecedented number of people on the move, and the work of nonprofit organizations, churches and community partners accompanying refugees and migrants has rarely been so important.

Through ELCA World Hunger and Lutheran Disaster Response, our church accompanies our neighbors in their home communities, in transit and temporary shelters, in refugee camps, and in their new homes. The intersection between conflict, migration and food insecurity is complex but undeniable. In a study released earlier this year, the World Food Programme (WFP) found that for every percentage increase in food insecurity, refugee outflows from a country increase by 1.9 percent, demonstrating the significant role food insecurity plays in forcing people from their homes. Moreover, the WFP found that food insecurity also plays a role in increasing the intensity and duration of armed conflict, another significant factor that pushes people to seek safety in other regions and countries.

Working through companions and partners, ELCA World Hunger supports projects aimed at sustainably bolstering food security, making it possible for people to feed themselves and their families in their own hometowns. For those who cannot stay in their homes, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) administers refugee camps like Kakuma and Dadaab in Kenya. Kakuma, located in northwestern Kenya, was established by the UN in 1992 with a capacity for 125,000 refugees, most of whom were fleeing Sudan. Today, more than 160,000 refugees live in the camp. While it was never intended to be a permanent home, many refugees spend upwards of ten years living in Kakuma, waiting to return to their homes or to resettle in a new place.

Adapting to life in Kakuma is not easy, but many residents, with the support of LWF programs, find ways to use their talents and skills while in the camp. Programs that focus on education and improved livelihoods, supported in part by ELCA World Hunger, address some of the critical barriers residents face. One key opportunity for economic empowerment for residents is through village savings and loan programs (VSLAs). In a VSLA, community members pool their savings and provide small loans to individuals to start or grow a business. Once the business turns a profit, the money is repaid and loaned out to another VSLA member. This gives folks in Kakuma the resources they need to support themselves and their families. Moreover, much of the work administered by LWF, including efforts toward education, economic empowerment, and human rights, is done with the participation of both refugees in the camp and members of the local host community, many of whom face their own challenges related to poverty and hunger.

KTN News in Kenya recently featured a story of a thriving bakery that started through a loan from a VSLA:

 

 

Programs like this are important ways our church accompanies our neighbors as they build lives for themselves far from home. As the number of displaced people around the world increases, accompaniment of internally displaced persons, refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers continues to meet a critical need.

At the churchwide assembly, we were reminded of that need and the role that the ELCA and our companions can play in a world facing a refugee crisis. But we were also reminded of how much our communities stand to gain from the gifts refugees and migrants have to offer. The former “lost boy of Sudan” who didn’t know what “LWF” meant when he first saw the letters is now in the TEEM program of the ELCA, developing his skills of leadership to offer his talents within the church he now calls his own.

 

Today’s post is from Savanna Sullivan, Program Associate for the Strategy on HIV/AIDS with the ELCA.

 

As Lutherans, we believe in the power of prayer. We believe in the power of song, of the gospel, of community. We believe in the power of worship.

There is power in calling upon God to touch the lives of people or groups who society has stigmatized or ignored by name. There is power in asking forgiveness for the ways we as the church have contributed to the perpetuation of that stigmatization and marginalization. There is power in reaching out to God for health and wholeness and healing; and all of this is exactly what the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS has tasked our church to do.

This Strategy was adopted by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 2009, and has since served as a guide to outline the ways we, in ministry, walk alongside all whose lives have been touched by HIV. Worship is a huge part of that ministry, and so we call upon ELCA congregations to be intentional in their inclusion of language that lifts up People Living with HIV specifically in worship services.

This year, our church will intentionally reflect on the call we accepted in the Strategy on HIV/AIDS on three separate days:

• On June 27th, National HIV Testing Day – we encourage all ELCA members to lead by example in their communities and get tested for HIV, and to talk about HIV with their families and congregations.
• On September 10th, “God’s Work, Our Hands” Sunday, we encourage ELCA congregations to spend this intentional day of service reaching out to organizations that serve People Living with HIV.
• On December 1, World AIDS Day, we encourage all ELCA congregations to take time to learn more about the HIV epidemic in the US and around the world, and to incorporate HIV-specific language into their Sunday worship services.

Join us! Below, you will find suggested petitions for prayers of the church that might be included in such a worship. (You will also find hymn suggestions and a World AIDS Day liturgy linked at the end of the post.) These petitions were written by different members of the ELCA churchwide staff, state public policy offices, and partner organizations – and identify many of the communities who disproportionally bear the burden of the HIV epidemic in the United States and around the world.

 

 Suggested Prayer Petitions:

 

Abundant God, You gave us a beautiful world with enough for all, but we have selfishly squandered your gifts and erected walls that prevent others from enjoying these gifts.
By your grace, turn our hearts toward one another, so that we may walk together and work together, accompanying each other toward a world without hunger or disease, without HIV. We pray that the systemic barriers that keep us and our neighbors from health, from sustenance, and from one another may one day crumble; so that we may all break bread together as one body and be made full in your Holy name.
Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

• Phil LaDeur, ELCA World Hunger

 

We give thanks for the progress reached in understanding, reducing and treating HIV/AIDS. We also acknowledge that the pandemic of HIV/AIDS continues to be one of the most serious health concerns in the world.

We pray for individuals, families, and communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by this pandemic—both globally and domestically.

We pray for the silence, shame and stereotypes associated with HIV/AIDS to be broken. We pray that greater access in health care, treatment, testing, and education be provided.

We ask for a greater commitment from our church to educate, equip, and implement strategies to eliminate HIV/AIDS. We pray that our congregation be a house of hope and healing.

Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

• Judith Roberts, ELCA Racial Justice

 

We pray for those in the LGBTQIA community who have been affected by HIV. Hold in your gentle embrace those who have to hide their identity or their status out of fear and stigma. Shower with compassion and love those who face a new diagnosis, dating rejection, health issues, or long-term survivor’s guilt.  Guide our hearts, O God of Healing, to work to remove barriers in our hearts and our communities for all those seeking care and understanding.  In your Holy Name, we pray.

Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

• Leo Bancroft, ReconcilingWorks Board Member

 

You are a God of love, justice and compassion.

We pray for women who live with HIV/AIDS– especially those who feel overlooked. We pray for women who fight for the control of their own bodies, and women who have been victims of violence. Let their stories be heard with compassion and love. Grant us the love and compassion to create a space to listen and support each other.

Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

• Marit Johnson, ELCA Justice for Women and Lutheran Volunteer Corps

 

Additional Resource:

Includes World AIDS Day liturgy, hymn suggestions, scriptural suggestions, and links to ecumenical resources.

 

http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/World_AIDS_Day.pdf