About 35,000 ELCA youth, adults and volunteers build a community of love

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) - Dane Bakken wanted to know what it was like to
haul a 41.5-pound jug of water on foot for 3.7 miles -- the average for
what a woman or girl in Africa will walk to bring clean water for her
family.
"You can read about (such statistics) as much as you want, but until
you do it, that's what makes you realize just how hard that is.
Otherwise, it's just numbers," said Bakken, a participant at the 2012
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Youth Gathering in New
Orleans, July 18-22.
"Here (in the United States) most of us can go to the kitchen to get
a glass of water. The same is not true for many around the world," Bakken
said.
It was a tough journey. With beads of sweat streaming down his
cheeks and momentary rest stops, Bakken was determined to complete his
task. It took him more than one hour or 37 turns around a track.
Organizers of the activity were asking youth to walk one-tenth of a mile.
Bakken was cheered along the way, but no one beamed with more pride
than his pastor, the Rev. Jeffrey D. Jacobs of Springdale Lutheran Church
in Mount Horeb, Wis.
"Dane just did it on his own initiative. He's that kind of kid. He
does thoughtful things very quietly, and I have been very proud of him,"
Jacobs said.
The activity was part of the "100 Wells Challenge," where a goal was
to raise $250,000 to support the water projects of ELCA World Hunger
around the world. That amount could mean building 100 wells, each one
with the potential of bringing clean water to 500 families at a time.
ELCA youth and their congregations delivered their offerings at the 100
Wells Challenge exhibit. More than $406,000 has been collected as of July
24.
Such multi-sensory activities at the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering were
part of "practice peacemaking" held at the Ernest M. Morial Convention
Center here.
Under the theme "citizens with the saints," about 35,000 ELCA youth,
adults and volunteers engaged in practice peacemaking as part of the
gathering's three core practices. The participants were also challenged
to practice justice and practice discipleship.
The ELCA "has a long history of commitment to adolescent faith
formation," said Heidi Hagstrom, director of the gathering.
"This generation, in particular, is a product of the ELCA's
deepening understanding of and commitment to the connection between
service learning and faith formation. I want young people to return to
their congregations as leaders, demonstrating what they've learned here
and possibly igniting the whole congregations' imagination for mission"
in the world, she said.
Under the guidance of Lutheran Campus Ministry staff and students, ELCA youth also took part in starting the construction of three houses
for three families in New Orleans.
As part of the project, "We talked about the realities of poverty,
and why we need to get involved in these kinds of services," said the
Rev. Christopher S. Heavner, an ELCA campus pastor at Clemson University
in Clemson, S.C. To support the project, ELCA campus ministries from
across the country raised close to $20,000.
Called "The Wall," ELCA youth heard stories of war and armed
conflict, as well as stories of hope from young people and adults who
came to the gathering from other parts of the world.
Other activities of practice peacemaking included artistic
expressions, sports and more.

Practicing justice

For three of the five days of the gathering, about 11,000 ELCA youth
and adults were dispersed throughout New Orleans, engaging in nearly 400
service opportunities that ranged from painting a high school to
rebuilding community libraries.
Morgan Gates and Martha Chumchal, members of Peace Lutheran Church
in College Station, Texas, visited Holt Cemetery in Pottersfield.
Although rain prevented them from their assigned work of cleaning the
cemetery grounds, they boarded buses with groups of other ELCA youth
anyway.
"This cemetery is where all the poor people bury their loved ones
because they can't afford a regular cemetery," said Chumchal.
"A lot of the graves were homemade," said Gates. "PVC pipes are used
and headstones are made of plywood with names spray-painted on. We took
the tour in the rain, in the wet and in the gross. But we learned more
about the culture of New Orleans, and we saw that a lot of jazz musicians
and military veterans are buried here."
"People (in New Orleans) are into honoring the dead, and there is so
much heart in what they do -- the commentaries and compassion people have
for one another here are so inspiring," said Chumchal.
Another significant project of the gathering was collecting and
distributing 1 million books in 25 book fairs across New Orleans, hosted
in part by the city's recreation department and other local
organizations. The city's educators, primarily from the Jefferson and
Orleans parishes, offered book titles.
ELCA youth were also inspired by worship and Bible study led by 60
of the ELCA's 65 synod bishops. As part of practice discipleship, ELCA
youth learned to take their relationship with Jesus Christ to a deeper
level.
Every evening, all ELCA youth and adults participants gathered at
the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for music, dance, speakers and more.
They were moved and inspired by the Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, pastor of
House for All Saints and Sinners in Denver, who shared her personal story
of overcoming addiction and her love for the ELCA. Leymah Gbowee, a 2011
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Lutheran Liberian peace activist, and
Shane Claiborne, an author and activist from Philadelphia, also spoke.
The Rev. Andrena Ingram, pastor of St. Michael Lutheran Church in
Philadelpia, and AIDS activist, shared her story of living with HIV, and
anti-bullying activist Jamie Nabozny asked youth to think about the
things they say in their everyday lives that might have an effect on
others. ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson spoke at the gathering's
open, preached and led closing worship. "At the table Jesus sets, we are
all welcome. We are one community in Christ," Hanson told ELCA youth at
the close.
Nicole Reeves, of Love of Christ Lutheran Church in Mesa, Ariz.,
said she's proud to be an ELCA member.
Reflecting on how her experience at the gathering might impact her
life as she returns home, "I kind of want to go on a mission trip," she
said. One evening at the gathering "I was sitting in the hallway and
thinking about the meaning of life and, I was like, 'I should probably
just go help people.'"