ELCA NEWS SERVICE March 26, 2004 ELCA Global Mission Board Recommends International Action 04-051-MR CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Global Mission (DGM) recommended the ELCA Church Council consider resolutions on international mission and ministry, and attended to other business when it met here March 19-21. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. It will meet here April 16-19. The DGM board recommended that the council acknowledge the Rev. Munib A. Younan's call for the ELCA to advocate peace and reconciliation in the Middle East under the theme "No More Walls." Younan is bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ) and Palestine. In a letter to the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, Younan said the wall designed to separate Israeli from Palestinian territories in the West Bank is "not needed and its construction and growth are steadily destroying our hope for a two-state solution in this land." The board used Younan's letter to craft its resolution. The Rev. Said R. Ailabouni, director for Europe and the Middle East, DGM, told the board that the separation wall "prevents patients from traveling to Augusta Victoria Hospital. It is an evil, and the church cannot remain silent. The 'Road Map' for peace hasn't gotten us anywhere." Augusta Victoria is a hospital of the Lutheran World Federation -- a global communion of Christian churches based in Geneva, Switzerland, of which the ELCA is a member. Christoph Schneider-Yattara, associate director for companionship education and advocacy for Asia, Europe and the Middle East, DGM, shared with the board his experience of growing up in the former East Germany. "We never prayed for the [Berlin] wall to be torn down. It never entered our minds. We did pray for peace for many, many years. In November 1989 it was a miracle when the wall came down. It made me realize how God answers prayers. We asked God for a more democratic society, but what we got was freedom." In the same resolution, the board cited the construction of a wall along the United States and Mexico border, near San Diego and Tijuana. It stated that "existing and new" U.S. immigration policies and procedures "create barriers between people" and foster "discrimination against the poor" and "against people of color." Kamy Moghbeli, DGM board member, Baldwin, N.Y., said, "The wall along the United States-Mexican border is just as awful as the one in Palestine." The board also requested that the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop work with DGM and the ELCA Division for Church in Society, in consultation with the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) and other relevant churchwide units, to prepare a report with recommendations for action on the construction of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border for presentation to the DGM board at its October meeting. LIRS is a ministry of the ELCA, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In a separate resolution, the DGM board asked the council to express its commitment to "walk with the Lutheran Church in Liberia" and "express its deep appreciation" to Liberians, who are taking leadership in rebuilding their country after 14 years of civil war. A peace accord reached on Aug. 18, 2003, created an opportunity for Liberians to rebuild communities and relationships. Lutheran mission personnel began returning to Liberia for service in October. The board's resolution asked the council to call on members of the church to learn more about Liberia and pray for its people, contribute to the reconstruction of the African country through mission support and give to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, and to advocate for the United States to monitor the peacemaking, reconciliation and reconstruction processes through the ELCA Division for Church in Society. The council will receive a resolution about "Stand With Africa: A Campaign of Hope" from the DGM board. Stand With Africa began as a three-year Lutheran campaign in 2000. It was designed to focus on issues significant to Africa, including HIV/AIDS, food security, and peace and reconciliation. The resolution affirmed the continuation of Stand With Africa as a "second mile" giving opportunity and reaffirmed the ELCA's commitment to accompany companion churches and partner agencies in Africa. In other business, the board: + reviewed the division's work plan for this year. The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, DGM executive director, reported to the board on a number of spending reductions and staff changes to manage the ELCA churchwide organization's declining income. "These are critical times," said Malpica Padilla in his written report to the board. "The serious financial situation and the deep budget reductions for fiscal years 2003 and 2004 threaten to result in significant reductions in programs that are central to mission at home and abroad," he wrote. + participated in a process to redesign the ELCA churchwide organization. Next steps for "Faithful Yet Changing: The Plan for Mission in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America" outlines the restructuring process based on the mission statement and strategic directions affirmed by the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The presiding bishop is expected to recommend a proposal for the reorganization of the churchwide structure, budget and staff to the Church Council in November 2004. + received presentations from two international guests: Maria Soledad Puebla, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile, and the Rev. Julius Filo, general bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Augsburg Confession in Slovakia. -- -- -- An audio report on Filo's presentation is available at (Real) http://media.elca.org/ramgen/audionews/040325.rm or (MP3) http://media.elca.org/ramgen/audionews/040325.mp3 on the ELCA Web site. Information about the ELCA Division for Global Mission is maintained at http://www.elca.org/dgm/ on the Internet. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news