E.L.C.A. - M.U.D.

Moving from 2011 to 2012 (Elise Anderson)

2012-01-13T15:01:00.006+02:00

Happy 2012 everyone! This has been a very unique new years for me and I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea of New Year’s resolutions. I’ve made my fair share of them and have followed through on a … few. A lot of people think New Year’s resolutions are silly, that making such a big deal out of celebrating the New Year is ridiculous. Now, I’ve never been the first one to pop the bubbly or throw the confetti, but I do consider new years a very special time. In its purist form it is the recognition of the end of one section of time and the celebration of the start of another. But, too many it represents hope and starting off on a new foot, almost like a “do-over”. This idea of a fresh start leads many to make resolutions, things they want to accomplish in the New Year ahead. But, this year, moving from 2011 to 2012 I think I will instead list out the lessons that I learned in 2011. After all, if we don’t learn from the past, we will only repeat our mistakes in the future…

I have learned a lot during my time in South Africa, things that I’m sure I would have learned at some point or another in my journey to adulthood but it seems that this YAGM experience has just sped that process along. I have learned a great deal about myself and how I handle being outside of my comfort zone, I have learned a lot about my faith and how to express it, and I have been able to learn a great deal about people in general and the strength of the human spirit.

One of the great lessons I have learned over the course of 2011 and here in South Africa is how to forgive. I’ve never been a person who gets really angry all the time. There are things that bother me sure and if someone hurts my family or my friends that tends to get my blood boiling. But, overall I consider myself an even tempered person with a very long fuse. The problem with this is that when someone does hurt me, it’s usually pretty bad and I find it hard to forgive. Well, early in my time here I heard a sermon that changed that, it was a sermon about forgiveness. The pastor said that the person who was wronged should always be the first to forgive. It sounds simple right? As simple as that sounds, that message hit me like a ton of bricks. Normally when you are hurt by someone your thought is, “well, if they apologize first then maybe I’ll forgive them” you expect them to see their error and come to you first and then maybe you’ll consider forgiveness. But, what this pastor was saying was that the person who was wronged should approach the person who hurt them and say “you’ve hurt me… but I forgive you”. Talk about being the bigger person right?? A perfect example of this is Nelson Mandela. After 27 years in prison and a lifetime of oppression he walked out of his cell and the first thing he did was look at his jailors and say “I forgive you, now let’s fix this” (ok, so those weren’t his exact words, but you get the picture). That is incredible to me! So, this lesson in forgiveness is something that I have learned from 2011 and will now carry over into 2012. Forgive.

My country coordinator Brian gave me the best advice I’ve ever gotten, and I don’t think he even realized it. And I know that many other people have tried to get this into my head, but it took the right circumstance and the right words for me to put these pieces together. The lesson I learned was this, never rely on anyone else to make you happy, take control of how you feel every day. I was having a conversation with Brian about some struggles I was having day to day here at the beginning of my time in South Africa, and in the middle of my pity party Brian says, “you know, for someone who likes to take control of things you sure do allow others to control your daily happiness”. My first reaction was, “what?! How can you say that!” haha but then I calmed down and I realized he was 100% right. I doubt he realizes how much him saying that got me thinking about so much more than just my attitude here in South Africa but really my attitude about life. I can honestly say that after a lot of self reflection after that conversation I decided to take control over how happy I would be everyday and it has made a huge difference! My experience here has done a 180 degree turn since that conversation. Now, obviously there are factors to personal happiness, your relationships, your surroundings, and the people you love (there’s no way to discount how much those things can affect your life and how you live it) but when the rubber hits the road there is only one person who can make you truly happy and that’s you. So try something for me, wake up every morning and tell yourself, “today will be a good day” and I guarantee that it will be. So far, it’s working for me…

The last lesson of 2011 is one of appreciation. You can’t imagine how much 10,000 miles can make you appreciate what you have. I have always been grateful for everything that I have been blessed with. But, I don’t think that I really understood what I have going for me. I’m going to be honest with you I have the best group of family and friends in the world. I don’t tell them enough how much I love them. So, PAY ATTENTION FAMILY AND FRIENDS… I’m telling you now, I LOVE YOU! I can say that I am one of the luckiest people to have the parents that I have, they are two incredible people. Even though they can get under my skin like all parents do they made me the person that I am and they have supported me through everything that I have set my mind too. You name it, finishing high school in my hometown: done, going to my dream school despite expenses: done, going to Africa for a year and leaving behind two cats, a storage room full of stuff, and student loans: done. And even though we didn’t see eye to eye on every decision, I can’t complain because no matter how big the fight at the end of the day they were still behind me. My whole family is great, I could sit here and talk about how each one of them has made my life better and has supported me, but that would be a very, very long blog. So, to all my amazing family; thank you, I love you. As if I wasn’t lucky enough having the family that I do, I have been beyond blessed to have the most amazing friends. I mean, your family has to love you out of obligation right?? You’re stuck with them… but my friends have supported and loved me by choice, and I am so thankful for that. If you’re reading this and wondering “I wonder if she’s talking about me?” don’t worry… I am talking about you. To all my friends, thank you for choosing to love me and thank you for letting me be a part of your life, I love you! (did I mention that I love you?)

Now, of course there have been other lessons learned this year, like always carry an umbrella, how to fill out loan deferment forms, and vegetable oil will never taste like olive oil… but I thought the ones above were a little bit more important. So, thank you 2011, thank you for teaching me these valuable lessons, I had to go through a lot to learn them, but if you know me you know that I usually take the long way around. I will take these lessons and carry them over in to 2012, the lessons to forgive, be happy, and to appreciate the amazing people in my life. So, bring it on 2012! I’m ready for you!

Elise Anderson is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Pietermaritzburg.

The True Meaning of Christmas (Nicki Holtz)

2011-12-31T13:55:00.003+02:00

The following reflection is kind of a story that’s been told a lot- “The true meaning of Christmas”. I don’t mean to write this with the impression that it’s the first time this is occurring to me or that what I’m about to say is this whole new idea that no one has ever thought of. It’s just that experiencing this holiday season in a new setting and a different culture has allowed me to better grasp the concept of Christmas personally and I’d like to share how.

I thought that I would miss a white Christmas, outdoor Christmas lights, Advent services and familiar English hymns at MPLC, the tree, opening up the Christmas cards as they came, my Mom’s cooking, sitting around in the living room with my family while opening stockings and presents. I thought I’d miss all this, and I did.

Kimberley, South Africa is hot. It’s hot here at Christmas time. There are few Christmas decorations, hymns in Afrikaans, different Christmas meals, different traditions. Many things that are new and different. These were the things running through my mind before Christmas morning. Things that made me think that Christmas here is so different. However, on Christmas morning I was sitting there in church while embracing the many things that were familiar- a packed sanctuary, recognizable melodies, memorized Bible readings, and lots of straight up contentment because of the holiday season. It started to feel like Christmas. Christmas for me this year wasn’t the presents or the tree, and definitely not the snow. Christmas this year were those familiar hymns, the epic verses from the Gospels, the celebration of Christ’s birth, and that silly feeling when you’re just, you know, happy. Those things are present no matter where you are on Christmas. Who can take that away?

While watching the Grinch as he stole Christmas as a kid I was under the impression that without the trees, lights, and presents Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas. But none of this stuff was present on that very first Christmas. No glitter, glam or expensive presents. No tree, lights, reindeer or snow. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one to think that the non-religious symbols of Christmas (Santa, toys, Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf) are anything bad. I mean, I still remember the exact details of the conversation that lead to me learning the [SPOILER ALERT] not so true existence of Santa…and the tears that followed. Though I am growing up, these symbols still remind me of the excitement of Christmas and they certainly put me in a good mood, however, I’m learning the importance of recognizing the distinction between these symbols and the real intention of our Christmas celebration. Jesus.

What happened in Bethlehem on Christmas day is like this earth-shattering event that has shaped my entire life. It is my faith and my belief, what helps me through difficult times and what is a part of me as I rejoice in triumphs and success. It is so much more than one day out of the year. Santa goes back to the North Pole and we forget about him for another 11 months, but that ‘little baby Jesus’ (another Will Ferrell reference?) is a year round celebration.

So next year when I’m home will I get rid of the tree, lights and 23 years worth of collected ornaments? No. The joy of giving presents, the excitement of opening them up and the desire for a white Christmas will remain. But there will be an understanding that if these things were lessened or completely taken away Christmas would continue to be complete and we would still be able to embrace all of it’s importance.

8 months ago at the YAGM DIP event I spoke to the others about an accompaniment moment I had while at Shepard’s Field in Israel. The group I was with crossed paths with another tour group from China. Somehow we ended up singing about 9 rounds of Silent Night. A few times in English and a few in Chinese. Who would have thought that 10 months from that moment in Israel I would be in South Africa singing the same song in Afrikaans.

Stille nag, Heilige nag! Alles rus; eensaam wag slegs Maria, geseende vrou, wat vol teerheid haar Kindjie aanskou. Slaap in hemelse rus, slaap in hemelse rus.

I hope that you all had an amazing Christmas. I was thinking about you all. I pray that aside from the presents and Christmas lights you were able to experience that true joy that can only be found through the wonderful gift of Christ’s birth.

…and Wisconsin didn’t have a white Christmas either, which makes me feel a little bit better.

Nicki Holtz in an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Kimberly, South Africa

Ingredients of a Perfect Christmas (Krista Webb)

2011-12-30T15:21:00.002+02:00

If I’d have written down all the things I needed for an ideal Christmas a year ago, it would have been a much longer list than the one I’d write today. I would have listed a brightly lit Christmas
tree, singing “Silent Night” while holding a lighted candle in a dark church, seeing snow gently blanket houses and yards, and eating my oven-baked Christmas meal all snug and warm around the table with my family.

This year, I spent Christmas Day wearing shorts, sitting outside on the grass, eating cold salads, grilled meat, and ice cream with a bunch of people I had never met before. I sweated my way through a four-hour church service, fanning myself with my hymnal while listening to a sermon in a language I didn’t know.

It was a most unusually awesome Christmas.

Christmas Eve was split between my host family and my bosses’ house. Exchanging presents at both homes brought back memories of my last 21 Christmases back home, whether it was seeing the delight on the children’s faces while they tore through layers of wrapping paper or the laughter that results from the always embarrassing gift of underwear.

Meat straight off the outdoor grill, potato salad, and beer made up the perfect summertime meal that night and as I ate, laughed, and pulled crackers with my friends, I forgot to miss all those so called Christmas “essentials.”

Of course, I did miss my family, but a nice video chat earlier that evening with my parents helped them seem closer than their actual distance from me would suggest. My mother’s insistence that we still sing a Christmas carol together over the computer helped me to realize
that my parents could still embarrass me despite being thousands of miles away. It was a rather funny reminder that even with all the new experiences I was having, some things never change.

That’s true for the holiday, as well. The two vital components of Christmas that haven’t changed – even though it sometimes feels like everything else has – are the birth of Jesus and sharing this time with those you care about. It’s something we’ve been taught time and time again whether it’s through a sermon or that slightly cliché Christmas movie on the Lifetime channel. But sometimes it takes something more – say perhaps a move to South Africa – for the message
to really sink in.

I still love my traditions. This experience hasn’t made me want to throw out my collection of Christmas tree ornaments or runoff to Hawaii every Dec. 24, but it has made me realize that traditions are only that. They’re not indispensable ingredients in some elaborate recipe for a perfect holiday. You can make Christmas without them. With Jesus in your heart and good friends by your side, chuck out that long list and just be present. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find that Christmas tastes even sweeter.

Krista Webb is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

We Come in Bright Array (Taylor Hammrich)

2011-12-19T21:29:00.002+02:00

Choir has come to shape many of my experiences here in South Africa. Not only because I am furthering my interest in singing, but it has allowed me to meet many people that I potentially would never have met. For the first two weeks in December I found myself at a choir “camp.” No, it was not like the choir camp held at Green Lake Bible Camp with counselors for us to look up to and cabins to sleep in. However, it was much in the same that there were activities and games planned for us throughout each day (including a 5am wake-up call to do exercise, both physically and vocally) that helped prepare us for the upcoming ELCSAMO choir competition between the top choirs from each diocese of ELCSA. During the camp, I spent countless hours with individuals from the Turfloop Parish Youth Choir singing, dancing, talking, and hanging out getting to know one another further. Through this, I have made and developed some wonderful friendships.

As you may remember, I was in a choir competition last September were we placed first in five of the seven songs we sang. This gave us the golden ticket to the competition between each diocese in ELCSA, which was held here at the University of Limpopo at Turfloop on December 10 and 11. This is what we were “camping” out and preparing for. You may also remember from the last choir competition I was in, I had to borrow a black vest, black tie, black pants, and unfortunately due to the size of my foot could not borrow black shoes but was instead forced to wear my own brown shoes. Thanks to my mom and dad back at home, this time I had my own black pants and black tie and I was able to find a pair of black shoes here in Limpopo. That means I was missing a black vest. I couldn’t just have any black vest, as it needed to have the ELCSA Mphome Circuit badge on it. The one I had borrowed in Witbank was to be coming so I could use it again, however the individual arrived on the day of the competition empty handed, no vest for me to borrow. Here we go again, I thought. After asking several people if they knew where I could find one, it seemed as if I was out of luck and the white man that already stuck out, would be sticking out even more. Then, about twenty minutes before it was our turn to sing, one of the girls said she had one I could wear. Finally, I had the entire uniform.

Regardless of now “looking” the same as my fellow choristers, I was nervous to sing. Standing there on stage in an arena with nearly 4,000 people in attendance, I could feel my heart racing and my face turning red. The song, We Come in Bright Array, was about to begin. Moss, our choir conductor was ready. We began singing, but I couldn’t hear the words coming out of my mouth over the loud beating of my heart. Before I knew it, the song was over. I had done it, WE had done it. As we walked off the stage, we all looked at each other, knowing that we had performed very well. The song changed from “We Come” to “We Came” as we knew we had done our best, we sang the new lyrics back to our seats with excitement! My nerves were now calmed and I knew I would be just fine singing the rest of the weekend.

The following day, the competitions continued. On this day we sang our African pieces, meaning the lyrics were not in English. These songs proved to be much more difficult for me to learn and sing as they were not in a tongue that I knew or recognized, and some words included clicks and other such noises that I simply do not do. Nevertheless, I did my best to learn them and performed one of them, Molaetsa. Again, it went very well, but there were some very good choirs competing against us that also performed very well.

Once we were finished singing, we waited for the rest of the sections to perform their songs. We once again sat together as a choir. Between each song we would stand and sing a chorus that would spread throughout the hall, inviting the audience to stand and sing with us. It was a festive time. Then it was time for the results. As they came to each section we sang, we would quite ourselves and concentrate, waiting for them to say, “First place with __ points, Northern Diocese!” And once again, we heard this even more than we expected, as we received first place in four of the five songs we entered with! We were ecstatic! We sang and danced throughout our seats, into the hallway, down the stairs, out the entrance, into the parking lot, and into the road where we sat our trophies down and proceeded to dance around them, paying little attention to the cars leaving the arena!

It felt great winning these trophies. It felt even better celebrating with my friends, seeing how happy each individual was for what we had accomplished together. Then one of the conductors from our choir called attention to me and explained how several other conductors and spectators had asked her if “the white man” would be singing the vernacular songs. She told them “Yes, of course, watch him when he goes on stage.” She continued to explain how happy and thankful she was when I opened my mouth so very wide on stage, singing every word of the African song. She was not the only person to comment on this. The day of and in the days following as I moved about campus, Turfloop, Masealama, and on the taxis, those in attendance at the competition had taken note that “the white man” sang every word of Molaetsa and would tell me how impressed they were.

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that I have been given through singing in the choir. I am still shocked when I think that it has been the most dynamic aspect of my time in South Africa. Unfortunately, this was the culmination of the competitions and there will not be another until after I depart next year. The friendships I have created through the choir will continue, and perhaps there is something else waiting for me to unexpectedly fall in love with…

Taylor Hammrich is an ELCA-MUD participant-leaner in Masealama, Limpopo, South Africa.

The Great Divide (Steve Odegard)

2011-12-17T09:05:00.003+02:00

Last week, I realized that I’ve been in the presence of one of the most amazing barriers in the world on a weekly basis without even realizing it. This barrier separates two people, two stories, and two drastically different sets of emotions as effectively as the Berlin Wall. It divides the clean and the unclean, partitions a human being into mobile and paralyzed sections, and in some ways separates the past and the future.

