(Written by Rob Dalgleish, Congregational, Educational and Community Ministries)

Sharing the Burden

            What happens when a country loses a whole generation of individuals to disease and death as is happening in many African countries?

            Men who had to leave home to find work picked up the HIV-aids virus and, unknowingly, brought it back to their wives.  The disease has become the silent killer.

            Sadly, the grandmother-generation has to nurse their dying children and care for the grandchildren left behind.  They have no time to grieve.  One lady lamented she thought one of her children would buy her casket, and another would buy a blanket to wrap her when she died.  But now she has outlived all her children.

            Poverty constantly threatens because few of the grandmothers have marketable skills and no income.  Often they care for orphans in a sister's or neighbour's family as well as their own.  It is estimated that there are at least fifteen million orphans in southern Africa, and the number is growing.  60 % live in Grandmother-headed households.

            Stephen Lewis has walked among and prayed with these people.  His stories tell of their pain and of their incredible will to carry on.  Lewis and his family to set up the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and develop the "Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign". 

            Launched in 2006, more than 200 groups of Canadian Grandmothers are finding whatever means they can to raise funds for these overworked women.

            The Foundation insures that 90 % of the money goes directly to needy situations in local communities, often in the form of small loans and grants that pay for uniforms so children can go to school, for sewing machines so village women can sew for their families, for health-care instructors...

            At the present "these grandmothers are the force that's holding the continent together".  Would that we could be the Samaritans who care enough to help them carry their burden? (www.stephenlewisfoundation.org )

(written by Joyce Sasse, April / 08)

Bringing Forth Fruit in Old Age

            What does our society do to acknowledge the contributions individuals in their 70s, 80s, and 90s make in our society?

            I think of the two old gents I know who help each other get to cribbage.  Not only do they enjoy their Wednesday nights out, but they were proud to have almost made it to the Provincial play-downs.

            I think of the 87 year old woman cleaning the winter debris off her friend's rhubarb patch.  The friend was temporarily in the Senior's Lodge and the gardener knew she needed her daily dose of cooked rhubarb to "keep her regular".

            I think of the 82 year old neighbour who headed down the street with his snow plough to clean off the walks of the widows and of an old friend who once did the same thing for everyone one the street.

            I think of the older fellows out at Heritage Acres who help the younger ones re-build antique tractors and cars.

            Karen Bailey, a professional Ottawa artist, wanted to paint pictures of people who seldom get credit for their work.  Her subjects are the ladies who work together in the kitchen of an Anglican congregation.  Her picture series shows them making rolled sandwiches, serving tea from the yellow pot - into the hollyhock tea cup, sharing a plate of cookies, washing up, finding ways to support the youth group.

            By illustrating these women performing their everyday tasks, Bailey invites viewers to join with her "in celebrating their beauty, dignity and generosity of spirit".  Such activities are mirrored in large and small communities across Canada.

            The Psalmist wrote:  "The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon...  They still bring forth fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to show that the Lord is upright."

(written by Joyce Sasse, April / 08)

WORSHIP RESOURCES

A Prayer in Planting Time

            Dear Lord, you are wonderful in everything you do.  In marvelous ways You take the full, rich life of the plant and carefully fold it into tiny seeds.  You form the seeds according to many different shapes and sizes and colors, so that we humans can know what kind of growth will come of them.  When they are placed in the earth they may look dry and dead, but when they are watered by the life-giving rain and nourished by the warm sun, they lose all their lifeless look and grow in an almost miraculous manner.  By the power You gave them, they take the dead minerals of the earth and build up the nourishing, tasty foods that help us sustain life.

            As we plant these seeds that You have given, bless them, watch over them, and bring them to the full growth and rich harvest that You wish to bless us with.

            But, should You not allow them to come to full harvest, we accept Your will humbly.  We trust that you will nevertheless watch over us and make the seeds of grace that You have given us grow to flower and fruit in the full Christian life that You intend for us here and hereafter.  Amen

(from the National Catholic Rural Life Bulletin, USA)

Belonging and Giving Thanks

            "At the heart of Earth Prayer is a sense of belonging. Belonging is the basic truth of our existence.  We belong here.  Life belongs here.  Likewise, at the heart of gratefulness, in its deepest sense, we also find an expression of belonging.  When we say 'Thank you' we really are saying 'We belong together'.

            "That is why we sometimes find it so difficult to say 'Thank you' - because we don't want to acknowledge our interdependence.  We don't want to be obliged. 

            "But in a healthy society that is exactly what we seek:  mutual obligations.  Everyone is obliged to everyone and everything else, we all belong together, we are of each other.  In this awareness we are freed from self-preoccupation - and only then, emptied of self, can we be filled with thanks..."

(quoted from Earth Prayers: from around the world)

Life Giving Possibilities

            When the mob descended on the tiny band of disciples outside the Garden of Gethsemane, survival instinct took over.  "One of them (with a sword) struck the High Priest's slave and cut off his right ear."

            "But Jesus said 'Enough of this!' He touched the man's ear and healed him." 

            This act of respect lies at the heart of the Christian Gospel.

