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Recommended Resource
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Getting Ready to Come Back: Advocacy Guide for Mission Teams
Short-term mission trips can be life-changing experiences.
Following a powerful mission experience, some participants may feel called to return to the field for a long-term mission commitment. With adequate preparation, however, everyone has the potential to become a lifelong advocate in partnership with hungry and poor people everywhere.
Getting Ready to Come Back will help short-term mission teams traveling internationally to understand how political, social, and economic systems contribute to hunger and poverty.
The guide will support and encourage mission teams to engage in advocacy as informed Christian citizens upon their return home.
Getting Ready to Come Back is available from a few sources. ELCA World Hunger has a limited number of copies available for free. Contact Romelia Almaraz 1-800-638-3522 x-2696 to request a copy.
You can also order the resource directly from Bread for the World at a cost of $10 or download it for free.
Do you have favorite resources you'd like to share?
Please send me an email and I'll include them soon.
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Greetings!
I recently went to the Region 3 ELCA Hunger Retreat. And I have to say, I was floored by what I learned there. I always knew our church was good at domestic and international relief and development, but I never really understood to what extent and how we work with partners. I was most struck by how little the average Lutheran knows about what our church does in the world, and how good our church is at creating resources for education and sharing.
I was also struck by how seldom many of us in youth and family ministry connect and contribute to the work of ELCA World Hunger, Lutheran World Relief, and our other partners. Young people see the needs of the poor. They want to help and they have the passion and energy to do it. The refrain that was sung over and over at the ELCA Youth Gathering rings in my ears even now, "We can change the world."
This issue of the Youth and Family E-Newsletter is dedicated to beginning to share some resources and ideas for you and your youth to connect with the relief and development work our church does on our behalf.
In Christ,
Sarah Hausken, SW MN Synod Youth Ministry Coordinator
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First, a Primer on the Organizations
ELCA World Hunger - ELCA World Hunger operates from within our church and is a comprehensive and sustainable program that uses multiple strategies-relief, development, education, and advocacy- to address the root causes of hunger and poverty in over 60 countries around the world, including the United States
ELCA Disaster Response - Also operating from within our church, ELCA Disaster Response help to bring God's comfort, healing and renewal to those affected by disasters. And when the dust settles and the headlines change, they stay to provide ongoing assistance to those in need. "Lutheran Disaster Response" is the joint effort between the ELCA and Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS).
Because of our mission support (money sent from congregations and synods to support the churchwide organization), both ELCA World Hunger and ELCA Disaster Response have low administrative fees. ELCA World Hunger, for example, uses only 8.6% of gifts for hunger program administration and fund-raising. To put that in perspective I checked Heifer International (another organization I respect). 24% of their gifts go to operating expenses and fund raising. While our mission support helps with administration, the work of ELCA World Hunger is funded entirely by donations.
Lutheran World Relief - As a trusted partner of ELCA World Hunger, Lutheran World Relief (LWR) works alongside our church to help peopl e in 35 countries grow food, improve health,
strengthen communities, end conflict, build livelihoods and recover from
disasters. Empowered
by God's unconditional love in Jesus Christ, LWR envisions a world in which each
person and every generation lives in justice, dignity and peace. About 20% of ELCA World Hunger gifts are channeled through LWR.
Lutheran World Federation -The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is  a global communion of Lutheran churches. LWF has 140 member churches in 79 countries all over the world representing over 68.9 million Christians. LWF's Department for World Service, another trusted partner of ELCA World Hunger, responds to human need throughout the world. About 25% of ELCA World Hunger gifts are channeled through LWF.
Like other Lutheran organizations, LWF was present in Haiti before the earthquake and because their building wasn't destroyed, they are taking the lead in Lutheran relief efforts there.
Church World Service - An ecumenical organization and another tru sted partner of ELCA World Hunger, working in the U.S. and around the world to build interfaith and intercultural coalitions to eradicate hunger and poverty and promote peace and justice. Many people know Church World Service for their CROP Hunger Walks.
Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy - ELCA World Hunger and the Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy in MN are partners working to promote justice and seeking to end hunger in Minnesota. The hunger-related advocacy work of this office is supported by your gifts to ELCA World Hunger.
Bread for the World- a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.
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Resources
Top 40 Hunger Resources - Please click this link! This "catalog" is SUPER. You'll be amazed by all the ready to go resources here for you to use - and most of them are free!