In all honesty, the thing itself it’s quite unassuming. It’s made up of a painstakingly sterilized green cloth, supported on each end by forceps clipping it to vertical metal bars. On one side, brilliantly focused spotlights illuminate a small patch of skin exposed between layers of fabric. On the other, amid a tangle of wires, lines, and equipment, is a young woman’s face—nervous, expectant, and hopeful.

It only takes a few minutes for the power of this barrier to become apparent. Place yourself in my shoes for a moment: You’re standing about six feet away from the barrier, with a perfect view of each side. On the right, blood, muscle, skin, and fat are exposed to the blinding glare of the spotlights. Masked men and women work quickly and quietly with a wide array of stainless steel tools, cutting, pulling, stretching, and suturing. They are completely absorbed in their work, and scarcely glance across the barrier. On the left, the young woman, her hair wrapped neatly in a surgical cloth, has an expression of radiant joy on her face. Her gaze is fixed on a bundle of green towels in the arms of a nurse. The bundle, which is the focal point of her joy, contains her newborn child.

Perhaps most extraordinary is the child herself. So soon after entering the world under the blinding spotlights on the right side of the barrier, the baby crossed over to the left. She bridged this gap without even knowing it, without realizing the power of the mental snapshot she helped create in my mind, without realizing she just changed her mother’s life. Remarkable.

The image of this child’s arrival that imprinted itself on my memory seems particularly applicable this Christmas season. New life entered the world, and began crossing barriers from the moment she took her first breaths. Although her arrival was anticipated by some, this
birth went largely unnoticed by the world around her. The hospital and surrounding community continued life as usual, taking only the time to record the delivery of another child in their log books.

I imagine that Jesus’ arrival over two millennia ago was quite similar. Minus the operating theater, sterile barrier, and medical advances, our Savior also entered the world in the middle of a bloody mess. His arrival was cherished and celebrated by a few, but unheard of by many. Yet from the moment of his birth he began changing lives. This Advent, as we look forward to spending time with family and friends, sharing food, singing carols, exchanging gifts, and
celebrating dozens of other Christmas traditions, let us not forget the birth of this baby boy and how his arrival has touched us all.

Steve Odegard is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Umphumulo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Lessons Learned (Jordan Muller)

2011-12-15T07:12:00.004+02:00

I have now been away from Lincoln for almost four months, I have been in South Africa for three and a half months, and I have been living at my site for a little more than three months. Although this does not seem like a lot of time in the grand picture, there are a lot of things that I have learned already and I wanted to share with you.

1. Enjoy Your Grass

There is the old saying that the grass is greener on the other side, and sometimes it may look that way, but I have learned that it is all a matter of perspective. One of the initial challenges that I struggled with was the sub-conscious expectations that I seemed to have for myself, for the work that I would be doing, and for my overall experience here. As the first few weeks passed I had seen and heard about what many of the other volunteers were doing and what
their sites were like. I began to compare my experience with the experiences of others and felt that my time here had not been as fulfilling. However, I quickly realized that having a pity-party for myself would not be a good way to help my situation. Although my experience is different than everyone else’s it is still worthwhile. As Desmond Tutu said, “A life of wholeness does not depend on what we experience. Wholeness depends on how we experience our lives.” So
there may be green grass on the other side but, with a little nurturing and care, mine can be just as nice!

2. Africans Own the Time

When I was in Tanzania a wise and wonderful man once said, “Americans own the watches, Tanzanians own the time.” I believe that this statement is also true of South Africans. For many people here, time is just a grouping of numbers with little significance. This concept has been a true test of patience for me. It is usually safe to show up half an hour late for most events and still be one of the first people there. I am always nervous, however, that the one time I do go
late will be the time that it starts on time and then I will look like a fool. The lack of punctuality can be frustrating having grown up in a place where “Time is Money,” but I am trying to have a more relaxed mindset and I have become much more flexible instead of worrying about the numbers on my wrist because I have also learned that…

3. Being Present Matters

I often wonder, as I am sitting in a meeting or a four hour church service where I do not understand anything that is being said, how it would be different if I was not there. I do not think that it would be different, per se, but I know that people would notice. I think that a lot of us can take the ELCA Global Mission’s model of accompaniment and apply it to our own lives whether we are living in another country or not. Simply put it is all about relationships. During my short time here I am not going to solve the HIV/AIDS crisis or world hunger but I can be a friend and I can be there for support. I can build relationships that cross barriers and break down walls and stereotypes that people have. It might not seem like the most exciting way to make a difference, but sometimes just being can be enough.

4. Smile More

It seems so simple but just taking the extra time to smile at the people you walk by or taking a few minutes to talk to them and ask how they are doing or how their weekend was can make a huge difference. It might not seem like much but it can be bigger than you know.

5. Attitude of Gratitude

People want to feel appreciated but people are not thanked enough for the things that they do. I am not doing what I am doing so that people will thank me but I know it is always nice to hear. I have been making an effort to be more thankful, not only to the people that I am around but also for the overall experience that I am having. There are times when things are frustrating but it is much better to look at the positive things and be grateful for all that I have.

6. Dig Deeper

One of the best things that I have learned to do is ask questions. There is no better way to get information or clarification or to find out someone’s point of view. There is a very long and harsh history within this country and there are many things from the past that still affect things today including economic disparity, political tension, and racism. Many people that I am around are more than willing to talk to me and answer questions that I have which has been a huge blessing
and has opened my eyes to many of the problems that people of South Africa face. I think that in the age of internet we often think we can find the answers online much easier than taking the time to talk to someone. At times it may be easier but you won’t always get the best answer.

7. A Person is a Person through Other Persons

The spirit of Ubuntu is a concept that I cannot get enough of. The more that I think about all the people that have been in my life to make me the person I am today the more grateful I get. It does make me miss a lot of people that are back in the States but, at the same time, I know that I am also being changed through the people here. And the best part is that we are all connected as humans and we make each other more human through our relationships with each other. As
Frederick Buechner said, “You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.”

8. Embrace the Tension

The biggest lesson for me to learn has been being okay with struggling. When things are going bad I can get very down on myself instead of using the situation to learn about and challenge myself. There are going to be more days that are not easy and I am going to continue to encounter difficulties throughout this journey. The thing that is most important, however, seeing these situations as opportunities to grow both as an individual and within this community.

Jordan Muller is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Kwazamokuhle, South Africa.

Youth promise active involvement for environmental justice (World Council of Churches)

2011-12-14T13:51:00.001+02:00

After two weeks of training on the theology and politics of ecological justice in Durban, South Africa, Christian youth from around the world have pledged to start, in their own contexts, initiatives that promote the new understandings they have acquired.

Youth for Eco-Justice, a joint project of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) brought together 30 young people for biblical reflection and dialogue on the environment from 28 November to 10 December.

These young people were trained in advocacy, campaign strategizing, communication and eco-justice project planning and implementation.

Youth for Eco-Justice included Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Orthodox, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics. They gathered in Durban at the same time as negotiations were underway at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

As they prepared to leave Durban, the youth outlined some of their future plans.

“I intend to use the 40-day Lent period to urge Lutherans in Sweden to minimize their use of vehicles and products that increase carbon emissions,” said Joakim Book Jonsson, 20.

He has opted to use the Christian understanding of Lent, a period of self-denial and prayer, to call upon all Christians to do God’s will and make God’s reign first in their hearts by reducing carbon emissions.

“Fasting for carbon emission,” he noted, would be an appropriate way for Christians to spend the Lent period. He will involve youth through social media and share stories on a blog.

Supporting Minorities

Viktor Liszka, 30, from the Lutheran Church in Hungary, indicated that he will continue work promoting the artistic endeavors of youth from the Roma communities.

Youth with artistic skills paint houses and promote the rich culture among Roma people, said Liszka. He explained the intention of Lutheran youth to promote the community’s touristic heritage and to improve their livelihood. The Roma in Hungary are the largest ethnic minority group comprising nearly two percent of the country’s estimated population of 10 million.

The Hungarian Lutheran church shows support to the minority group in difficult times. “We share Christ’s love with the [Roma] and offer food and medicine in time of disasters,” said Liszka.

Preparing for Rio+20

On her return home, Raimy Esperanza, 24, of the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela, plans actively to engage the youth in her home country to talk more about environmental concerns ahead of the Rio+20 meeting to be held in Brazil in June 2012.

Claire Barrett-Lennard, a Youth for Eco-Justice participant from the Anglican Church of Australia, intends to urge schools to work for water justice in the Philippines.

In 2008, the Lutheran Church in Korea adopted a strategic plan seeking to enhance the involvement of women and youth at multiple levels of the church. “We seek to reconcile human beings and nature to transform church and society,” said Youth for Eco-Justice participant Eun-Hae Kwon, LWF vice-president for the Asian region and a member of the LWF Meeting of Officers.

Hope for Dalits

Jeyathilaka Prathaban of the Church of South India said his church will continue to use eco-theology to give hope to the Dalit community in India.

“The caste system restrains Dalits from freely walking, fetching water or breeding livestock,” added Prathaban. He said he regrets the abuse that Dalits face in being denied the land they need to produce their own food.

Through the Eco-Dalit Forum, a youth group he intends to form on returning home, “We will reclaim land from upper castes and claim rights for water.” They will also set up village resource centres to research improved agricultural practices and help save the environment from degradation.

Such initiatives at the grassroots level are key to transforming the ecological and wider injustice people face daily, stated Rev. Roger Schmidt, secretary for LWF Youth.

“The outcome of COP17 in Durban was disappointing and falls short of what the planet and humanity need,” he commented. “But the young people participating in Youth for Eco-Justice and their churches provide a glimpse of hope.”

With these projects, the churches contribute to building consensus globally on an ethical obligation to take concrete action on ecological challenges, he added.

The WCC work on eco-justice is implemented through the Ecumenical Water Network, the Climate Justice project and the Poverty, Wealth and Ecology project.

(703 words)

(*) George Arende is head of the communications department of Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Durban outcome is not enough, says WCC (WCC press release of 13 December 2011)

WCC and eco-justice programme

High resolution photos of the Youth for Eco-Justice programme in Durban are available via photos.oikoumene.org

Ubuntu: I am because We are (Katie Rimmereid)

2011-12-14T10:13:00.002+02:00

Ubuntu. I am because WE are. A completely foreign word and concept that was introduced to me at the South Africa orientation. As all YAGMs come from the United States, I think it is safe to speak for the majority that Ubuntu is much more present here in communities than it is back home.

Thinking back on the history of South Africa, everyone is familiar with the apartheid period, the discrimination and the hierarchy of race. Now 17 years since the end of apartheid this nation still struggles with division of power, but it is much more connected and the expression of Ubuntu shines brightly.

Having reached the 3 month mark of my year here, I have witnessed this overpowering sense of community not only in their display of generosity and hospitality, but also how highly a simple greeting is stressed. I cannot speak for other communities outside of Soweto, but it is nearly impossible to walk by a stranger and not greet them. At one time, I was on my way to my pastor’s office and I denied greeting the ladies at the secretary office as I walked past; they were having a conversation and I thought best not to disturb them. It was only about 10 minutes later did the pastor receive a phone call from the secretary’s office and the lady at the front desk telling him that I did not greet them. I was shocked that I was being called out on my lack of saying “Hello”. Perhaps it is my ignorant American attitude, but I have never been in a situation like this. I mentioned it to a South African friend and he sided with the secretary. Again, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; that everyone was getting in a big huff about me not saying “Hi.” I told my German friend, and she shared a similar reaction to me. So maybe it is a western civilization issue. It definitely taught me something. No matter the person, greet them. Not only is one’s presence known but it also makes it much easier to get to know others, to create that sense of community that most strive for in their living place.

Apart from greeting neighbors, friends, and strangers alike, I have felt the enormous action of generosity and hospitality from this country. I have always been welcome to join a friend’s family or to come along for an event of a friend of a friend…etc. I have found that the idea of paper and formal invites cease to exist. Everyone is invited. The more the merrier.

It is helping me to get over my selfish ways. It is helping me to understand people. To understand the importance of relationships versus materialistic things. To not take life for granted. To share with others. To give and not expect something in return. As Jesus states in Matthew 10:8, “…Freely you have received, freely give.”

Ubuntu is more than just a word. It is part of South African culture. It is lived out and shared with friends, family, and strangers. Nobody is left out. I am because we are.

Katie Rimmereid is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Soweto, South Africa.

Climate Change Outcomes in Durban not enough, says World Council of Churches

2011-12-13T18:10:00.002+02:00

In a statement read on 9 December to government members from around the world at the United Nations climate summit in Durban, South Africa, the World Council of Churches (WCC) reaffirmed the need for a fair, ambitious and binding treaty to effectively address climate change effects on vulnerable communities.

"In Durban, religious communities have come together in various ways to express that climate change is also a moral and spiritual crisis. We proclaim together: We have faith. Act now for climate justice" the statement requested.

It was read to the High Level segment of the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by Elias Crisostomo Abramides, from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

During these last two weeks the WCC delegation to COP17, which ended on Sunday in Durban, highlighted the theological, ethical and spiritual dimensions of climate change through various activities.

Expressing his views regarding the COP17, the WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said, “Though a minimum deal was achieved at the last minute to keep the Kyoto Protocol, make some steps towards a new legally binding agreement in 2015, and implement the Green Climate Fund, the overall Durban outcome is far from being enough to respond to the currently disappearing countries and future generations.”

“We need to listen to vulnerable countries and populations, and think of the legacy we are leaving to our children. Churches should continue to act and pray, especially during this time when we prepare for Christmas, the event when God sent his Son, Jesus, to save our beloved planet,” he added.

On Saturday, 3 December some 200-300 people associated with the ecumenical “Time for Climate Justice” campaign joined thousands of other peaceful demonstrators marching through the streets of Durban to voice the civil society demands on climate change.

Interfaith advocacy for climate justice

On the following day an interfaith celebration included prayers from Baha'i, Brahma Kumaris, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim leaders.

At a workshop organized at Durban's Diakonia Centre, Metropolitan Seraphim of Zimbabwe, from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, asked: "Isn't the work for the care of the creation and against climate change and poverty a concrete way of building the visible unity of the church?"

Dr Guillermo Kerber, WCC programme executive on Care for Creation and Climate Justice, stressed that once again the negotiations have not met the expectations of the poorest and most affected countries, churches and the civil society at large.

"We are still very far from the committed response that vulnerable communities and regions affected by climate change need to see from the international community in order to address the challenges posed by climate change. Some of the industrialized countries have prevented a more ambitious and effective regime. The decision of Canada of withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol is an example of the failure of the negotiations".

When asked what story of hope he would point out, Kerber said: "At this COP, the Youth for Eco-Justice (Y4EJ) showed the enthusiasm and commitment of the young generation to bridge the gap between eco-justice activities at the congregations with advocacy at the global level."

The Y4EJ, organized jointly by the WCC and the Lutheran World Federation, brought together 30 young adults from all over the world for training, field visits and interaction with COP17.

Full text of the WCC statement to COP17

Statement on COP17 by the WCC general secretary

Video message by the WCC general secretary

More information on WCC work for eco-justice:
www.oikoumene.org/eco-justice

Care for creation and climate justice:
www.oikoumene.org/climatechange

High resolution photos of the Youth for Eco-Justice programme in Durban are available via photos.oikoumene.org

Changing the Way we Live in the World (Krista Webb)

2011-12-12T15:04:00.003+02:00

In movies and TV shows, the human race colonizes space, finding inhabitable planets beyond our solar system or developing new technology that creates oxygen on once unlivable worlds. However, that is fiction; climate change is our reality.

One of the slogans that stuck with me from the rally was the sentence, “There is no Planet B.” We are nowhere near the Star Trek-like travel which will let us fly away from a ruined earth.

It was quite disheartening to see the low turnout for the rally. Even though we knew of several instances where people wanted to come, but were prevented because of transportation issues, there was obviously also a general lack of interest – regardless of the fact that this is a topic that concerns everyone. The environment is one of the few things that we all share, no matter what our race, ethnicity, sex, or location on the planet. We are all at fault if things turn pear-shaped
and we destroy our home.

However, I can’t stay up on my high horse for too long. I mean, I’m the girl that spent less than 48 hours in a house before going out and buying another trash can, because one per household was just not enough. During college, there were many instances when I didn’t take the time to sort my garbage into the different recycling bins. I didn’t buy the more eco-friendly products, especially when there were cheaper alternatives. I shut lights off when I wasn’t using them, but
I didn’t really think too hard about my energy consumption.