            Jesus dwelt in the midst of people who lived on the edge of their nerves.  Their country was overrun by invasive forces.  Their means of livelihood was eroded by corruption and graft.  Disease and fear of disease led to all sorts of superstitious practises. He watched them fight back with whatever survival mechanisms they could muster.  Some used brute force.  Some withdrew into themselves.  Many white-knuckled their way through life.

            Jesus' central message, reflected through actions as well as words, said "I'll show you a better way!"

            He ate with sinners, healed the possessed and gave attention to the dispossessed.

            Each time, he tried to help those around catch a vision of the larger picture.  It's about loving and respecting each other as God loves you.  It's about finding ways to show that in caring for others and being generous in Spirit, you also nurture yourself.  God has given us an amazing capacity to find meaning in life as we show compassion and understand forgiveness.

            This isn't an easy path.  In the darkest hours he prayed for inner sustenance.  Even when those closest ran away and he was killed, he showed there was a Source that nurtured him.

            Some understood the vision.  Those qualities kept them at the cross and brought them to the tomb.  There they began to realize this unique attitude to life could not be extinguished by death. 

            This God-given Spirit has been let loose and is made available to all who choose this calling.

(written by Joyce Sasse, March / 08)

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The American Farm Bill

Is a More Balanced Farm Bill Possible?

            As the US "Farm Bill" becomes re-authorized, will it be possible to see more just treatment for the rural poor as well as for leaders in the agricultural industry?

            "The first major farm subsidies grew out of the Depression and Dust Bowl, when in 1933 the government began paying 'parity' price roughly equal to what prices should be during favourable market times."

            Now the bill encompasses an incredible number of payouts and programs, many of which the Washington Post calls "wasteful, unnecessary or redundant expenditures".

            If this mess could be unsnarled, David Beckmann (President of Bread for the World) maintains, the money inappropriately used, would be enough to significantly increase the nutritional level of the rural poor across the nation.

Exposing Subsidy Inequities

            Washington Post reporters focused for more than a year on tracking the path of farm subsidies ... "In 2005, when pretax farm profits were at a near-record $72 billion, the federal government handed out more that $25 billion in aid, almost 50 % more than the amount it pays to families receiving welfare."

            The Washington Post maintains that  $1.3 billion was paid to people who don't farm, and that no drought was required for Federal Drought Aid.

Building Political Will Can End Hunger

            In a 2006 lecture, David Beckmann (President of Bread for the World) reported to an international audience that "Within the United States itself, 38 million people live in food-insecure households.  These people are not as hungry as the 850 million undernourished people in developing countries.  But in many low-income US homes, the family sometimes runs out of food."

            He went on to say "Individuals in power are limited in what they can do.  So it is important to create and strengthen governmental institutions that are dedicated to reducing hunger and poverty - and extension programs for small farmers in poor parts of the country, for example, or the nutrition division of an agriculture ministry....

            "We also need people and organizations outside government to push for government action to reduce hunger.  Political parties, civil society, organizations of poor people, the media, business corporations, and active individuals can all play roles in creating political will.  And sustained political commitment depends on systematically building institutions outside government that will push for progress against hunger over a period of decades..."

(for reference see www.pbs.org/moyers/journal (April 11/08) and www.bread.org (David Beckmann)

Drought and Faith (from New Zealand)

            Bill Bennett writes an Easter message about rural ministry in desperate times -  

            I am currently spending a day a week visiting farmers in Central Hawke's Bay (Waipawa Parish).  Clearly the almost nation-wide drought is hitting many in the rural sector.  This includes parts of Taupo-Bay of Plenty, as well as Tararua, Hawke's Bay and pockets in Eastland. 

            Following last year's difficult times many have already reduced stock numbers, and the process continues.  Unfortunately some farmers are having to get rid of breeding stock.  The cost of stock feed is high and often difficult to obtain.  Hay and silage stockpiles have been reduced.  Over the past few years a number of farmers have decided to lease their farms and allow others to absorb the risks.  Some lessees are large companies able to farm on a larger scale.  Those who have sold stock to export meat companies are finding the returns are not great due to the high value of the dollar.  The dollar value remains a source of concern.

            Others have the advantage of transporting stock to areas of the country for a period where feed is more plentiful.  Not all have that option.

            Those in dairying are feeling the pressure.  Water irrigation restrictions are a real issue, as the dairy farmer depends on good quantities of green feed.  Where irrigation occurs, the contrast between green pasture and dry land is stark.

            Listening to many farmers I am aware that some feel imprisoned by the lack of rain, sometimes with a sense of oppression or failure.  Many quip - "You'll have to really talk hard to the bloke above!"  In other words, there are many who are really hurting.  And they are reaching toward a sort of faith that yearns for meaning, despite their stoicism.  Many have partners working off-farm to bring in more income.  And others ask is this a sure sign that climate change is now really upon us?  (The jury is still out on that issue.  It is interesting to read the diaries of our missionary forebears recording times of severe drought in the 19^th century).

            Farmers are aware that they have no power to govern the rain.  When it comes it comes!  But as autumn and winter come upon us any rain that produces growth will be curtailed by colder weather that drops soil temperatures.  Our ministry is one that means listening, listening, listening.  The Easter message acknowledges pain, failure, crisis, as well as hope and joy.  In other words our ministry is a ministry of compassion, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the 'paracletos', of one who stands alongside.  Enabling farmers to talk about their feelings is a positive.