wfn.org | Middle East 'Conversation' Highlights ELCA Global Events

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 5, 2002

MIDDLE EAST 'CONVERSATION' HIGHLIGHTS ELCA GLOBAL EVENTS
02-185-JB

     MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- A presentation on the Middle East situation
at the 2002 Global Mission Events (GME) of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) brought together a Palestinian Lutheran church
leader and a dissident American Jewish scholar.  Both challenged Western
Christians, and in particular ELCA members and leaders, to speak more
boldly about Israeli injustices against Palestinians living in the
occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank.
     About 3,100  people attended two GMEs.  The first was July 18-21
at Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, N.C., one of 28 ELCA colleges and
universities, and the second was held July 25-28 here at the Minneapolis
Convention Center.  GMEs, sponsored by the ELCA Division for Global
Mission (DGM) with the assistance of churchwide staff and local
volunteers, are intended to highlight the church's international
mission.  Each event includes plenary sessions, workshops, music and
"GlobalFest," a festival featuring missionaries and international
displays.
     The theme of this year's GMEs was "Dare to Live God's Promise,"
from Isaiah 55:1-12 in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible.
     The Middle East presentation featured Suad Younan, Lutheran church
leader and director of the Helen Keller School for the Blind, Jerusalem,
and Dr. Marc Ellis, director of the Center for American and Jewish
Studies, Baylor University, Waco, Tex.  They spoke to the GME audiences
in the form of a conversation, moderated by the Rev. Said R. Ailabouni,
DGM program director for Europe, the Middle East and Horn of Africa,
Chicago.
     Ellis criticized the State of Israel for its "oppression" of the
Palestinian people.  "What we have done to the Palestinian people is
wrong," he said.  "It strikes me as a betrayal of Jewish history to
oppress and dispossess a people."
     The Jewish responsibility for the oppression of the Palestinian
people is "deep," Ellis said, but he also said the American government,
which provides billions of dollars to Israel, and Western Christians,
who remain silent about the situation, are also responsible.
     Palestinians deserve to be free, and they have the right to resist
oppression, Ellis argued.  "If we believe in justice, the Palestinians
should be free in their own homeland.  Jews can then be free," he said.
     Ellis asked participants, "Since the United States has so much
invested in the region and since we all care about the region, why not
land U.S. troops in Jerusalem and push Israel back?  Why not do it for
the sake of peace and justice?"
     If Western Christians are friends of the Jewish people, they
should speak to Jews boldly, Ellis said in an interview following his
presentation. "Tell us what we are doing is wrong," he said.  "That's
the responsibility of Western Christians who oppressed us for so long,
and now who are silent in the face of the wrong that we're doing."
     "I want the Lutherans to step up.  I want them to stop writing
letters, stop talking about how they need to be solidarity with
Christians, and confront the Jewish establishment.  I want them to do
that publicly, and say,'out of respect for you and your history we tell
you, you are doing something wrong.'"
     Ellis showed the audience maps of Israel and the areas within
Israel where Palestinians live.  The Palestinian people are "surrounded"
by Israel, he said.
     Freedom of movement is highly restricted for Palestinians living
in Gaza and the West Bank, Younan said.  The maps, Younan said, remind
her of the South African system of Apartheid.
     'It's really terrible," she said.  "If a fair and equal settlement
is not reached, people will not take it any longer.  It's like a boiling
pot."
     "It's unbearable to be denied education, denied basic health
services and denied basic movement and mobility," Younan said.
     Land -- who controls it and who lives on it --  is the key issue
in the Middle East conflict, she said.  The building of Israeli
settlements in the West Bank is particularly difficult for the
Palestinian people.  The settlements are a "pain in the neck," she said,
and many will have to be dismantled if there is to be peace.
     In addition,  Jerusalem must be shared among Christians, Jews and
Muslims, Younan said.
     Younan challenged Christians in the West to speak up and act to
bring an end to the conflict.  "We are sick and tired of apologizing for
the West," she said.  "We expect action.  And I want to believe that the
audience tonight and the audience in Hickory (N.C.), will take our plea
very seriously, and that they continue in their congregations to call
for a just peace in the Middle East.  We believe that America, because
it is a superpower in the world, has to be a just broker for peace.
     "Let's join hands and say no to violence and yes to justice in our
region," Younan concluded.

