Lutheran Peace Fellowship

Youth E-News: Sowing Seeds of Peace
"And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace" - James 3:18

January 18, 2007
A Publication of Lutheran Peace Fellowship
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Welcome

Happy Middle of January! Yes, that’s right, Happy Middle of January! Every year around January 1^st, people everywhere make resolutions, resolving to live better lives and make this year the best yet. This time of year is, for many, a time for contemplating the previous year, revisiting old resolutions and creating new ones, and looking toward a better, brighter year. However, by the middle of January, those resolutions are often already forgotten as many simply go back to life as normal, making little-to-no real changes in their lives.

Instead of forgetting about the resolutions we made a few weeks ago, what if we actually continued those resolutions throughout the year? There is still time to remember those resolutions and feel a sense of renewal, reflecting on our lives and the world, and resolving to make a change. This year, this sense of renewal and change is not only happening for individuals but for the American government as well with the early sessions of the newly elected Congress already bringing important issues to the table.

While the House of Representatives is already beginning the push for higher wages, energy independence, and more educational opportunities, issues such as world hunger, AIDS, and the conflict in Darfur have not yet received much attention. Also, with the President’s planned new surge of troops to Iraq, efforts on behalf of a more nonviolent peace are more important than ever. It is early in the new session, but it is never too early to renew commitments to speak out on behalf of a vision of a peaceful world, especially in light of plans for expanded war in Iraq and perhaps other parts of the Middle East.

Many groups across the country – Christian and secular alike – are crying out against the expansion of the war, as are many members of Congress. Groups such as Christian Peace Witness for Iraq are calling for an end to the war in Iraq and a beginning to nonviolent and more diplomatic solutions in the Middle East. At the same time, a bipartisan resolution is being prepared in the Senate, capping Iraq troop strength in opposition to the President’s proposed surge.

As we consider our resolutions for the New Year and look toward a better year for ourselves, let us hold in our hearts and our actions the millions going hungry worldwide and the hundreds of thousands displaced, malnourished, and hungry from the Darfur conflict. In this early part of the year, let’s not return to life as usual but let’s call on ourselves and our government to not only look inward, but to look outward to bringing an end to conflict and to take concrete steps toward building a more peaceful, more shalom-based world.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday we recently celebrated, let us remember his prophetic call as he criticized the war in Vietnam and the culture that continues even today to create wars:

“One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth.” – MLK

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” - MLK

–Allyson Fredericksen, LPF Youth Trainer and Program Coordinator

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for future issues, e-mail me at lpfyouth@gmail.com. Also, if you are on myspace, join our myspace group at www.groups.myspace.com/lutheranpeace

For information on what the new congress has been doing, visit www.speaker.gov/legislation

Join in others to support nonviolent alternatives to the War in Iraq! Visit www.christianpeacewitness for more details on a huge ecumenical march co-sponsored by Lutheran Peace Fellowship, Sojourners/Call to Renewal, and Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service, among other groups. If you are interested in strategizing on youth components for this event, email me at lpfyouth@gmail.com.

Issue Highlights:

- Workshops Available – Bring Peace and Justice to your community!

- News Articles on Peace and Justice – Get the latest on issues of peace and justice around the globe, including the latest on Darfur!

- Advocacy Alerts - Find out how you can get involved in putting an end to the Darfur conflict, speaking out against the war in Iraq, and helping put an end to world hunger!

- Community News – Marches in Washington, DC in January and March, Washington State Lutheran Advocacy Day, and Holden Village!

- Spiritual Reflection – Confront the Violence of Poverty!

Workshops Available!

Are you interested in hosting an LPF workshop? This year, we are offering workshops on the following:

- From Violence to Wholeness

- Christian Peacemaking

- Hunger and Conflict

- Cycles of Violence and Nonviolence

- How to Be a Bridge in a World Full of Walls

- Breaking the Silence: A Christian Response to Domestic Abuse

- Leadership Training for Peacemakers

Each workshop is highly participatory and activity-based, helping participants gain insight by doing, not only by hearing or reading. We can also help your group plan and lead successful activities or workshop on these and other topics. If you or someone you know are interested, email me at lpfyouth@gmail.com or call the LPF office at 206-720-0313.

