Hand in Hand Global Mission Support Blog Digest

Erin Lee is a part of the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program. She’s spending a year in Montevideo, Uruguay. The YAGM program is reliant on coordinators who facilitate the young adults’ ministry and provide mentoring and spiritual guidance.  To support a YAGM coordinator,  go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

YAGM participant Erin Lee, caught in a lighter moment.

 In theory I love the idea of accompaniment, the ELCA model for global mission. Everyone coming together as equals, and supporting each other so that together we can further the work of the church. So what you might ask is the problem? Well, living out accompaniment is not as simple as it sounds (or at least sounded to me). Because the focus is building relationships, there is often not a tangible project to work on, thus there is also no tangible result.

But every once in a while I  have a shining “ah ha!” moment where I feel like I really get it. This is the story of one of those moments:

I recently went to Buenos Aires for the weekend for a churchwide assembly. One of the people who went with us to represent Nuestro Salvador (my church here in Montevideo) was Marisol. She is the mom of the kids the pastor and I work with on Saturday mornings, and she also works in the church. She is really nice, but I hadn’t really talked with her. But in Buenos Aires we drank a lot of mate (a traditional tea drink important to the culture) together and had some bonding moments. Then on Saturday morning when we got to her house she wasn’t there, but she had left her mate and terma with hot water ready for us on the table.  Drinking mate together with someone is how you share community here. When someone offers you mate, they are inviting you into their life. I felt so loved and included by the simple action of Marisol leaving her mate there on the table for me.

I felt like for the first time I really understood how accompaniment could work. I pray that God will continue to remind me of this when I get focused on “achieving” things so I won’t lose my focus on the people I am here to love.

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Christine Eige is an ELCA teaching missionary in Japan. As part of her work in Tokyo, she periodically presents chapel speeches in simple English to junior high and senior high school students as a translator delivers them in Japanese. She says most of the students are not Christian and that it is an opportunity to explain basic Christian ideas on subjects the youths can relate to. Here is one message she recently delivered. To support Christine, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

Christine Eige

What is your dream for the future?  What do you want to be when you grow up?

Recently, I read a story about an amazing Japanese Christian named Shimeta Niishima.  He was born in 1843, and he was the son of a samurai.  He studied hard to become a good samurai and a good scholar. When he was 16, his dream was to learn about the world. He wanted to be a scholar-warrior so he could help Japan trade with other countries and understand ideas from all over the world.

Niishima secretly read books from other countries and studied the Bible.  At that time, signs said, “Reward for the capture of Christians!  Death to the followers of Jesus.”  Niishima knew it was dangerous, but he believed in God and became a Christian.

It was also illegal at that time to leave Japan, but Niishima wanted to learn more.  He secretly got on a ship and went to America.  In America, he studied very hard.  He went to a preparatory school, college, and then seminary to become a pastor. Niishima’s new dream was to start a Christian university in Japan.

After 10 years, Niishima returned to Japan.  In 1875, he built Doshisha Academy in Kyoto. He was only 32, but he had already accomplished many things. Niishima wanted Doshisha to become a university to make Christian leaders for Japan: lawyers, professors, ministers, businessmen and statesmen.  He devoted his life to making his dream come true.

In 1890, Niishima showed his strong faith as he said his last words, “Peace, joy, heaven!”  After he died, other people carried on this work.

Today, Doshisha is a university with over 25,000 students.  It is a symbol of Niishima’s faith, hard work, and dreams. I hope that all of us can follow Niishima’s example and achieve great things in the future.

Let us pray.
Dear Lord,
Thank you for the chance to learn.  Help us to do our best and to work hard as we study.  Please guide us as we try to achieve our dreams.  In Your name we pray, amen.

Peace and prayers,
Christine Eige

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The Rev. Rodney Nordby and Nancy Anderson are ELCA missionaries in Lae, Papua New Guinea. To support Rodney and Nancy, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

The Rev. Rodney Nordby and Nancy Anderson

Nov.  9, 2011

Greetings,
We write you at a time of civil unrest in Lae. News may be starting to come into the U.S., but we want you to know that we are safe even though there have been a lot of tensions. On Thursday a large group of people from Morobe (our province) marched to the provincial government offices with many complaints and got little satisfaction. Things escalated quickly and there was violence on Friday and a lock-down by the weekend.

