wfn.org | LWI 2009-071 Lutheran Leader Urges Asian Churches to Expose Systemic Causes of Hunger

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Lutheran Leader Urges Asian Churches to Expose Systemic Causes of  Hunger LWF Churches Meet in Bangkok for First Regional Pre-Assembly

BANGKOK, Thailand/GENEVA, 7 December 2009 (LWI) - As the ancient prophets  challenged the powerful who ignored the cries of the needy, so too must  the church today act to dismantle systems that prevent people from getting  their daily bread.

This was the central message of the keynote address from Palestinian  Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan at the opening of the Lutheran World Federation  (LWF) Asia Pre-Assembly Consultation (APAC) and Asia Church Leadership  Conference (ACLC), taking place from 6-9 December in Bangkok, Thailand.  "Give Us Today Our Daily Bread: A Holy Call to Justice" was the title of  the keynote address.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thailand is hosting the APAC and ACLC,  bringing together around 100 delegates from the 47 LWF member churches in  Asia. It is the region's preparatory meeting for the July 2010 LWF  Eleventh Assembly, to be held in Stuttgart, Germany, under the theme "Give  Us Today Our Daily Bread." Participants who are drawn from 15 countries in  Asia include delegates to the Assembly, LWF Council members and advisers,  the Lutheran Council in Asia (LUCAS - comprising bishops and presidents of  the region's churches), women and youth representatives, mission partners  and ecumenical guests.

Noting the communal language of the LWF assembly theme, Younan said that  "a sincere prayer will seek daily bread for all and will be lived out in  ministry to the poor and needy." Jesus, in continuity with the prophets,  called for redistributive justice that earned them no favors with  political leaders, he remarked.

Younan is bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy  Land (ELCJHL). He was elected LWF vice president at the July 2003 Tenth  Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada.

>Poverty amid Affluence

Out of the estimated 1 billion people in the world who go hungry each day,  more than 60 percent (642 million) are in the Asian and Pacific region,  said Younan, citing statistics of United Nations Food and Agriculture  Organization (FAO). This figure, he noted, includes a disproportionately  high number of women and children in a continent where some 800 million  people live in poverty. But it is also against a background of "significant  gains made in the past three years in per capita income and calorie  consumption," remarked the ELCJHL bishop.

"These increasingly affluent Asians are able to diversify their diets and  create an explosion in the demand for livestock, products, fruits,  vegetables and feed grains," he emphasized. He stressed the need for a  more equitable and environmentally sustainable agricultural growth to  complete the economic transformation of rural Asia. "It must support small  farmers. It must also capitalize on changing food consumption patterns in  the region and a growing global demand for diverse products," he explained.

Citing colonialism, debt, militarization, climate change and occupation as  some of the issues that create the conditions for widespread hunger, the  LWF vice president called the church to engage in prophetic diakonia-servic e that confronts injustice in the world. He illustrated the meaning of  prophetic diakonia with an example from his own context. Lands traditionall y inhabited by his Palestinian people have been taken over illegally by  the state of Israel; houses are demolished; movement is restricted and  families are separated. Retributive violence creates fear among Palestinian s and Israelis. In the midst of the suffering, prophetic diakonia names  the injustice of occupation, he said, while offering a vision for peaceful  coexistence based on justice and security for both peoples.

Prophetic diakonia, he added, "speaks for justice despite personal  inconvenience or cost; opposes entrenched means of exploiting others such  as class or caste; openly criticizes any violation of human rights; and  resists blaming the victim and exposes underlying systemic causes."

Younan laid out an agenda for the Asian churches, calling them to such  tasks as demanding just sharing of resources, holding world leaders  accountable for promises regarding climate change and pressing employers  to pay wages that allow workers to live in dignity. He challenged the  church itself to enable the full empowerment and participation of women,  as well as joining hands with other faith leaders to tackle joint  problems.

The Lutheran understanding of "daily bread" is that it includes all that  is needed for life. Ultimately, the church's task is to seek daily bread  for all, "not bread for some and crumbs for the rest," added the LWF vice  president.

The Asia Pre-Assembly is one of the five LWF regional meetings and two  international gatherings to prepare delegates for effective participation  in the forthcoming assembly, and deliberate the assembly theme implications  in the various LWF contexts.

The Asian region desk at the LWF Department for Mission and Development is  coordinating the APAC and ACLC meetings. (791 words)

More information about the forthcoming Assembly including study materials,  reflections on the assembly theme and resources is available on the LWF  Assembly Web site at: http://www.lwf-assembly.org/

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(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran  tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140  member churches in 79 countries all over the world, with a total membership  of 68.9 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas  of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology,  humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various  aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in  Geneva, Switzerland.)

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