ELCA NEWS SERVICE
June 20, 2008
International Audience to Attend ELCA Global Mission Event in La Crosse
08-096-LT*
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Drawing guests from Russia and Tanzania to
Japan and Peru, the 2008 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) Global Mission Event (GME) will be held July 17-20 at the
University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. The GME's theme, "God's
Work, Our Hands," will be explored through stories, worship and
global music. The purpose of the GME is to "celebrate God's
mission and encourage and strengthen one another for global
ministry."
Plenary speakers include Katrina Browne, director of the
2008 Sundance Film Festival selection "Traces of the Trade:
A Story from the Deep North." Browne's film, which will air
nationally on public television June 24, tracks the director's
ancestry, the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history.
Browne will lead a discussion on the film July 17.
"Browne will encourage the audience to take that journey to
remember knowing that we come back into a community of hope,"
said Sunitha Mortha, associate director for global events and
mission interpretation, ELCA Global Mission. Mortha hopes the
event will create "a community marked by remembering, a community
marked by justice, a community marked by hope, and a community
that is sent out."
The Rev. Lisandro Orlov, Latin American regional
coordinator, HIV/AIDS campaign, Lutheran World Federation (LWF),
will address a July 18 morning plenary, leading a "hope-based"
Bible study. Lay Buddhist Parichart Suwanbubbha, vice director,
Mahidol University Research Center of Peace Building, Salaya,
Thailand, will present during a July 18 evening plenary, along
with Women of Hope, Mashiah Foundation, Jos, Nigeria.
More than 90 Global University Sessions will be offered
July 18 and 19. Topics range from immigration and health care
to mission work and global technology.
Louise Hemstead, chief operating officer, Organic Valley,
LaFarge, Wis., will provide July 19 presentations on providing
sustainable incomes for family farmers and scientific studies on
the health of organic production.
Other learning opportunities include "tracks" that will
focus on such topics as hunger, racism and peacekeeping. A July
19 GlobalFest will feature international singing and dancing.
"There are many voices present," Mortha said. "We try to
make sure that we have different voices represented at the event,
which is very exciting. This is the only inter-generational
event offered in the ELCA. We have programming for children,
junior, senior high and young adult, as well as the general
audience at the event."
-- -- --
Information about the Global Mission Event is at
http://archive.ELCA.org/gme/GME2008/ on the Web.
*Luke Tatge is a senior journalism major at Augustana College,
Sioux Falls, S.D. This summer he is an intern with the ELCA News
Service.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
