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March 4-11, 2009 – Botshabelo, Africa… a place of refuge

Contributed by Angie Larson
Clive, IA

Warm-up Question: What would you do if you were to do something different with your life?

In 1990 the Cloete family decided to dramatically change their lives. Marion and Con were successful business professionals in a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. They owned a five bedroom home, swimming pool, and had many wealthy friends. After intense fighting in their country, many black children were left as orphans. Marion and Con decided to open their home to 30 children left without parents, much to the dismay of their affluent neighbors during apartheid in South Africa. They helped the children get to and from three schools until their home became a school where Marion served as the teacher.

The Cloetes were bombarded with requests for help from single mothers and other orphans as word spread of their kindness. They found themselves in personal conflict between their sense of moral responsibility and their disapproving neighbors.

In December, the Cloete family, Marion, Con, and their three daughters, Leigh, Nicole, and Shanna, decided to walk away from their affluent life and opened a community called Botshabelo, which translated means ‘place of refuge.’ They spent their life savings to buy a hundred acre farm to build a place for orphans to live and receive education. It is now home to over 1,000 people who have sought refuge and education in Botshabelo.

A documentary named, “Angels in the Dust,” was made about the Cloete family in 2007. “We face challenges, not problems, we are the custodians of this planet,” says Con Cloete. They had what many dream of having in their life in Johannesburg, but have found so much more in the care of children without parents.

Discussion Questions

  • What is your initial reaction to the Cloete’s change in lifestyle?
  • Do you think this kind of thing could happen in America? Why or why not?
  • If you were going to give up your life for another group of people, who would you make the sacrifice for? Who do you feel particularly concerned for?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 8, 2009.
(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

In the gospel, Jesus tells of his own upcoming betrayal and death. Then he asks us a profound question, “for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” We work so hard to gain the whole world. We strive to be competitive, bump up our credentials and resumes; we work to get better clothes, better electronics, better jobs, more affluence. And for what? What do we gain? We are bombarded with over 3,000 advertising messages a day telling us that we need more of ‘the world’ — more stuff and prestige. The Cloete family was pressured by their neighbors not to reach out to those in need because of “how it looked.”

Jesus asks us a hard question. He wants us to look at what we are striving after; what are we are trying to gain. Are we trying to gain popularity, wealth, approval, or power? He reminds us that he has a better way. It is better for us to lose our life that we have planned out and to trust him in a radical and awesome way that suggests a very different kind of life.

Jesus can do great things with our lives if we let him take control. Try to look for Godly things, not human things, and let go of what’s preventing us from listening to Jesus in our lives. Let go of what keeps us from listening to people in need and responding with the love that God has demonstrated with us through Jesus.

Discussion Questions

  • What human thing, emotion, or quality are you seeking after? What do you secretly desire or envy?
  • How hard is it for you to “give it to God”; to trust God and follow? Does it depend on the situation? How?
  • What can you do to proclaim Christ’s message to help the marginalized and needy in your community? In the world?

Activity Suggestion

  • Play the Toby Mac song “Lose My Soul” and print off lyrics for youth. Discuss the songs lyrics and how they are taken from the gospel text.
  • Learn more about Botshabelo on their Web site, www.botshabelo.org
  • Watch the documentary “Angels in the Dust” about the Cloete’s life-changing project.
  • Talk about the possibilities for during a year of service sometime after high school. Check out some of the ELCA volunteer opportunities for young adults.

Closing Prayer

Blessed Savior, help us to identify the ways in which we are seeking the world’s ways and not yours. Guide us in the ways you would want us to live our lives. Aid us in helping others in our world according to your loving and just will. Thank you for giving us the opportunities to serve and witness for you while on this earth. In your name we pray. Amen.

January 21-28, 2009 – Something fishy about “sea kittens”

Warm-up question: What’s the strangest name you’ve ever heard for a pet?


There’s a new creature swimming in our rivers, lakes, and oceans. Well, sort of. The folks at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have launched a campaign to rename fish “sea kittens.” The strategy is one of several attempts by PETA to discourage people from eating certain kinds of meat. Past projects included referring to McDonald’s and Burger King as “McCruelty” and “Murder King,” and the 2003 “Holocaust on Your Plate” slogan, which compared some farming practices to tactics employed by the Nazis in World War II.

PETA launched the Sea Kittens page on its Web site (www.peta.org) with the intent to appeal to children and their parents. The friendly animated characters link to interactive pages where users can create their own sea kitten, read sea kitten stories, and sign a petition. The term “fishing” is replaced with “sea kitten hunting.” Fish are portrayed as intelligent, adorable, and as experiencing emotions of pain and loss.

