wfn.org | LWI News in Brief October/November

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

LWI News in Brief October/November

- Brazilian Pastor Meurer to Head Lutheran Communication Body
- Indian Church Leader Says Dalit Women Are Daily Victims of
   Murder and Rape
- Proposal to Apply for Full Membership of Australian Church in
   LWF Defeated
- New Staff at the LWF Geneva Headquarters 

Brazilian Pastor Meurer to Head Lutheran Communication Body

Rev. Heitor Meurer, communications secretary of the Evangelical
Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil was elected president
of Lutherans United in Communication (LUC) during the
organization's assembly October 13-14. He will also serve as
coordinator of the Brazilian region for the next three years. LUC
is a Lutheran communication forum created in 1987 with support
from the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). From 1997-2003, Meurer
served as an adviser to the LWF Council in the Program Committee
for Communication Services. Participants at the LUC assembly
agreed to modify the LUC statutes from a vertical structure to a
more horizontal process that will strengthen networking. LUC,
Meurer said, wants to "make its presence felt" among Lutheran
churches in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

*	*	*

Indian Church Leader Says Dalit Women Are Daily Victims of
Murder and Rape 

The executive secretary of the United Evangelical Lutheran in
India (UELCI) Rev. Chandran Paul Martin has described the recent
assault on a Dalit woman in Tamil Nadu, southern India, as a
heinous crime. It was also aimed, he said, "at punishing Dalits
for even thinking of reporting her assault and molestation to the
police." 

Martin told LWI that Dalits, members of India's lowest caste,
have been victims of several types of "untouchability," a
situation that prevents them from participating in several
community festivals and in the economic mainstream. Muthumari, a
Dalit woman from Urappanur village, was reportedly forced to
drink water mixed with excreta by upper-caste men after she
snubbed the advances of an upper-caste villager. Martin said this
incident "should be seen not only as part of structural forms [of
untouchability] but also as a new way of putting Dalits through
inhuman practices that violate their dignity."

The UELCI executive secretary said several similar incidents
take place throughout the country on a daily basis. Dalit women
are raped, murdered and burned in their houses. The UELCI, a body
of 10 Lutheran churches, he said, has long-standing involvement
with the struggles of the Dalits. This engagement has been
integrated through the development of Dalit 
theology. 

*	*	*

Proposal to Apply for Full Membership of Australian Church in
LWF Defeated

A proposal to apply for full membership in the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) was defeated at the October 11-16 General
Convention of the Lutheran Church of Australia(LCA). According to
the LCA magazine, The Lutheran, the proposal from the General
Church Council was the subject of long debate, resulting in a
vote of 187 'for' and 123 'against' application for full
membership. For approval, the proposal required a two-thirds'
majority vote. The LCA's position as an associate LWF member
church remains unchanged. The Australian church has 85,000
members, and joined the LWF in 1994. 

*	*	*

New Staff at the LWF Geneva Headquarters 

Four new executive staff persons have recently begun work at the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Geneva secretariat. Ms Maria
Immonen (Finland) has taken up a two-year consultancy as Program
Officer for Advocacy, Communication and Fundraising in the LWF
Department for World Service (DWS). Her work includes
responsibility for the DWS country programs in the West and Horn
of Africa. She has taken over some of the tasks previously
performed by Hans Polak, who left the LWF mid this year. Immonen
completed her Master of Arts degree in English and development
studies at the University of Helsinki. She recently held a
position as development coordinator with the Finnish Evangelical
Lutheran Mission, working mainly with about 50 projects in
Africa. Before joining the LWF, she was a teacher in Tanzania for
four years. Immonen and her husband Pauli have two young boys. 

Mr Rudelmar Bueno de Faria (Brazil), formerly LWF representative
in El Salvador is DWS Program Officer for Sustainable Development
and Environment, with oversight responsibility for the DWS
country programs in Asia, Central America and the Caribbean. He
succeeds Dr Roswitha Dinger who retired earlier this year. De
Faria completed post-graduate studies in church social work at
the Lutheran biblical and diaconal college in Sao Leopoldo,
following undergraduate studies in commerce and business
administration. Before joining the LWF/DWS, de Faria was
responsible for the development office of the Evangelical Church
of Lutheran Confession in Brazil. De Faria and his wife Angela
have two daughters.

Ms Sarah Padre (United States) is the new DWS finance officer on
a two-year consultancy. Before joining the LWF, Padre worked for
several years as an accountant with a real-estate management and
ownership company in Chicago, USA. Her husband Stephen Padre is a
press officer with Action by Churches Together (ACT)
International, Geneva. 

Dr Christine Sadia (Kenya) is the new consultant for HIV/AIDS in
the LWF Department for Mission and Development. Before joining
the LWF Sadia, a medical doctor, practiced as a dentist and
served in several health administration positions with Kenya's
health ministry. She has several years' experience in the field
of HIV/AIDS, and has worked as a consultant in the public sector,
non-governmental organizations as well as with United Nations'
agencies. Before joining the LWF, she worked as coordinator of
the Nairobi-based All Africa Conference of Churches women's desk.
Sadia is widowed, and has two daughters and one son.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where
the dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

*	*	*

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