The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost…

Ezekiel 34:1-4

Is this Law or Gospel? I think it depends on if you have food or not!

-David Creech

Today, I am blogging about something I just found out about. It is backed by the United Nations and my favorite sport. So what is today’s subject? A very cool event called the European Match Day against Hunger. This last weekend soccer teams all over Europe rallied with the purpose of advocating against hunger.  According to an article from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN, the “Austrian league ambassador Herbert Prohaska said: ‘The main purpose of the Match Day against hunger is to show that all of us can fight against hunger and poverty. Because everywhere in the world people are playing football this is a perfect stage for this message’.”

A soccer coach myself; I cannot help but to agree that this is the perfect stage for a call to action. One reason is because children everywhere kick around soccer balls. In fact, a few months ago I blogged about an indestructible soccer ball that was being distributed to children in war-torn areas. Also, in many areas of Europe soccer is the most popular sport to watch, follow and play. This means there is potential to inspire an entire continent to think about hunger, take action against hunger, and care about hunger! So it is both a stage used by those who are hungry and by those who can advocate for them.

I think that Hristo Stoichkov of the Bulgarian League put it well when he said, “We must do everything in order to guarantee for all children around the world the love and food they need. That is their sacred right”.

Learn more about the European Match Day Against Hunger Here:

http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/46667/ico/

View photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1billionhungry/sets/72157625078678417/

~Lana

This is the sixth in a series of posts highlighting hunger-related activities that happened over the summer at ELCA Outdoor Ministry locations with the help of Education/Advocacy grants from ELCA World Hunger. This week’s post is from Luther Point Bible Camp in Grantsburg, Wisconsin.

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Outdoor ministry is, at its core, about growth. Many of the campers start their week either not wanting to be at camp or thinking that they have been here so many times they think they cannot possibly get something new out of the experience. Yet God works in wonderful ways and by the end of the week most do not want to leave. Whether it is the relationship with their counselor, the worship experiences, or the exciting games, walls are broken down and the campers are opened up to new understandings our connections with God, creation, and each other. 

Here at Luther Point we were able to watch and wait as a garden grew this summer, thanks to the Education/Advocacy Grant from ELCA World Hunger. There was much patience and unknown throughout the process, as well as some not so fun work in some very warm weather. In spite of the weeds, rain, and humidity, there is something very refreshing about being able to see growth in a garden. Watching a tomato or a green pepper develop gives a sense not only of accomplishment, but also of gratefulness. 

Most importantly, the growth of our garden helped our campers to grow this summer.   They could see the parallels between the growth of a garden and the growth of faith and come to a new understanding of God in their own lives. Moreover, they went home with a new realization that they do actually have a voice when it comes to world hunger and that they can take steps against it in fairly simple ways. 

The produce grown in our garden was sold at our annual Summer Celebration at the end of our summer season. We set up a Farmer’s Market in addition to our traditional craft and quilt auction and many supporters of Luther Point happily walked away with some fresh and beautiful food. We ended up selling over $500 of produce, all of which will go to ELCA World Hunger.

Jesse Weiss
Program Coordinator
Luther Point Bible Camp

Following up on Julie’s post from last week, I’ve been reading Samuel Torvend’s Daily Bread, Holy Meal (worth a read–accessible yet sophisticated, with study questions to boot!).  Here is just a taste (pun intended) of the delights contained within.

If Jesus’ proclamation in word and deed pointed to God’s just and peaceful reign in human life and history, then might it not follow that his disciples are also called to serve the reign of God, albeit as discerned in Jesus of Nazareth?  From this view, the function of the church is not to maintain itself but to serve the reign of God as revealed in Jesus of Nazareth.  In a consumer culture such as North America, however, it is easy to imagine these days that the church’s purpose is to order its life around sustaining or “growing” churches rather than serving the reign of God’s justice and peace.

Torvend goes on,

But we have to ask: was Jesus executed because he wanted to “grow” a worldwide organization (or as some might say, a “gospel community”) or because his understanding of of the reign of God proved to be too troubling for those who claimed to “rule” or “reign” over his land and people?

How are we doing at living into Jesus’ vision of the reign of God?

-David Creech

At the edge of the vast Pacific Northwest lies the Olympic National Park, home to the largest unmanaged herd of Roosevelt Elk in the world and the Elwha River Restoration Project. Since the early 1900s the Elwha has been a residence for two dams, and the river that is home to all five species of Pacific salmon, altered. Current runs of salmon have dwindled to just about 3,000. A new life, however is about to return to this river system.

