How fun! Paul E-S found this video on youtube. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlcHxNIOPw4

“About the video” written by the producer :
Pastor Erwin Roux (aka ‘PR’) is the Pastor at the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Turbotville Pa. He and his wife Beth teach ballroom dancing lessons on selected Friday evenings. These classes were originally started at the Hidlay Parish Lutheran Church in Bloomsburg about 10 years ago. In 2005 when PR relocated to the Church in Turbotville, the classes were continued at the new location.

[===]All proceeds from these dance classes are donated to the Lutheran {ELCA] World Hunger Appeal. So far about $30,000 has been raised and donated since the dance program was started. The Pastor generously pays the operating expenses (printing, postage, and domain registration) out of his own pocket.

[====]RELATED LINKS:
http://ParishHouseDance.org – The Church’s ballroom dance lessons program http://ELCA.org/hunger – Lutheran World Hunger Appeal
http://Zion-ev-Lutheran.org – Main website for Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Turbotville, Pa.

[=====]This iMovie video was assembled 2/14/08 by JamesRobertIngram.com, aka Track2.com .

I live in Chicago and ride the CTA to work everyday. I take a bus, train, and then a short walk to get to the office. All in all it’s about an hour commute each way, maybe an hour 10 if I stop at the coffee bar. Most mornings I read the Red Eye, a free local paper published by the Chicago Tribune. It gives me a decent dose of local, national, and international news and all that celeb gossip that I don’t really care about but some how end up reading first.

A feature article a few weeks ago was about eco-overload. An idea that today, we (consumers in the United States) may be overloaded by messages to be environmentally friendly, to recycle more or to reduce our carbon footprint. The article goes on to say that this eco-overload can cause “eco-anxiety” and there are even “eco-therapists” popping up to help folks deal with the stress of being “green”.

I was shocked! The entire idea seemed so absurd to me and I felt like it was really being used as a way to justify excessive lifestyles and an excuse to not be good stewards of the planet. The article went on to say that this surge in “green” messages could cause “green-fatigue”, thus loosing the message altogether.

Interesting I thought? What other important messages might get lost in the din of all the other messages we receive daily and could cause fatigue? The fight to end hunger, the quest for peace, clean drinking water for all, what else? I suspect that there are not many people who would say these things and the preservation of the planet are not worthy goals to achieve, but the question is what are we each doing about it?

I think we should be more curious and learn about the root causes and solutions to these matters. Then act. Start with some small changes in our lives. Small things really do add up. Be generous and make regular financial gifts to organizations that do good work. Tell others what you have learned, are doing, and encourage them to join you.

The world and those most in need can not afford for us to be overloaded and fatigued. For me doing something, even something small, helps me to know that I am making a difference and by making a difference I am combating fatigue and changing the world.
What about you?

This winter has been brutal for the roads in Chicago. Huge temperature swings and plenty of snow and ice are crumbling the concrete. My commute to work has become an obstacle course of potholes. There are two strategies for navigating the course: 1) slow down and drive through the potholes, hoping you’re not causing too much damage to your suspension and tires, or 2) slow down and weave around – in your lane and out of it – to avoid hitting them. In the end, you do both, and so does everyone else. The main results are that it takes longer to get anywhere, and all the swerving makes driving scarier than usual. I’m guessing the mechanics are doing a better business than usual, too.

Winter-ravaged roads are a great illustration of their importance. If you don’t have good roads, life is harder. Poor road conditions mean it’s difficult to receive or send goods. Remote villages the world over experience poverty and hunger, partly due to the roads. When roads are badly rutted, frequently muddy, washed out, or in some other form of disrepair, vehicles trying to pass will have to go slowly and are likely to sustain damage. If you’re a business person trying to deliver goods, you’ll have to raise your prices to compensate for the time, fuel, and maintenance costs. Schedules may be irregular depending on when you can get through and how long it takes. If the goods being delivered are perishable, and if delivery schedules are dependent on road conditions and whether or not a truck breaks down, villagers may face perpetual shortages. And to top it all off, once the goods arrive, villagers may not be able to afford them. The suppliers must raise prices to cover their transportation costs, which may make the items too expensive for the small incomes of remote villagers. If suppliers are unable to sell their goods, they are likely to stop coming altogether.

This road is a two-way street (a little infrastructure humor, there). The transportation challenges are true for the villager trying to sell outside the village, too. The costs required to get goods or people to other markets may raise prices to such a degree that the villager can’t compete. The remote village is cut off from larger markets that can increase incomes, create jobs, and improve standards of living. Poverty and hunger become more common.

All of this about roads, and they are only one aspect of infrastructure! It still amazes me, sometimes, how many factors contribute to poverty and hunger. But if there’s a bright side, it’s that all these factors mean there are lots of ways to approach solutions, too.

“The Church of England is urging people to cut down on carbon, rather than chocolate, for Lent this year…” Check out the article, which includes 40 ideas for reducing your carbon foodtprint.

Kathleen Kastilahn’s recent post on The Lutheran’s blog, “Cookies for Sale” ties cookies (literally) made of mud and eaten in Haiti to our rite of Spring, Girl Scout Cookies…and in the process helps connect our wealth and our concern for the poor.

