wfn.org | [ENS] Global relationships crucial to meeting MDG goals,

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@mail.epicom.org>]

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

Global relationships crucial to meeting MDG goals, Griswold and Ndungane
say

By Matthew Davies

ENS 030805-5

[ENS, Washington, D.C.] Webs of relationship and global collaboration
are
central to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Archbishop
Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town and Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold
affirmed during a March 8 interview with Kevin Eckstrom of the
Washington,
D.C.-based Religion News Service.

"One of the gifts of the Anglican Communion, when it's not focusing on
divisive points, is that these webs of relationship exist across the
world
and extend right into the most immediate community," Griswold said. "We
have
a grassroots system of parishes and mission statements that take us
right
into the most local contexts and, using this vast network, there is so
much
we can do to show that the resourced parts of the world are aware of
hunger,
poverty and disease and are willing to share their resources generously
...
in such a way that they really can be a model of reconciliation and
collaboration and restoration across the world."

Ndungane was visiting Washington, D.C., as part of a two-week-long U.S.
tour, during which he launched Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation
[http://www.e4gr.org], a network that focuses on the MDGs and is
committed
to "God's mission of justice, wholeness and reconciliation in Jesus
Christ."

Poverty and hunger -- morally wrong

"In our world today we are faced with the major challenge of poverty and
...
the overall objective of the MDGs is to halve the number of people
living in
extreme poverty by 2015," Ndungane said. "It is not only sinful but also
morally wrong that there are people who go hungry every day."

He explained that 852 million people go hungry every day and 121 million
primary age children cannot go to school. "Then there's the AIDS
pandemic,"
he said. "We know that 3 million people will die this year ... We know
that
TB will kill 2 million people. We know that malaria will kill 1 million
people, 80 percent of them children."

So in a world that is so much in progress in terms of science, in terms
of
availability of resources, Ndungane added, "it is morally wrong that
there
are people who suffer in this way."

Outlining that there are people who are trapped in a cycle of poverty,
simply by being born in the wrong place, Ndungane insisted that "it is a
fundamental human right for every human being created in God's image to
have
all that is basic for human living, such as food, shelter, clothing,
access
to clean water, to health care, to education."

"Jesus Christ's clarion call is that he came to preach good news to the
poor
and so that's our calling and that's why I'm here," Ndungane said, "to
try
and encourage the powerful to make a meaningful contribution to the
realization of these goals."

A fair world, a better life

The Secretary General of the United Nations has called on world leaders
to
come together in September to review the MDGs and make some concrete
plans
over the next ten years so that these can be realized, Ndungane
explained.

"The British Government chairs the G8 and the European Union this year
and
Tony Blair has made it quite clear that this is going to be a
development
presidency with a focus on Africa ... From the church's perspective we
have
firmed up various networks," Ndungane said, citing Episcopalians for
Global
Reconciliation and the Micah Challenge -- a network of more than 260
not-for-profit organizations around the world -- as examples.

Asked why the world has been "dragging its feet" in responding to the
needs
of the world's poor and hungry, Ndungane said, "It's greed, it's
selfishness
and lack of political will.

"Part of our coalitions and the Christian voice is to say to the
politicians
that we want a fair world, we want a just world and we want a world in
which
people have a better life."

Griswold concurred: "I think self interest is uppermost in our minds and
as
we look at the president's budget, the people who are relatively
voiceless
are the ones most deeply affected: the poor, women and children, and the
elderly."

Encouraged by at least 28 Episcopal dioceses that have set aside 0.7
percent
of their diocesan income to be used for global development projects,
Griswold asked the questions: How does a powerful nation and a resourced
church deport itself in a world of such incredible needs, and how can we
be
better partners in mission with brothers and sisters in other parts of
the
world who are suffering?

"We really have to transform the world's community or be a part of it's
transformation," he said, "and that means sharing our resources in a
much
more generous way."

Anglicanism has always been fairly pragmatic and focused on
incarnational
realities, practical realities, Griswold added. "Anglican mission work
has
always been accompanied by education and various other services."

Solidarity in Communion

"There's an element in Anglicanism that we care for one another and that
we
seek to put into practice what Paul talks about in the notion of the
body of
Christ: when one part suffers we all suffer," Ndungane said. "That's
part of
being a Communion ... That kind of solidarity is part of the culture and
the
ethos of who we are. And that's why we have so many networks of support
and
fellowship for mutual enrichment."

Griswold added, "Being a body of Christ, with all those relationships
and
partnerships, is very tangible and very real and also stretches our
consciousness and helps us to think globally."

Asked whether, as Primates, it frustrates them that the Anglican
Communion
is spending so much time on issues of human sexuality, Griswold replied,
"I
think the endless fixation on sexuality is the devil's work. So much
energy
goes into this one area that issues of hunger and disease, poverty,
civil
war, get overlooked ... It is not very life-giving and it leaves the
poor
and the diseased exactly where they were before."

Agreeing with Griswold, Ndungane said that "our God is not a single
issue
God and while issues of human sexuality are indeed important,
nevertheless
we face life and death issues.

"Mission is of the essence of our being a church," Ndungane said. "I
think
it's time that we are energized as Anglicans in faith and action seeking
to
do God's mission in the world."

Further information on the Millennium Development Goals can be found
online
at: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

--Matthew Davies is staff writer and web manager of Episcopal News
Service.

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