So what’s next? Should I erect a giant windmill in my backyard and install solar panels in my house? Perhaps not, but maybe I’ll be able to see things in a different light and make little changes here and there. It won’t change the world, but as the Checkers commercial says,
maybe it will change the way we live in it.

Krista Webb is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Green Movement God Movement (Samantha Harclerode)

2011-12-11T08:50:00.003+02:00

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, …. The three R’s have been echoed across North America for as long as I can remember. In elementary school I was taught the importance of recycling and taking care of the environment where I live, but what does that really mean today? Twenty some years later, after my days of recess and learning compound sentences, North America- and the rest of the world, is still struggling on how to reduce our electricity, reuse our products, and recycle our waste.

Earlier this month I traveled with my host mother to an HIV caregivers debriefing in Piet-Retif, South Africa. The week was full of sessions discussing HIV/AIDS related treatments and ways that caregivers can better care for their patients. The second day some of us took part in a morning hike up a mountain near-by and played games outside as caregivers talked amongst each other of struggles they are experience in their home-based care centers. The final day, a man from the South African government who works for the Environmental Sector came and spoke to us all about climate change and the importance of our role in helping reduce our intake of the world resources. I was not expecting that at an HIV caregivers debriefing there would be a session on environmental hazards and ways to reduce climate change. “How odd,” I thought to myself, “this week is supposed to be focused on HIV issues. Oh well, it’s good for people to learn how to better care for the environment. I mean I’ve been learning about it for years…”

The speaker’s presentation focused around the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling- a role any individual, he said, can play in helping stop climate change. As I sat there listening to his speech, I couldn’t help but feel proud that I came from a family in North America where caring for the environment is the norm. My father works for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and my mother is an avid tree lover, and especially cares for animals that are affected by environmental changes. I thought to myself, “I grew up where recycling plastic, glass, paper, was a part of my everyday life, but here in South Africa, I see children and adults throw their trash onto the ground without, it seems, thinking twice.” As the speaker discussed ways to reuse products, my mind focused on my efforts in college when I purchased reused printer paper and re-useable grocery bags. I was feeling pretty good about my personal efforts to help reduce climate change. I liked the idea of “being green” and was sure that many of my friends back home would associate me with such a title. However, when the speaker moved onto his last part of his presentation on reducing energy intake and gave statistics on countries that use the most amount of energy, I felt like a giant poster was etched onto my forehead: “American. Consumerism. Wasteful. Uses too Much.” My pride of feeling I was a great advocate for the environment trickled away and I was left feeling like the black sheep in the room, the one who came from American the country that uses the most amount of resources for the least amount of people.

Around Mid-November I was able to visit another volunteer, Katie, who is volunteering in Soweto, South Africa. We spent one of our days attending a Greenpeace Rally at a local park. We were able to watch a short play on climate change, and there again was the feeling I had before. As the actors acted out scenarios where people use too much electricity, I felt like I was watching your average American family, or at least to me, it seemed they were acting out behaviors that seemed habitual to me: having the lights on during the day, watching TV while using the computer to check my facebook and meanwhile texting my friend as my phone was plugged into the wall, and eating processed meat such as hamburgers and steak. As the play continued, the actors explained different ways these all impact our environment, and my heart sunk as I realized that my actions half way across the world are impacting people all around the world. The droughts in Africa are an effect of the continued climate change. Hundreds of people are dying as the world’s climate changes. This especially affects those people who rely heavily on the soil and crops they have to feed their families. After the play, Katie and I signed a petition to challenge the African Government to go into the upcoming COP17 (Conference of the Parties) meetings with a policy that has binding agreements from all governments across the world to make laws to reduce our fossil fuel admission and come up with ways to help stop climate change. Actually, as many of you read this, meetings are going on right now in Durban, South Africa as government officials and world leaders across the world gather to discuss the world’s climate change.

This whole past month of November has been a constant reminder and learning experience for me on environmental awareness. Its help me tune in and realize that while I came from a country where children know what the “Three R’s” are in third grade, our actions to reuse, recycle, and especially reduce seem far from it. And while many of us refer to these movements as “Going Green,” I’d challenge us all to realize that this isn’t some fad that is going to fade out or some movement for the hippies, but a movement that God is calling us into. This isn’t a “Go Green Movement” it’s a “God Movement.”

In Genesis, God gives humans the land and all the animals to have dominion over. Dominion, is different that domination. God didn’t give us his beautiful creation so we can do as we please, but he calls us to care for his creation. At a summer camp where I staff, one of the sessions begins with how God is the ultimate Artist. He created all living and breathing things. Everything he made is pleasing to us. It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t see the beauty in a rainbow or sunset, or whose breath isn’t taken away by large mountains or the endless sea. But, why is it then that we as Christians, continue to ignore that the earth we are polluting and abusing, is the earth that God gave to us a gift? Why is it that after years and years of learning about how to reduce, reuse, and recycle, we still find adults and youth in America not thinking twice before leaving a cell phone charger plugged in all day or having the lights on at 11am? Why is it that large corporations in America and government officials call themselves world leaders, yet aren’t budging on making adjustments to their energy intake until other countries do? Why are people not writing to their senators and government officials to make changes in the way America is abusing our earth’s resources? Why is it that people continue to call this a green movement and not a God movement? Why is it that after reading this article many people will go about their everyday life without making a single change in their life-style in how they are effecting the rest of the world- the earth, plants, animals, crops, and people that God himself created?

Is it because we as Americans don’t think it affects us? Is it because we are raised in culture where we like to see instant results and because perhaps this talk of climate change isn’t intimately effecting us, we don’t feel the need to make some changes? Is it because the task seems too difficult and too impossible? Is it because we just think it’s a temporary fad with fashions we’ll support such as recycled t-shirts and paper, but don’t buy into the whole climate change thing? Is it because we feel there aren’t enough people on board to make anything happen?

When you read about the radical changes Jesus made to the world and the love he brought and taught us all, we are called to act regardless if we think it’s affecting us personal, because it’s affecting the world. The body of Christ as stated in 1 Corinthians 12:12 “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” God’s creation, the world and all the people and living things, make up the body of Christ. The body is full of many members, with different roles, but it is only together that they make up a full body. We are only made full through other people. And we cannot work without the other. So really if it’s affecting someone else, it is affecting us. In referring to my last blog, and the idea of Ubuntu: I am because we are, we can once again pull this message together- I am affected by the world’s climate change, because the world is affected. If we continue in the behavior of abusing our earth, we are turning a blind eye to those in the rest of the world that climate change is affecting. We are ignoring the horrible way we are treating God’s beautiful creation that he has given to us that he has entrusted to us, not entitled to us.

Jesus disciples at the beginning were small in number. They were believed to be crazy by many and seen as a temporary movement. But thousands of years later, we are living witnesses to the power that a small group of believers can have on the world. Jesus disciples changed the world. And as I come from a country that seems to pride itself on being a world leader, I’d challenge us to look at how we are leading and the true impact we are having on the rest of the world.

Just this past week I traveled with all the other Southern Africa YAGM volunteers for our November re-treat. We traveled to Durban to be a part of the We Have Faith Act Now opening rally for COP17. We were blessed to be able to see Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak about how he views climate change and all of our roles in helping reduce the people’s intake of the world’s resources. It is a day in my life I will never forget. Being able to Hear Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and one of the world’s greatest peacemakers of our lifetime, was truly amazing. My stomach was full of butterflies and as he spoke, I listened to him as if there was no other person standing in that stadium. He spoke to all at the Rally by saying that this is a movement for the masses. It’s a movement for me and for you and that together we will do this, because it is only together that we are united in Christ and connected in the body of Christ. If we believe that we don’t need to make any effort to stop climate change, we are hurting our fellow brothers and sisters, and frankly hurting the body of Christ and the earth in which God created.

So as leaders of the world focus their attention to COP17 this week in discussing climate change issues, what are you going to do about it? I challenge us all to first realize that this isn’t a movement separate from the church, but a movement to rejoice in God’s creation by better caring for it- a movement the church should be leading. It’s time we start realizing that our actions in America affect the rest of the world- God’s people and God’s earth. We are called by God to take care of the beautiful world he has created us. Romans 1:20 states, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” He has made us a visible, beautiful, breathtaking world and given it all to us. We stand outside in our gardens, go for a hike through the mountains, enjoy a family holiday to the beach, and see the beauty God has created and entrusted to us to have dominion over- to take care of. We don’t have an excuse that we can’t see God’s divine nature, because he has placed it right in front of our noses. And we must start understanding only through being good stewards to our earth are we caring for all of God’s creation and uplifting the body of Christ we are a part of.

One of our last days together as a MUD group during our November re-treat, we spent a day hiking through the Drakensberg Mountains, which were second in running to be where the Lord of the Rings was filmed- needless to say they were absolutely breathtaking and I’m planning to take my family back there when they visit in March. Looking around at all the beauty it was hard not to feel a sense of peace and calmness that I believe comes from feeling close to God as I looked out across his most beautiful masterpiece- our world.

Samantha Harclerode is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Embalenhle, Mpumalanga.

Reflection on COP17 (Steve Odegard)

2011-12-09T09:28:00.003+02:00

Back story: On Sunday November 27th, I had the opportunity to attend the multi-faith opening rally for the seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP 17) in Durban. The rally, which was held at King’s Park rugby stadium, was well organized, sponsored, and endorsed. The event featured performances by dozens of local and national musicians, the presentation of an interfaith petition on the need to regulate climate change to the president of COP, and addresses from several very well known public figures, the most notable of which were endurance swimmer Louis Pugh and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Leaders from dozens of faiths and faith backgrounds stood together and expressed their support for the goals of COP17. Students made up a significant portion of the crowd; they sang, danced, and cheered throughout the concerts and rally. Some attendees had traveled from as far as Soweto, Norway, and Kenya to attend; it was invigorating to be present with such a high energy group.

Despite all this energy and enthusiasm, there were several very noticeable clouds hanging over the rally. Other than the massive thunderstorm moving in from the north, the most conspicuous was attendance: organizers had expected to pack the 40,000 seat stadium, but at its peak the audience probably only numbered around 5,000 to 6,000. As a result, the stadium had a somewhat forgotten feeling, as if the rest of Durban had played a twisted practical joke on the multi-faith rally participants. Although I don’t want to discredit Durbanites’ senses of humor, another explanation may help explain the low participation at this rally.

First, a brief tangent: I’m sure most readers are familiar with the statistics about which nations contribute the most to global greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Wealthy, industrialized countries, particularly the United States, emit the vast majority of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Members of these countries also use a disproportionately large share of the world’s resources to maintain their lifestyles, industries, and economies. On the other hand, developing nations use a fraction of the resources their wealthier neighbors consume and contribute a similarly small proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, residents of these nations (who collectively make up the majority of the world’s population) are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change: droughts, floods, and rising sea levels are devastating for communities who are struggling to survive under the best of conditions.

The lack of attendance at last Sunday’s rally is a perfect example of one of the biggest challenges to those interested in reversing climate change. As the low turnout showed, many citizens of developing nations (i.e. some of those who are most affected by climate change) are also rarely able to make their voices heard in the struggle to stop it. The social and economic circumstances that define the lives of many people besieged by unemployment, oppression, and poverty force families to prioritize everything in their lives. It is understandably difficult for someone who is uncertain where tomorrow’s meal will come from to dedicate time, energy, and capital to abstract movements like multi-faith rallies or COP 17. This isn’t to say that the world’s poor and marginalized are unaware of or apathetic about the causes and effects of climate change, but that their daily struggle for survival limits opportunities to join the resistance movement.

Those of us who contribute the most to changes in our planet’s climate, on the other hand, have ample incentive (and responsibility!) to care about the problem and the social and financial means to contribute to its solution. This is both a privilege and an obligation: we owe it to ourselves, our children, and our global family to take the necessary steps to slow the snowballing changes in climate, and are blessed to have the resources to contribute to the solution. Unfortunately, as the need for seventeen COP’s shows, many nations with the ability to influence climate change choose to use their affluence to remain indifferent and unaffected by it. This is a luxury that few in the developing world possess.

Although climate change will affect everyone in the world, the first major steps to slow its effects must be taken by the privileged and wealthy of the developed world. To paraphrase Paul Farmer, anyone interested in being called humane has plenty of incentive to investigate and act on the inequalities that make up both the causes and effects of climate change. Developed nations have the resources to take sustainable, renewable technology from science fairs, show rooms, and corporate propaganda to the countries and communities where it can be directly used to make a difference. A massive worldwide industry is waiting to grow around renewable energy, but governments and corporations must work together to provide the jump-start necessary to get it off the ground. Whether COP 17 provides a concrete legislative launch pad for the global fight against climate change or not, we can no longer ignore our ability and responsibility to help reverse climate change, both for our generation and those to come.

Steve Odegard is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Umphumulo, KwaZulu-Natal.

The only lekgowa on the Taxi (Elizabeth Daubert)

2011-12-08T07:41:00.003+02:00

A few weekends ago, I finally put my big girl pants on and rode a kombi into Pretoria all by myself to meet my friend, Johanna, the German volunteer I work with. Kombis are the taxis of South Africa, though not what we’re accustomed to in the United States. They are basically minibuses that you flag down using various hand gestures (raising your index finger, pointing your finger down, shaking your fist, etc.) according to where you intend on going. Since I was going into town, simply raising my index finger let the correct kombi know to stop for me. Kombis are frequented, predominantly, by the black population of South Africa; generally I am the only “lekgowa” (white person) in the taxi and get quite a few surprised looks.

Johanna and I decided to go to Wonderpark, which is a mall, just a few minutes from the actual downtown of Pretoria. Johanna lives within walking distance of Wonderpark, so it was an easy place for us to meet for a Saturday and to escape the intense heat (few places have air conditioning in South Africa). I’m lucky in, unlike other MUD4s, I don’t have to take kombis to work every day as my school and crèche are just across the street from my house. Sometimes we have to take kombis with the AIDS project, but it’s quite rare. So, much to my disappointment, it took me a lot longer to learn how to use the kombis by myself. However, I was tired of not knowing and felt that my hosts were a little more willing to let me go places by myself, so I had Kay, my host sister, help me learn what I say to the taxi driver and I went to Wonderpark. It was a wonderful experience; full of uncertainty, excitement, and, embarrassingly enough, a great feeling of pride for doing it by myself. It took two kombis and an hour of travel and waiting (kombis do not proceed until the entire taxi is full), before I got there, but everything went without a hitch.

Ever since arriving in South Africa, I have struggled with this feeling of a loss of independence. I have been able to drive since I was sixteen and I was basically living on my own at college for the past four years. I could come and go when I pleased, things could happen on my own time. However here, especially since, at first, my hosts were not thrilled about me traveling alone, I had to rely on someone to drive me places or walk with me, even just up the street. It has been frustrating and even a little humiliating that as a twenty two year old, I was confined to a small area and completely reliant on my hosts, for everything.

Yet, I feel that with my recent accomplishments, I have entered a new phase in my South African life. As I took my first kombi ride alone, within the first few minutes, I felt confident and satisfied with my recently gained independence. It feels good to know that though I am in a new environment, I am still able to successfully get around. I feel that if I can do this, then I am capable of many things.

Elizabeth Daubert is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Mabopane, South Africa.

Diversity (Jaime Olsen)

2011-12-07T14:02:00.003+02:00

Our first task in approaching
Another people
Another culture
Another religion
Is to take off our shoes
For the place we are approaching
Is holy.

Else we may find ourselves
Treading on another’s dreams.
-Unknown

Since my arrival in South Africa just over three months ago, I have had the wonderful opportunity to visit five out of the nine provinces (Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Free State) and another country, the small mountainous kingdom of Lesotho. Each province is vastly diverse in both physical geography and culture. Traveling so much has also given me the opportunity to hear many of South Africa’s eleven official languages, to learn about the different cultures present within the country, and to come to the realization that South Africa just might be the most diverse country that I have ever visited.

Part of my work with ELCSA Development Service consists of helping to plan and to put on Cultural Diversity Education workshops. The goal of the project is to build peaceful communities by bringing together native South Africans and immigrants who inhabit the same community. In the beginning of November, ELCSA Development Service held a Peace Monitor Training workshop in the Mpumalanga province, where we focused on how to understand conflict and how to prevent conflict between different groups of people. At the end of the three day workshop, we had successfully trained twenty-five individuals to be Peace Monitors – members of the community who will pay special attention to the potential for conflict between groups and help to alleviate tensions before violence occurs.

