Hand in Hand Global Mission Support Blog Digest

Kate Lawler and David Wunsch, who write here about Advent in Buenos Aires, are ELCA regional representatives in South America. To support them or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

Our First Communion class, with David and Kate the bookends and Matthew in the middle.

Even though this is our seventh Advent season in Argentina, we are still struck by how different it feels  from the Advent experiences we grew up with.  Global mission service is constantly dislodging our preconceived notions and unsettling us with new questions.  In South America, Advent comes to us in the ever longer, ever warmer days that announce that spring is turning into summer.  We are challenged to seek the meaning of Advent in symbols and sensations that are not the ones we are used to.  This year on the second Sunday of Advent we were called to reinterpret the symbols of bread and water during a morning of baptisms and First Communions (including our Matthew!) at our congregation here in Buenos Aires.  Among those receiving these sacraments were members of our community who live in an extremely marginalized neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.  Families in this community literally subsist on the refuse of the city by recycling cardboard and retrieving items from a nearby landfill.

As I witnessed the baptism and First Communion of young people who were born into a state of exclusion, the symbols of water and bread took on the meanings that these elements have in the lives of those who do not have access to clean drinking water and whose daily bread is not a certainty.  As a listened to the giggles provoked by baptismal water trickling down faces and saw the joyful anticipation of that first holy bread, I was unsettled by the questions that stirred within me.  What commitment are we making when we baptize into the Christian community members who do not have access to clean drinking water?  What do the words “the Body of Christ given for you” mean when we speak them to a person who may not eat anything else that day?

These are among the questions that accompany us during this Advent season.  While we are far from   having the answers, the image that guides our search is a baby in a manger. While our Advent journey in South America is filled with unsettling questions and symbols that call for constant reinterpretation, we give thanks for the new ways that they point us to the Christ child.  Whether you await Christ’s arrival during the long days of summer or the long nights of winter, we pray that you will join us in asking how together our Christian community can help fulfill Christ’s promise of cleansing water, wholesome bread and new life for all of humanity.

With Advent hope,
Kate Lawler and David Wunsch

• » Comments (0)

The Rev. Nathan and Sharonette Bowman are ELCA missionaries in Kumamoto, Japan, serving in parish and social service ministries. To support the Bowmans, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

Nathan and Sharonette Bowman

Dear friends,

Merry Christmas. As we are preparing to honor God for his compassionate love for us, let us take time to reflect on the fact that it pleased and delighted God’s heart to give Himself, the greatest gift of all, to us.

As Christmas quickly approaches, in the midst of the many Christmas services, we are again challenged to remember the 830 children in children’s homes throughout Kumamoto Prefecture. This year marks the 25^th Annual Christmas Toy Drive. By this time next week,we will need to have purchased gifts for these children, most of who are taken from their homes because of relentless abuse. Others are developmentally disabled and cannot be managed by their parents. Sometimes the parent is developmentally disabled. A few have no parents, having disappeared, died or abandoned their children anonymously. (Kumamoto still has the nation’s only “baby shelter.”) The presents that we look for are those that have a connecting function, where the child will need to play with another child to enjoy the gift to its maximum value.

As we were also planning for next year, we came across some amazing toy patterns from some wonderful people at Toymaker Press (toymakerpress.com). Nathan hopes to build some of these for the children in any spare time he may have next year.

Looking back on this year, together with the rest of the nation, we were stunned by an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in northern Japan, for which many of you gave generously. The relief work continues among those who have been devastated.

We had the joy and honor of being able to visit with some of you this last summer. Our next scheduled Home Assignment is in the summer of 2013. As soon as we returned to Japan, it was like we had never left. The opportunities for ministry are vast, and we try to be faithful to our Lord, Jesus Christ, as we serve on behalf of you. Thank you for your partnership in the gospel this year, for your prayers, support and encouragement.

May you find delight, joy, strength and the love of God in the gift of Jesus Christ.

Nathan & Sharonette Bowman

• » Comments (0)

The Rev. Wayne Nieminen and the Rev. Christa VonZychlin are ELCA missionaries in Hong Kong. To support Wayne and Christa, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

Some of the members of the Truth English Bible Club.

Five weeks of Truth English Bible Club — count them five long weeks. Almost all of the kids came back every week. They loved the crafts and didn’t want to leave. In fact, I think we might be in trouble with the school because they were late for their bus back to China so often. I think. I don’t actually know. Sometimes it’s good not to know.