News Articles on Peace and Justice

U.N. Warns Darfur's Aid Operation May Collapse: “U.N. agencies issued an unprecedented joint appeal on Wednesday calling for an end to the violence in Darfur, where widespread attacks and insecurity threaten to collapse the world's largest aid operation.” For more details, visit http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17832817.htm

Uganda Violence: “Ugandan rebels will return to peace talks in southern Sudan with the Ugandan government once they receive a formal invitation.” For more on this story, visit http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16535952.htm

African Hunger: “New Ghana resistance hub sends its first emergency airlift to Chad.” For the full story, visit http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/WFP/63b9cae5242a1d2b6a62e3c626eda405.htm

Somali Prime Minister Expects African Peacekeepers Soon: “The first African peacekeepers to help the government assert its authority in Somalia are expected by the end of January, the prime minister said Tuesday.” For more details, visit http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/01/16/somalia.troops.ap/index.html

500 Chechan Militants Surrender: “More than 500 militants in Chechnya and other parts of Russia's troubled North Caucasus mountain region have surrendered to authorities as part of an amnesty that expired Monday, an official said.” For details, visit http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/01/15/russia.chechnya.ap/index.html

Lutheran Volunteer Corps

The Lutheran Volunteer Corps is a one-year, full-time domestic volunteer program that offers people a challenging year of spiritual and personal exploration while working for social justice, living in intentional community and simplifying their lifestyles. Volunteers are placed in full-time positions in non-profit organizations in Baltimore, MD; Wilmington, DE; Washington, DC; Chicago, IL; Milwaukee, WI; Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN; Seattle and Tacoma, WA; and Oakland, CA. Volunteers receive a stipend to cover basic living and personal expenses, health insurance, and time off for retreats and vacation. Also included is student loan deferment and potential qualification for the $4,700 AmeriCorps Education Grant.

Volunteers provide direct service to people in need, organize their communities for social and political change, and advocate for better policies on a wide variety of issues. Issues include AIDS/HIV, addiction and recovery, anti-racism, children and youth, community development, education, employment, the environment, food and hunger, GLBT rights, health care, housing and homelessness, immigration and refugees, international solidarity, legal assistance, peace and non-violence, people with disabilities, seniors and women. Most positions are entry level and require little or no previous experience except a passion for social justice, flexibility, and a sense of humor!

LVC is on a Journey to an Inclusive Community, forming and strengthening alliances among people of many cultures and communities, and intentionally dismantling racism within LVC, the church and society. As a Reconciling in Christ organization, LVC welcomes and encourages the participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people in all aspects of LVC. LVC volunteers come from a wide variety of faith backgrounds, and do not need to be Lutheran. Married and committed partners are welcome to apply. While there is no upper age limit, volunteers should be at least 21 to participate. The program begins in late August of each year. Application deadlines are February 1, March 15, and May 1. Contact Kelly Shinn, Recruitment Coordinator, at 202-387-3222 or lvcrecruitment@lutheranvolunteercorps.org for more information.

Advocacy Alerts

Demand Action in Darfur: While a cease-fire agreement in the region brings hope, the conflict in Darfur is far from over. Millions of people have been displaced and continue to be malnourished and hungry and hundreds of thousands more have died in what many have dubbed genocide. For information on the cease-fire and on the ongoing conflict, as well as ways that you can help urge our government not to ignore this conflict, visit http://www.savedarfur.org

Justice in the Gulf Coast: The rich have rebuilt in many areas of the Gulf Coast (the casinos, the hotels, restaurants, and the rich people), but those who aren't as wealthy are having great difficulty repairing their house so that is livable! While the federal government neglects its responsibilities, grassroots groups rooted in the Gulf Coast's African-American communities have launched efforts to rebuild the Gulf Coast from the ground up. For information on how you can be a part of restoring and rebuilding the Gulf Coast, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3103

ONE Campaign: Once you have heard about the one campaign, visited the website, and bought the bracelet, don’t forget about it! Too many in the world continue to suffer from poverty, hunger, and disease, and too few are doing anything to stop it. Join the ONE campaign today and urge the United States government to use our resources to help turn the tide against hunger, poverty, and disease. Together, one by one, we can help bring an end to overwhelming global poverty, disease, and hunger. For action ideas and to learn more, see www.elca.org/advocacy/one and www.bread.org

Christian Peace Witness for Iraq: Join thousands of Christian lay people and clergy to voice your support for creating real security and peace in Iraq. Worship together, vigil together. Let's express our commitment to life! Visit www.christianpeacewitness.org for more information

For more ideas, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org and www.sojourners.com

LPF Resources

Budget Priorities Computer Activity: As the war continues in Iraq, just how much of the US budget is being spent on military expenditures and how much for programs like the Peace Corps and other peacemaking initiatives? LPF's widely-praised Budget Priorities activity examines how the US budget is spent and explores the question "What Really Brings Security?" through vivid graphics and informative activities.

The resource guide is available via our website at www.LutheranPeace.org; the computer activity is also available on a CD with supplementary resources for $10 ($4-$8 for LPF members). To order your copy, email lpf@ecunet.org or call (206) 720-0313.