BOUMAN SPEAKS OF 'GLOBAL CHANGE'
     The Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New
York Synod, discussed diversity and the effects of the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks on the people of New York.  He shared several stories
of hope and Christian witness in the synod -- a synod in which Lutherans
worship in at least 22 languages each Sunday.  Most of his remarks to
the GME audience were focused on Sept. 11 and how the world changed that
day.
     "The world got closer together," he said.  "People dared to live
the promise when all we could utter were lamentations."
     Bouman expressed appreciation to the audience and the church for
supporting New Yorkers.  "We could dare to believe because you showed
up," he said.  "We felt your prayers."  Some $19 million in financial
gifts have been made available for Sept. 11 disaster relief ministries,
Bouman noted.  Most gifts were made available through Lutheran Disaster
Response, a joint ministry of the ELCA and Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod (LCMS), and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a fraternal benefit
organization, based here.
     Bouman urged the audience to recognize the opportunity that exists
for Christians to spread the gospel in the wake of Sept. 11.
     "We have to find a way to tell the old, old story in ways that
connect," Bouman said. "Now is an opportunity.  We were baptized for
this moment."  Christians should stop "obsessing at what divides us," he
added.
     There is a spirituality and a "global consciousness," that has
emerged since Sept. 11,  Bouman said.   "In all of that, we are the
ones called to give hope to the hopeless, including ourselves," he said.
     Many pastors serving New York-area congregations are experiencing
a renewed sense of call since Sept. 11, Bouman said.  Ministerial groups
that meet regularly for support and study have record attendance, he
said.  "The pastors are also tired," Bouman said.

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE FORMED FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
     The Rev. John L. McCullough, executive director, Church World
Service (CWS), National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.,
discussed the work of CWS and such topics as human rights and HIV/AIDS,
in his keynote presentation.  McCullough said CWS was formed based on
God's call for social responsibility -- something lacking today, he said.
     "Death, displacement and destruction of property are themes so
common that one might think that this is normal human behavior," said
McCullough.
     McCullough spoke about injustices in West Africa and the Middle
East.  He used his own travels to such places as Bosnia, Cambodia and
Liberia to illustrate hardships overseas.
     "While most statistics suggest that 20 percent of the world's
population is living on less than one dollar a day, in the world I see
it is the majority who are living in absolute poverty," said McCullough.
     Despite stories of oppressed and sick people, McCullough urged the
audience never to give up hope.
     "Hope is the sound of life," said McCullough.  "It is not
something to be taken for granted -- to have it is to be gifted, to use
it is to gift others with God's grace."

CHALLENGES FROM PRESIDING BISHOP HANSON
     The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, preached at the
concluding worship service at Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis.  The
service featured international music and reflected the global diversity
of the church.
     "May this picture be a microcosm of the church we are becoming,"
Hanson began.  "The theme, 'Dare to Live God's Promise,' was aimed to
awaken us Lutherans from our lethargy."
     Hanson challenged each person in attendance to bring one
unchurched person to worship services "to hear God's mercy and love in
Jesus Christ."
     "Daring to Live God's Promise means trusting God's promise that we
will receive God's gifts for the task," he said.
     Hanson also praised Younan and her husband, the Rev. Munib A.
Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (and
Palestine), and other Middle East church leaders.  They have worked
"tirelessly" for peace and reconciliation in the region "while living in
the suffocating presence of Israeli troops and the unpredictability of
Palestinian terrorist acts," he said.
     Four women from Tanzania were presenters at the GMEs.   They were
Mary Laiser, Judith Bukambu, the Rev. Elieshi Mungure and Elizabeth
Megiroo. The four discussed the roles of women in Tanzanian church and
society, and the daily challenges they face.   Laiser did not appear
with the others at the GME in Hickory, because of problems with her
passport and visa.
     The Raun Raun Theatre troupe, from Papua New Guinea, shared
stories, music and dance at "GlobalFest," the concluding GME event
featuring interactive exhibits, stage presentations, music, dance and
dress from countries around the world.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html