What I have found thought-provoking about the Cultural Diversity Education project is the difficulty of explaining the meaning of “cultural diversity” to individuals who are a part of one of the most diverse countries in the world. It is not only difficult to explain what diversity is, but it is also difficult to explain why diversity is important and why diversity should be embraced and accepted. I have realized that for many individuals, saying “I accept diversity” and actually carrying out that idea in practice oftentimes do not coincide. In a country such as South Africa, with its history of past apartheid and with a constitution so focused on human rights, I arrived with the expectation that the Rainbow Nation had moved on from discrimination based on race and ethnicity. I envisioned a country where (so-called) Coloureds, Blacks, Whites, Indians, and immigrant populations lived peacefully integrated together – no longer having to struggle against the walls created by apartheid laws and regulations.

However, I have realized that my expectation of South African peace and unity was too idealistic; many of the apartheid sentiments and divisions are still visible and still felt today. Black townships still exist and areas of primarily one racial color still exist – both are long-term results of the apartheid government’s Group Areas Act of 1950, which divided the country into residential “areas” based on race. And of course, some of the apartheid sentiments still exist. Reflecting on the history of apartheid in South Africa and acknowledging that the system of apartheid only came to an end with the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994, leads me to the conclusion that South Africa is very similar to the United States in terms of diversity and racism. If one thinks about how long it took for slavery to be abolished in the United States and how long after the abolition of slavery it took for civil rights to be equal for blacks and whites, it is easy to understand how a post-apartheid society is still struggling and trying to find the meaning of a diverse, equal, and peaceful society only seventeen years later.

Last week, all twelve of us North American volunteers got together for our first retreat in Pietermaritzburg, both to take a step back from our placement sites and our volunteer work, and to celebrate Thanksgiving (we added quite a bit of our American culture to South Africa on Thanksgiving Day by cooking our favorite Thanksgiving foods and watching American football!) One of the reoccurring topics of conversation was the issue of racism and cultural diversity, which many of us continue to encounter in our day-to-day lives; the most discussed point was how we as “outsiders” in South Africa should respond to what we perceive to be racist comments, jokes, and stories. Do we make it a point of saying to someone, “That’s a racist comment – you shouldn’t say things like that.” When we hear negative comments about White people, do we draw a distinction between ourselves as white Americans and those who are white South African? Do we simply keep quiet and keep our frustration to ourselves? Or do we ask questions and try to understand the roots of the comment?

The quote at the beginning of this reflection encompasses my “solution” to the problem of how to respond to racism encountered in my daily life. While it is important to realize that I am indeed an outsider and a North American temporarily living in South Africa, and that I obviously cannot fix the problem of racism, it is also important to realize that if I take off my shoes and take a step back (so as not to tread on anyone’s culture or religion), I am still able to ask questions and to make thought-provoking comments in response to a co-worker’s or a host family member’s racist comment or joke. As important as it is to be careful about what I say and how I say it, and to avoid pushing my views on others, part of why I am here in South Africa is to learn and to discover the “why” behind many of my questions. Rather than simply “letting it go,” it is helpful to ask why someone dislikes another race and to understand what has led a certain individual to feel prejudice against another ethnic group. By understanding South Africa’s history of diversity and racial tensions, and by attempting to understand the “why” behind racist comments, I am slowly becoming better able to understand the current diversity of this country and to understand why such diversity continues to lead to racism and discrimination.

Jaime Olsen is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Bonaero Park, located in the Gauteng Province of South Africa.

Why are we here? (Nicki Holtz)

2011-12-06T09:10:00.003+02:00

Since coming to South Africa there have been a few times that I have made the mistake of thinking that I am someone coming to help. People at home sometimes think the same way- “Wow, how great of you to go help and volunteer”. I have noticed that this understanding has potential to cause some problems. After attending the "We Have Faith" rally for COP 17, MUD4 discussed a little about why there may have been low attendance. It was a good reminder to hear that many people in this world are not so concerned about climate justice when they do not even have dinner to serve or people in this area may not recycle because they do not even have proper trash pick up. I began to think about my own placement site and the way I think that I have been helping to ‘educate’ the children I am with each day.

Working at Thusong Children’s Center I have been able to come up with various programs for the children along with the other volunteers. We brainstorm with each other about what types of workshops or activities we can organize to benefit the different ages and genders. Normally what happens is that we decided based on what we each are familiar with. One volunteer knows how to sew, so she made beanbags with them. Another has knowledge on art history, another with South African history, another on sports, and myself with knowledge concerning sexual assault. These are the things that we try to base workshops and activities around for the kids when they have free afternoons.

I mean, I think it somewhat resourceful. Myself and the other volunteers are using the knowledge we have to share and educate the children at Thusong. I think that my professors would be proud. Problem is I’m not sure that the kids at Thusong are truly that interested. For a ‘street kid’ who doesn’t attend school, it is hard to believe that he benefits much from zoning out while being ‘informed’ about ‘important’ things. Spending my final semester at school studying sexual assault and facilitating workshops around campus was both eye opening and beneficial to me. But what does this mean for a child who may be currently experiencing this abuse or one having been taken from his or her home because of sexual assault? Not exactly the same as talking with a group of freshmen who joke about what may happen at a frat party. It’s been difficult thinking about what these children have faced or are currently facing. I want to help. How can I use my previous experiences or knowledge to do so?

During the first MUD retreat we went around the circle and each told about the walls we have been facing, the difficulties that we struggle with. Then we went around again and talked about the ways that we can conquer or deal with these struggles. Each of us came up with an answer or result for getting passed the struggle. It’s like we could come up with the biggest problems we face daily in South Africa and also somewhat of an answer to that problem or a way to cope within just a few minutes. If only everything could be worked out that quickly. It’s hard to wrap my head around.

The ELCA Global Mission did not appoint me to inform South Africa about what I learned in my favorite college courses. They definitely did not appoint me to come and feel sorry for my community and others around this part of the world. During the rest of the year it will be important for me to continue questioning why I’m here. Though I am comfortable and able to just ‘be’, IS there something I can ‘do’?

Nicki Holtz is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Kimberly.

Youth claim their stake at COP17 climate talks (Mail & Guardian)

2011-12-02T18:21:00.000+02:00

Youth delegations at the UN climate negotiations being held in Durban have called for a greater sense of urgency from countries agreeing a global treaty to slow climate change.

Kyle Gracey, a member of the International Federation of Liberal Youth, said the youth were disappointed by lack of action in the negotiation process. "We're way behind where we need to be. Climate change is moving faster than the negotiations are and young people's future and the health of future generations is at stake," he said.

On Thursday youth delegations made their presence felt at the UN climate negotiations in Durban by holding a series of discussions and protest actions.

The so-called "Youngos" group of youth activist groups with formal observer status at the negotiations called for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, for the negotiations to finalise all aspects of the Green Climate Fund, and for countries to put money into the fund.

Developed countries have pledged to populate the Green Climate Fund with $100-billion per year, to be used to help poor countries deal with the effects of climate change. Such a fund would go a long way to building disaster resilience in vulnerable countries, particularly in Africa where the effects of climate change will be worst felt.

Earlier this week, Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa pointed out that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that many African countries will begin to experience water scarcity by 2025. Rain-fed agriculture yield, which is predominant on the continent, is expected to halve by the end of the decade, bringing more food scarcity and famine.

Blocked negotiations

Non-government had hoped that the fund would be made operational by the end of the Durban negotiations, but in the past few days, countries including the United States and Saudi Arabia have effectively blocked negotiations by asking to revisit the draft documents that would set up the fund. This has given rise to fears that implementation of the fund will be put off for another year.

As part of the conference's Intergenerational Inquiry, young activists held discussions with negotiators and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change members, as well as upbeat protest actions outside the exhibition centre. Canadian youth drew attention to their dissatisfaction with their country's poor performance at the negotiations by holding a bake sale in aid of "buying back" their country's climate policy.

Meanwhile, young African climate activists, many of whom are experiencing the effects of climate change first hand, spoke about their experiences and their efforts to raise awareness about the phenomenon in their countries.

Kenyan climate activist Winnie Asiti said the people in her town were experiencing the effects of water scarcity first hand. "My town, Kitale, used to produce enough maize to feed the whole country at one time. I never imagined there would come a time when all this would be gone, a time when my town would not be able to feed itself, let alone the whole country," she said.

Her compatriot Beatrice Omweri, who lives in a middle-class suburb of Nairobi, was not immune to the effects of climate change either. She explained how water shortages had led to water rationing in the city, and how high food prices meant her family ate only once or twice a day.

Omweri called on negotiators to put aside their differences. "Climate change really affects us in Africa, so when you go there and try to negotiate, remember that people here are suffering," said Omweri, adding "I hope COP17 will give me and other girls a renewed hope that life will be better here in Africa."

Landry Ninteretse, a climate activist from Burundi, said that despite the difficulties in reaching an agreement at the climate negotiations, African youth still had faith in the process and would persist. "We know climate change is the greatest challenge we are going to face. We don't know whether the legally binding treaty we've been advocating for is coming, but we've started a movement and it won't stop," he said.

For the latest COP17 news and special features from the Mail & Guardian, view our special report.

Religious voices advocate for climate justice at Durban (World Council of Churches)

2011-11-29T20:53:00.002+02:00

“This is the only home we have,” said Archbishop Desmond Tutu referring to the crucial significance of our planet and its survival. He was speaking in an interfaith rally in Durban, urging the United Nations conference on climate change (COP17) to deliver a fair, ambitious and binding treaty to address climate change effectively.

COP17 started on November 28th in Durban, South Africa.

The interfaith rally, held at the Kings Park Stadium on November 27th was the first event for faith communities in Durban, who have been preparing for COP17 since one year ago.

“We have faith!” proclaimed bishop Geoff Davies, director of the Southern Africa Faith Communities Environmental Institute, one of the key organizers of the rally. “Africa is a continent of faith, and we have come here together from different faith traditions to voice our moral and spiritual call for a paradigm shift. We call for climate justice now,” said Davies.

During the rally Tutu also delivered the petition with 200,000 signatures of support titled “We have faith” to the incoming president of COP17, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South African minister of International Relations and Cooperation, and to Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UNFCCC Secretariat.

In support of the document Mashabane said, “Your petition will be taken seriously”, while Figueres encouraged the faith movement “not to give up faith and hope”, regardless of the results of the COP17.

The petition had an African emphasis taken from the “Time for Climate Justice” campaign which has brought churches together for some years.

At the interfaith rally, Brahma Kumaris, Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders expressed the common concern of caring from a religious perspective. With these messages, renowned African artists like Gcina Mhlope and Ladysmith Black Mambaso paid tribute to the late Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai and performed various songs.

Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former high commissioner for Human Rights also addressed the audience, calling for the inclusion of gender issues, agriculture, human rights and climate justice at the core of COP17 negotiations.

Among other faith leaders, the WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, conveyed greetings on behalf of the churches, and sent a strong message to Durban, saying, “It is time for climate justice”.

---

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

Statement of the World Council of Churcheds (WCC) General Secretary - The Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse-Tveit, for the UNFCCC COP17 in Durban, South Africa

2011-11-23T14:36:00.002+02:00

A new UN Conference on Climate Change will take place in Durban in 28 November– 10 December. Though because of the global financial crisis climate change is not on the headlines as it used to be some years ago, we cannot forget the climate change crisis the world is living in which is especially affecting vulnerable communities.

Since the early 70s the WCC has been advocating for building sustainable communities. This has become even more relevant today when it has become imperative to build a low-carbon future. This is a must to improve the living conditions for all through sustainable energy means. Some countries in the North and in the South, in the East and in the West, have already started to develop ambitious programmes in this regard.

Mobilization around climate change has shown that many people are ready and enthusiastic about making the necessary changes.

Through my visits to member churches in different parts of the world I have been able to witness how communities are able to mitigate, adapt and be creative in responding to the climate change challenges. For instance, when I attended the 50^th anniversary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, celebrated in September 2011, in Samoa, it became clear that this part of the world is under threat by rising ocean waters that accompany global climate change and churches in the region are already responding to this challenge. Some weeks ago, the WCC member church in Tuvalu expressed the critical situation they are living with the lack of fresh water.

At the international level, it is clear that an international law or laws are needed to effectively tackle climate change. Together with communities’ resilience and individual government actions a fair, ambitious and binding climate regime is needed to guarantee sufficient climate action at scale.

Although many of us were impressed by the churches’ and civil society’s mobilization in Copenhagen at COP15, where I had the opportunity to be present, the Conference failed to adequately respond to the climate challenges. Last year, in COP 16 in Cancun, governments came to an agreement that brought back the possibility of international negotiations on the climate regime. But this was not enough.

Durban might be the last opportunity for the international community to be responsible in addressing climate change.

To do this, Durban must adopt:

A Second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (the only legally binding instrument we have up to now setting clear targets for greenhouse gas emissions).
A clear mandate to conclude negotiations on a legally binding instrument or instruments by 2015. Under the Long term Cooperative Action steps must be made to ensure that a binding legal regime where the UNFCCC principles, especially of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capacities, future generations, and sustainable developments prevail.
A set of measures to operationalize the Green Climate Fund, realizing the promise of the Cancun Agreements in order that it can become an effective tool for adaptation in the most vulnerable regions.

This time in Durban, religious communities, especially from Africa, have come together in various ways to express that climate change is also a moral and spiritual crisis. We proclaim together “We have faith. Act now for climate justice”.

Churches and religious communities witness at their congregations how climate change is affecting lives and livelihoods of entire societies as well as the earth created by God. Peoples’ rights are threatened, environments are destroyed, the whole creation is groaning.

The earth and its inhabitants cannot wait any longer. We call WCC member churches, the whole ecumenical movement and other religions to continue praying and speaking out, voicing the cries of the poor and the earth at these crucial times.

I join you in your prayers and as churches, and I affirm together with you: We have faith! It is time for climate justice!

Treasure and Heart: Why the events at Penn State University were bound to happen, and why I share a piece of the blame (Brian E. Konkol)

2011-11-18T13:40:00.003+02:00

I love sports. During my childhood I spent countless hours with my older brother and cousins on our driveway basketball court. In High School I participated in Cross-Country, Basketball, and Baseball, and in college I was fortunate to enjoy four years of basketball with some great teammates and a fantastic coaching staff. My first memories of meeting my wife were during a summer basketball pick-up game while we were teenagers (…she was a much better player than I, and would later earn a Division I scholarship). During my first month as a parish pastor I helped build a basketball court next to the church building, and we started a league for area youth (…volleyball and tennis would come later!). In many ways, sports have been – and continue to be – a significant influence in my life, and I figure this trend will persist as long as my body and mind will allow.

While I strongly believe that physical activity and participation within sports can offer excellent avenues for education and wellness on an individual and community level, my role as a fan of sports has been significantly challenged over recent weeks. In other words, I have come to wonder whether or not something inherently good, such as sports, has reached excessive levels to the point of having a negative role in society. For example, in North America we experience massive inequality and outcry surrounding government budget shortfalls, yet we seem to have more than enough funds for stadiums, tickets, TV packages, and team-related memorabilia. In addition, with each passing year our public servants receive salary cuts and loss of jobs, yet millionaire professional athletes argue with billionaire owners over income distribution and so-called “fair deals”. And of course, while I hear countless people complain about how busy they are (…as an excuse not to get involved in charitable events) and how financial times are tough (…as an excuse not to donate toward charitable causes), those same individuals seem to have plenty of time to watch a few hours of sports on TV each night, and more than enough resources to support their favorite teams. With all of this in mind (…and one could list countless more examples), we have to wonder whether or not our priorities have been seriously distorted, as our love for sports seems to have crossed the line from entertainment to idolatry, or in other words, from being spectators to worshippers.

The recent events at Penn State University surrounding the alleged cover-up of sexual abuse by a renowned assistant football coach, has shown – among other things – how the widespread worship of sport within the North American mindset has become so powerful that some would risk the health of young children in order to preserve the legacy of an athletic program. As stated by Jim Wallis (http://sojo.net/blogs/2011/11/14/penn-state%E2%80%99s-massive-moral-failure-put-most-vulnerable-first-instead-last), the amount of finances being poured into athletics is astounding, and a consequence is that the most vulnerable members of society can be pushed aside in order to preserve and sustain the steady flow of resources. However, while it is proper to seek a suitable punishment for those directly responsible for the various abuses at Penn State University, the fact of the matter is that many throughout North American – including myself – are also deserving of some blame for these shameful events.

