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A district prepares to show their local dance

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The following was written by Emily Davila, Assistant Director, Lutheran Office for World Community
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Before you enter a village in Papua New Guinea, you have to be invited in. After taking a power boat 3 hours up the coast from Madang, I arrived at the tiny village of Saibor, home to around 200 people. The villagers greeted us singing what sounded like Christian rock on guitars, placed two leis around my neck and escorted me to the entrance of the village where they had created a giant doorway out of palm fronds. They asked me why I had come to the village – the correct response is “to pray with you” – so I said that, and then we prayed together. Then I broke through the palm fronds to the other side. It was kind of like a football team breaking through the paper before the big home game. On the other side men were wearing red paint, grass skirts, and doing a ceremonial dance. They threw some flower buds at me, painted my face, and I was in.
Of course I was asked to make several speeches and offer official greetings from the United States. Not used to pontificating in public, which they are all pros at, I had a hard time finding the words to say… “Greetings from New York City, we have big bridges and tall buildings, but no one welcomes you like you have welcomed me…”
After the speeches, the village presented me with billums – purses they had woven out of twine or yarn that are to be worn with the strap crossing your forehead. Every man, woman and child in PNG carries one of these. The bag is a big part of the culture, and my hunch is they mainly exist so everyone can carry their beetle nut, a narcotic that turns your teeth red, looks like a big green acorn and grows on trees. To get the effect, they chew the nut mixed with mustard stick and powdered lime (as in the chemical). The combination creates a stream of bright red saliva that spews out of the mouth– so watch out for the pools of red spit on the roads. Anyhow, after visiting 3 villages I was presented with nearly a dozen billums, ranging from bright pink woven straw, to knitted mauve with the red and black PNG flag, to a plastic black and white one with sea shells attached with strings. You can tell where someone lives in PNG by the type of billum they carry. A billum can be used to do many things — like strung up to hold a sleeping baby, or wrapped around the front of the body as a shirt.
But having returned to NYC, the city of no welcome, I am thinking about the gesture of peace the Papua New Guineans make by building that palm fence. A country with a long history of colonization, tribal wars and even cannibalism, it’s no wonder they ask the visitor, “why are you here?” Visiting the remote coastal towns, I was impressed by how pristine they were, still practicing their same customs, communal and egalitarian, untouched by globalization. They farm and raise pigs and still trade for a lot of their goods because money is hard to come by. It seems idyllic — until you need to give birth or get malaria. Hospitals and health clinics are long journeys from many coastal and highland villages, and women sometimes end up giving birth on the back of bison as they travel to get help.
Papua New Guinea culture is changing, some of the old traditions are slowly disappearing, but I think alot will stay the same for a long time out of sheer isolation. With no roads, tough terrain and high petrol costs for boats, “development” is just too expensive. For Papua New Guinea, this is both a blessing and a curse.

Emily Davila

Greetings!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is David Creech and I am the new Director of Global Hunger Education at the ELCA Churchwide Office. I am just finishing up (hopefully) my PhD in Theology, with an emphasis in New Testament and early Christianity. I am excited to participate in that long stream of Christian tradition that looks out for widows and orphans, or, in our context, the most vulnerable people in our global village.

The Gospels tell us that Jesus came announcing that the kingdom of God had arrived. Its coming meant that the poor would hear the good news, the sick would be healed, and the hungry would be fed. Throughout his ministry Jesus invited his disciples to join him in living out the kingdom. The first followers of Jesus were notorious for their care of the orphan and the widow. Greek and Roman authors mercilessly ridiculed the early Christians for their naïve (and self-sacrificing) attention given to the most vulnerable persons in the Roman Empire. 2,000 years later the Church is still called to live out the kingdom of God by meeting the needs of those who are most desperate.

Today, the most vulnerable in our global village are the chronically hungry. Though the statistics may be familiar, they are worth repeating:

  • Over 850 million people wake up and go through their day until they finally go to bed without ever having their hunger assuaged. That’s nearly one in six people. Sadly, one in six people are also over fed.
  • Every day, more than 31,000 children die of hunger and other related, and preventable, causes.
  • Approximately one-half of the people in the world are malnourished.
  • Perhaps most frightening of all, there is enough food for every person in the world—men, women, and children—to have 2,500 calories per day.

The numbers are staggering. They can be paralyzing. They call the Church to be and do what it has historically been and done. I am so thrilled to be a part of that mission and I look forward to conversations with all who want to see God’s kingdom here on earth.

Education and Women’s Rights in Papua New Guinea

The following was written by Emily Davila, Assistant Director, Lutheran Office for World Community.

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I spent the last week in Papua New Guinea – not something I ever expected to do! With over 800 languages, communication in PNG is fascinating. There is no internet and even phones are hard to come by, a few cell phones are here and there. Most people I met promised to write me – as in a letter. We will see how that goes.
I went to PNG as an invited guest to a Lutheran women’s conference. Colonized by Germans, more than one-fifth of the country is Lutheran. One of the key features of the conference was a bible study called “Jesus Liberates women in PNG from male dominated cultures.”