Community News

Washington, DC – March on Washington (January 27): The people have spoken, now congress must act. On Saturday, January 27^th, people from every corner of the country will march on Washington, DC. Our message will be clear, our voice will be strong: End the war in Iraq, Bring all the troops home now! We urge you to join us! For more information, visit www.unitedforpeace.org

Olympia, WA – Lutheran Advocacy Day (February 27): $15 registration fee includes advocacy toolkit and lunch. Registration materials will be available January 1st, 2007. For more information, contact David Coombs or Nick Barootian at (206) 464-4133 or email davidrcoombs@gmail.com

Washington, DC and Your Community - Christian Peace Witness For Iraq (March 16): Join thousands of Christian lay people and clergy to voice your support for creating real security and peace in Iraq. This event is expected by many to be one of the largest and most impacting gatherings of its kind in years. Join with others from across the country and from all walks of life as we worship together and vigil together. Let's express our commitment to life!

Washington, D.C.
- Worship at the National Cathedral
- Candlelight procession to the White House
- Prayer vigil and witness for peace in Iraq
- Pre-witness workshops and training
- Post-witness organizing and strategizing

Laying Local Foundations
- Pray for the end of the war in Iraq
- Learn about and practice nonviolence
- Study the Bible's implications for our foreign policy
- Fast regularly until the war ends
- Join with others for prayer, study, and action
- Create a weekly peace witness in your community
- Plan a local worship and witness for March 16.

For more information on Christian Peace Witness and this event, visit www.ChristianPeaceWitness.org

Chelan, WA –Youth Weekends at Holden Village (May): Registration for this coming May's Holden Youth Weekends will open Feb. 1. The theme is Christian Service (part of which is advocacy). Registration information is available at www.tlc.edu/cyfcenter or call 425-961-5544.

Washington, DC – Pentecost 2007: Taking Vision to the Streets (June 3-6): At this Pentecost gathering, we want to move boldly against poverty by calling together new partners and seizing new opportunities for the implementation of our initiative: the Covenant for a New America. The covenant is an anti-poverty platform and vision that calls our elected leaders and political candidates to enact solutions that transcend ideology–that stress both personal and social responsibility and insist that overcoming poverty must become a non-partisan issue and a bi-partisan cause. For more details, visit http://go.sojo.net/sojourners/events/Pentecost/details.tcl

Spiritual Reflection

When thinking about the year ahead of us, it is easy to focus on ourselves: our own needs, our own failings from the year before, our own hopes for what we can do better in the coming months. Instead of only focusing inward, instead let us look to how we can help bring forth a vision of shalom, where everyone is welcome and where wholeness, community, peace, love, and compassion are the building blocks of life. Let us remember the hungry around the world and remember how such hunger and poverty lead to violence, and resolve ourselves to do what we can to make our communities and the world a more shalom-filled place.

The following devotion, “Confront the Violence of Poverty” comes from A Call to Peace: 52 Meditations on the Family Pledge of Nonviolence.

“He judged the cause of the poor and needy…Is not this to know me? Says the Lord (Jeremiah 22:16)

“Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40)

It wasn’t easy for eleven-year-old Trevor Farrell to convince his family to take him to the city streets of Philadelphia to reach out to the homeless people he had seen on television. But he got his entire family involved in what eventually became known as “Trevor’s Campaign.” From the time he first took to the streets until he graduated from high school, Trevor reached out nightly and discovered a common humanity. It wasn’t the homeless shelter he inspired or the thousands of meals he served that touched Trevor the most. It was the friends he made with “people just like me” as he put it, “except that they didn’t have money.”

In 1984, Jenny Bush-Boyce had a similar encounter after her ninth-grade youth group watched a slide presentation about working with infants in Haiti. There was no way Jenny’s physician father was going to allow his daughter to be exposed to such a health risk. After pleading her case for weeks, however, Jenny “won”; her entire family went to Haiti and has returned every year since.

These two youths had the courage to confront the violence of poverty and the good fortune to discover the spiritual wealth of their economically poor friends. The experience of many missionaries confirms the truth that people of faith who go to impoverished areas to evangelize the poor are themselves evangelized by the poor. Divisions of wealth and divisions of spirit go hand in hand.

These same divisions exist in our own country. Many are fearful, for example, to cross those urban boundaries that separate the “haves” from the “have-nots.” Many worry about what might happen if they lend their lives to the struggle for economic justice. Where will God lead them? They – we – will be led to the very heart of God. As Jeremiah prophesied, God so identifies with the economically poor and marginalized peoples of our world that we cannot begin to know God until we identify with God’s own passion for the poor. Jesus was even more direct: whatever we do to the least, we do to him.

Prayer: Jesus, help us to realize that second-class schools, lack of quality healthcare, inadequate diets, inferior housing, unemployment, and every other aspect of poverty violate the dignity of your people and can kill just as guns do, only in slow motion. Help us break down the barriers that k eep us apart. Help us discover our deepest reality – that with you as our brother and God as our Parent, we are all truly sisters and brothers.

Reflections: How can you become more involved in the struggle against the violence of poverty? How can you make this involvement something you can do as a whole family or community?