You can’t help but love these kids but they are rowdy! Maybe, for just a moment, they contemplated the God of the universe who created jewels of all colors, and children with all kinds of interests, curiosities, and capabilities — maybe, maybe.

So that’s what I did on Thursdays these past couple of months. We had 24 kids enrolled, six adults and bedlam. It makes me appreciate my “real” job (or my paying one, anyway) which is now with international seminary students, who are calm, interested and glad to be at school! And they don’t jump on the chairs and tables (or at least not as much)!

Who knows which of the things we work for are worthwhile, which are of lasting significance, which are worth our time and talents and treasures?  I love the season of Advent because it reminds me, in the midst of the world’s frenzy, that there’s power and strength in toughing things out (for a season), waiting them out, watch and see, which things show signs of fruition.

“Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.” – I Corinthians 4:5

Christa

• » Comments (0)

Ted and Janey Zimmerman are ELCA missionaries in Hong Kong. To support the Zimmermans, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

The Meridian Star at the Central Star Ferry Pier in Hong Kong.

Greetings!

Members of Ping An Tang (Peace Lutheran Church) worshiping in a third-floor apartment every Sunday read together Luke 2:17. In response, on Christmas Eve they plan to go to Hong Kong’s famous Star Ferry Pier and “spread the word concerning what has been told to them about this child (Jesus).” Even the youngest children will go with their parents after Christmas Eve services to sing together and share with strangers the joyful story of Jesus come to earth for us. It is an adventure indeed!

Christmas morning, the families will come again to church with the children weary from being out so late but happy that they are fulfilling their shared understanding of God’s word.

Our own family will not go along to the Star Ferry Pier. After services, we will come back to our own apartment and share our special traditions with our beloved family. Perhaps it is our daughter-in-law who grew up in China who loves our Christmas traditions the most! She never had toys as a child and is delighted with Christmas gifts — and now toys for their child, our granddaughter.

We missionaries live on the periphery of cultures keeping what is special to us, yet respecting and rejoicing in the differing perspectives and responses to our common faith. It is our common faith that is deepest and joins us all here in Hong Kong with you all, making it a small world indeed.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom his favor rests” Luke 2:14.

May the hope of Christmas give you peace and joy,

Janey and Ted Zimmerman

• » Comments (0)

Bradn Buerkle is an ELCA missionary in Novosibirsk, Russia. To support Buerkle, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

The First Sunday of Advent Christmas Bazaar.

Despite the fact that at least 90 percent of those Russians who celebrate Christmas do so on Jan. 7 (due to using the Julian rather than Gregorian calendar) that doesn’t mean that the country is far behind the West when it comes to preparing for the holiday season. Christmas decorations have been up in some stores since early November, and Christmas trees are starting to go up in squares and parks around the city. Here are just a few reasons why it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Snow:  After many years of freezing rain and slush in St. Petersburg at this time of year, it is a bit of relief that we know that the snow is here to stay until April or May. And shoveling snow from the church courtyard has been a good way to work off frustration, I’ve found — though I’ll admit that by spring I might be feeling differently.

Christmas bazaar:  This past weekend, the local German cultural center (together with the German consulate) hosted their annual First Sunday of Advent Christmas Bazaar. Our congregation always has a table there were we talk with the guests (there were over 1,000!) and sell crafts and baked goods. We had fun and raised a bit of money for the church, which the council intends to use toward repairing our building’s foundation next spring.

Midweek Advent services:  I decided that for Advent, I would start every Wednesday with morning prayer and end with evening prayer, inviting congregational members to come at any time to pray together or just to talk. It is still too early to say whether this will meet the spiritual needs of those in the congregation, many of whom live far from the church, but yesterday morning a few of us did pray together, followed by an almost hour-long hymn sing. Fellowship time is important, so I hope that people continue to come.

“Miracle”: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” “Wonder” in the sense of “miracle.” The news organizations here lately have reported on the astounding number of people who have made their way to the Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow to visit the “the Belt of the Theotokos.” This Orthodox relic, supposedly woven from camel hair by the Virgin Mary so that she might wear it during her pregnancy, is usually found on the monastic mountain of Athos in Greece^. In the past month, however, it has traveled through Russia so that the faithful could venerate it. When the belt was in the capital, lines stretched to incredible lengths, with reports that some people waited 15-20 hours and with more than 80 people needing hospitalization after standing out that long in the cold.

