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Experiencing mission

November 6, 2009 by Roger Schmidt, Switzerland

Since Monday, I am part of meeting of Christians from three countries: The Netherlands, Argentina and Cameroon. They are representing discussion processes in their country about what “mission” means for people in their countries. It is really fascnating to hear the different perspectives. Here are some:

Posted in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Church, Ecumenism, Evangelism, Faith, Latin America/Carribean, Spirituality | Leave a Comment »

LWF Council with important actions

October 30, 2009 by Roger Schmidt, Switzerland

This year’s meeting of the LWF council ended on Tuesday. Here are a few important decisions from the perspective of young people. (For a full overview please click here):

New General Secretary

Rev Martin Junge has been elected as General Secretary of the LWF. He is going to assume his responsibilities in the later half of 2010.  Martin is currently area secretary for Latin America and the Carri bean. He was himself youth delegate to the LWF Assembly in Curitiba 1990.

Mennonites

The Council recommends the LWF assembly next year to ask the Mennonites for forgiveness for the atrocities Lutherans called for and committed during the Reformation era. This is a very important process that moves ecumenism forward.

Renewal of the LWF

The council made clear that strong youth contributions belong to a renewed LWF.  It resolved that two members-at-large will be part of the LWF Executive Committee. These probably will be young people. Currently, there is no young person in the LWF Executive committee. Furthermore, the council called for a clear and comprehensive gender and youth policy.

Active against climate change

The LWF council passed a resolution with clear demands for the Copenhagen Summit in December. In addition, the participants of  the council came together in demanding to get down to 350 parts per million Carbondioxide in the atmosphere.

Council_09-Low

(c) LWF/Groetsch

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Strong youth participation in churches 101

October 29, 2009 by Roger Schmidt, Switzerland

Dear regular reader,

No, for youth participation is not a new topic for you. If read about before in these pages, for example here, here and here. But we want to take the next step.

A LWF Youth consultation from 28 August – 1 September 2009 brought together 10 young people from all LWF regions to discuss youth participation in decision making (the full report is available here in pdf). They discussed the theological reasons for stronger youth involvement in all aspects of the life of the church including decision making from the perspective Continue Reading »

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A women’s blog on “Daily bread”

October 7, 2009 by lwfyouth

This is a post by LWF intern Tsion Alemayehu:

Putting together a blog is not easy – I realized that when I worked at the new Blog of the Lutheran World Federation/ Women in Church and Society (WICAS). I am an intern in LWF/WICAS desk and I have been working here for eight months now. Tsion Alemayehu is my name and I come from Ethiopia. I studied law for my first degree and right after my graduation I got the chance to work as an intern in LWF/ Geneva and I immediately moved out from Ethiopia.

I know how to use the internet or some programs on a computer, but Blogging is the first time for me. I found it interesting and fun.

The blog that I am working on  is designed to encourage women to post their experience, faith, stories , food justice and a lot more in relation to the Assembly theme of LWF which is “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”. You can find the blog following here.

As a young woman, and also a person who comes from a developing country, I know what food really means for hungry people. Continue Reading »

Posted in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Church, Justice, Poverty/Affluence, Spirituality, Youth | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

Solar Sisters take the challenge

October 6, 2009 by lwfyouth

The BBC is currently conducting a global challenge. They produced short introduction videos about projects around the world. We are all invited to vote for one of them to win the challenge.

In fact, this year there is one of the project where LWF is a partner. It is the “Barefoot college” in India. It trains women from around the world in solar energy engneering. This way, it has a double effect:

  • Renewable energy is promoted which brings people energy while also fighting climate change.
  • Women are empowered and their gifts get recognition in their communities.

If you like the idea, vote for it here.

Posted in Africa, Asia/Pacific, LWF | Leave a Comment »

Climate Change and Me

September 21, 2009 by Roger Schmidt, Switzerland

There are just 76 days left, it says on the website tcktcktck.org. Then the world leaders should have made a deal on climate change. A binding agreement that would limit the emission of carbondioxide and several other issues. 76 days.

I am really not a climate change expert. But it is an issue that defines our time and here are my reasons why:

  • If climate change is human-made (and most evidence points to exactly that), we have the potential to destroy the planet as we know it – or to do better. It is the choice of humanity.
  • It is also very much a justice issue. The countries and people who are responsible for climate change (mainly those in the North) are going to feel the effects the last. However, those in the south who have not contributed at all to major climate gas consumption – they suffer the most; today already with an increasing number of droughts.
  • Climate change is the direct effect of a devastating development model: To want more and more all the time.
  • At the core, climate change is a spiritual issue. How are we dealing with what the creator gave to us?

Most people agree on these points and 76 days major politicians will have a word on it. But what is my role in all of that. I’ll offer a few ideas:

  • Check your climate foot print. Especially for people in the North it is very illuminating to learn how much everybody contributes to climate change. You can do that here.
  • Raise your voice. At the very least join a major global campaign like tcktcktck.org. It is a platform bringing together many organizations like the World Council of Churches in order to unite people in demanding real change.
  • Bring people together. Last year, we had a seminar in Tanzania on climate change. The result was a toolkit that youth groups, sunday school teams and other church groups can use to discuss climate change. (Unfortunately, we have run out of print copies. But you can use the pdf here.)

How do you and your youth group respond to climate change? Tell your story in the comments section to inspire others. 76 days…

Posted in Church, Enviroment, Justice, LWF, Poverty, Poverty/Affluence, Youth, Youth Ministry, Youth participation | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Aids 2031: The results

September 18, 2009 by lwfyouth

Earlier this year, Rebekka was blogging about her participation in a young leaders meeting of the organization Aids2031. You can read her posts here, here and here.

They have gathered very interesting material. You can read the outcomes, their informative report and watch a nice video.

Posted in HIV/Aids, Life, Youth, Youth participation | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

Asia Consultation, Women’s Leadership, an Approach to Gender and Power

September 15, 2009 by helgathomas

Asia Consultation, Women’s Leadership, an Approach to Gender and Power

“God created humankind in the God’s image

In the image of God he created them

Male and female he created them” Genesis -1:27

To develop the understanding of the concept of gender as a theological concept in all member churches of Lutheran World Federation (LWF), WICAS (women’s desk) planned consultations addressing the theme “Women’s leadership-an approach to Gender and Power”. Continue Reading »

Posted in Asia/Pacific, Church, Life, Youth, Youth participation | 1 Comment »

LWF is testing a new website

September 9, 2009 by lwfyouth

The Lutheran World Federation wants to introduce a new website. The beta-version is now ready for testing! You would help very much if you could go to here in order to test.

Please give then feedback by clicking on the red space in the upper left corner. You would help the colleagues very much if you respond to a few questions…

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Voices: Young people speak about youth participation in decision-making

September 7, 2009 by lwfyouth

Posted in Church, Faith, LWF, Youth, Youth Ministry, Youth participation | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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