The Sea Kitten campaign hopes to create awareness about brutal fishing practices. PETA also wants to discourage people from eating fish in general. The petition, which has over 5,000 signatures, asks the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to “stop allowing our little sea kitten friends to be tortured and killed. Who’d want to hurt a sea kitten anyway?!” The site goes on to declare, “The promotion of sea kitten hunting is a glaring contradiction of FWS (Fish and Wildlife Service) mission to ‘conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats.’”

Discussion Questions

  • How do you feel about the “Sea Kitten” campaign?
  • What are some ethical ways of fishing? How about unethical ways of fishing? Would you sign a petition that asks the FWS to “stop promotion of fishing?” Explain your position.
  • As stewards of God’s creation, what stance do you believe Christians should take on this issue?
  • How does changing the name or identity of something alter your opinion, understanding, or view of an issue? (e.g., Sea kitten instead of fish, conflict instead of war, online advertisement instead of spam, protective coating engineer instead of painter, etc. Think of some others.)

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, January 25, 2009.
(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.)

Gospel Reflection

Mark seems like the kind of guy who would rather study Cliff’s Notes (an abbreviated overview) than read an entire book. His gospel is short and to the point. The first chapter (45 verses) tells of John the Baptist’s ministry, the baptism of Jesus, the temptation of Jesus, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the calling of the disciples, Jesus teaching in the synagogue, removing demons, cleansing lepers, and even Jesus’ first preaching tour. So much for beating around the bush!

The gospel text for today tells of how Jesus called his first disciples — Simon and Andrew; James and John. Two sets of brothers. All were fishermen. This is significant for many reasons, not the least of which was the social standing of fishermen. People who caught fish served an important purpose in society, as they provided one of the major food resources for the community. However, fishermen had very little connection with most people, other than their fellow fishers. They kept to themselves. They were dirty and smelly. Many fishermen had no home — they just lived in their boats. They were rough-and-tumble, salt-of-the-earth kinds of people, certainly not the kinds of people that would be thought of as religious leaders!

Yet these were exactly the kinds of people that Jesus wanted to have around.

Jesus called these two sets of brothers to help him show the world that God is a God for everyone; not just the educated, wealthy, religious folk. He turned the word “fishermen” around into “fishers of men” (which we know includes ALL people, not just men). Imagine the confusion that Simon, Andrew, James, and John were experiencing. Not only were they leaving behind the familiar life of fishermen, but they were now going to have to fish for people. This is just the beginning though. Jesus would lead these men on a three-year journey where everything was turned upside-down. Swords would be turned into ploughshares, rough places made plain, lowly are exalted, sick made healthy, and dead were raised to new life.

Though these young men were the same people, they had a new identity. There were no longer fishers of fish, they were fishers of people. In the same way, Jesus changes our identity from “lost, broken, sinner” to “child of God.” It’s amazing how one little name change can make a huge difference in our lives and view of the world.

Discussion Questions

  • What would you say if a strange man showed up at your school and said, “follow me, and I will teach you to fish for people?”
  • Why do you think Jesus chose fishermen to be his first disciples? Why not highly educated, publicly recognized religious leaders?
  • How does changing the identity of the chosen disciples (from fishermen to fishers of people) change the way they viewed themselves?
  • Whether they’re called “fish” or “sea kittens,” the animal is the same. Whether these men were called “fishermen” or “fishers of people,” they were still the same men. All that changed was other people’s perceptions of them. What kinds of labels do you put on other people? How do those labels impact the way you treat them, respect them, or trust them? How would you treat people if you gave them all the same label, “child of God?”

Activity Suggestion

Fishing for people is not about sticking a hook in their mouth and dragging them into your boat (the church). It’s also not about sitting in the “boat” and hoping fish will just magically jump into it. Being a fisher of people means two things:

  1. engaging
  2. inviting

Ask everyone to think of one or two people they would like to go fishing for this week. Give each person some construction paper, marker, and a pair of scissors. Have everyone cut out a fish and write the name(s) of the people they want to go fishing for during the upcoming week. Talk about ways to engage these people in conversation about Jesus. Share ideas for how and when to invite them to your church. Encourage everyone to keep their little fish cut-out in their planner to remind them to go fishing for people.

Closing Prayer

God, you have given us a new identity as your children. Help us to trust in your promises, and to share them with others. Amen.

Contributed by Erik Ullestad
West Des Moines, IA