Category Archives: Enviroment

The final stretch of the journey of LWF together

Posted on October 24, 2011 by | Leave a comment

A journey is nearing its end. Many of the participants are going to end it with prayer and a celebration.

It was a journey that brought together 100 groups of young people from different places in the world. There were many exchanges on biblical texts and how young people see current problems – surrounding the environment and  justice.

This journey was not always easy. Some groups lost momentum and stopped meeting. The contact between groups was difficult in most cases; it is just not easy to communicate with people you have never met, in a language which is not your native one and using the Internet.

Next Sunday, Reformation Sunday, many groups are going to talk about LWF together in the worship services of their congregations. And they are all going to pray for the partner groups.

We are also going to use this week in order to discuss about the future of LWF together. Tomorrow, there will be a post on some ideas for next year’s program and your comments on it.  Later this week, we are also going to invite applications for coordinators of the program.

So, stay tuned for a week of conversation about LWF together, leading up to the Reformation Day finale.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Enviroment, Faith, Justice, LWF, LWF together - the earth needs you, Spirituality, Youth, Youth Ministry, Youth participation

Youth for Eco-Justice: Mike Langa Lulanga

Posted on October 13, 2011 by | Leave a comment

The World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation co-organize the global training program “Youth for Eco-Justice“. Here we are introducing the participants in the following. Here is an overview.

Name: Mike Langa Lulanga
Age: 27
Function: Journalist/Youth Leader
Country of origin: Malawi
Church of origin: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi

What is really important for your life?

To do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)

What are your wishes for the negotiations on Climate Change in Durban?

(a)  It is my wish that we discuss the care for creation as one way of expressing our love for God, for the Love of God requires respect for God’s gifts and for God’s will for Creation.

(b)  The role of the youths in ensuring that justice is done to our environment.

(c)   How we can leave the world a better place than we found it.

(d)  How we can live at peace with God and the creation.

(e)  How the world can reduce use of materials that are not environmentally friendly.

What would you like to do so that your church/Country becomes more environmentally just?

Conduct awareness campaigns on environmental justice and civic, educate the masses on how they can do justice to the environment. It will be more meaningful and powerful to use the word of God in educating people about  protecting the environment.

About 80% of Malawians are Christians and they can easily be influenced with the word of GOD. God himself calls us all to be just with his creation.

I would also like to introduce programs that deliberately address issues of environmental justice and institute clubs that will be discussing and finding new ways of how the church can improve on being environmental just and how people at large can develop love for mother nature.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Ecological Justice, Ecumenism, Enviroment, UN, Youth participation

Working for Eco-Justice

Posted on October 12, 2011 by | Leave a comment

View Larger Map

The ecological crisis is a global challenge. It requires global responses that make sense locally. This is exactly the aim of the initiative of the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation “Youth for Eco-Justice”. We are trying to understand the global ecological and economic crisis better, identify the injustices theologically and biblically and develop together responses that fit to our various contexts. On this blog we are keeping you up-to-date with new developments and are very interested to hear from you and your experiences. The joint experience kicks off with a training in Durban, South Africa at the end of the year.

The map above shows where the participants of our upcoming training come from. In the next few weeks, we are going to post also short profiles of all the participants. Please write a comment right after the post if you would like to get in touch with them directly.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Church, Ecological Justice, Ecumenism, Enviroment, LWF, UN, Youth participation

Young Christians promote peace – youth report online

Posted on July 12, 2011 by | Leave a comment

 

Many of you followed the young Lutherans who joined others in promoting peace in the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (they posted here, here, here, and here).

The youth contributions of this meeting have now been collected in a report. You can download the pdf here.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Church, Ecumenism, Enviroment, Faith, Justice, Latin America/Carribean, Youth, Youth participation

Become a eco-justice change maker!

Posted on July 6, 2011 by | Leave a comment

If you are really concerned about injustices around climate change and the ecology world wide, this program might be exactly for you.

The Water Network in the World Council of Churches and the LWF youth desk organize together a multiplier training. Youth for Eco-Justice is a transformational leadership training program for change makers in churches and faith-based organizations worldwide. It starts with a two-week training and immersion in the context of the international climate change negotiations (COP 17) in Durban, South Africa (26 November – 10 December 2011). The participants will initiate and implement a project in their home context in the months following the seminar on a volunteer basis.

For us, this obviously directly connects with LWF together – the earth needs you and is meant for participants who want to bring their contribution to a global stage and dig deeper at the same time.

You can read more information here and apply online here.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Africa, Church, Ecumenism, Enviroment, Justice, Life, LWF together - the earth needs you, UN

Peace starts with us!

Posted on May 23, 2011 by | 1 Comment

Introduction to the WCC IEPC and Peace with the Earth

Greetings from Kingston, Jamaica! We are participating in the World Council of Churches (WCC) International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) along with about 1000 people from around the world and WCC member churches.

The theme of the convocation is “Glory to God and Peace on Earth.” The main objectives for the IEPC are many, but most broadly:

  1. Sharing inspirations and reflections
  2. Network-building, strategy development and other actions.

This is a harvesting event and celebration for the Decade to Overcome Violence. This is not a decision-making body, but rather a group that will crystallize emerging peace issues on the way to the 2013 WCC Assembly in Busan, South Korea.

The four themes of our days together are:

  1. Peace in the Community
  2. Peace with the Earth
  3. Peace in the Marketplace
  4. Peace Among the Peoples.

Today, we will focus on Peace with the Earth.

