Fill… Spill… Thrill…

Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson
Evangelical Lutheran Church of America

I am sharing this update on the ELCA’s response to the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan because it is a sign of hope in a very difficult situation. I am also sharing it because, amidst the cacophony of appeals for Japan relief, our members can be assured that their church is able to act swiftly and effectively because of its global relationships, which enable it to draw from an expanded network in its disaster response:

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Rev. Dr. Damon Laaker
Assistant to the Bishop
Nebraska Synod, ELCA

“Peacemaking in a Culture of Violence” was the theme for the 2011 SCUPE Conference held in Chicago, March 1-4. I had the privilege of attending this conference along with Pastor Darrell Anderson.

The opening worship featured two powerful preachers, Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Jr. and Rev. Dr. Michael Pfleger. Prior to their speaking, we participated in a confessional exercise that had us take a piece of colored fabric and tear it in two representing the tearing that takes place with violence. Then as we heard the words of absolution, we were asked to tie our torn fabric together with those around us creating a great multicolored streamer representing the power of God to bind us together in love.

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The Sunday School kids at St. Mark’s in Valley collected 300,000 pennies over a four-month period as part of “Pennies to SWIM” in an effort to buy a water purification system to help those overseas without fresh water.

The purification unit was purchased through Safe Water International Ministries, an organization that distributes the technology to areas in need worldwide. The unit itself is a ready-to-use device that purifies enough water to meet the needs of a village of 1,000 people.

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