wfn.org | ELCA Youth Hear There Are No 'Strangers' with God

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 1, 2000

ELCA YOUTH HEAR THERE ARE NO 'STRANGERS' WITH GOD
00-YG08-FI

     ST. LOUIS (ELCA) -  "I greet the Christ within you," Sunitha
Mortha told 22,000 teen-age Lutherans gathered June 30 for a morning
Bible study in the Trans World Dome here.  "Dancing with the
Stranger" was the theme of the program filled with music, dancing and
Mortha's message.
     The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Youth
Gathering is meeting here June 28-July 2 and July 5-9.  The two
events bring together some 40,000 Lutheran youth of high school age
who are engaging in worship, Bible study, learning, community service
and fun.
     Mortha pointed out many of the cultural differences between
India, where she was born and raised, and the United States, where
she is studying cross-cultural ministry at Luther Seminary, St. Paul,
Minn.  Women dress differently; dancing is an artistic expression in
India; and most people in India do not date because their marriages
are arranged by their parents, she said.
     In spite of cultural differences, Mortha said young people in
both cultures share common emotions.  "We laugh at some of the same
things, and we cry at some of the same things," she said.  "We each
ask, 'Am I beautiful?'"
     In India, Mortha said, people with lighter skin are considered
more beautiful than those with darker skin.  "I'd like to tell you my
story as a dark-skinned woman in India," she said.  "It made me feel
like a stranger in my own country."
     While she was a girl, she would often hear people ask her
parents, "How are you ever going to find a husband for that girl?"
     "Each time I heard the words 'black' or 'dark,' I got darker
inside," she said.  Mortha would feel smaller and smaller, until "all
they saw was a black dot."
     Frightened and humiliated by the opinions of others, Mortha's
father lifted her from her gloom by telling her she was beautiful.
"When I looked into my father's eyes, I knew he was telling me the
truth," she said.
     "Every time we look at the cross, God is telling us He loves us
and that is why He sent us His Son," said Mortha.  "God looks into
your eyes and tells you, 'You are beautiful.  You are loved.'"
     God's love is not based on a person's appearance, said Mortha.
"It is a free gift from my God to me," she said.  "No one can take it
away from me."
     Mortha gave the gathering a demonstration of semi-classical
Indian dance.  "Dancing is an expression of my joy," she said.  "Even
though I was a black dot, I would find joy and dance."
     The program included two songs which were commissioned
especially for the gathering.  Todd Zielinski and Well of Hope,
Charlotte, N.C., performed "Dance of Life."  Dakota Road, based in
Sioux Falls, S.D., presented "All Are Welcome."
     Ken Medema, San Francisco, and James Ward, Chattanooga, Tenn.,
directed the musical portion of the program.  April M. Barfield,
Inglewood, Calif.; Becky Gulsvig, Moorhead, Minn.; and David Scherer,
Minneapolis, were masters of ceremony.

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