The Elwha Dam

Glines Canyon Dam

After nearly 100 years the Elwha’s two dams are up for removal. Slated to be the largest dam removal project ever in this country, it is estimated that salmon runs of 300,000 will return to over 70 miles of river and stream over the course of 30 years. Salmon, a common food in the Pacific Northwest, are an essential part of both local culture and biodiversity. For starters, salmon are an important part of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s culture and consequently, the tribe is a major contributor to dam restoration efforts. Removal will allow them to once again recognize age old traditions. For the larger forest, however, salmon provide a food source for multiple animals, including bears and eagles. Additionally, “after spawning [salmon] carcasses supply the ecosystem with nitrogen and phosphorus” (Popular Mechanics). According to the National Park Service the project is also good for other parts of the ecosystem. They offer that, “Removing the dams will reestablish the natural flow of sediment from the mountains to the coast—rebuilding wetlands, beaches and the estuary at the river’s mouth.”

Removing a dam is no small project; in fact this one is nearly 30 years in the making. In addition to the initial planning, multiple projects have been undertaken over the past couple of years including water treatment facilities, engineered log jams and the planting of native vegetation. These are each essential parts of the process, ensuring both the success of the project, and the river’s ability to continue to supply clean water to local people. After all that, the dams themselves could take up to three years to remove fully.

As a Washington native, lover of salmon, and a Christian always looking to be more involved in caring for God’s amazing creation, I cannot help but to be excited about this project. As we restore rivers, habitats and ecosystems a more bounteous creation emerges; stronger salmon runs, increased wildlife, renewed beaches and a tiny bit of return to balance. For me, personally, the bigger picture of hunger is not just about what a single person eats, but about how creation interacts such that native food exists, thrives and supplies the nutrients for our lives.

You can learn more about the Elwha River Restoration Project here (these are the sites I used to write this blog):

• http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/water/2294301
• http://www.nps.gov/olym/naturescience/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=360254&bypasswarning=1
• http://www.nps.gov/olym/naturescience/elwha-ecosystem-restoration.htm

~ Lana Lile

Last summer, my favorite Mexican sandals got new soles and a new life thanks to a resourceful friend at Holden Village. This summer, scrambling up a rocky mountain, the sole of my hiking boot peeled away from the rest of the boot. My hiking partner and I wrapped the boot in first-aid tape so I could safely descend. (With duct tape, I could have gone on!) A resourceful Villager glued and clamped both boots with extra-strength hose glue so I could finish out the hiking season.

A couple weeks ago, my comfy left Keens shoe opened up. A shoe repair man explained why he couldn’t sew it back together, and offered to glue it for $8.50. I accepted, knowing repaired shoes would buy me time to replace them more thoughtfully and carefully.

“How long have you had these shoes?” he asked.

When I said two years, he laughed. I figured that was because, as a shoe repair guy, he kept his own shoes in such good condition that he got five or six years out of them. But no! “Two years? I get new shoes every six months!”

I always wondered how the shoe man in my old neighborhood paid his rent when he seemed to be in the business of refusing to repair shoes. And now I meet a shoe guy who doesn’t wear his shoes long enough for anything to go wrong.

Looking into this, I discovered that many shoe and podiatry web sites recommend replacing athletic shoes every 350 to 500 miles to prevent tendonitis, shin splints, and other maladies I’ve never suffered. For me, with no car, that would mean new shoes every four months.

Other websites say that shoes are the problem, and we should all be walking or running barefoot, like our correspondent Lana.  (Here is a really fascinating article exploring the shoes-versus-barefeet question.) The only web site that thinks old shoes aren’t a problem is Kiwi, the shoe polish manufacturer! The more we invest in polishing and repairing our shoes, the better their bottom line.

And that’s what bugs me: the bottom line. Yes, feet should be healthy, and businesses need to survive. But how much “advice” is a thinly cloaked suggestion to spend more? An intentional campaign to goose consumption?

To win a bet, this high school student wore the same pair of shoes four years (maybe a little TOO long!) Click on the image to see what he learned about the assumptions people make based on the shoes you wear.

You know how baking soda is our idea of a green cleaning product? How we use it to clean sinks and keep refrigerators and drains smelling fresh? In an earlier part of my career, I read a marketing case study about how the geniuses at Arm & Hammer took a baking product whose market universe was limited by the annual number of cakes baked, and identified new uses that convinced millions and millions of people to literally THROW THEIR PRODUCT DOWN THE DRAIN.