Part of our life together at the convocation includes bible study. The text for “Peace with the Earth” is Isaiah 11:6-9. Take a look at the text. Share it with your friends. To start your conversation, here are two questions:

What does the ‘knowledge of the Lord’ refer to in this passage?
Is the world painted in this passage possible?

In the daily plenary, the focus was to: Raise awareness on the various threats to creation, present churches’ statements and actions addressing caring for creation, offer theological and spiritual insights from various religious perspectives on peace and creation, and share practical examples on what churches can do on peace with the earth.

As three young people from the LWF, we felt connected to this work, since this same theme, sustainability (with a focus on climate change and food security) was expressed as an emerging issue among the youth at the 2010 Lutheran World Federation (LWF) assembly. Currently, groups of young people from around the LWF communion are reflecting together on bible texts that relate to this theme. Groups are sharing with one another through the worldwide web—a very “green” option!

One of the objectives of LWF Together is to use the outcomes from the bible studies and reflections to work toward sustainability in your own community. Peace with the earth begins with us!

For more information visit www.lwfyouth.org.

In a d’ Lates (Compliments of Peter Powell, Campus Security),

Daniele, Mikka and Sanna

P.S. Come back again soon! During the week, we will take turns reflecting on the remaining three themes.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Church, Ecumenism, Enviroment, Europe, Faith, Justice, Latin America/Carribean, Life, LWF, LWF together - the earth needs you, Middle East, North America, Spirituality, Youth participation

Changing Behavior is Hard: A Perspective from the United States of America

Posted on May 13, 2011 by | Leave a comment

This is a post that first appeared in the LWF together: Guidebook.

By Allison Beebe

In North America, people know about the need for making environmentally friendly choices. However, this knowledge does not often change our actions. We are well informed. News from all over the world is available whenever we would like to access it, and yet our habits toward the environment remain the same.

It is often the case that North Americans care, but not enough to change. People want to make a difference by taking the bus, but not as much as they want their independence by driving their own car. People want to conserve water, but not as much as they’d like to take long, hot showers in the morning. People want to buy food which is grown locally and sustainably, but not as much as they want the best price at the grocery store. People want to travel in an ecologically friendly way, but not as much as they would like to fly quickly across the country. Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Enviroment, Faith, LWF together - the earth needs you, North America, Poverty, Poverty/Affluence, Youth

International Ecumenical Peace Convocation

Posted on April 26, 2011 by | 2 Comments

 On the 17-25thof May 2011 members of the World Council of Churches will gather in Kingston, Jamaica to conclude the ”Decade to Overcome Violence”. It will be a time of celebration and evaluation. Also, the document ”An Ecumenical Call to Just Peace” will be presented and has the objective of guiding the churches in their future work for peace. The meeting has four sub-themes: Peace in the Community, Peace with the Earth, Peace in the Marketplace and Peace among the Peoples.

One of the objectives of the Decade to Overcome Violence has been to move the issue of peace from the outskrits to the center of the discussion of churches. I believe that one great example of ”Peace with the Earth” is the project in which more than 500 young people from the Lutheran Community are able to participate; ”LWF Together”. While reflecting together and acting for sustainability very important steps are taken towards peace.

In Sweden live persons of many different nationalities that have had to leave their countries due to different reasons, often because of violent conflicts. Unfortunately segregation is a problem in some areas, many times leading to prejudices. An example of working for ”Peace in the Community” is a congregation in the Church of Sweden where women from different cultural and religious backgrounds meet once a week to discuss different issues regarding religious traditions and the Swedish society. This is done with the objective of creating a space for meeting and trying to resolve fears that exist between different groups.

As a participant from the Church of Sweden at the Peace Convocation I look forward to pray with Christians from different parts of the world, improve my knowledge about the ecumenical movement and to learn about local experiences of peace work that different persons have. Also, as a youth participant I hope to see the inclusion of youth in the process and that our specific knowledges about local situations of peace and violence and our willingness to participate in the work are valued as essential components in the peace work of the churches.

Sanna Eriksson

Delegate from the Church of Sweden at the IEPC.

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Ecumenism, Enviroment, Faith, Justice

LWF together – Guidebook is online

Posted on April 5, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Last Friday, the registration closed for LWF together- the earth needs you . 110 groups from all parts of the world and all 7 LWF regions have signed up. The groups are composed of more than 900 individuals. It will be a journey where three youth groups in different continents will work together in order to get to know each other better, to read the bible together and to get into action for ecological justice.

In order to help the groups, we have put together a “Guidebook“. Currently it is only available (here) online. Later, the participants will also receive in print. There are also translations under way to Spanish, Indonesian, French and German.

Obviously, even if you don’t participate in LWF together, you can still use the materials with your group.

It is not easy to put such a book together. Therefore, I would be very happy if you have more ideas or also some critical remarks to discuss it here.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Enviroment, Faith, LWF together - the earth needs you, Youth, Youth Ministry, Youth participation

Youth committee of the LWF German National Committee prioritizes sustainabiltiy

Posted on March 14, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Sustainability is one of the priority issues of LWF Youth globally. The youth committee of the German National Committee of the LWF member churches in this country have made it their priority theme. Please read more in the Moritz’ report.

Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Church, Ecumenism, Enviroment, Europe, Justice, LWF, Youth, Youth participation