Our worship of sport has become so intense that the firing of a head football coach – who rightly admitted that he should have done more to prevent the abuses by his assistant – has received far more public outrage than the thought of small boys being raped in a locker-room shower by a grown man. How can any of this possibly seem acceptable? Is our worship of sport so intense and imbedded into the fabric of society that we are no longer able to recognize when we have crossed the line of human decency? With the alleged victims of sexual abuse at Penn State University in mind, the time has come for us all to recognize our personal responsibility in creating an environment where such a cover-up and justification could take place. When our love for sports crosses the line into a worship of sports, the result is a society that allows sport to be a central piece of its identity, and it is within our human nature to guard our identity when it is placed under attack. As Matthew 6:21 reminds us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.

In addition to that which took place at Penn State University, we can no longer ignore the various other consequences of a society that worships sport. For example, we can no longer deny the sociological fact that domestic abuse increases on the days after team losses. We can no longer compromise our values by rushing through worship services in order to ensure people are home for game time. We can no longer deny that people spend far too little time participating in sports and far too much time watching it from the couch. We can no longer accept the onslaught of verbal and physical violence that is often directed toward referees and opposing fans. We can no longer remain neutral when parents scream at their children and coaches from the sidelines. We can no longer accept spoiled athletes and owners who fight why unemployment remains steady. We can no longer accept universities that profit off their student-athletes without seeking to educate them for the future. We can no longer accept the construction of new stadiums with public funds when public servants have their salaries reduced or jobs cut. We can no longer accept a society that places a higher value on sports than those aspects of life that makes us fully human.

In no way does this all mean that sports are evil and should be avoided at all costs, for the lessons of teamwork and dedication are just a few of the countless positive messages that can be received as a result of faithful participation and appreciation of sports. As stated from the onset, I credit a great deal of my personal development (…and marriage!) to those who provided me with various opportunities through sport. In addition, one can name a variety of ways that sports serve as a tool for community reconciliation and unity, as well as an instrument for crossing boundaries and building societal bridges. With these thoughts in mind, I hope that we will continue to strongly affirm the various athletic ventures throughout the world – such as the collegiate program that my older brother now coaches within – that recognize the “big picture” and provide empowerment and long-term wellness for athletes and supporters. However, regardless of the various positive individual and societal consequences of sports, we must recognize that various aspects of life that are intended for good – such as participation and appreciation of sports – can become negative when taken to the obsessive extreme. In other words, an excess amount of anything has the potential to ruin everything. As a result, the time has come for us to take a step back, reflect, re-evaluate, and consider whether or not our priorities have been misplaced.

With all of the above in mind, I pray that God will provide peace and healing to the various victims of abuse at Penn State University, as such acts are despicable in countless ways, and the scars will remain for many years to come. However, I also pray that we refuse to over-simplify the issue and deny our personal responsibility for the extreme sport-worshipping environment that made the abuse and cover-up more likely to happen. While we can – and should – participate within and appreciate various forms of sport, we must ensure that our passions do not turn into obsession, or else the shameful acts that took place at Penn State University will likely happen again, and we all will need to share a piece of the blame. As Jesus reminds us, “For where our treasure is our hearts will be also”, so may we ensure that our hearts are directed toward those treasures in life that matter most, so that such despicable acts of abuse and cover-up may never take place again.

Brian E. Konkol is an Ordained Minister with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a Country Coordinator of the ELCA-MUD program, and PhD Candidate with the University of KwaZulu-Natal's School of Religion and Theology.

Reflections on Travel (Nicki Holtz)

2011-11-17T08:37:00.003+02:00

This month I’ve had the great opportunity to visit two other YAGM participants at their placement sites in South Africa. From the communication I’ve had with the others, it had seemed as if our sites vary in many ways. After spending time at these two different sites, I know now for sure that they vary in many ways! My week long trip allowed me to experience these differences while observing a lot more of South Africa. I started my journey in Kimberley and traveled 6 hours by bus to Johannesburg. The skyline of Johannesburg and the busy bus transit was much different from the small information center where I began earlier that morning in Kimberley. Traveling the half hour by car from the bus stop to Soweto also allowed me to see more of the city life and finally reach one of the volunteer sites at the Central Diocese center. The next leg of my journey continued north on a 4 hour bus ride from Soweto to Polokwane and then on to a small village named Masealama by taxi. From the bus window I saw the beautiful countryside and watched as the landscape become less flat. The hills and ranges in South Africa are absolutely amazing. During these bus rides I would get caught up in the movies being played or listening to music and then all of a sudden look out the window and realize where exactly I was.

Like I said before, each of our sites differ in their own unique ways and during my visits I was able to experience many new things. One of my favorite parts was being able to hang out with people who spoke the other languages of South Africa. If you didn’t know, South Africa claims 11 national languages and each time the bus stopped, or when I would reach a new destination, the people would be speaking a different language. For instance, the people in Kimberley and those who live in the two other sites I visited each speak a different language. It would be like Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa each having a different primary language. Other new experiences included fetching water since there is no running water in Masealama, eating chicken feet and mopane worms, volunteering at a crèche, worshiping in the language of Sotho and attending my first South African soccer game. Knowing now how different the settings we all reside in are, I have a greater appreciation for the time and effort put into selecting where each of the twelve of us volunteers would be placed all over South Africa. In a way it was satisfying to see how well my friends fit into their new homes and at the same time realize the great fit Kimberley is for me.

The mileage between myself and the other volunteers has at times been difficult, especially after getting to know them all so well and becoming such great friends. Then again, I’m starting to realize the great opportunity we as MUD4 have, given our different locations and unique volunteer work. For one, we have the awesome chance to travel around South Africa and visit and volunteer alongside one another. More importantly, however, is the opportunity we have to learn from one another. The different sites mean different learning experiences that would not be available if we were not spread out as much as we are. Through out the year I will be able to share my personal experience in Kimberley and take with me the experiences I learn from my friends living all through out South Africa.

Nicki Holtz is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Kimberly.

A New World in the Making (World Council of Churches)

2011-11-15T16:43:00.003+02:00

This document arises from the North American consultation on poverty, wealth and ecology sponsored by the World Council of Churches and held in Calgary, Alberta from November 6 to 11, 2011. This consultation that included representatives from Christian confessions in Canada and the United States of America along with representatives from other ecumenical organizations and local and global ecumenical partners took place at a time of deep global financial crisis and people’s resistance around the world. It is directed to the World Council of Churches, its member churches and partner organizations and all who share in the ideals and goals of this conference.

This document borrows from indigenous Cree wisdom presented to us as the “Standing Stones.” There are four primary quadrants represented by the four directions. It begins in the East where we welcome the rising sun, recognize our relationship to the Creator and confess our identity as part of Creation. It progresses to the South where we seek Wisdom from Scripture and from the teachings of our Elders. It then moves to the West where we ask for healing from the hurts we have caused and the hurts that have been done to us. It ends in the North where we give thanks for the many blessings the Creator has provided for us in our lives. These quadrants have been written as a prayer.

Following the “Standing Stones” there is a concluding call for vision and action.

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Confession

We confess that the whole of Creation bears the marks of God. God is our Creator; we love God, all of Creation and one another. We see that God wants the world to be a circle where everyone has a place. However, in North America, we have failed to live out our love.

While we have failed to live out our love, corporations have pursued violent development grabbing air, land and water; drowning islands; desertifying lands; violating human rights; and creating conditions of war.

While we have failed to live out our love, international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organization have enforced finance and trade policies which have indebted nations and forced them to service social and economic debt rather than their people and Earth.

In our limitless pursuit of individual and national wealth and power, we are complicit in a market system that exploits natural resources and people within and beyond our borders:

· When temporary foreign workers care for our children and grandparents, work on our farms, receive low wages, work long hours, live and work in harsh conditions, are vulnerable to abuse, have their human rights violated, fill other jobs that the common excuse says “no North American would do.”

We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.

· When companies designate landfills and chemical dumps in the neighbourhoods of poor and marginalized people;

· When US and Canadian corporations extract minerals and resources from other countries in order to operate without environmental safeguards or labour codes, do not pay their fair share of taxes and royalties, and use paramilitary forces against protesters and to displace indigenous communities;

We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.

· When those who have contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions are the first to suffer the effects of climate change, and we demand that they reduce their greenhouse gas emissions without taking care of our own;

· When we have watched the increased reliance on the military to pursue national self-interest, defend corporate interests, and cause forced migration in the rest of the world;

We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.

For too long, we have said and done too little. We have prioritized profit at the expense of clean air and water, devastated species and ecosystems, devalued people and their cultures, enriched the wealthy few and impoverished the poorest in our society and the global family.

These examples demonstrate the ecological debt we owe to the Earth and the ecological indebtedness of the rich to the poor. The cry of the Earth and the poor are one.

Wisdom

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2)

We are compelled and inspired by this vision of hope with respect to poverty, wealth and ecology, a new vision of Earth and the people who are dependent upon its abundance.

The great tree, echoing the Genesis description of an idyllic garden, spans the river of the water of life. This image evokes not a singular tree but a vast, verdant forest that provides twelve kinds of fruit. In this way, the tree will bring food for all of God’s people every month of the year. The vision of a redeemed Creation is one of a healthy Earth that will bring healing to the nations.

We have heard the wisdom of the worker, the scientist, the ancestor, the great tree, the river of the water of life. We have heard the wisdom of Your whole Creation calling us toward healing.

There is a new world in the making. You are working on behalf of Your people and restoring the good Earth You created. This world matters as do people’s concrete struggles within it. It is our reminder to care for each other and all of Creation. You are a God of redemption, not of destruction and invite us to participate in redemptive acts.

Healing

Creator, You endowed all of Your Creation with dignity, including human beings, a shining strand in the glimmering web of life.

Yet today, Creation is not the way it is supposed to be. We’ve seen the toxic pools, the gouged Earth, the forecasts of increased global average temperatures that will permanently change life on Earth. Climate change is the enveloping reality we live in.

We are alarmed by the increased concentration of wealth owned by a few. We know that poverty strips dignity away.

We have put our faith in what we have created – idols of gold and silver, luxury and consumer goods, markets and technology - rather than in You, our Creator.

Creator, enliven our imaginations to restore Your Creation. Heal our broken lives and communities.

Redeemer, save us from our greed, and the structures, policies and laws we’ve established that sustain and protect unearned privilege. We have heard the indictment in the gospel of Luke: “we take what we did not deposit, we reap what we did not sow.” Already, we are taking more than Earth can offer, and returning more waste than Earth can absorb.

Save us from a “prosperity” gospel that neglects Your radical gospel of justice and hope for all.

Redeemer, grant us the courage to restore Your Creation. Heal our broken lives and communities.

Holy Spirit, come quickly. We are poor, we are rich; we are oppressed, we are oppressors. Reconcile us to one another, reconcile us with Earth. May the churches we represent be agents of reconciliation, centres for caring communities and shared sacrifice, models of an ethic of solidarity with future generations and our neighbours. Light us with a passion for justice, peace and solidarity.

Holy Spirit, breathe into us the passion to work together, to restore Your Creation. Heal our broken lives and communities.

Thanksgiving

We give thanks for young people who are inventing new forms of resistance to greed and injustice through forums like the Occupy movement and the “people’s microphone.”

We give thanks for the prophets among us who challenge our idolatry of the unregulated Market and who confront us with our addiction to the carbon economy.

We give thanks for the elders among us, who help us remember a time when it wasn’t always like this; who call on the community’s invisible heart to counter the Market’s invisible hand; who help us to remember what a moral economy looks like.

We give thanks for the witness of those of our ancestors who have taught us our rightful place in Creation and who have spoken truth to power; who understood that Christ is found among those who are hungry, homeless, imprisoned and downtrodden.

We give thanks for our ecumenical partners who continue to deepen our common witness based on ecojustice principles of solidarity, sufficiency, sustainability and equity in the economy and Earth.

We give thanks for the power of being together, and for all those friends and allies who help us to remember who we are as a justice loving people.

************

Vision & Action

Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision (Habbakuk 2: 2-3)

We see a time of new beginnings, of Jubilee, when greenhouse gases in the atmosphere no longer threaten life, when the carbon economy has been transformed, and we no longer mortgage our children’s future. We see a time when unsustainable development has been rejected in favour of just, participatory and sustainable communities. We see a time when Earth has begun its regeneration and like God with Noah, we have covenanted with God and Creation to never destroy it again.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? (James 2:14)

We commit ourselves to lives of integrity and justice where we share all God’s resources equitably, reduce our carbon footprint, seek right relationship in our economic transactions and strengthen the campaign for climate justice.

We call on churches, interfaith partners and all people of goodwill to work together to achieve this timeless and compelling vision. In order to mobilize appropriate resources and as a first step we call on the World Council of Churches, its member churches and its sister ecumenical bodies to undertake a decade of action on ecojustice encompassing both ecological and economic justice.

We call on our North American churches to take action to transition from carbon-based to renewable energy, to narrow the gap between those of us who are rich and those of us who are poor, to respond to the needs of climate refugees, to hold their pension fund and investment managers accountable for the ethical implications of their investments and to advocate for policies that will restore ecological balance.

We call on businesses and industries to commit to principles of integrity by complying with human rights codes; by shifting investments from carbon-based to renewable energy; and by showing leadership in reducing the gap between the rich and the poor by paying fair wages and paying their fair share of taxes.

We call on our governments to govern with integrity by implementing a moratorium on further development of the tar sands; compelling corporations to operate with the highest available environmental and labour standards wherever they do business on the globe; prohibiting excessive interest rates; legislating an international financial transactions tax to begin to make restitution for ecological debt; reallocating budgets from the military and systems of death and destruction to systems that promote the abundance of life; working for a new financial architecture; and ensuring that commercial banking is clearly separated from investment banking (speculative investments and financial transactions).

It is the 11^th hour. Make haste. The cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor are one.

The Moral Failure of Penn State (Jim Wallis)

2011-11-14T20:42:00.003+02:00

The Penn State story of the sexual abuse of children has just sickened me — as it has many others. I have been so upset and angry about these ugly and awful revelations that I’ve been unable to write about it until now.

Maybe it’s because I have two young boys myself, 13 and 8, that my emotions are so strong. In fact, I am both a Dad and a coach.

A grand jury report, containing 40 counts of assault against boys as young as 7, by Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant football coach at Penn State — number two to football coaching legend Joe Paterno — has stunned the nation.

By now most of us have heard about the alleged incident in 2002, when a graduate assistant coach walked into the Penn State University locker room and witnessed Sandusky, a big hulking man, raping a 10 year-old boy in the showers. The disgust and almost physical fury that wells up inside of me seriously challenges my non-violent principles, especially if I had been there.

But the young coach who witnessed the violent crime just fled and called his father, who told him to call Paterno, who then informed the university athletic director and a vice-president.

The only consequence was that Sandusky suffered was having to give up his keys to the locker room. Apparently no other actions were taken or follow-up pursued.

It’s literally unbelievable.

So why does this happen, and keep happening? A lot of reflection is going on about that now.

One answer is the pie chart that I saw, showing the total annual revenue of Penn State at $116.2 million with the football profits comprising 72.7 of that — the lion’s share.

Big sports at big colleges are big business for both the schools and the surrounding communities. The control and protection of money in so many of our institutions is a leading cause of institutional moral failure — and this was a colossal moral failure.

Paterno has become a virtual icon for his almost five decades of coaching and for running, as college football programs go, one of the cleanest in the country — boasting many athlete graduations and virtually no accusations of rules violations. There is already a statue of Paterno on the campus and, before being fired last week, he had showed no signs of retiring at the age of 84. So perhaps the protection of an icon was also involved.

Such massive abuse, going on for so long, and known to so many as it now appears — from janitors to coaches to university officials to Paterno, the veritable king of the University — could not have continued with a collective, disciplined, and very evil cultural complicity.

The similarities of both the repeated abuse and the institutional cover-up are painfully reminiscent of the Catholic Church’s pedophile scandal. Priests and coaches, violating the most vulnerable and that abuse being covered up by their institution’s leaders creates a sense of utter betrayal and loss of trust.