Blessings,
Sue

This Valentine’s Day give gift-donations to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal and send your sweeties ELCA World Hunger e-cards to announce your donation in their honor. Visit www.elca.org/giving or call 800/638-3522
to donate and visit www.elca.org/ecards to choose your “save a tree and make a life-saving difference” greeting.
Have you given WHA donations as gifts and sent WHA gift cards? Tell us about it! Add a comment below. Blessings of the heart, Sue
P.S. Don’t miss Nancy M’s post below…wowzer, Bowzer.

Talk about an affluent society! According to the February 4th edition of Time Magazine, Americans spent $35.9 billion on their pets in 2005. $35.9 billion! I contributed to that, and I don’t even own a pet! (My brother-in-law’s dogs get Christmas presents, too.)

I’ve got nothing against pets. I can understand that Fluffy has an important place in the family, and deserves to be fed and vaccinated. It’s just that, so do people. My point is simply this: If we can fork out $35.9 billion for our pets – just one category of discretionary spending – can’t we do better in making sure everyone has enough to eat? And if so many of us are willing to take on the responsibility of caring for pets (and, boy, are we willing!), can’t we do the same for people?

Just think about it. If Americans gave as much money to one poverty-fighting group (may I suggest the ELCA World Hunger Appeal?) as they spent on their pets in a year, it would create an organization nearly the size of the Gates Foundation. Think what we could accomplish…

Lenten Thoughts:

Jesus “fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.” Matthew 4:2

A God who experiences the pain of hunger!

This is an amazing image of God — a God who enters fully into the life of humanity–sharing our pain and celebrating our joys. A God who cries out with those who are oppressed, who is present with those who are forgotten, a God who feels the hunger pangs of each starving child, and who grieves with parents who are denied the abundance of this rich earth. This is not a distant immovable God who feasts while creation is groaning. This God, the God to whom we pray, is here with us, fasting with us.

Remember to report your Souper Bowl of Caring totals at www.souperbowl.org and check out this “souper” story!

Pastor Megan from Grace Lutheran (Lexington, Nebraska) writes:
Hi World Hunger Appeal,
We just wrapped up our 2008 Souper Bowl Sunday effort led by our 8 Confirmation youth. They ordered the ELCA World Hunger Appeal change collection boxes, folded them and handed them out last week for people to bring back this week. We had soup pots out and they were overflowing with the little boxes! As of this morning, we received $331.75 to be contributed for the World Hunger Appeal. Most likely we’ll receive more throughout the week. Like the loaves and fishes, we hope God will bless our small efforts. Thanks for being God’s instrument to multiply all our efforts!

Pastor Megan and I e-mailed back and forth a bit. I asked her for pictures, and she re-created the display above (and yes! their display included the “hunger” issue of The Lutheran). The youth also created “God’s math” posters to display around the congregation on Souper Bowl Sunday. Fun!
If you have Souper Bowl stories and pictures, share them by replying to this note, or send them on to hunger@elca.org Blessings! Sue

If you’re in one of the 24 states with elections on Super Tuesday and eligible to do so, please go vote tomorrow. Yes, there are lots of reasons to be cynical about politics. Yes, I am annoyed by the seemingly endless rhetoric and finger-pointing. (And isn’t it paradoxical that politicians often reach their highest level of annoying when they’re trying to get you to vote for them?!) But like it or not, laws are created and money is spent through the political process. Important laws and lots of money. Legislation that affects employment, trade, povery, health, peace. Wouldn’t you prefer that the people making proposals and decisions reflect your values and interests?

We’re lucky to live in a place where we are not only allowed, but actually begged, to have our say about who runs our government and how they do it. What so many people in the world would give to have the same! Our system isn’t perfect, but governing is a complex matter – especially when millions of citizens are expected to participate, all with differing opinions. Don’t take for granted this very prized right. Be grateful that your opinion is wanted. Go vote! And if you choose to not vote, to remain quiet when asked, then understand that I won’t be listening when you complain later.

Hmm…it’s well below zero here in Chicago–sure makes me wish I was back in Nicaragua! I traveled there a couple of weeks ago to meet with some of the farmers who produce Fair Trade coffee. It was a great trip–the best part was getting to see how the Fair Trade movement (comercio justo en español) has really made a noticeable difference in the lives of the families who participate.

For example, about ten years ago, the price of coffee on the open market crashed, and Ventura Rodriguez nearly lost his farm. Not only that, but the crisis threatened to split apart his family. The oldest boys had to leave the family farm to search for work in other parts of the country.

Lutheran World Relief, one of the partners through which ELCA World Hunger funds are channeled, responded to the coffee crisis by launching a focused effort to organize farmers into the Fair Trade movement and to organize U.S. Lutherans to buy Fair Trade certified coffee. This partnership made it possible for Ventura, and hundreds of farmers like him to survive the crisis and actually build back stronger. Ventura’s family is back together farming their land, and the farm is now a model example of shade-grown, organic production.

Here’s another cool thing: the farmers of these Fair Trade cooperatives that LWR has helped organize are becoming known in the gourmet coffee industry because they are producing top-notch beans. Intelligentsia, a Chicago-based coffee roaster known for brewing nothing but the best, has been buying coffee produced by co-ops affiliated with LWR, including Las Brumas.

¡Sí, se puede!