Hand in Hand Global Mission Support Blog Digest

“I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1:15).

“Ordinary Saints” (Lutheran Woman Today, November 2009, pp. 6–9) is a missionary story.  ELCA missionary Christa von Zychlin, its author, shares how ELCA missionaries Barbara and John LeMond care for Barbara’s mother, Oriet, as they serve in Hong Kong.

It’s a story for All Saint’s Day, one that celebrates the priesthood of all believers and our ordinary, extraordinary vocations.

It’s a Thanksgiving story.  Despite difficult circumstances—or perhaps especially because of difficult circumstances—the LeMonds are thankful for past and present blessings and gifts of grace.

It’s a “mothers” story, particularly affirming and encouraging for children who love and care for a dependent parent.

Read “Ordinary Saints” in the November 2009 issue of Lutheran Woman Today magazine.  To download and print the article visit www.elca.org/handinhand (look for the link toward the bottom of the right-hand column).

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The average life expectancy here in the Central African Republic is just under 40 years. That means we attend a lot of funerals. Yesterday we attended one that was especially sad.

Jonathan was the 8-month-old son of the Rev. Mirco and Rahel Kühne. They are missionaries from Germany serving here in Baboua. They both teach at the Bible School and have been busy raising their three boys: Aaron, Daniel, and Jonathan. On Sunday, Jonathan became ill with malaria. On Monday morning he died of complications from a disease that kills way too many people. The funeral was held at their house in the afternoon. He was buried yesterday by his swing, down by their garden.

Please pray for the family and for the many others affected by this series disease.

Joe and Deborah Troester
Baboua, Central African Republic
http://africanwaterlog.blogspot.com

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ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission Class of 2010.
(Click on the image to view it full size.)

Fifty ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission gathered in Chicago to prepare for their year of service.  Go with God, YAGMs!   You are blessed and you are a blessing.  We hold you close in thought and prayer.    For the names of the YAGM Class of 2010 listed by country of service, click on the link below.  To learn how to be part of the YAGM class of 2011, visit www.elca.org/globalserve/youngadults.    –Sue Edison-Swift

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For the recongition celebration at the 2009 Summer Missionary Conference, Pr. Franklin Ishida interviewed four of the longest-serving missionary couples completing service in 2009.  Click on the “continue reading” link at the end of this post to play the video featuring
* The Rev. Cliff and Saida Lewis (Cameroon, Senegal, Egypt)
* The Rev. Joyce and Ian Graue (Papua New Guinea, Central African Republic)
* The Rev. Aaron and Lynette Albrecht (Japan)
* The Rev. David and Carla Schick  (Slovakia)
These moving snapshots will make you laugh outloud and bring tears to your eyes.  These extraordinary-ordinary servant leaders are  living answers to the question “What’s an ELCA missionary?”  Visit the “Well done!” post to see the names of all the ELCA missionaries completing service in 2009.    

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For several years, the Danish National Council of Churches has been developing an initiative called “Grøn Kirke” (green church). This September, in advance of COP15, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the International Church of Copenhagen (ICC) will officially be named the first certified green congregation in Denmark.  The Rev. Chad Rimmer, an ELCA missionary, pastors the English-speaking congregation.  Pastor Rimmer and members of ICC’s Green Team developed and implemented several greening efforts including:
* Observing Creationtide, an ecumenical season that encourages stewardship of God’s creation through worship.
* Offering Christian education and retreats on the subject of faith and ecology.
* Auditing and greening of the congregation’s property.
* Following local best practices in energy, water, waste, transportation and food consumption

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are members of the Lutheran World Federation.

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This devotion by the Rev. Brian Konkol appears in the Summer 2009 issue of the Hand in Hand Global Mission Support newsletter (www.elca.org/handinhand). Pastor Konkol’s devotion and the Rev. Christa von Zychlin’s feature article from the issue are available in reproducible formats for bulletins and newsletters; John 6:1-21 is the Gospel text for July 26, 2009. Contact Global Mission Support to request distribution copies of the Summer 2009 Hand in Hand newsletter.–Sue

Daily bread questions and challenges
based on John 6:1–21

When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” (John 6:5).