And here is the most evil thing for me: In most cases, the children who are violated already are among the most vulnerable. Sandusky ran a non-profit organization called “Second Mile” which dealt with the most “at risk kids.”

That’s an amazing phrase, really, ”at risk kids.” Under the guise of helping them, Sandusky exploited an opportunity to abuse a yet unknown number of children.

Many priests too sought out the children of single mothers, and with the offer of help to the families, then created opportunities to violate their children, bodies and souls. Many of these children don’t know much about healthy relationships and some have been abused before by other people in their often broken family systems.

Far too often they often don’t have natural protectors, such as fathers with good relationships to their children and the capacity to defend them, who naturally cast a watchful eye at anyone who might be a predator.

Of course, most of these exploited and abused kids come from poor families that lack the capacity to surround their children with such protection. So the predators prey on those who already are the most vulnerable; and then the institutions involved have more interest in protecting the predators and themselves, than innocent children.

The pattern is as predictable as it is evil, and now we see it at a major and respected university and its “exemplary” football program.

That is why Jesus' command to protect the most vulnerable, “the least of these,” is so radical and humanizing. In Mathew 25, he allows no excuses, neither personal nor institutional.

“As you have done it to the least of these, you have done it to me,” Jesus says without qualification. Apply that text to this terrible exploitation at Penn State and it certainly speaks explicitly to the most vulnerable children who have been so horribly abused there.

As it was done to them, it was done to Christ himself, the very Son of God. This famous text is one of the few passages of judgment in the New Testament.

It makes protection of the most vulnerable the highest value and stands as radically countercultural to institutions that would make it the lowest — protecting all others first. Jesus command would force us to reverse all that and to literally put the most vulnerable first.

Judgment is now needed at Penn State and beyond about how we continue to allow wealth, power, institutional protections, and cultural complicity to aid, abet, and enable the evil abuse of our most vulnerable children.

Could the high visibility of the Penn State case and the notoriety of its famous football program and coach now be used finally face — and eradicate — the horrendous cultural sin that just repeats itself over and over again?

Is it finally time to come to terms with this most egregious abuse of power?

Only such sacred intervention will bring about any relief, any redress, any justice, and any redemption for those who have suffered the most.

And if we don’t that, we all will be judged by the God who said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me."

Lord have mercy.

Jim Wallis is Editor in Chief at Sojourners Magazine.

Playing in Fear (Elise Anderson)

2011-11-13T08:28:00.002+02:00

I’m afraid that I must start off this particular blog with a bit of a warning. I am going to be talking about a dark subject unfortunately, but one that has been a topic of discussion during my time here in South Africa and that I feel is worthy of being explored and communicated to you all. Let me also say that though what I will be talking about shows a darker side of South African culture, it should not and is not intended to create a bad image of this wonderful country and its people. Just like every other country and community in the world there is crime and bad things that happen, so please don’t judge an entire place or experience on these few stories. I’m simply communicating this to make you aware of an issue that South Africa is facing and make you think about how to address similar issues in the United States, or wherever you may be. The communities that I have been blessed to be a part of are filled with wonderful and understanding people, people who may think differently but still think justly. People who, like me, find that the following subject is a terrible issue facing this country of South Africa…

For those of you who received and read my newsletter I briefly talked about gay and lesbian rights here in South Africa. It is an issue that like in the United States is very current and very sensitive. In the United States the struggle for the gay and lesbian communities to be fully accepted into society continues, with the battle for the legalization of gay marriage at the forefront. But, here in South Africa, gay marriage has been made legal, a beautiful thing, but though the thinking may be ahead constitutionally, culturally there are major problems for the gay and lesbian communities. Another difference that I have noticed is that in the United States the more targeted group for cultural scrutiny is the gay men. Not to say that lesbians in the United States don’t come under huge amounts of scrutiny by both the government, friends and family, but when it comes to targets of violent crime fueled by homophobia we, as Americans, must admit that the target has predominantly been gay men, men like Matthew Shepherd, whose murder is still a haunting reminder of how far we still need to come as a society to accept all people, no matter who they love.

The scenario, for the most part, seems to be reversed here in South Africa, where lesbians are predominantly the targets of violent crime. The most disturbing and horrifying of these crimes is known as corrective rape. Corrective rape is a term used for a violent sexual offense where a woman being accused or thought of as being a lesbian is brutally raped, many times beaten, and sometimes killed. It is done by men who feel that they can “fix” these women and change their sexuality by raping them. Most lesbians in South Africa truly live in fear of this crime, and though many courageously live openly and fight for equality, most live in fear and hide who they truly are.

The female athletes of this country, whether they are lesbians or not, come under the most scrutiny, especially female soccer players. This is the biggest reason why I became so interested in this topic. I am a female soccer player, an avid fan of the game, and a huge supporter of progressing the women’s game to higher levels. It is obvious that many countries are taking huge strides in supporting their women’s sides, as was evident in the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany where some of the best women’s soccer that has ever been played was seen. The competition level was the highest it’s ever been and that is directly linked to the support that female athletes in other countries are beginning to receive from both their governments and the people. Unfortunately, this is not the case in some African nations. Upon arriving in South Africa I assumed that the reasons support was lacking was because the cultures didn’t think girls should play sports, that their place was at home caring for their families, or that girls were weak and couldn’t compete. All these were hurdles I was ready to jump and encourage others to jump as well. And although these are some of the reasons why female sports are not encouraged there was another reason that I was hugely surprised by; girls didn’t want to play sports out of fear that they would be seen as lesbians and made targets of violent crime. The worst part is these fears are not irrational. It has been reported that there are 10 new cases of corrective rape every week in the townships of Cape Town alone, a staggering number (reported by the Triangle Project, a gay/ lesbian rights group here in South Africa). Now, with this being said, I’d like to make it clear that there are many communities and people that accept and love their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, but there is a real problem of violence against members of the gay community simply because of their sexual orientation. This tug of war between discrimination and acceptance can be found in every community both inside and outside of South Africa. But, when it comes to this issue in South Africa most of these violent acts of corrective rape are reported in the township and urban communities. Sports programs for young girls struggle to become established in these communities because parents and girls are scared that by simply playing the sport that they love these girls will fall victim to this crime, gay or not. This was a shocking realization for me when I was first told about this fear, so I looked into this issue a little deeper. I discovered that no matter what level these girls play at, they are not immune to discrimination or attack. In fact, sometimes the further in the spotlight these athletes are the higher the risk. This was the case for Eudy Simelane. Eudy was a very good soccer player and the captain of the South African national women’s soccer team. Ten years after she retired from the game she continued to coach and was also an open lesbian and a true pioneer for women’s athletics. Eudy was brutally raped and murdered in the township that she grew up and lived in at the time of her death, killed simply because she was a lesbian and was proud enough of that to be open about it.

Eudy’s story is not a rare one. There are many victims of corrective rape in these communities. Many that have to walk around every day and watch their attackers walking free. ESPN E:60 released a great article featuring this issue of corrective rape in the soccer community. (If you’d like to read the article or watch the video here’s the link http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/e60/news/story?id=5177704). As both a friend to the gay and lesbian community and a female athlete I couldn’t get over the horror of these stories, and the fact that these things are even happening at all shakes me to the core. But, there is still hope, many of these women continue to play the game that they love and they use it to empower themselves and other girls to play despite possible discriminations.

I was recently asked to help kick start and coach an emerging girls soccer program in one of the townships here in Pietermaritzburg. I was elated at the excitement the men’s coach had to get this program started as well as the enthusiasm of the 18 girls that are ready to learn more about the sport and compete. I am so excited to get this program going and encourage even more girls to play soccer. Because not just soccer, but all sport, has the ability to break down barriers put up by society. And gay or not gives these girls confidence to stand up to those who may discriminate against them because they want to continue to play a game that makes them happy. It will be very interesting to see how this team develops and the challenges that may be faced. I also plan to closely observe the reaction of others in the community to these girls playing soccer. I hope and pray that this issue starts to disappear from South Africa and the world, and that we as a global community can just accept and love people no matter what their sexual orientation is. I also hope that more girls continue to get involved in sport despite their fears and one day be able to compete without the fear of what people may think, or what may happen to them on their way home from practice. For me this journey starts with 18 girls in a township that just want to play the game that they love, and play it well.

I’ll end this with a quote from Eudy Simelane’s mother:

“These children are ours," she says."The gays and lesbians. I mean, we must accept our children. What they like, it's up to them. We are not God to stop them.”

Elise Anderson is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal.

Thankful (Jordan Muller)

2011-11-09T20:12:00.002+02:00

Is it already November? It definitely feels like time is flying by here. As I approach the end of my second month of service I thought I would take some time during this month of thanksgiving and make a list of things that I am and have been thankful for, so far. I decided that I would do one thing for every day until Thanksgiving so that makes 24 things.

Springtime

The flowers are blooming, the trees are budding and there is a renewed sense of freshness in the air as the days get warmer and the foliage starts to have added colors.

Cold Fronts
However, now that it has started to get hotter and there are more consecutive afternoons where the temperature is over 90 I do appreciate when a cold front moves in for a few days and brings along some clouds and maybe even some rain.

Rain and Storms

The storms here have no sense of time with hail and lightning sometimes happening at 6am. The lightning storms are fun to sit on my porch and watch and I have always enjoyed the smell of a fresh spring rain.

Sunglasses

These are a must have here with how bright the sun is and how much it is out. I'm glad I brought a couple of pairs since I've already lost one!

Rice

Ever since I went to Tanzania I have had a deep love for the rice. The weird thing is that, although I cook for myself, I have not made it once since I’ve been here. I always look forward to being invited to a meal though because there is bound to be rice with whatever is being served!

Braais

I also love the South African barbecues where they load up the grill with all types of meat and invite lots of friends over. Delicious!

Coca cola

I was a huge Mountain Dew drinker back in the States but since the Pepsi products are terrible here I've really enjoyed being able to drink coke and coke zero!

Peanut Butter

A staple in my diet and my main source of protein. I'm glad I like it! I eat it in a sandwich, with apples, bananas, choc chip cookies, by itself, pretty much with anything.

11:00 Tea Time

Although I don’t really like the tea that is served I do like getting a mid-morning snack every day. If I am in the office it is usually some sort of sandwich but if I am making my own it is usually chocolate milk and cookies!

KwaZamokuhle Chapel

The chapel that I get to worship in every day is awesome! How many people get to sing praise songs in a traditional zulu hut? It's a really cool experience!

Ephangweni

I'm also very thankful for the church here. Everyone has been so welcoming and the services aren't usually more than two hours which is nice since I don’t understand most of what is being said. I do take my own Bible, however, so I can read the scripture for the week and know what is being talked about.

Reverend Xaba

The pastor of Ephangweni has been a huge advocate for me and has really helped me see more and more of the area where I am living which has been a huge blessing. We have also had a lot of great talks about politics, religion, economy, etc. in both the us and SA which has given me a very interesting perspective into the lives of the people.

Mchunu

The pastoral intern who has been staying at the centre has definitely been a great friend to have as I have gotten adjusted to life around here. It will be harder now that he is gone because he was my informant on activities that were going on and my translator at most of those activities.

Electricity

It's so nice when the lights are working at my flat especially since it gets dark so early in the evening!

Electric Kettle

An amazing invention! It helps make my water not smell like eggs and gives me warm water for my baths (which is a word I use very loosely).

Goodness

I spend a lot of time with Goodness and it is always nice to talk to her. She is a very straight-forward woman but also a calming presence.

Trips to Town

Every Wednesday is an adventure into Estcourt with Goodness. We always have packages to post, money to deposit, and bread to buy but it's also when I buy my groceries and we do any other running that has to be done. It’s a nice change of pace from the day to day work at the
centre.

Ruth at the Post Office

I have gotten to talk to Ruth several times and she is always so friendly to me. She is the one that takes care of packages that are sent to the post office so she sees the things I get from home and always asks how I’m doing and how my homesickness is. She is just a very kind lady who makes the day a little brighter!

Letters from home

It’s always nice to get things from home or from friends and family in the States. I have really begun to appreciate hand-written letters or cards. Just thinking about the extra effort the person put forth makes them that much more special. Not many people take the time to sit down, write the letter, put it in an envelope, and walk to the mailbox to send the letter so it’s nice to get them.

Ostriches

On the trips into town there are usually ostriches in the fields on the side of the road and it just makes everything seem a little more wild and adventurous.

Books

With the sun setting by 6:30 and no television to watch my evenings are usually spent reading.

(Christmas) Music

I know it’s only the start of November but I will admit that I have started listening to Christmas music because it’s my favorite season and I think the music is always great to listen to anytime of the year. I’m not too big of a fan of holiday music though (songs about snow falling and sleigh rides). I also really enjoy the music in worship that is always a cappella and always sounds awesome! The song books only have words in them but someone always seem to know the tune
and if they don’t they make it up and everyone else joins in. It’s a really cool thing to be a part of.

Loubsers

Although I haven’t hung out with this family but a couple of times they have been very supportive of me and very hospitable which is comforting. It is nice to know that I have a reliable contact in town, also, in case anything were to happen.

Smiles

They say that these are contagious and I definitely agree. It’s always nice to see them around the centre and around the community as people are giving a friendly greeting or even laughing at my attempts at isiZulu.

Jordan Muller is an ELCA-MUD participant learner at Kwazamakuhle in KwaZulu-Natal.

Swaziland: Police stop people praying for democracy at Lutheran Church

2011-11-04T14:51:00.003+02:00

Trade unions SFTU (Swaziland's main union confederation) and teachers' union SNAT planned protest actions this week about the continuing lack of democracy in Africa's last feudal monarchy. But a court order granted on Saturday (29 October) meant that the protest was banned. Instead, unions decided to hold a prayer meeting 'for the problems that have engulfed this country' including the highest HIV-AIDS rate in the world and, remarkably in the week that the planet's human inhabitants hit 7bn, a falling population. The prayer meeting would have laid the ground for the submission of petitions the next day to the High Court and the Ministry of Labour.

The prayer meeting was not to take place either. A totally over-the-top 250 members of the Royal Swaziland Police turned up at the Lutheran Church to intimidate the officials of the church into cancelling the prayer meeting.

When asked what law they were enforcing, the police said they were 'using their own discretion under the Public Order Act of 1963

Union leaders Mduduzi Gina (SFTU Secretary General) and G.M. Mhlanga of the SNAT issued a statement claiming that: "we say unequivocally that we are in a police state…we call upon the international community not to fold their hands as Swazis suffer in their own country. Surely it cannot be the spilling of blood that would galvanise them to act against the dictatorship we are living under?"

The Water Fetcher (Taylor Hammrich)

2011-11-02T16:21:00.008+02:00

To integrate yourself into another culture isn’t as easy as one may think. Sure you can learn the language, support the sports teams, and wear clothing that resembles the local attire, but does doing this actually allow you to be a part of the culture? I don’t believe so. I can speak some Spanish, my favorite soccer team is FC Barcelona, and I wear some of the same clothing many Spaniards wear, but does that mean I am immersed in the culture? No, and this remains true for South Africa as it does all around the world. To integrate yourself into a culture you must live with the people, do what they do, walk in their shoes. Living in Masealama has given me many wonderful ways to dive into the region’s culture and become more of a local. The best ways I have found to do so are some of the littlest things I can do, but no matter how little the activity, they have proven their importance.

Living without running water in my home has not only given me a greater appreciation for having clean drinking water coming out of every tap in my home back in the United States, the ability to take a shower without needing to use an urn to heat up only enough water to fill a small bucket to then pour over myself, or the ability to flush a toilet without requiring me to pour water into the toilet bowl to force the waste down, but it has also given me the opportunity to meet many people and have conversations with them that would not have occurred without this small inconvenience. Before coming to Masealama, I would complain if the water tasted funny, if there was no warm water left to shower with, or if I had to hold the toilet handle down in order to be sure it flushed properly. What I should have been thinking, is how thankful I am for having clean water to drink, water to shower with, and a toilet that flushes.

