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Often from their dining-room tables, they organized the
efforts of good-hearted knitters all over the country
for a particular cause, whether children orphaned by
AIDS in Africa, mothers in Afghanistan, traumatized
children in the United States, or grieving people in
their own churches. Few considered themselves activists,
probably saving that title for the types of women I
described earlier. But activists they were, in their own
right. Activists, too, are the people who diligently
supply these organizations with hats, mittens, shawls,
and toys — tangible manifestations of a desire to change
the world.
And activists we all can be, regardless of our
willingness to go to jail for our convictions, our
ability to travel, or the constraints on our time. We
are activists when we shop for groceries and choose
local produce. We are activists when we seek out
fair-trade coffee and low-impact cleaning supplies. We
are activists when we teach our children to turn off the
lights or we take them places where they can discover
the beauty of nature and develop a respect for the
environment. We are activists when we make a meal or
create something beautiful and warm for a person in
need.
As my hero June Kjome once said, “Your life is the sum
of little choices. So choose carefully.” Small choices
do add up, and together, they make an impact — we make
an impact. Choosing to live in accordance with what is
in our hearts isn’t always easy. It takes time and
effort. But that’s what activists do, on whatever level
we can. It’s how we change the world — hour by hour,
stitch by stitch, woman by woman.
Betty
Christiansen is the author of Knitting for Peace:
Make the World a Better Place One Stitch at a Time.
She lives with her husband, Andrew, and son, Eliot, in
La Crosse, Wisconsin.
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Meet Karris Golden and Emily Davila at the Triennial
Gathering next month!
At
"Come to the Waters" this summer, you join
thousands of Lutheran women of all ages to celebrate the
life-giving waters of baptism. Inspirational
speakers, servant opportunities, inspiring guests from
around the globe, and workshops are scheduled during
this fun and faith-filled weekend gathering. Women in their 20s
and 30s will share an evening at a special chocolate
lounge.
Café readers will also get a chance to meet two
authors, Karris Golden, (Links to articles) and Emily
Davila.
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Karris
Golden |
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Karris
Golden has been to several Triennial Gatherings.
Currently serving as the vice chair of the ELCA
Multicultural Ministries program committee and an
antiracism educator with Women of the ELCA, she
is assistant director of communication and marketing at
Wartburg College. She is a
speaker and a writer and has been published in
Lutheran Woman Today magazine and Café.
In the workshop "Raising up healthy women and
girls," she and Tammy Devine, a deaconess and former
parish nurse who currently serves as wellness
coordinator for the ELCA Board of Pensions, will give an
intensive and compact version of the Women of ELCA
health event that includes sessions on physical,
emotional, and spiritual health.
"Body
loving" by Karris Golden, March 2008.
"What
is the sound of your faith?" by Karris Golden, March
2007
"The balancing act" by Karris Golden, April 2006
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Emily Davila (left) and Christine Mangale. |
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Emily Davila works at the Lutheran Office for World
Community, which represents the Lutheran World
Federation and the ELCA at the United Nations. The best
part of her job is working with women and young people
from around the world organizing events and projects on
youth empowerment, gender equality and rights for people
living with HIV/AIDS.
She is chair of Ecumenical Women, a coalition of
mainline churches and ecumenical bodies that join
together for advocacy and theological reflection at the
Commission on the Status of Women. In March, she
coordinated an interfaith youth conference in East
Africa with the Lutheran Church of Rwanda. She is a
blogger and has written for Café, The Lutheran,
Women’s e-news and Wiretap. She lives with her husband
in New York City.
She says, "Over the years, I have been excited to see
Women of the ELCA deepen their outreach to young women,
and I love the openness and community I find from women
across generations who are called to be a force for
social change. . . . I am always pleased to have an
excuse to go West — I can’t wait to see the largest
natural lake west of the Mississippi!"
You can hear Emily Davila talk about discovering
advocacy, why it is important, and how it can make an
active difference in your community, state, and world,
at the workshop "Why not in public!?"
She will be accompanied by Christine
Mangale, pictured
above, who works as the youth director for the Kenya
Evangelical Lutheran Church.
"Be
my fair-trade certified valentine" by Emily
(Freeburg) Davila, February 2008.
"Called to be bold: Three women making a difference",
by Emily (Freeburg) Davila, February 2007.
Register
for
Come to the Waters, the Seventh Triennial Gathering of
Women of the ELCA.
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Visit the
study
page for ideas for discussion and further
reflection.
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This
passage from Micah speaks to us loud and
clear:
He
has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD
require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8
We
are called to respond to the needs of our neighbors, not necessarily
just the ones we know but others in our neighborhood, community,
country, and world. God empowers each and every one of us to respond
to the needs around us; we just need to recognize that we have been
so empowered.
Meeting people’s material needs is one way to take action. The next
step beyond that is lifting our voices, giving voice to those who
are voiceless.
Last year I spent two weeks in El Salvador learning about issues
affecting the Salvadoran people. Poverty and under-employment are
struggles the Salvadoran people face every day, but the people we
met had a sense of hope, too, when they knew we were there to listen
to their stories.
One day we walked through the village of El Mazote, the site of a
massacre during the civil war.
Rufina, the sole survivor of that massacre, was our guide. She
walked us by buildings with bullet holes, pits in the ground where
homes used to stand, and a beautiful mural in memory of all the
children of the village. Although she had lost almost her whole
family in the massacre, she had an inner strength about her. I
believe that strength came from telling her story and knowing that
we would share it too, that what happened in EL Mazote would not be
forgotten.
Our group’s first step into activism was taking the time to make
that trip and hear the stories of the people of El Salvador. Our
second step was returning home and not forgetting about our trip.
Part of being a voice for the voiceless is telling and retelling
stories of injustice.
Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the
orphan, plead for the widow.
Isaiah 1:17
Through baptism, we are called to live in covenant with God and to
live according to that covenant. That covenant calls us to:
• live
among God’s faithful people,
• hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper,
• proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
• serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and
• strive for justice and peace in all the earth.
We
are called through baptism to actively respond to people’s needs and
be a voice for the voiceless. When we realized the effect we could
have in El Salvador from our homes, it was eye-opening.
We became aware of how our voices to our representatives in
Washington and the way we voted had an effect on the Salvadoran
people.
God has an interesting way of moving in our lives. By taking an
active role in the local and global community, we can lift our
voices to speak for the needs of our neighbors. We walk humbly with
God when we think of others first and consider how their needs
affect how we live our day-to-day lives.
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an
ever-flowing stream.
Amos 5:24
May
God’s justice roll down over each and every one of us. May it guide
us to hear the voices of our sisters and brothers in need, and may it
call us to respond to those needs. This is the will of God, and God
will continue to be at work in each and every one of us to see that
it happens.
The Rev. Jennifer K. Faust serves at St. John's Lutheran Church in
Loogootee, Indiana.
_________________________
When you and your friends, classmates, or co-workers meet to
discuss this issue of Café, try out the questions for
reflection on our study
page.
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