“What do you know about the Lutheran World Federation? What challenges do young people have in your church? How do you feel about studying in Germany?”

Discussion in the Luther Café at the German Protestant Church Days in Hamburg /pictures by Florian Hübner

These were some of the questions discussed with the young LWF scholarship holders in Germany. They were invited to a meeting with the LWF Youth Desk, the German National Committee and Bread for the World.

Being blessed with a common spirit and excellent listening skills these future pastors and deacons shared about the challenges young people are facing in their churches.

For some youth groups in a minority situation, it is the distance they have to travel to meet each other weekly. For others, church does not seem to be attractive enough for youth. In other places, the space for youth leadership training is missing. Also a  concurrence with charismatic movements challenges the youth work in their churches.

Meeting with the international theology and diaconia students in Germany who received a LWF scholarship

Together, suggestions on how to improve were developed: engage in ecumenical dialogue, let young people participate in the congregation’s life and decision making bodies, reflect together about living as a Christian in a non-Christian society and mostly: don’t work for young people but with them.

The encounter ended with the promise to soon meet again and to network more throughout the LWF communion to support each other even after studying together in Germany.

Further Information on studying with the LWF in Germany can be found here  and more general information on scholarships here.

“Stand up and Walk”!  The quote of Jesus when he heals the lame man in Mark 2 is the basis for the first LWF Virtual Conference on Diakonia on 5 June 2013.

Speakers from around the world are going to introduce basic concepts of Diakonia (the church’s service for the needy), share ideas and discuss new approaches.

One of the Keynote speakers will be Mami Brunah Aro Sandaniaina. As university student in Madgascar, she coordinates the youth committee of the Lutheran Communion in Eastern and Central Africa and is also a young member of the LWF council. She is going to talk about what the church needs to do in order to address the specific challenges of young women in the Africa contexts.

Some 500 pastors, diaconal workers and lay leaders are expected to engage with one another via the Internet on new trends in how churches and their related organizations respond to human need. Registration is free and open to all those who are interested..

DMD director Rev. Dr Musa Panti Filibus says  the conference aims to share experiences that will help support lay leaders, pastors and diaconal workers in strengthening the social service care and support that churches provide at community and other levels. The meeting also seeks to connect diaconal workers with colleagues undertaking similar work globally.

Muna & Hadiyah dancing whilst receiving dialysis treatment at Augusta Victoria Hospital two times a week /photo by Karin Alexandra Brown

“We believe this innovative conference will be a major opportunity for the member churches to strengthen our joint service,” Filibus said.

“Churches around the world do tremendous work in fighting poverty and standing with the marginalized. But how much better can we become in our joint diaconal ministry if we learn from each other?”

The conference languages will be English, Spanish, French and Indonesian. It will be accessible on computers with Internet connection, smart phones and other hand-held devices and the methodology used will allow people with slow Internet connections to participate.

Participants can sign up for the conference as individuals, or join in groups of pastors, church councils or diaconal and other committees to discuss together issues that are relevant to their respective contexts.

And for your information: You can meet us online even twice this year. For October this year, we are also preparing another Virtual Conference for young people in the Lutheran communion: an online climate journey around the world, exploring ecological and climate justice.

Best wishes and see you soon, Caroline

Theory and practice of advocacy, climate change and communication were the three main topics discussed over the 2013 Youth Training, prior to the LWF Conference of Leadership of the Latin American and Caribbean member churches.

Taking place from 13^th to 15^th of April in Managua, Nicaragua, the training was inspirational and empowering. While providing with a chance of visualizing the main issues that address the LAC youth, it was also a chance of identifying the ones that shall be advanced on. In a way of prioritizing such issues, each of the sixteen participants presented their ideas, and the three most voted were the ones elected as being the basis for the youth message and the Youth work in the region for the coming years.

Five of the participants (Nahún, Raquel, Rodolfo, Natalia and Fabián) volunteered to draft the message, which concise the learning during those days. Inputs and considerations were received from the whole group on a daily basis, a reason for why writing together such a strong letter was an exercise of team work and dialogue.

The message aims to communicate about the commitment of the young people to God, to the Church, to the care for the environment, and to the problems that affect the regions, while highlighting the contribution that the young people have to the regional and global community of churches. Take a look at what the Latin American and the Caribbean Youth have to say!