You may be wondering why this has caused me to meet more people or why I have been talking about the way I bathe or how I get rid of my bodily waste to others in my host community. I promise you, I have not had any conversations about either of those activities with the residents of Masealama. As a result of not having running water in my home, I must fetch water. In my house, I have a large water drum that holds perhaps 250 liters of water. To get the water into this drum, I must use a wheel barrel and a few plastic containers to collect the water from the “water tower.” When I fetch water, I walk to the water tower, and to give you perspective is between one and two city blocks away. Then, as long as there is water in the tank, I can begin filling my plastic containers with water from the taps. In order to regulate water consumption, the taps are only open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6am to 6pm and then again Saturday mornings until noon. As many people want to fetch their water before the heat sets in for the day and to ensure the water doesn’t run out for them, they fetch their water early in the morning. I have made the mistake of attempting to fetch water in the afternoon, and have been left with an empty water drum for the next few days. So, I try to go in the mornings before heading to work at the crèche and this has given me the opportunity to meet many of the residents of Masealama that are out fetching water and/or walking around. Although the conversations at the water tower are rarely deep, simply my presence at the tower allows my credibility to increase as they see I struggle alongside of them to have clean water.

Due to not having personal access to a car, I have the opportunity to frequent the local taxis, or kombis as they call them, from place to place. Now the taxis are different than what you would think of when envisioning those that crowd the streets of New York City. Instead, they are more like the old VW vans with some eighteen-odd windows in them. Sure, some of kombis are nicer and newer than you might imagine based on that picture, but they are generally found in town, not in the more remote villages like Masealama. Again, just as people are surprised by the idea that I fetch water as they do, they are equally intrigued to see me riding in the taxis. Although normally white people in South Africa do not ride the taxis, I believe people are surprised for another, simpler, reason. That being they are not used to seeing a white man at all, for around Masealama and the surrounding villages there are no white people. To see me riding joyfully along in a taxi through their village, I would imagine would be a bit of a site to them.

As they are intrigued by me, many of the riders will chat with me and get to know me. After the general, “Hi, how are you doing?” and “what is your name and where are you from?” questions, they begin to ask what I am doing here and love hearing I will be her until next July. Since taxis are used by most commuters to get around the area, I see many different people each time. However, after just one month of being here, I am seeing many of the same faces and am eager to greet them. Through being seen riding the taxis that I will be more accepted into the culture, showing them that I am here to be with them and ride alongside of them.

Of course I do not always have in-depth conversations at the water tower, riding in the taxis, nor when children shout my name when they see me, but what each instance creates is an opportunity. The opportunity that the next time I see these people I will recognize and know them, allowing me to have more conversations with them. Thus, allowing our relationships to develop and grow. Walking with the people and being a part of the people is an important aspect to immersing oneself into a new culture. Integrating into a culture is not through learning their language, supporting their sports teams, nor dressing like them, rather through doing the little things every day that they do too.

Taylor Hammrich is an ELCA-MUD participant-learner in Masealama, Limpopo.

Climate Change and Poverty in the Household of God (Brian E. Konkol)

2011-10-18T21:11:00.003+02:00

Since the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNCCC) came into force in 1995, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNCCC has met annually to assess progress in dealing with global climate change. From November 28 until December 9 in Durban, South Africa, the Conference of the Parties will meet again, for the 17^th time, thus the title “COP17”. Among other things, COP17 will bring together various world leaders in order to adopt decisions and resolutions, publish reports, and attempt to establish legally binding legislation for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. While some are skeptical as to how much progress may be achieved due to power politics and global economic stagnation, there is a growing sense of optimism surrounding COP17 and enthusiasm is expected to increase as the gathering draws closer.

While one could reflect upon a wide range of topics surrounding climate change and the complexity of multi-national negotiations, I find it necessary to offer a few observations from the perspective of a North American Christian residing within the borders of South Africa. In specifics, as I prepare for my own involvement surrounding COP17 in Durban through the local faith-based community, the following observations come to mind: 1) Climate Change skepticism seems to be a USA-based phenomenon, 2) Climate Change and Poverty are intimately linked, and 3) The Christian Church has much to offer surrounding resistance and responses to climate change and poverty.

Climate Change skepticism seems to be a USA-based phenomenon

According to the Pew Research Centre, a 2009 survey found that only 57% of USA citizens believed in global warming, which was a twenty-point drop from a similar survey taken in 2006. In addition, the study found that only 36% of the 1,500 adults questioned believed that human activities – such as pollution from power plants, industry, and vehicles – are behind an increase in global temperatures, which is down from 47% in 2006. While there are many reasons given for a decline in environmental emphasis, the numbers reveal that USA citizens tend to be more skeptical of climate change when compared to the majority of people from other nations. As a result, it is not surprising that the USA government has a reputation around the world as the primary roadblock to global legislation that would require more legally binding sustainable environmental standards.

In contrast to the ongoing public and political debate in the USA surrounding the legitimacy and urgency of climate change, the global scientific body of knowledge appears to be overwhelmingly clear, as highlighted in The Great Disruption by Paul Gilding:

· …every major grouping of qualified scientists that has analyzed the issue [of climate change] comes to the same conclusion and has done so consistently over time and around the world… The broad conclusion they all come to is that we face a significant risk of major change that undermines society’s prosperity and stability, we are a substantial contributor to the risk, and to reduce the level of risk we should dramatically reduce emissions of the pollution that causes the problem.

· The consensus position on climate change is reflected in the rigorously peer-reviewed journals in which research is presented and issues are debated. One study by Naomi Oreskes, published in the journal Science, demonstrated that of the papers whose abstract contained the keywords global climate change between 1993 and 2003, none questioned the consensus position – not one. Oreskes’s subsequent book, Merchants of Doubt, revealed how many who once fronted the tobacco industry’s anti-science campaign to deny the link between smoking and lung cancer are also now prominent and vocal climate change skeptics, and they are often funded to create doubt that has no credible scientific basis.

With the above thoughts in mind, it is clear that – from the basis of consensus scientific knowledge from credible specialists around the world – climate change is real, serious, and is growing worse due to human activity. While a number of skeptics will persist, and frequent streams of propaganda – often funded by energy companies and political lobbyists – will continue, humanity cannot continue to live in denial, for failing to take action will have dramatic and far-reaching implications. In many ways, the science reveals that climate change is merely not about politics, religion, money, or morality, but it is about the survival of the planet and the existence of life as we know it. In other words, climate change is an issue that impacts each and every living being that God has created.

Climate Change and Poverty are intimately linked

While some argue that an increased emphasis upon environmentalism is a hindrance to economic growth, the scientific body of knowledge reports to the contrary, for climate change actually increases poverty, especially within the developing world. Among other things, extreme weather has an impact upon productivity and can raise the price of staple foods, such as grains, that are important to households throughout the world. In addition, studies have shown that global warming will likely increase the frequency and intensity of heat waves and drought in many areas. These various and significant realities will have a deep and dramatic impact upon developing nations, and because of the growing inter-connectedness of globalization, they will also have a impact upon Europe and the USA. All together, the choice between environmental sustainability and economic growth is no choice at all, for one cannot exist in the long term without the other.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), climate change is a global concern, for it increases poverty and halts sustainable development in the following ways:

· There has been considerable research surrounding climate change and agriculture. Among other things, climate change impacts rainfall, temperature, and water availability in vulnerable areas, thus it has a strong influence upon productivity, agricultural practices, and distribution of rural land. In addition, climate change could worsen the prevalence of hunger through effects on production and purchasing power, thus some have predicted the number of people to be impacted by malnutrition may rise to 600 million by 2080.

· Of the 3 billion growth in population projected worldwide by 2050, the majority will be born in countries already experiencing water shortages. As the climate of the earth warms, changes in rainfall, evaporation, snow, and runoff flows will be impacted.

· As a result of accelerated ice sheet disintegration, rising sea levels could result in 330 million people being permanently or temporarily displaced through flooding. In addition, warming seas can also fuel the increase of more intense tropical storms.

· One of the direct effects of climate change is an increase in temperature-related illnesses and deaths related to prolonged heat waves and humidity. In specifics, climate change can alter the geographic range of mosquito-born diseases, such as malaria, thus exposing new populations to the disease. As a changing climate affects the essential ingredients of maintaining good health (clean air and water, sufficient food and adequate shelter), the effects could be widespread and massive.

· The report of the World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health points out that disadvantaged communities are likely to shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden of climate change because of their increased exposure and vulnerability to health threats. More specifically, over 90 percent of malaria and diarrheal deaths are experienced by children aged 5 years or younger, mostly in developing countries.

With all the above thoughts in mind, it is clear that the world cannot afford to engage the false debate of having to choose between environmental sustainability and economic growth, for the two go hand in hand within an interconnected system of globalization. In many ways, the current global economic downturn and debt crisis within Europe and the USA proves how a failure to promote sustainability will drive economies into further crisis, not only in the developing world, but also within those countries that have enjoyed generations of prosperity. And so, as increases in climate change lead to dramatic rises of inequality and poverty, those who are most responsible for climate change are called to take responsibility in order to offer sustainable livelihoods for people and places throughout the world. The issue of climate change – and the resulting consequences of economic crisis, inequality, and poverty – has reached a breaking-point, and a lack of significant and far-reaching action will lead the world further down a dangerous path.

The Christian Church has much to offer surrounding resistance and responses

In order to resist and respond to climate change and poverty, a wide variety of world church companions are seeking innovative and respectful methods to accompany one another in God’s mission of reconciliation, transformation, and empowerment. As stated by the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makogoba, during his sermon on creation and greed: “God calls us to be part of the solution, not part of the problem – part of the coming of the kingdom, partners in his working of redemption and salvation.” And so, while many would argue that COP17 should be left to government leaders and scientists, the call of Jesus to seek life in its fullness for all people in all places draws people of faith toward prophetic action, for the common identity as Children of God takes precedence over national boundaries and political agendas. In other words, as people of faith who believe in a God that created the heavens and the earth, we are called to be faithful stewards of creation in a way that brings life, rather than takes life away.

With such thoughts in mind, the late South African theologian and activist Steve de Gruchy promoted “An Olive Agenda” that is of great importance for churches and people of faith around the world seeking ways to mobilize, for he provided a significant contribution toward the pursuit of resistance and responses to climate change and poverty. For example, de Gruchy offered a theological metaphor – the olive – that transcends the duality between the “green” environmental agenda and “brown” poverty agenda “that has disabled development discourse for the past twenty years”. As a result of de Gruchy’s work, instead of falling into the false debate between “green” environmental sustainability and “brown” poverty reduction, an Olive Agenda combines green and brown into olive, and thus provides a “remarkably rich metaphor” that “holds together that which religious and political discourse rends apart: earth, land, climate, labor, time, family, food, nutrition, health, hunger, poverty, power and violence”. Among other things, de Gruchy’s Olive Agenda is of exceptional value as churches and people of faith around the world seek to understand the mission of God within the context of climate change and its impact upon inequality and poverty.

According to de Gruchy, an Olive Agenda finds its theological foundation in the concept of “oikos”, translated as “the household of God”. As ecology (oikos-logos) concerns the wisdom of how a home functions, economy (oikos-nomos) is about the rules that should govern the home, and because there is only one “home” for humankind (the earth), economy and ecology are thus “both intimately concerned about the earth, about the way human beings live upon the earth, relate to the earth, make use of the earth’s bounty, and respect the integrity of the earth”. Therefore, the social implications of these theological affirmations are that while both brown and green agendas are “fundamentally right, taken in isolation each is tragically wrong – and thus we must integrate economy as oikos-nomos, and ecology as oikos-logos in search of sustainable life on earth, the oikos that is our only home.” As stated previously, this Olive Agenda has the potential to dramatically transform the ways that world church companionships and people of faith respond to economic and ecological exploitation and other factors that prevent fullness of life around the world.

Moving Forward

One of the common metaphors of social development is “give someone fish and they eat for a day, but teach someone to fish and they eat for a lifetime”. In the 21st century this statement is not fully accurate, for one has to consider who has “access to the pond”, and of course, we need to recognize that climate change is causing “the pond” the shrink. When the pond, both literally and figuratively, is shrinking, it creates a global situation in which competition and warfare surrounding limited resources takes priority over cooperation, and survival of the fittest takes precedence over mutuality with humanity and creation. With such realities in mind, and in light of the Olive Agenda as first articulated by Steve de Gruchy, we recognize that environmental sustainability is not merely an option for the future, but it is the only option if a future is what we truly seek.

While climate change and poverty are global concerns, one recognizes that certain nations have additional responsibility for the challenges, and as a result, must take bold leadership in promoting solutions. For example, according to the WorldWatch Institute, the wealthiest 500 million people in the world (roughly 7% of the global population) are currently responsible for 50% of carbon dioxide emissions, while the poorest 3 billion are responsible for just 6%. In addition, from 1900-2004 the whole of Africa generated just 2.5% of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions while the USA accounted for 29.5%. Although these gaps have narrowed slightly in recent years, historical emissions are relevant because carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere to exert a greenhouse effect for many decades, and thus the negative impact of emissions upon development persists long after the pollution is first created. And so, the scientific body of knowledge is clear in stating that those who are most vulnerable to the impact of climate change are those that carry the least historical responsibility for its existence. As a result, while the entire world must rally around answers for climate change, the primary responsibility to promote such resolutions and reverse environmental injustice falls most upon the wealthiest global citizens, for anything less would be unjust, short-sighted, selfish, and irresponsible.

With all the above in mind, the time has come to recognize that God’s mission is about the promotion of sustainable livelihoods, not merely for life after death, but also for life after birth. As a result, the time for silence on matters such as climate change and poverty is finished, for as Martin Luther King, Jr. stated: “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transformation was not the strident clamour of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people”. As a result of the crippling ecological and economic impact of climate change, the time has come for Christian Churches around the world – especially those within the USA – to seek responsible and respectful systems that reverse injustices and offer life for all that God has created. The time has come for churches to call upon wealthier countries to repay their climate debt by undertaking severe cuts in emissions. In addition, it is time for people of faith to model environmental values and advocate for the increased financial support of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. In other words, it is time for churches to insist that all countries involved in COP17 support legally binding legislation that values the entirety and integrity of God’s creation.

The scientific evidence surrounding climate change is clear, and the implications for both the environment and humankind are many, thus the response to such global challenges needs to be persistent, organized, and significant. As Jesus calls upon humankind to “love they neighbor”, and as the Old Testament prophets remind us to strive for justice, we recognize that within a deeply connected world “neighbor” implies all that God has created, and injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. And so, an implication of Jesus’ words and actions is to share and receive the Good News not only on Sunday mornings, but through daily acts of long-term advocacy that promotes sustainable livelihoods. With COP17 in South Africa on the horizon, the time has come to mobilize around an Olive Agenda, as silence or neutrality on such matters will allow climate change and poverty to continue and grow worse. The time has come when humanity can no longer afford to fight over the limited resources remaining in our shrinking pond, and the moment is upon us to pass legally binding legislation that values the gifts of creation that God has entrusted us to manage. The time is now. God has allowed humankind to serve as stewards of creation, and the time has come to embrace this sacred responsibility, value the resources that God has so graciously offered, and ensure that all of God’s creation – in this generation and the next – receives the fullness of life that God has promised.

Rev. Brian E. Konkol is an Ordained Pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Country Coordinator of the ELCA-MUD program in South Africa. He can be reached at: bekonkol@yahoo.com.

South Africa is now worse than apartheid state, says Tutu (Mail & Guardian)

2011-10-06T08:07:00.001+02:00

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu expressed outrage on Tuesday on the government's failure to grant Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama a visa.

"Our government is worse than the apartheid government, because at least you were expecting it from the apartheid government," Tutu said in Cape Town at a press conference.

"We were expecting we would have a government that was sensitive to sentiments of our Constitution," Tutu said.

"The trouble is that the ANC on the whole reckons that the freedom that we enjoy is due to them. They reckon everyone else is just a sideline."

Tutu shouted and shook his finger as he spoke: "Hey Mr Zuma, you and your government don't represent me. You represent your own interests.

"I am warning you out of love. I am warning you like I warned the nationalists that one day we will start praying for the defeat of the ANC government. You are disgraceful."

"We will pray as we prayed for downfall of apartheid government, we will pray for downfall of a government that misrepresents us," Tutu shouted.

"The nationalists had a huge majority. They ate dust," Tutu said.

He said the ANC had a large majority, but so did former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, both of whom were overthrown in popular uprisings.

"Mubarak had a large majority. Gaddafi had a large majority. Watch out. I am warning you. Watch out."

Tutu said South Africa was helped by the international community to overcome apartheid.

"People who supported us in our struggle ... those people are weeping. They are saying South Africa, it can't be," he said.

"I can't believe this. I really can't believe it," he said, laughing ironically.

"You have to wake me up and tell me this is actually happening here. It is quite unbelievable the discourtesy they have shown to the Dalai Lama."

