ELCA Global Mission Events Speakers Discuss 'Pray in the Spirit'

DECORAH, Iowa (ELCA) International speakers, missionaries and staff of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) talked about the importance of prayer in daily life, highlighting the theme of the ELCA's 2000 Global Mission Events (GMEs). GMEs emphasize the ELCA's international mission though worship, Bible study, plenary sessions, workshops and music.
"Pray in the Spirit at All Times," from Ephesians 6:18 in the Bible, was the theme of the two GMEs this summer. Events were held July 13-16 at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash., and Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. Both are higher education institutions of the ELCA.
Combined attendance exceeded 2,000 people.
In his opening keynote address, the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, presented two challenges for the church. One was the rising number of people in the world who do not know the gospel of Jesus Christ, he said.
"Many of us have been apprehensive because we are afraid of imposing and pushing our beliefs on other people," Anderson said. "We don't want to intrude, so we don't speak."
For many Lutherans evangelism only means attracting greater numbers of people to congregations, he said. When Lutherans work only on increasing numbers, "we're not telling, we're selling," Anderson said. Anderson urged the audience to tell the "Good News" of Jesus Christ as the primary part of evangelism.
"Praying in the Spirit" includes listening to God, he said."We are asked only to listen and then to speak of the depth of our love for Jesus Christ," Anderson said. "That word from God could come at any time. To 'pray in the Spirit' is to open one's self to God."
The other challenge for the ELCA is to consider ways to bridge the widening gap between wealthy people and people living in poverty in the world, Anderson said. "At its deepest level, it is a spiritual problem, not an economic or social problem," he said of the disparity. "We are the losers because our riches and possessions have cut us off from the rest of humanity."
"Is our fear that what we have will be taken away? Do we ever ask if the homeless have a spiritual life? Do you think any homeless people pray at night to God? People aren't trying to grab what we have," the bishop said. "They're trying to hold on to what we're taking from them."
"To 'pray in the Spirit' is to pray for all other human souls who ask God for 'daily bread' and live on less than we do," he concluded. "The Spirit of God is the one who can change the human heart. God grant us to be open as we pray for the gifts and challenges that the spirit will bring."
GME participants learned of struggles Christians face in the Middle East in an address by Viola Raheb, program director for schools, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and Palestine.
"Being a minority is a challenge for us in Palestine," she said. "We are the ones to shape Christians in the years to come."
Saying she believes Palestinians were "called to witness in the Middle East," Raheb called on fellow Lutherans to support Christians living in the Middle East. "We need Christian brothers and sisters to meet with brothers and sisters in the Holy Land," she said.
Schools operated in the Middle East by the Lutheran Church help to plant "a seed of tolerance in both Christians and Muslims, so they might learn to live together," Raheb said.
She called on leaders of all faiths to seek a permanent, lasting peace in the region.
"There can be no peace in the Middle East unless the three religions -- Christians, Muslims and Jews -- work together to build bridges of justice, solidarity and peace," she concluded.
Dr. Mamy Ranaivoson, a physician from the Malagasy Lutheran Church, Madagascar, is a missionary to Papua New Guinea. He described his work there in a Lutheran hospital. His wife and children sang songs they learned in their missionary work.
Ranaivoson said he regularly prays with patients before surgery. "Prayer is at the center of my work as a medical doctor," he said.
His faith is the result of answered prayers from when he was young. He was sick as a child, and his prognosis was uncertain, he said. Many people prayed for his recovery, Ranaivoson said.
"The experience taught me the power of prayer," he said. "Faith brought me to a place I never knew. We're to pray boldly and constantly. Prayers are answered according to God's will."
Ranaivoson urged the GME participants to "start a new life with prayer." "Start now," he said.
Ranaivoson, who is studying at the ELCA's Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, said he plans to remain a missionary.
"I want to stay in mission to see what God will do next," he said. " I pray the same for you."
The Rev. Philip Tan Sink Dark, pastor at Christ Lutheran Church, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, a congregation of the Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore, described how the congregation he serves overcame many obstacles and grew through prayer.
Many people in Malaysia and Singapore are Muslim, he said. "To be a Christian in our land is not easy," Tan added.
"It is the business of Christians to pray," Tan said. "There is a close connection between prayers and mission. Without prayer there's no power for mission and no clear sense of direction."
The congregation has also found its niche: ministry to people living in poverty and without homes, he said. "It's exciting," Tan said. "We see the power of Christ being manifested time after time in our ministry."
"I pray that God will baptize you with fire," he concluded. "I pray that God will grant you great results."
The Rev. Twila K. Schock, an ELCA pastor serving at the Moscow (Russia) Protestant Chaplaincy, and the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, executive director, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries, Chicago, preached at GME concluding worship services.
GMEs are sponsored by the ELCA Division for Global Mission in cooperation with local committees, local synods of the ELCA and staff of the ELCA churchwide organization in Chicago. Financial support was contributed by Aid Association for Lutherans, a fraternal benefits organization based in Appleton, Wis., and Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal benefits organization based in Minneapolis.
In 2001, two GMEs are planned: July 12-15 in Denver, and July = 19-22=20 at Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa. Susquehanna is an ELCA higher education institution.

[*Michael N. Hoffman is a senior at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan. This summer he is an intern with ELCA News and Information.]

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