png1-761056Growing up, Pastor Michael, a seminary professor, watched his mother suffer in a polygamous marriage. His father, a “bigman” would forceably take the pigs she raised so that he could enjoy a high status in the community, beating her if necessary. When menstruating, women were (and still are in some places) secluded, and some believe that even the food they touch is contaminated so they are not allowed to cook meals. After the age of 13, Michael was discouraged from spending time with his mother. Because of a tradition called the “Bride price” -similar to a dowry- a woman cannot divorce her husband because her family is expected to pay the money back. By paying for their wives, it encourages a culture where many men consider their wives a possession. In the case of Michael’s sister, despite the fact that she was often beaten by her husband, culturally, it was impossible to divorce him and she eventually committed suicide.
All this caused Pastor Michael to read the bible searching for stories of women’s liberation. At the conference he distributed a 60-page book written in Pidgin (the national language) and English that systematically unwraps the stories of women in the bible to deliver a message of respect and encouragement for women’s leadership. It ends with a chapter: “Jesus’ approach to the Samaritan Women (and others) could be a model for PNG men to follow.” Some of the suggestions:
-PNG men should put aside their beliefs of gender-based concepts of clean and unclean…
-Women ought to be given equal invitation and opportunity for leadership roles in the church
-Women should be given equal theological education…
-Women should be ordained
Now – the format of this communication was not modern: it came in a dense booklet – footnotes – even the original greek in some cases. But he systematically made the argument for gender equality in a country where it is an urgent life or death issue with one of the highest infant and maternal death rates in the world. He took nearly 8 hours over four days to deliver his lecture to 1,000 women and some men, including high ranking pastors and the Bishop.
But this is an oral culture, so the women may not read this thesis booklet. But they will remember his new interpretations of the Samaritan woman and the woman at the well, and they will take it home to their villages and retell the stories. They asked him to address the synod meeting next year, which will be mainly men, and hopefully this will happen. In a male-dominated culture, it will help women gain credibility to have a man – and the Bible – speaking on their behalf.
I think this was a historic occasion in PNG, and it speaks to the power of education. He went to school and chose to study this subject, and is now preaching a new gospel in his own language in a country that is hungry for it. The “West” cannot export gender equality, it has to come from the grassroots within. PNG is a very religious country. They have mixed Christianity with their own beliefs and it permeates almost everything they do. I can’t think of a more credible way for a gender equality movement to gain foothold in this country.

Heros in faith

I visited on of my heroes last Thursday. I had heard that Ken Peterson, from NE Minnesota, was being moved to hospice care, so I decided to make a pastoral call.
If you don’t know Ken, let me tell you a few things. He has been working for social justice since the mid-60’s. He once said that he felt the tug of the Spirit when he took a bus ride through the south and heard a young Black man talk about freedom and dreams. I will always think of Ken as a red (flannel shirt) liberal. Who would think you would find one in the woods of Northern Minnesota. Ken loves Jesus, the Bible, and the church, probably in that order. He has farmed his entire life on land that his grandfather homesteaded and that has never been tainted by human concocted chemicals. He is loved by his family, friends and nearly anyone who has ever met him. He is the salt of the earth.
Ken told me the best time he had working to end hunger was in the 1980’s touring Minnesota, city by city, in nearly revival style. His small group told the stories and encouraged stodgy Minnesotans to remember Jesus’ call to care for the poor. In that trip they met over 800 people who committed to helping the cause.
I spent about an hour with Ken laughing (he has not lost his humor), crying, telling stories and, for me, gaining more wisdom. I asked him what advice he might have for the rest of us, especially for someone who might be just entering justice oriented ministry. He thought for a moment and then said, “work for peace”. He went on to say that unless we can achieve peace we will never be able to fully conquer hunger. With his signature smile he said, “you know the peace I mean, the peace that passes all understanding!” I sense he was talking about peace within the minister (lay or ordained) as well as in the world.
He complained that his eyes keep watering alot, as where mine, and we prayed. I wish I had been able to spend more time with this hero of mine, both last week and through life. I cherish what I was given. I am now thinking that I need to find other heroes and be intentional in sitting in their presence. Keep Ken and his family in your prayers.
Rodger

ELCA on the Travel Channel

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is currently running two ads on the Travel Channel. You can view them here. According to the ELCA News Service:

“‘We hope that through television, billboards and printmedia, members of the
ELCA will be equipped to own and tell this church’s story, the story of what God
is doing in us and through us for the sake of the world,’ Bangert said.”

We in ELCA World Hunger especially like these two ads because in addition to telling what it means to be Lutheran, they also demonstrate that there are many ways to approach the problem of hunger. Again, from the ELCA News Service:

“One television spot — “Hope” — shows a woman quizzing her daughter as they
walk along a road near Yeumbeul, Senegal. It highlights Senegal Lutheran
Mission, which teaches women how to start their own businesses.

The other spot — “Dignity” — opens with workers setting tables in a fancy
restaurant. The “restaurant” is actually Trinity Lutheran Church, Bismarck,
N.D., and volunteers are preparing a banquet for homeless neighbors.”

I’ve written before about the importance of girls education to reducing poverty and hunger. Teaching women how to start their own businesses falls along the same lines and addresses the 3rd Millennium Development Goal: Promote gender equality and empower women. Poverty is disproportionately prevalent among female-headed households. In many places, patriarchal societies make it difficult for women to own property, find work, or participate in decisions that effect them. Thus marginalized, they lack the means to provide for themselves or their children.

On the other hand, women who are able to earn their own incomes have more choices and greater ability to lift themselves out of poverty. What’s more, this ability typically spills over to their children. Educated women are better positioned to tend to their children’s health and educational needs, thus raising a future generation that is also healthier and more skilled. Beyond education, women with their own income have greater access to resources, and more power in their communities. The work the ELCA is doing in Senegal and other places to help women start their own businesses is critically important to ending hunger.

The ad about serving a meal to homeless neighbors is another part of the fight to end hunger. Education is critically important, but when you’re hungry right now, simply eating is top priority. Without adequate food and nutrition, people are more vulnerable to illness, lack the calories to physically move through the day, and are less able to concentrate. Is it any wonder that hungry people are unable to work and, without work, unable to pay for shelter? In such cases, food aid is just as important as longer-term solutions like education. Again, the work of the ELCA is critically important to ending hunger.

It’s a lot to think about during that next commercial break.

-Nancy Michaelis