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Peace starts with us!

May 23, 2011 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

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.

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Young Christians send a statement to the United Nations

May 16, 2011 in Faith, Justice, LWF, Poverty, Poverty/Affluence, UN, Youth participation

In preparation for the United Nations High-level Meeting on Youth in New York, 25/26 July, the youth of the Lutheran World Federation, the World Council of Churches, the International Movement of Catholic Students and World Student Christian Federation sent the following the statement: Read the rest of this entry →

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

May 13, 2011 in Enviroment, Faith, LWF together - the earth needs you, North America, Poverty, Poverty/Affluence, Youth

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. Read the rest of this entry →

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Glory to God and Peace on Earth

May 12, 2011 in Church, Ecumenism, Faith, Justice, Youth participation

by Daniele Schmidt Peter

“Glory to God and Peace on Earth” – This is the theme of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation  (IEPC) which starts on Tuesday, May 17 in Kingston, Jamaica.

I am one of the selected youths going to serve as stewards during the IEPC. We are 40 young people from around 22 countries going to have different tasks during the meeting. However, being a steward is not only to serve with logistical issues at IEPC but more than that. During the preparation to the IEPC, we will be participating in an Ecumenical Learning Program, where we will learn about others, share experiences from different realities and also discuss the theme of Peace.

For me, just peace starts with all people having the same rights, the same possibility to dream, the same access to a life with dignity and all assume the responsibility with the common goods, with our earth.

Just peace starts in the care with the creation.  Examples could be the care of the garbage we produce, the food we eat each day, the materials we need for work, in our houses. Do you know from where the food you consume comes? What kind of things are you buying and what kind of work is used to produce that? Maybe if we start reflecting around questions like these we can start a discussion around dignity and just peace.

During this year, the Evangelical church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB) is working within the theme “Peace in the God’s creation: hope and commitment”. The goal is that we can discuss and evaluate our actions toward the care with the common goods. One example of the IECLB’s work is the Support Center for Small Farmers (CAPA), a project which helps poor rural families to work the agriculture without using pesticides. Everything in the proprieties, which produce basically food, is produced without any toxic elements in a way that does not harm the nature. The preservation of the environment is one of the concerns of these families, which are caring for the nature, but are caring also for other people who go to the market to buy food and find there healthy products. The project brought dignity to these families of poor farmers in a work with agro ecology, an example where people care for the health of others and for the preservation of the environment. In my point of view, a good start to a just peace.

Lots of expectations come to my mind while I start my trip to Kingston tomorrow. I have some gifts from my country in my luggage, experiences of Peace to share with others and a will that in these days, by sharing the ecumenical worship every morning, we will taste the beauty of living in Peace with others, ending the meeting with a strategy for work in the construction of a Just Peace.

Daniele Schmidt Peter, from the Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB) will be serving at the IEPC as a steward.

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