There are many stories and rumors so it is difficult to discern what has truly happened, but houses have been burned, some people we know have been threatened, the little store near Ampo where our friends and neighbors shop has been looted, and there are long lines of people wanting to buy food once the shops open.

Our pastors here in Lae are providing leadership to bring the factions together and address the concerns, many of which are the legitimate issues of urbanization, manifested in unemployment, the emergence of settlements and the daily presence of hunger and poverty. That these issues and violence quickly turn into modern-day tribal fighting is troublesome.  It is amazing how the biases emerge so swiftly and, if not thwarted, turn into protests.  A state of emergency has not been called and there is some return to normal, but no one is resting easy yet.

On the previous Monday, Reformation Day, we had had a wonderful outdoor service.  Due to the rain, it involved much preparation and work erecting a tarp to protect us from the weather. By the end of the week, the idyllic scene of the service seemed a distant memory.

The same area in which we held the service under big rain trees was the scene of young people running with rocks and knives through Ampo, the result of their protest being halted by the police at Butibam Bridge.  The prayers points in our Reformation Day worship service foreshadowed what have been emerging concerns about security, street crime in Lae city and the lack of responsiveness of the provincial government.

We are safe.  We stay connected with our Papua New Guinean colleagues and neighbors and our fellow missionaries.  We try to resume our normal daily routines, knowing full well that a shift has taken place.

Blessings to you as you prepare for Thanksgiving and Advent. We will stay in touch.
Gob i blesim yupela olgeta,
Nancy and Rod

UPDATE as of Nov. 13:
The situation in Lae has settled down. Meetings between factions and the local government were successful; a community-wide solution was found to the many tensions. Nancy and Rod remain safe, and Rod has even traveled on some projects that were postponed due to the riots. The church was at the forefront of providing protection to those who felt threatened by violence, and ecouraging dialogue to ease the tensions.

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The Rev. David and Alicia Brondos are ELCA missionaries in Mexico. David is a professor at the Theological Community of Mexico, an ecumenical consortium of seminaries in Mexico City, which includes Augsburg Lutheran Seminary.  His work involves training pastors and leaders for churches throughout Mexico.  Alicia teaches English in Mexico City. To support the Brondos, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

The new liturgy includes new music.

In addition to my teaching activities at the Theological Community and Lutheran Seminary, since May I have been helping out at one of the Lutheran churches here in Mexico City, San Pedro, working with the congregation in the renewal of its worship services. One of our seminary students, Benjamín Quezada, is from San Pedro, and after taking a liturgy course with me at the seminary, Benjamín invited the liturgy class to do a special service at San Pedro in May. The congregation liked the service so well that they expressed interest in renewing their entire service, since they had been using the same liturgy for over 20 years.

Based on some of the liturgies I had helped develop at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd here in Mexico City, we developed four new liturgies for San Pedro, and the congregation has been learning them over the past five months. This has included some new texts for Confession and Absolution and for the creeds, as well as liturgical music. I have also worked with them in teaching them new hymns.

In August, they also decided to train new liturgical assistants and asked me to give a short training course over a few Sundays. Fifteen members of the congregation attended the course — the problem now is how to give all 15 a chance to assist with the liturgy!

Fortunately, the congregation already had some good musicians and a good worship team. They have worked hard together with their pastor, the Rev. Esther León, and the changes have been very well-received.

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The Rev. Philip J. and Lou Knutson are ELCA missionaries in South Africa. Philip is the regional representative for southern Africa. To support the Knutsons, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

Some of the seminary students who attended the workshop.

Cape Town, November 2, 2011
Dear friends,

There were emotions of doubt and excitement among 60 seminary students at a recent workshop entitled “Christian Education for Mission” held at the Lutheran Theological Institute (LTI) in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.   (The ELCA supports theological education at LTI and scholarships for graduate students in theology at the University of KwaZulu/Natal.)

What really got the students excited and talking was the discovery that the Triune God is a Missionary God revealed in the way of Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection, and that it is not a plane ticket but our baptism that affirms that we are all, by God’s grace, claimed, gathered and sent to participate in God’s mission for the sake of the life of the world.

Some students did a role play at the end of the workshop to demonstrate what they will be saying when they return to their communities and home congregations over Christmas.