Link to the message in English

Enlace web con el mensaje en español

Lien ver le message en français

Youth at the 2013 LAC Conference of Leadership

]]> http://lwfyouth.org/2013/05/06/working-together-for-climate-justice-lac-youth-message/feed/ 2 http://lwfyouth.org/2013/04/29/visit-to-the-faith-and-hope-school-center/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=visit-to-the-faith-and-hope-school-center http://lwfyouth.org/2013/04/29/visit-to-the-faith-and-hope-school-center/#comments Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:17:31 +0000 LAC Youth http://lwfyouth.org/?p=5259 Visit to the Faith and Hope School Center

School class with LAC Youth Delegates

Managua, Nicaragua

On Thursday, April 18th, all participants of the Latin American and the Caribbean Leadership Conference 2013 had the chance of going on a field trip to visit one of the projects run by the Nicaraguan Church of Faith and Hope (ILFE). Some of the youth delegates chose to visit the Faith and Hope School Center, which assists over than 200 children, from kindergarten to the end of primary school.

When we got there, the children received us with smiles, hugs and kisses, eagerly waiting to play together with us. The Director of the School, along with one of the teachers, explained the functioning of the school’s educational system. Their work is the result of the sensibility of the Church to the needs of the Pochocuape community. Same needs that the government seems not to recognize. The Church then takes the responsibility for the education of those children, as well as for their nurturing and care.

Children playing in front of the school while waiting for our visit

It is very difficult to find words to describe how we felt during that visit. It was a mixture of joy, excitement and faith. Playing with them, singing and dancing together, and caring for each other really touched our hearts. Truly remarkable is the work that is done by the teachers. Guided by their heart and Christian spirit, they share all of their knowledge and love for those children, providing them with a different reality, full of hope, colors, games and songs, which deprives them from the fears they face daily, and shows them that change is possible. They are able to do so much, with so little.

by Carolina Huth (Argentinia) and Raquel Helene Kleber (Brazil), youth delegates at LAC 2013

Segundo día de capacitación en Managua!  Y el ambiente es cada vez más unido e interesante entre los jóvenes, el calor húmedo no interfiere en la relación de fraternidad que hemos adquirido, y parece que los días siguientes llegaremos a más acuerdos y a más entendiendo entre las congregaciones de los demás países de américa latina. ¡Esto se pone bueno! al fin la mayoría de los jóvenes líderes estamos reunidos y las expectativas aumentan. Al principio no tenía claro muchas cosas sobre el rol de la FLM pero gracias a Patricia Cuyatti mis preguntas han sido respuestas sobre  datos de la federación, ella desempeña un papel muy bueno y su explicación ha sido excelente.

El equipo estudia los pros y los contras de los redes sociales./ Chelsea Macek

Al llegar a la reunión no tenía idea de cómo iba a compartir mis experiencias de una manera efectiva con mi congregación en México, porque ellos deben saber sobre esta experiencia y lo que me está dejando, así que llego el tema de mapeo de redes, me calló como anillo al dedo. Empezamos a ser capacitados sobre maneras geniales de compartir mis anécdotas y mi información, impaciente yo de publicar. Las redes de jóvenes  y en américa latina ya están desarrolladas en las redes sociales y en blogs en internet, parece ya que mi rol de joven líder de mi congregación tiene que ser más efectiva, me he visto algo rezagado.

Varias ideas llegan a mi mente y los proyectos compartidos por los demás en temas de redes han hecho que motive mi participación en este asunto, esto es un nuevo comienzo y espero una nueva incidencia en mi desempeño como líder, y es así como pienso todos tenemos que estar motivados a diario para servir a Dios.

Cambiando de tema, ese mismo día en la tarde empezamos a planear nuestro rol como jóvenes en la COL, nuestro mensaje como generación con ideas frescas y revolucionarias tienen que ser escuchadas en este congreso, todo enfocado con una visión contra el cambio climático, lleno de ideas de todos nosotros, algo que tiene que ser atendido fuertemente antes de lamentarnos fuera de tiempo.

Una delegada vota para los temas del mensaje de la generación nueva./ Chelsea Macek

En fin, tanto trabajo motivador, al final del día nos lleva a tener una noche ofrecida por la cultura anfitriona, Nicaragua nos ofreció una cena espectacular, parecía que estaba en México, había demasiada comida basada en los mismos elementos de mi cultura, ¡maíz!

México, parece que no te extraño por ahora, la estoy pasando muy bien con gente tan cálida y maravillosa, y con música en vivo muy buena, solo me pone nostálgico el presentar mi país en la exposición de las culturas presentes, pero esto es provechoso, Dios nos ha reunido en un excelente momento y en una excelente oportunidad para crecer como comunidad regional… al final de todo esto, termino aplicando mis conocimientos adquiridos, ¡compartiendo mi experiencia en un blog por primera vez! esto es el comienzo de compartir lo que acontece en este rincón del mundo donde la palabra de Dios está presente, Latinoamérica unida es una experiencia inigualable.

by Jose Luis Velázquez Orozco, representante juvenil de la Iglesia Luterana Mexicana.