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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 10, 2001

LUTHERANS WORK TO ERADICATE HUNGER IN THE WORLD
01-186-MR

     DECORAH, Iowa (ELCA) -- About 180 Lutherans committed to making
the eradication of hunger a major priority in the United States and
around the world met here June 28-July 1 for the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America's (ELCA) World Hunger Synod Leadership Gathering at
Luther College, one of 28 colleges and universities of the ELCA.
     The meeting brought together leaders from 50 of the ELCA's 65
synods.  Involved in the church's efforts to end hunger, synod hunger
coordinators and others provided ideas about ways to educate the ELCA's
11,000 congregations about hunger, shared information on how to increase
funds for the church's World Hunger Appeal, and reflected on "Stand With
Africa" -- a three-year Lutheran campaign that focuses on overcoming
HIV/AIDS, banishing hunger and building peace in Africa.
     "Hunger and poverty will be easy to eradicate if people learn to
share," said the Right Rev. Ambrose Moyo, bishop of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe and president of the Zimbabwe Council of
Churches.
     In a keynote presentation, Moyo told participants that some of the
greatest challenges facing Zimbabwe today are AIDS, poverty and
violence.
     "In 1990, the country began to experience a severe deterioration
of resources.  External debt has crippled the country, but internal debt
is even more severe.  About $2 billion is owed by the country," he said.

     Zimbabwe was not included in Jubilee 2000 -- a worldwide movement
to cancel huge international debts held by impoverished countries --
"because it has only become financially troubled in the last several
years." Moyo said.
     "We are calling, 'come here and help us.'  Let us stand together
in [Zimbabwe's] quest for peace," Moyo told participants.
     The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, said
hunger is a spiritual problem for the church.
     "We are in spiritual danger if we continue to live [in a middle-
class lifestyle] and accept it.  If God loves the poor like it is said
in the Bible, then we must take our greed seriously," he said.
     "We must move beyond a charity mentality to one of advocacy and
education to understand why there is hunger.  How can we get the church
to see life from the perspective of those living on much less than we
do?" Anderson asked participants.
     "We are saved by grace.  Institutions are not saved by grace, they
are saved by mission.  The church must supply what God demands; if not,
God will find another church," Anderson said.
     Congressman James A. Leach (R-Iowa) greeted participants.  Leach
introduced a "Hunger to Harvest Resolution: A Decade of Concern for
Africa" to the U.S. Congress on April 4.  The resolution calls for a
sustained commitment by the United States to reduce hunger and poverty
in sub-Saharan Africa, and asks that the commitment be demonstrated by a
substantial increase in poverty-focused development assistance to
Africa.
     In addition to hearing keynote presentations, the gathering was
also a time for forming strategies on fund raising.  Lita Brusick
Johnson, director of ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeals, led a
presentation on how congregations and individual members of the church
can work to support the appeal.
     "The goal of the ELCA World Hunger Appeal and Program is to end
chronic hunger in God's world," said Johnson.  "There is enough to go
around.  It doesn't take more than what we already have.  The task of
ending hunger in God's world lays claim to the resources of all sectors
of society   [our] money, our tax dollars and business profits," she
said.
     "The World Hunger Appeal is not about giving alms.  It's about
justice and people living in poverty," Johnson said.
     A goal of the appeal is to raise $25 million a year by 2005.  The
appeal collected more than $15.86 million in 2000.  Johnson said a major
element in "growing" the appeal is to encourage non-participating
congregations and individuals to commit to the appeal.
     According to the Rev. David Beckman, an ELCA pastor and president
of Bread for the World -- an ecumenical Christian citizens coalition to
end hunger -- fewer people are hungry today than more than 25 years ago
when the appeals by Lutheran church bodies began.
     "Today, 3,000 people live rather than die," he said.  "It is
feasible in our time to see dramatic, positive changes to end hunger."
Beckman said congregations can work to reduce hunger dramatically and
government programs can help provide food.  The church's efforts should
be to provide pastoral care and help people to work and become self-
sustaining, he said.
     Workshops were offered on a variety of topics from the basics of
the World Hunger Appeal to the Stand With Africa campaign.  Participants
attended "field trips" designed to explore rural Iowa and urban
Wisconsin.  The trips included visits to a farm that employs "Global
Positioning Systems" (GPS), a technique that uses satellite monitoring
to determine soil conditions and environmentally safe uses of land; a
large dairy farm operation; a "seed-savers" farm designed to preserve
native and heirloom seeds; and urban community gardens.
     "We have hunger on our farms," said Sandra A. LaBlanc, Des Moines,
Iowa.  LaBlanc is an associate in ministry and the director for rural
ministry resources and networks, ELCA Division for Outreach.
     "About 800 million people are starving around the world. [Hunger]
is about greed, [unequal] distribution of resources and [lack] of
sharing," she said.
     LaBlanc and Kathryn Wolford, president of Lutheran World Relief
(LWR), led an evening discussion about rural life in the United States
and overseas.  LWR works overseas in relief and development on behalf of
the ELCA and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
     "About 80 percent of the work of LWR involves rural and semirural
communities," Wolford said.  "LWR works heavily in rural areas because
there are fewer opportunities for people to access government
subsidies," she said.
     The gathering endorsed a June 25 letter to President Bush written
by members of the ELCA, Bread for the World and others who gathered June
23-26 for a National Gathering on Africa in Washington, D.C.  The letter
urges President Bush to "work with Congress on an international
partnership with Africa."
     The World Hunger Program of the ELCA was established to address
needs in areas of hunger and disaster.  The ministry has four methods to
accomplish this goal: to provide immediate relief for those who "suffer"
from hunger and injustices related to hunger; to provide means for long-
term sustainable developments for communities to alleviate hunger and
poverty; to advocate for justice; and to educate ELCA members on issues
of hunger, poverty and justice.

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