"People were opposed to injustice and oppression and people believe that we South Africans would be on the side of those who are oppressed. Tibet is being oppressed," he said.

"Our government, representing me, says it will not support Tibetans who are being oppressed viciously by the Chinese."

He said he once listened to one of Zuma's state of the nation speeches as the president paid tribute to everyone, apart from religious leaders, in bringing about democracy.

"I listened to this president paying tribute to all kinds of people who had helped bring about democracy in this country," Tutu said.

"This president did not mention a single religious leader. Let the ANC know that they can not airbrush us out."

Tutu said International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane had not been truthful when she had said the Dalai Lama could come to South Africa at any time.

"Two years ago the minister ... said the Dalai Lama can come any time.

"Either she was being very economical with the truth or she didn't know her work. She should have known that it was unlikely they would [let him come]. The discourtesy is mind-blowing."

Tutu said former president Nelson Mandela once told the United States not to tell him how to choose his friends when he was challenged about South Africa's close ties with Cuba.

"When you think Madiba able to say to most powerful country, look you don't choose our friends for us ... To say that to the US about Cuba, it takes something, but he did and they did nothing. If anything their respect for him grew."

Tutu said he would not invite the Dalai Lama to South Africa again.

"I don't think I would put him through this kind of thing again," he said. -- Sapa

Source: Mail & Guardian Online
Web Address: http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-04-government-worse-than-apartheid-says-tutu

Interview with Desmond Tutu (Mail & Guardian)

2011-10-03T14:47:00.003+02:00

The following is a brief interview with Desmond Tutu, where he speaks about the Dalai Lama's visit to South Africa, the Protection of Information Bill, and what makes him happy.

http://mg.co.za/multimedia/2011-09-29-word-from-the-arch/

Wangari Maathai: Life and Legacy

2011-09-28T07:06:00.002+02:00

When Wangari Maathai celebrated something important — such as becoming the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize — she would plant a tree.

"That's the way I do things," she told NPR's Renee Montagne in 2004. A tree, especially a flaming red Nandi, would be a living memory. And it would bring life to some of the world's barren lands.

Maathai died of cancer Sunday in a Nairobi hospital. She was 71. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work promoting environmental stewardship, empowering women and peaceful resistance to violence.

Now might be a time to plant a tree in her memory.

Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, teaching women to plant trees as a way to keep their water clean and provide them with wood. The Nobel Committee noted that her work stood out particularly against the repressive government of former Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi, who was no Maathai fan. He called her "mad" and described her as a threat to Kenyan national security, according to The Associated Press.

She ended up as one of Kenya's best known citizens; the present Kenyan president, Mwai Kibaki, mourns her as "a global icon who has left an indelible mark in the world of environmental conservation."

And this afternoon, President Obama said "the world mourns ... and celebrates the extraordinary life of this remarkable woman who devoted her life to peacefully protecting what she called 'our common home and future.' "

Maathai, a professor at the University of Nairobi, spoke with NPR's Montagne on Morning Edition in 2004. She told Renee that after she learned she had been awarded the Nobel, she walked outside and planted a tree.

"That's the way I do things when I want to celebrate, I always plant a tree. And so I got an indigenous tree, called Nandi flame, it has this beautiful red flowers. When it is in flower it is like it is in flame."

She explained that when she created the Green Belt movement in Kenya, her first goal was to help poor women who lacked clean water, wood for fires and huts. But she came to realize the Kenyan government was one of the biggest 'culprits' standing in the way of their success. Planting trees was a way to peacefully defy the repressive government and empower women at the same time.

Wangari Maathai had studied biology in the United States before returning home to teach; she became the first woman in east and central Africa to earn a doctorate, the first to win a university professorship and the first to chair a department.

In 2007, when her autobiography — Unbowed — was released, she reminisced about her life with NPR's Michel Martin on Tell Me More. Maathai reflected on growing up poor, her parents' determination to see her go to college, and the obstacles she and other women faced. Despite earning a doctorate, Maathai had difficulty obtaining a divorce because of women's lower status in society.

Michel asked Maathai to explain why the Nobel Committee singled out her environmental work for honor.

"When you think of all the conflicts we have — whether those conflicts are local, whether they are regional or global — these conflicts are often over the management, the distribution of resources. If these resources are very valuable, if these resources are scarce, if these resources are degraded, there is going to be competition. And it is over that competition that we get conflict.

"And that is why the Norwegian Nobel Committee thought that ... the time has come for us to realize that to work for peace, we need to manage our resources in a responsible way, in an accountable way so that people — so people don't feel like they're marginalized."

Maathai followed up her autobiography with a book on accountability, called The Challenge for Africa." She spoke in April, 2009, with NPR's Neal Conan on Talk of the Nation. She wrote and spoke scathingly of the wreckage Europeans inflicted through colonialism, but is equally blunt about the problem of corruption facing modern African leaders:

"You cannot blame it on the debts and how we have managed the loans and the — the debt that we have incurred in the last so many decades. You cannot blame the mismanagement of the economy or the fact that we have not invested adequately in education in order to give our people the knowledge, the skills and the technology that they need in order to be able to use the resources that Africa has to gain wealth. And so I'm saying that, yes, colonialism was terrible, and I describe it as a legacy of wars, but we ought to be moving away from that by now."

Here's one more look back at this remarkable woman. She narrates I Will Be A Hummingbird, a tale of always trying to do the best you can, no matter how small you are.

Tributes to Maathai are filling the pages of Greenbelt.org. No funeral details have been announced.

10 Years after 9/11: The Good and the Bad (Jim Wallis)

2011-09-11T08:55:00.002+02:00

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was at home in Washington, D.C. getting ready to go to Sojourners’ office. I was upstairs listening to the news on NPR when I heard the first confusing report of a plane crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center. I immediately called downstairs to Joy and asked her to turn on the television to see what was going on. Moments later, as we ate breakfast together with our three-year-old son Luke, we watched the second plane strike the north tower. I still remember my first response to Joy, “This is going to be bad, very bad,” I said.

Of course, I meant more than just the damage to the Twin Towers and the lives lost, which became far greater than any of us imagined at first. Rather, my first and deepest concern was what something like this could do to our nation’s soul. I was afraid of how America would respond to a terrorist attack of this scope.

But as the Towers collapsed, and the suffering of this horrible event became increasingly clear in the hours and days that followed, other parts of the American soul revealed themselves — the heroic responses of the first responders, and a city and nation of people taking care of each other. As ordinary citizens gave their lives for strangers, they became our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. In the days that followed the 9/11 attacks, the stories of pain, loss, and self-sacrifice brought Joy and me to tears several times. The suffering of many led to the service of many more.

For a moment, the world’s last remaining superpower was vulnerable, and we all felt it. In Washington, people fled from downtown D.C., walking and running right past our house, and gathered to pray at places such as Sojourners’ office. Joy helped Luke set up a little water station, as people frantically rushed by our house.

In our sudden sense of vulnerability we were now, and perhaps for the first time, like most of the world, where vulnerability is an accepted part of being human. And in those first days following 9/11, America, not the terrorists, had the high ground. The world did not identify with those who cruelly and murderously decided to take innocent lives in response to their grievances — both real and imagined. Instead, the world identified with a suffering America — even the front cover of the French newspaper Le Monde ran the headline, “We are all Americans now.”

But it was Washington’s response that I was most worried about. Within a short period of time, the official reaction to terrorism would simply be defined as war — a decade of it — resulting in many more innocent casualties than on September 11, 2001. In response to America’s own suffering, many others in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the world would now suffer — all in the name of our war on terrorism. The opportunity for deeper understanding, reflection, and redirection would elude us as we sought to erase our vulnerability with the need to demonstrate our superior force and power. This was done quite easily in the early days of both our new wars. But now, we see that the longest series of wars in American history has failed to resolve or reverse the causes of the violence that struck us, or to make us safer. They just made it all worse.

The world expected and would have supported a focused and sustained effort to pursue and bring this small band of criminals to justice. But these last 10 years of manipulated and corrupted intelligence, endless war, practices and policies of torture, secret armies of assassination, global violations of human rights, indiscriminate violence with countless civilian casualties, and trillions of dollars wasted caused America to lose the high ground long ago. The arrogance of American power was our only response to the both the brutality and complexity of terrorism. Perhaps, this arrogance is most recently and brazenly exhibited in former Vice-President Dick Cheney’s new book tour, where he boasts of having absolutely no regrets for any of the momentous decisions he took part in. These are decisions which have made the world an even more divided, polarized, dehumanized, and dangerous place — 10 years after September 11, 2001.

But, fortunately, the official and failed response of Washington to the terrible tragedy of 9/11 has not been the only response. A new generation of Christians has asked how Jesus would respond to these same events. Many of them would agree with what Methodist Bishop Will Willimon recently said in the evangelical magazine Christianity Today: “American Christians may look back upon our response to 9/11 as our greatest Christological defeat … when our people felt vulnerable, they reached for the flag instead of the cross.” As many of those who have grown up in the decade since 9/11 confront the conflicts of their world, they are reaching for different things than their government. They are forging alternative responses to issues of injustice and violence, and rejecting the terrorism and war sequence of Washington’s twisted and failed moral logic.

And despite the hateful diatribes of fundamentalist leaders in all our religious traditions, other pastors have decided to love their neighbors, and even their enemies in response to Jesus’ call. Their stories are slowly being told, from American neighborhoods where Muslims have moved in, to conflict areas around the world where faith is being used for bridge building and healing, instead of more revenge killings. Christian leaders are sharing meals, fasting, and prayer with Muslim leaders. Some have defended each other’s congregations and homes in the face of heated threats and rhetoric. While differences between faith traditions are not being glossed over, the nature of a loving and reconciling God is being courageously affirmed across religious lines. In all of this, we are saying that government responses need not define our own.

Last weekend, my son Luke just turned 13 years old, and my son Jack is now eight years old. They both understand what Christianity and Islam are and are not. In their classrooms, they have friends who are Muslim. The other day, my son Jack, who missed the events of 9/11, heard a disparaging remark on television about Islam and quickly retorted, “That’s not true, there is a Muslim boy in my class, and he is not like that at all.” Luke and I recently watched the National Geographic special that described the events of the day, which we remember this week. It helped him to put the pieces in place from his memories of 9/11 as a three-year-old. I was struck with how he looks at the world with more sympathy than fear, and how strongly he feels about war’s inability to solve any of the problems and conflicts between people.

Last year, the actions of extremists marred the commemoration of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and ignited international violence. This year, many interfaith services will mark the 10th anniversary. Sojourners is co-sponsoring a press conference with the World Evangelical Alliance on Friday, September 9, which will overlook Ground Zero in New York City. Global Evangelical leaders will be calling for peace and unity, and we will say that while religion has historically been the cause of conflict, it can also serve as a solution. We will give examples of Christians and Muslims living together peacefully, even in the most conflicted parts of the world, and call for Christians to be good neighbors to the Muslim community. As we gather in our houses of worship this Sunday, September 11, many pastors will remind their parishioners of two fundamental truths: We must not be overcome by evil, but rather overcome evil with good, and “they will know we are Christians by our love.”

USA marks 9/11 after "hard decade of war" (Mark Egan)

2011-09-11T08:50:00.001+02:00

Americans on Sunday remembered the horror of September 11 2001, and the nearly 3 000 people who died in the hijacked plane attacks as authorities worked to ensure the emotional 10th anniversary was peaceful.

Law enforcement authorities in New York and Washington were on high alert against what was described as a "credible but unconfirmed" threat of an al-Qaeda plot to attack the United States again a decade after the toppling of the World Trade Centre's twin towers by hijacked airliners.

Security was especially tight in Manhattan, where police set up vehicle checks on city streets as well as bridges and tunnels coming into the city.

President Barack Obama and former president George Bush, who was president at the time of the attacks, were scheduled to be among the dignitaries at the Ground Zero site in New York.

They were set to join victims' families to hear the reading of the names of those who died on September 11. Bells will toll across the city.

In the attacks, 19 men from the Islamic militant group al-Qaeda hijacked airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon outside Washington and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

To mark the attacks, Obama was set to visit all three sites.

"Thanks to the tireless efforts of our military personnel and our intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security professionals, there should be no doubt: today, America is stronger and al-Qaeda is on the path to defeat," Obama said in his weekly radio and internet address.

US forces killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May.

Sunday's Ground Zero ceremony was set to include moments of silence marking when planes hit the twin towers as well as when they collapsed. Other moments of silence will mark when a plane hit the Pentagon and another crashed in Shanksville after passengers fought back against the hijackers.

Bush, who has kept a low profile since leaving office, was in Shanksville on Saturday. "The memory of that morning is fresh, and so is the pain," Bush told a crowd at the site.

'Their lives mattered'

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spoke on Saturday at the opening of a monument to the 746 residents of his state killed in the attacks. The Empty Sky memorial in Liberty State Park, across the Hudson River from the World Trade Centre, has the names of the dead etched on two 9.1m tall walls, each 63.7m long -- the exact width of the twin towers.

"Their lives mattered," Christie said at the ceremony, which began late because security slowed traffic. "That's why we built this memorial and that's why we come here today."

Security concerns were high in Washington, too. Authorities shut down part of Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia outside the US capital on Saturday because of a suspicious object but later said no explosives were found.

New Yorkers, accustomed to heightened security and alerts that have become commonplace over the past decade, appeared to take the increased police presence in stride.

A decade later, after a faltering start, there are signs of rebuilding progress at the World Trade Centre site. The new One World Trade Centre skyscraper rises more than 80 storeys above the ground as it inches to its planned 541m height -- symbolic of the year of America's independence from Britain.

The memorial plaza is ready and the neighbourhood has enjoyed a revival, making it a trendy Manhattan place to live.

The 2001 attacks were followed by US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the latter of which Obama opposed. The United States still has thousands of troops deployed in both countries.

But the weak US economy has become the biggest concern for many Americans. Obama said, "After a hard decade of war, it is time for nation building here at home." - Reuters

Source: Mail & Guardian Online
Web Address: http://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-11-us-marks-911-after-hard-decade-of-war

Good governance is not enough (Amukelani Mayimele)

2011-08-16T14:39:00.003+02:00

We live in the best of times, but great challenges lie ahead. Service delivery protests are but one indication of how far we still have to go. At the core of these and other protests, is a demand by citizens for corruption to be eliminated; for leaders to behave fairly, and; that organisations and policies are set up on ethical foundations.

There is an obvious discrepancy between what has been achieved in terms of deliverance by public institutions, and what is expected by the public. Society is not satisfied with the current performance outcomes. Nowadays, the media’s reach has grown exponentially with the rise of social networks. Thus public awareness of government’s positive and negative achievements is greater than ever. With greater awareness, the communities’ expectations rise. These expectations must be met. No-one is willing to compromise.

If expectations are to be met, leaders must be exemplars of good governance. Good governance is more than just the existence of an efficient public sector. It calls for fair and responsible institutions that respect human being and their civil liberties. Although necessary, good governance is not sufficient. Leaders must behave in an ethical manner. Government structures must be fully accountable to their populace. The public must have the opportunity to participate in decision making that affects their lives. At the very least, decision making processes should be transparent. Leaders must also report back to their constituents. The reasoning underlying decisions taken on behalf of and for the benefit of the people should be communicated. Leaders should prove they are servants to the people. They should lead by example.

People have spoken and they continue to speak. People are calling for a government that will be accountable to its citizens. Are we listening? What is our response to their demand for corruption to be eradicated? A corruption free government will be better able to communicate and answer to the need of the poorest member of the society. Human security and poverty reduction will be achieved. However, this is not a role only to be played out by government. Every single one of us has the potential to be effective individuals if we conduct ourselves in an ethical manner. We all need to start leading ourselves. We need to be leaders who are brave, visible and communicate at all times. Good Governance is a process which cannot be shaped by legislature alone. It requires a transformation of culture. We need leaders who are dedicated to building an environment where ethics and appropriate regulation will be encouraged.

Amukelani Mayimele is a Bachelors of Communication Honours Student, and a student of Ethical practices. She is also a young leader who is determined to lead her generation to transformation. The above article is taken from "One Young World", which is a global forum for young people of leadership caliber. Its purpose is to connect the youngest and brightest and to ensure that their concerns, opinions and solutions are taken into account by those in power whether in government, business or any other sector.

The original version is found at: http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/oneyoungworld/2011/08/08/good-governance-is-not-enough/