It bugs me that a lot of our economy is based on throwing stuff down the drain—especially when others have so little. Especially when the environmental impact of harvesting/manufacturing the materials that go into our shoes—rubber, plastic, polyurethane, acetate, nylon, suede, and cloth—may be devastating. And instead of objecting to injustice or waste, we say oh well, what can I do, and buy another pair. After all, it’s recommended.

Anne Basye, Sustaining Simplicity

I had a professor in college who liked to tell students, “Communion is not a snack.” ‘Of course it’s not a snack,’ I thought the first time I heard his mini-lecture. ‘It’s you know, communion.’ Equating the Lord’s Supper with a snack was a humorous way for my professor to introduce what he was trying to communicate, but in truth that understanding was not a far-off stretch from what many of my friends and classmates believed, including myself. For I could sit there thinking, ‘it’s you know, communion,’ but struggle to put into words the depth and breadth of meaning and character of the holy meal that makes comparing it to a snack absurd.

In the time since then I’ve come, and am still coming to, a much richer, fuller, and truer understanding of the sacrament of holy communion. I could write a lot about that process, all the influences that shape it, my current convictions and what I’m still working through, but that would become a very long blog post! Instead, I’ll just share from a recent influence, the thoughts Dr. Samuel Torvend shared with us at the Detroit Hunger Leaders Gathering.

The Rev. Dr. Samuel Torvend presented a workshop, “The Spirituality and Practice of Eucharistic Ethics” and plenary session, “Who Benefits from Keeping the Hungry Poor Both Hungry and Poor?” at the Gathering. I loved what he had to say. (Torvend won me over in part by reminding me of my professor’s communion/snack distinction with his likening of individual communion wafers to fish food — “It takes more faith to believe its bread than the body of Christ,” I believe is what he said. Ha!)

But in all seriousness, Torvend said some very powerful things about the ways in which eucharistic practice shapes a spirituality of social commitment with, to and for people who are hungry and poor. There is an environmental ethic in every part of eucharistic celebration. Socioeconomic class is always invoked. Celebrating the eucharist always sends us out into the world to serve all in need and give ourselves away as bread for the hungry, to actually become what we eat and drink. Torvend made clear the “seamless flow between the table of the Lord and the table of the poor” and shared the conviction that sacrament and social action are coextensive, like breathing in and breathing out. For me, the connections between receiving the bread of life and feeding those who are hungry are undeniable.

I continue to think about the various ethical imperatives and questions that Torvend raised for us in Detroit, and hope you could gain something from my brief and humble attempt to reflect on them. I encourage you to check out Torvend’s thoughts yourself!

Julie Reishus

The church of Christ in every age,
beset by change but Spirit-led,
must claim and test its heritage
and keep on rising from the dead.

Across the world, across the street,
the victims of injustice cry
for shelter and for bread to eat,
and never live until they die.

The let the servant church arise,
a caring church that longs to be
a partner in Christ’s sacrifice,
and clothed in Christ’s humanity.

For he alone, whose blood was shed,
can cure the fever in our blood,
and teach us how to share our bread
and feed the starving multitude.

We have no mission but to serve
in full obedience to our Lord:
to care for all, without reserve,
and spread his liberating word.

May we have the courage to live into this ideal.

David Creech

This is the fifth in a series of posts highlighting hunger-related activities that happened over the summer at ELCA Outdoor Ministry locations with the help of Education/Advocacy grants from ELCA World Hunger. The following is from Pine Lake Camp in Waupaca, Wisconsin.

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Crossways Camping Ministries, located at three sites in northeastern Wisconsin, brings people together in Christ so that lives are changed and communities enhanced.  Campers between third grade and high-school grow in their relationship with God and learn to incorporate Christian principles into their daily lives.  This summer we have two hunger education focuses.  The first focus is to learn about hunger by discussing our own eating habits.  The second focus is to learn about hunger as we raise money to combat hunger in other countries. 