• » Comments (0)

Jim and Carol Sack are ELCA missionaries in Tokyo, Japan. To support the Sacks, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

Kaya Evelyn Sack , born Oct. 21, 2011, in Tokyo.

We are doing pretty well these days in Tokyo, though with the contrasting reports of the nuclear situation we do live with unseen and unknown anxieties. We can’t help being a bit concerned about what it means to have Jon’s wife, Miho, 10 weeks pregnant when the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster took place, and also what it means to have a wee little one come into life in this city at this time. Please see the picture of our new granddaughter, Kaya Evelyn, who was born on Oct.  21.

We hear conflicting reports about Tokyo’s safety. And we can’t fathom what it all means for tens of thousands displaced from their entire existences up north. However, on the surface things seem to be pretty much back to “business as usual.”

We do keep in mind the fact that the earthen plates under our feet have shifted in epic proportions. So the thought of the possibility of a big quake in Tokyo is never too far from our minds.

We went up to Sendai again in August, and we were surprised at how much had been cleaned up since we were there in April. There are still mountains of mangled things like cars, but at least much of the debris had been put into piles. Before, it had been scattered over miles of land. We were actually amazed at how much had been accomplished.

Needless to say, the scars in the hearts cannot be so clearly put into piles and cleaned up. Lost memories, lost communities, lost jobs, lost meaning, lost hopes and lost family members may take years or lifetimes — and indeed may never be restored. Only through loving care can the losses even hope to be transformed into new depth of purpose. We cannot lose faith that this is possible even in the seemingly worst of scenarios. That is the power of the Cross.  March 11 was one of the worst scenarios anyone could imagine.  But we choose to hold onto blessing!

May the grace of Christ accompany you each day this Advent.

Jim and Carol Sack
Tokyo, Japan

• » Comments (0)

Philip Nelson works with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cameroon and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Central African Republic. June Nelson is a nurse in the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeon’s clinic. To support the Nelsons, or another of the ELCA’s nearly 250 missionaries, go to www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

Philip and June Nelson

Dear Friends,

A young woman recently desired to be baptized. Her husband is one of a growing group of people in her ethnic group who have chosen to follow Jesus. She is a woman with traditional values. When she came to my house to be baptized, she couldn’t go against her upbringing and speak to someone as seemingly imposing as myself. I discreetly went into the kitchen and prepared some coffee while Pastor Abdulahi Jean and her husband spoke with her about why she had chosen to be baptized.

Eves dropping from the kitchen, I heard her tell Pastor Abdulahi that she had seen a difference in her husband after he was baptized, and that when she was sick here at the Ngaoundéré hospital, the Christians, especially Pastor Abdulahi, were so kind to her. She wanted to be a part of what she had heard about Jesus.

After I came out of the kitchen I asked her if she knew what the cross was and why it was important to Christians. Embarrassed she looked at her hands that were zipping and unzipping her small pocket book and shook her head indicating that she didn’t. After I explained the significance of the cross to Christians, we laughed together about her being embarrassed to talk directly to me. Our house worker and cook, Eve, then arrived with a longtime friend of the family, Tobi. These two women helped put the young lady more at ease.

Pastor Abdulahi started the service around our dining room table and had me read from the 28th chapter of Matthew where Jesus commands the disciples to go into the world and make disciples of all nations first baptizing them. Pastor Abdulahi baptized her with Eve holding the bowl of water. Our new sister left this morning with a smile and a cross to remember what Jesus did for her and for us.

This is the reason that I find joy in the work that we have been called to participate in here in Cameroon and Central African Republic. God is indeed wonderful and more powerful in our lives than any force or coercion. I do not give you her name because she is now vulnerable to others of her ethnic group who do not agree with her choices.

Phil

• » Comments (1)

Viking and Marissa Dietrich served in Senegal from 1992-2009, and Ghana from 2009-2011. Viking’s call to mission service in Senegal was driven by the opportunity to use Christian witness in a Muslim context as a means of fostering community and peaceful relations. He served both international and Senegalese churches, as well as managed a post-literacy project. He also was general secretary for the Joint Christian Ministry in West Africa and later served as Global Mission’s regional representative based in Ghana. Marissa taught in international schools in both countries.

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

• » Comments (0)