They responded to the question “What did you learn?” saying:

I learned that we are all missionaries through baptism and that we are all learners and teachers.  I learned that mission is the work of the Triune God.  I learned how to be a missionary in the mission of the Triune God.  I learned about the three dimensions of mission: transformation, reconciliation and empowerment.  I learned what I did not know, that we are all missionaries and do not need to wait for missionaries from outside Africa.  I learned that mission needs participants not spectators. I learned that Christian education is for the whole church and the way of evangelism.”

Thank you for your participation in the mission of the Triune God locally and globally.

Yours faithfully,
Philip Knutson
ELCA – Global Mission
Regional Program Assistant – Southern Africa
www.southernafricaconnections.org

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The Rev. Sam and Cindy Wolff are ELCA missionaries in Kenya. Sam is as pastor of Nairobi International congregation and working with the Dagoretti Swahili Church. Sam and Cindy work in developing an AIDS outreach program and work with the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Synod in furthering the ministry and outreach of the Dagoretti church. To support  the Wolffs, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

Victor enjoys his birthday cake.

Victor’s parents were very young when he was born. The date of Victor’s birth was never recorded and his father cannot remember it. When asked, he can only give an approximate year.  Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in Kenya.

This year we decided to give Victor a birth date and a birthday party. We used the month and day of my birthday since it was coming up soon and chose a year which Victor thought might be his real birth year.

We bought gifts and wrapped them and I baked a cake. The party was at a pizza parlor, the perfect venue for someone who was turning 15.  It was not an elaborate affair in terms of an American party, but for someone who had never even had a birth date to celebrate, it was monumental. He received clothing, art supplies and money. He told us he had never received a birthday gift before. The cake was a great surprise to him. It was complete with15 candles. It was truly a moving experience, for us as well as Victor.

Victor wants to be a pastor. He came to our church two years ago to get a morning cup of chai and a cookie. Then he started going to services and asked to be baptized and confirmed. He was awarded a Bible at his confirmation and read it in its entirety in a matter of months. Now he has joined the choir and is an assistant Sunday school teacher. He has found a home at our church and a new life in Christ.

I asked Victor the next week what he bought with his money (about $5.00 U.S.).  He said he spent $3.00 on a new pair of shoes and gave the rest to his father to buy food. I asked why he gave part of his birthday gift away.  He said, “because,  I like my father.” Victor received a gift and through this gave a gift. This was a joy to him to be able to pass part of his gift on. He surely passed a gift on to me. It is not only about what you receive but what you can share with others.  Victor is living his faith, for Christ teaches us to love one another and to care for each other.

May you all be blessed and remember to pass on the daily gifts you receive.

Cynthia Wolff

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Bradn Burkle and his spouse, Natasha, served parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States and its Novosaratovka Seminary in St. Petersburg from 2002-2011. Following his teaching ministry at the seminary, he begins a call with the Hermannsburg Mission (Germany) to serve in Siberia, with ELCA grant support.

To support any of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

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The Rev. Mark and Linda Nygard are ELCA missionaries in Cairo, Egypt. Mark is the coordinator of graduate studies at Evangelical Lutheran Seminary in Cairo. To support the Nygards, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

Linda visiting with Brother Ruis of St. Anthony's Monastery in the desert southeast of Cairo.

Dear Friends Stateside,

I arrived back from summer home leave on Sept. 14th, Linda two weeks later due to the new grandbaby, Micah.  It was exciting to receive visiting professor, Bruce Eldevik, head librarian at Luther Seminary on Sept. 24 for three weeks of teaching and consultation. My own class on the history of Christianity in the Middle East from Napoleon’s time to the present began on Sept. 27.  And another two-week Arabic class at the International Language Institute began Oct. 9.  It is intensely challenging and exciting to be penetrating rather rapid conversation at times in class.  (Of course, I’m lost again at other times!)

I first heard about the Oct. 9  tragedy in Maspero, Egypt, (in which at least 27 civilian demonstrators were killed in violence with security forces) during the morning break the next day.  Fellow Arabic student, Heinrich from Norway asked me what I thought of it, and it was all news to me.  The streets were a bit subdued that evening as we made our way home, but at 11:30 p.m. we were aroused again by thousands of people marching past our apartment, bearing crosses and more coffins as they proceeded to the cathedral.  I participated in the three-day fast that the Coptic church’s Pope Shenouda declared, and we prayed for peace and common humanity to prevail.  We would ask you to join us in this prayer for Egypt —  that Muslim and Christian might live together, caring for each other.

The peace of Jesus,
Mark and Linda

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