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Philippines: Aid is still needed after typhoon
Lutheran Disaster Response has provided $1 million for cooking utensils, shelter repair kits and debris removal for survivors of Typhoon Haiyan. But the recovery will be long and the need is great. Your help is still needed. Gifts designated for this disaster will be used 100 percent to support relief efforts. To donate, seewww.ELCA.org/Typhoon. For more information, see www.ELCA.org/Typhoon-urgent.
Climate change creates great global need
People living in poverty around the world are affected the most by climate change, said Mary Minette, ELCA director for environmental education and advocacy, while attending a recent conference on global climate change. Providing aid after the typhoon that struck the Philippines is just one example of how the ELCA is committed to supporting people around the world who live in poverty and are affected by extreme weather events. See www.ELCA.org/ClimateChange.
Living in "accompaniment" in South Africa
"We are not sent to fix, to change, or to rectify. … [but rather] sent to be continually awed and humbled by our experiences within our new homes," says Rachel Swenson, who is spending a year in South Africa as an ELCA Young Adult in Global Mission. See www.ELCA.org/YAGM-Swenson.
India: Helping empower female leaders for the church
Sanchita Kisku, an International Leader and ELCA scholarship recipient from India studying in Chicago, wonders why there are so few female Lutheran leaders or pastors in India, when so many women fill leadership roles in Indian tribal culture. “If you give leadership to women, the church will grow,” says Kisku. Read more by downloading the fall Hand in Hand bulletin insert or newsletter at www.ELCA.org/resources/globalchurch.
Myanmar: A thriving Christian community
"We Americans talk about ecumenism, but these folks are living it," the Rev. Christa VonZychlin and the Rev. Wayne Nieminen write after visiting Kachin Theological College in Myanmar (Burma). The ELCA missionaries in Hong Kong also describe an inspiring visit to a refugee camp for children during their trip to Myanmar. See www.ELCA.org/MyanmarTrip.
Jerusalem/West Bank: Support and follow Young Adults in Global Mission!
This Christmas, as we remember Christ's birth, celebrate also the six young adults serving for a year with schools and congregations of the Lutheran church in the Holy Land. Learn more about them and make a gift for their support at https://community.elca.org/Jordan-HolyLand, or ask for a profile and their blog listings by contacting globalchurch@elca.org.
Latin America: Celebrate with our missionaries!
Celebrate with the Rev. Justin and Kari Eller, ELCA missionaries, as new Sunday school materials are completed in Bolivia (see www.ELCA.org/Bolivia-SundaySchool) and as they work with ministries throughout Latin America (see www.ELCA.org/MissionSupport). Learn more at www.ELCA.org/Argentina-Uruguay or request a profile at globalchurch@elca.org.
Building up God's global church — together
Because ELCA missionaries have helped establish churches throughout the world., we are now part of a much larger story — a global community of more than 70 million Lutherans in 79 countries. To find out how you can be engaged in this global church, see www.ELCA.org/globalchurch.
Author explores faith, integrity, global injustice
In a new book from Fortress Press, "Solidarity Ethics: Transformation in a Globalized World," Rebecca Todd Peters argues for an ethic of solidarity as a new model for how people of faith can live with integrity in the midst of global injustice and shape a more just future. See http://store.fortresspress.com/store/product/19186/Solidarity-Ethics-Transformation-in-a-Globalized-World.
Mexico: International Volunteer Week, June 15-22, 2014
Participate in an intercultural service trip, like none other! Provide valuable resources to malnourished communities in Oaxaca, Mexico, and at the same time get to know like-minded service-oriented individuals. See www.Facebook.com/GlobalLinks.
In our prayers
Remember in your prayers the Rev. Martina Helmer-Pham Xuan, the new ELCA Global Mission regional representative in Europe. (This prayer suggestion for Jan. 27 is available later in December along with daily prayers for the global, social and outreach ministries of the ELCA at www.ELCA.org/prayerventures.)
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