Monday is “trash day” in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, the day residents place their garbage bags near the streets to be collected by municipality workers. As a result, it is also the day men, women, and children come out in massive numbers to search through the multitudes of containers before the trucks arrive.

They are looking for “daily bread.”

“How could someone do this? How would someone handle the filth and stench?” I initially wondered. However, those first questions were soon replaced with better ones: “Why are people placed in such unjust situations? Why do billions of people struggle with extreme poverty in a world filled with abundant resources?”

Perhaps the feeding of the 5,000 account in John 6 is more about Jesus empowering the disciples to consider the material poverty of those around them, and the spiritual poverty within themselves, than it is about Jesus amazingly producing “miracle bread” out of thin air. Perhaps Jesus knew that the amount of bread was not the challenge, but rather, it is the fair distribution that needed to be confronted and transformed.

Gracious God, Help us to see the spiritual and material poverty within us and throughout the world. Open our hearts and minds to receive the gifts of others, and teach us to put our faith into action by seeking justice and care for neighbors in need. Amen

– The Rev. Brian Konkol

ELCA missionaries the Rev. Brian and Kristen Konkol serve in South Africa as Young Adult Program Coordinators.

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I am a very fortunate fellow. I have a standing date every Friday night with Kate, my wife. The babysitter comes, the pizza goes in the oven, the kid’s video is all ready to go, quick good-bye hugs, and we are off, zooming down one of grand avenues of Buenos Aires, fighting Friday evening traffic en route to I.S.E.D.E.T, the ecumenical seminary where we take a single course, Iniciación Bíblica, or “Bible Initiation.”

The objectives of the Bible Initiation course are to read the Bible in one year, acquiring a general knowledge of Old and New Testament Books. A Friday night “Bible date” may sound dull, but when I pick up the Bible to prepare for class I can feel my heart rate go up, a butterfly or two in my stomach, and my mood improve.

These “first date” type feelings reveal that Bible dating is about growing a relationship with God. In the human-human realm, dating involves mutually exploring who that “other” is, what makes him or her tick, laugh, cry and love. Dating God is different. God already “knows” us intimately in the true Hebrew sense. What is astounding for me personally, though, is that engaging God’s message in Biblical texts is refreshing and renewing the most important relationship I will ever have: the one I have with Jesus Christ.

So, to add some excitement in your life, add regular Bible dates to you calendar. Open your Bible; read it, struggle with it, and let God breathe new life into the relationship that binds you to God´s saving grace for the world. –David Wunch

David Wunch and Kate Lawler are ELCA missionaries in South America. They serve as Regional Representatives and coordinate the Young Adult in Global Mission site in Argentina.

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At age four, I sat on the floor of a North Dakota living room, clinging to each word as the Hilles, missionaries to Cameroon, spoke of how little boys and girls very far away loved and served Jesus. This spoon, their gift to my family, became a symbol of both their faithful service and our support of missionary service.

That missionary relationship planted the seeds for my missionary service 25 years later. Indeed, a covenant sponsorship is a promise to be in relationship: to communicate with each other, pray for each other, to give generously and receive graciously.

On behalf of all missionaries, I invite you to covenant to support an ELCA missionary. To learn more go to www.elca.org/globalmission/support.

–Twila Schock

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Front: Nikki Schmidt, Marta Spangler. Back: Paul Kacynski, Martin and the Rev. Shadra Shoffner (YAGM coordinators), Daher Nassar (local host), Chelsea Mathis and Kendra Kintzi. (Unless otherwise noted, the pictured are ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission. 2009 Photo by Meredith Harber, YAGM.)

Thanks to ELCA Missionary the Rev. Shadra Shoffner for submitting this picture and caption. On Earth Day (April 22) give thanks and pray for those who plant trees and plant peace. Sue-s

During their mid-year retreat, the Jersusalem/West Bank ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) team planted trees near Nahalin Village, West Bank. The property belongs to a Palestinian Lutheran family who advocate for peace, saying “We refuse to be enemies.”

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