At Pine Lake Camp we use our World Awareness time to share the importance of making responsible food choices.  Counselors lead campers through one of three games which we created and/or adapted from other resources.  One opportunity is Food Mile Rummy.  Campers play a traditional rummy card game collecting one card of each food group, as well as a card indicating the number of miles the food has travelled, and a card indicating the number of fossil fuels used in transportation.  The winning camper is the one with a card in each category, the lowest miles travelled, and the lowest fossil fuels used.  Discussion after the game focuses on ways we can reduce the amount of miles our food travels, including, growing our own, and buying food in season.  Campers connect this conversation with our “local food chalk board” hung in the dining hall.  Here campers learn that some of the vegetables on the salad bar are from our camp garden and much of the dairy they are eating is from a nearby dairy.

Another game the campers can play helps them understand the balance between their needs and wants.  Campers choose pictures of things they own or value, like ipods and CD’s.  Then they choose what animal they’d like to buy for a family in need in another country.  The objective is to balance the cost of animal the with the proper amount of items they would need to give up in order to buy the animal.  Campers discuss how much we have in comparison to people in other countries, as well as their own definition of need and want and how they can change their lifestyle so that others may gain from their wealth.

Our second focus this summer is to encourage campers to raise money for ELCA Good Gifts – God’s Global Barnyard.  During Mission Project Time campers first learn from our international counselors.  Then they learn about God’s Global Barnyard and how buying animals for people in other countries helps to combat hunger.  To facilitate learning the campers gather in small groups with information about animals that can be purchased through ELCA Good Gifts.   They design a skit to share with the rest of the campers how a cow, for example, can help nourish a family and community in another country.  Then on Thursday the campers can donate money from their canteen cards towards the mission project.  At closing worship on Friday parents and campers alike find out how much money was raised that week and what animals will be purchased with the money.  As a way to tie into our summer Bible study we’ve put up a huge ark in the chapel to which we adhere the animals purchased throughout the summer.  The weeks we’ve been able to purchase a cow for $500 have been particularly exciting, but we’ve celebrated every animal with lots of applause.  We expect that our focus on hunger education this summer will be change lives and enhance communities once campers leave camp.

Erika Page
Camp Director
Crossways – Pine Lake Camp

Last week my assignment for class was to read the ELCA Draft Social Statement on Genetics. In case you’re not a social statement expert (I was pretty clueless myself) or just need a reminder, ELCA social statements are teaching and policy documents that assist members in discernment for action and in forming judgements on social issues.

During my time working here I’ve had the pleasure of rubbing shoulders on the ninth floor with some of my Church in Society colleagues who work in Studies, the department responsible for overseeing the development of social statements and social messages. I believe the work they’re doing is incredibly important, and I’m glad that I am finally taking the time to read and think about our church’s social statements. (Nothing like a homework assignment to get you to make time for something you’ve been meaning to do!) This past week’s assignment was the Human Sexuality Statement, and I’m looking forward to some good discussion tonight.

But back to Genetics — one of the three social statements currently in process. I was surprised by how often issues surrounding world hunger were addressed in the draft or brought to mind as I read it. There was a disconnect in my thinking about how the root causes of and solutions to world hunger could be related to genetics, but there are many connections! When we talked about it in class last Wednesday, my discussion group highlighted the section of the draft statement about “the global context of genetic developments” as some of the most crucial material in the statement. The statement addresses agricultural, environmental and justice problems. Many passages plainly spell out these connections and the stand our church can take on them:

“The decision whether to use genetically modified seed affects not only the contents of U.S. breakfast cereal but also what kind of seeds become available for African farmers” (13).

“Inequalities limit who is included and who is excluded from discussions and evaluations of genetic developments. Some in the U.S. and others in the global village do not have access to, and likely will not benefit greatly from, the fruits of genetic research” (13).

“Many resource poor countries have critical needs that do not require genetic solutions. These include infrastructure, food distribution, clean water, housing and basic health care” (13).

“Genetic knowledge and its application will give particular attention to the needs of the most vulnerable” (18).

“Human deliberation should give special regard to the voices of those who work closest to the land and with living creatures” (29).

“The principle of solidarity…calls for weighing the needs and desires of relatively affluent populations in light of the most pressing needs in resource poor nations” (27).

“The ELCA has called for scrutiny as to “how specific policies and practices affect people and nations that are the poorest.” This raises the question, for instance, of whether genetically engineered food, and the practices associated with it, increase the availability and equitable distribution of food for people who are hungry in the short-term and increase the ability of people to feed themselves in the long-term” (24).

Have you read the Draft Social Statement on Genetics? What do you think? The deadline for responding to the draft before the process continues is next Friday, October 15. Respond online here!

Julie Reishus