All of the resources below are in the Top 40, but these are a few I want to lift up.
Taking Root - Taking Root is a complete curriculum for your congregation to understand the root causes of hunger and how we can respond. The curriculum includes five sessions each for four different age groups: grades K-2, grades 3-6, grades 7-9, and grades 10-12. All age groups have parallel content, so the biblical texts and themes, children's literature, and many projects and activities are the same among the age levels.
Souper Bowl of Caring - Nearly 100 million Americans tune in to watch the NFL Super Bowl. Many host or attend parties with abundant food, friendship, and fellowship. At the same time, nearly 1 billion people around the world go hungry. The Souper Bowl of Caring is a youth-led ecumenical and grassroots movement that unites youth under a single cause: to end hunger. Collectively, this movement raised over $10.35 million for hunger-related charities in 2009. And ELCA Lutherans raised nearly $900,000! Keep this in mind for next year!
Hunger Education Toolkit - The Hunger Education toolkit will help  you design, host, and lead learning experiences on hunger or hunger-related topics. It is adaptable to your audience, including participant activity level (i.e. low, medium, and high) and your time frame. The resource is practical, easy-to-use, and inter-generational.
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Hands on Projects
Here are just a few ideas for hands on projects you can do with children, youth or adults.
- Put together kits for Lutheran World Relief. LWR sends Health, School and Sewing Kits to those who need them most. LWR depleted their supply of Health Kits by sending all they had to Haiti. These kits are vital for life in terrible situations. There's a LWR warehouse in Minneapolis, so getting the kits where they need to go is fairly easy.
- Make rolled bandages for Global Health Ministries. Global Health Ministries sends medical equipment to Lutheran health ministries across the world. You can make much needed bandages out of white bed sheets. Their warehouse is also in Minneapolis. Make a trip of delivering the bandages and find out more about this ministry.
- Kids Against Hunger - Feeding families around the world and around the corner. Packaging food is a very
rewarding experience. Go to a packaging center or bring a packaging
event to your community
- Pair with the Women of the ELCA to recycle old cell phones. Rather then send them to a landfill, recycle them in a way that raises money to help create lasting solutions for poverty and climate change.
- Organize an Offering of Letters to Congress through Bread for the World. This year's offering focuses on protecting and strengthening tax credits that benefit low income families. Background information, sample letters, and a video is available to inform writers.
Share your ideas for Hands on Projects and I'll compile and list them on the synod website.
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Hunger Justice Leaders
In a world of plenty, hunger is an outrage.
Bread for the World is looking for the best and brightest 20- to 30-year-old advocates to join our next class of Hunger Justice Leaders.
Selected participants will attend an advocacy training workshop-all expenses paid-in Washington, D.C., June 12-15, 2010. Application deadline is March 12.
Do you have what it takes to be a Bread for the World Hunger Justice Leader? Or do you know someone who does? Watch the video
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Young Adults in Global Mission
The ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission program invites young adultrs to step out of their comfort zone and challenge themselves in a one year international mission service and learning opportunity.
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Companion Synod
Our synod and the South Eastern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Africa have been in a companion synod relationship since 1990. Each conference in our synod is paired with a companion circuit of South Africa. Contact Marie Nelson for companion contacts in your conference.
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Sr. High Youth Gathering
We need your help!
We're collecting supplies for Lutheran World Relief Health Kits to be assembled at the gathering.
Lutheran World Relief sends Health Kits all over the world. And these kits can honestly mean the difference between life and death. The earthquake in Haiti has depleted Lutheran World Relief's supply of Health kits. They desperately need more. So this project is very timely and very needed.
Please collect as many items you can so we can make a
difference in someone's life. Let your congregation help too! Don't
let this just be a youth thing. Please, ask for donations and bring
them to the gathering for assembly into Health Kits.
Please bring:
Hand towels
Washcloths
Bath-size bars of soap
Adult-size toothbrushs
Sturdy combs
Metal nail file or nail
clippers with file attached
If you're not going to the gathering, but want to collect items, contact Sarah Hausken 507-430-2273 to coordinate getting them to the gathering.
Thank you for your help!
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"Love mixed with faith be yours from God the Father and from the Master, Jesus Christ. Pure grace and nothing but grace be with all who love our Master, Jesus."
The Message Ephesians 6:23-24
Sarah Hausken
SW MN Synod Youth Ministry Coordinator
507-430-2273
sarah.hausken@swmnelca.org
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