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Hunger home > Stand With Africa >
Stand With Africa activities for congregations |
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Stand With Africa -
Activities for Congregations |
 Print
this page, and share it with pastors and leaders in your
congregation to plan a Stand With Africa emphasis as part of
your congregation's world hunger ministry.
Give generously to
Stand WIth Africa, or make a
general gift to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, which could be
used in Africa or another part of the world where needed.
Stand With Africa invites members to
give special gifts to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal and to go the
second mile in giving for Africa. Consider special offerings as
you participate in the campaign. You may contribute at any time,
but consider getting your congregation involved in special
ELCA-wide activities during Advent and Epiphany.
Advocate:
Participate in the ministry of advocacy for the needs of Africa
through the ELCA Washington Office or through the current
Offering of Letters campaign of Bread for the World, a World
Hunger Program advocacy partner.
Educate yourself: Help
members learn about the countries in Africa, the needs of
Africans and the joys of ministry in Africa. The ELCA partners
with Lutheran churches in Africa in relief and development with
support from the World Hunger Appeal. Learn more about the work
of these churches by clicking here.
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Consider the various places where your
members can be educated as you participate in Stand With Africa:
- Adult forums
- Sunday schools
- Children's sermons
- "Temple talks"
- Sermons
- Special events, such as
congregational meals
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Facts Have Faces: Study Action Guides on Global Issues
Church World Service offers a
number of hunger, poverty, and HIV/AIDS-related resources in
printable format. You can
order some of these resources online. |
Stand up for - and with - Africans by speaking on behalf of
people in need before our federal government, which has a major
impact through foreign aid on Africans' lives. Invite
members to "take up a pen and write" or turn on a computer and
e-mail their members of Congress.
Current information on how
individuals' advocacy can make a difference in Africa is
available online at:
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In your congregation's newsletter, announcements, and worship
bulletins, let members know where and
how they can give.
For example, you could choose a Sunday or Sundays for a special
emphasis and offering. In the weeks before the day of the
offering, share free
bulletin inserts so members gain a clear understanding of
why they are giving and the difference their gifts will make.
Distribute in advance (or on the day
of the offering)
World
Hunger offering envelopes. Be sure to report back to
the congregation what their combined gifts totaled. |
Sometime during Advent or
Epiphany, plan a major Stand With Africa fund raiser.
Consider approaching a person who could give a major gift to
"match" the gifts of members dollar for dollar. Or, ask
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans to match what you raise
through bake sales, car washes or rummage sales.
Here's a new fund raising idea with an
African flavor: In many
African countries, church members bring "in-kind" gifts as part
of their offering. After worship, the congregation gathers
to bid on the material goods that were brought, and the proceeds
are added to the church offering.
Ask a men's, women's or youth group to
plan a Stand With Africa auction
to be held after a worship service. Well in advance of the
day you have chosen, publicize why you are doing this, what you
are inviting people to bring, and where the auction will take
place. You might ask members to bring a special cake or
dish from their country of origin, flowers or plants they have
grown, or quilts they have made. Youth might offer
specific services (e.g., lawn cutting, car washing, etc.) to be
auctioned.
Distribute a
Stand With Africa
bulletin insert at the worship service. Then, over a
pot luck or in the church yard (Tanzanian style), describe where
the money that is bid will go, and begin with a prayer of
blessing. Get an engaging member to serve as auctioneer,
and have fun with the auction. |
Hear first-hand stories about
African innovations from people who have traveled there or
African students studying at local colleges. Call the ELCA
Division for Global Mission (800.638.3522, ext. 2651) to see if
a speaker is available in your area. You can also check
with the Lutheran World Relief Speakers Bureau.
Reimbursement for travel expenses is requested. To request
a listing of speakers, call 800.LWR.LWR2. Other people
near you who may be able to speak are travelers to your synod's
companion synod/church in Africa
or students at local colleges (including ELCA-affiliated ones). |
Include in your worship services regular prayers for Africans,
for those who serve with them on our behalf, and for ourselves,
that our hearts and wills will be moved to respond. Find
ways to encourage people to pray at home, perhaps by organizing
a Stand With Africa prayer vigil in which groups of families are
invited to pray for Africa on a given day or during a given
week.
[Click
here for
40 Prayers,
a resource that includes prayers for some African countries].
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Help congregation members connect
their buying and consumption patterns with a fair price for
African coffee by purchasing and serving "Tanzania Jubilee," a
coffee blend grown by small farmers on the slopes of Mt.
Kilimanjaro. Families can lift themselves from a cycle of
debt when they get a fair price for their crop. Tanzanian
Jubilee is available through the
LWR Coffee Project. Sell bags of this coffee, and
earmark the proceeds for Stand With Africa. To get involved:
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By
choosing fair trade chocolate for fundraisers, gifts, or to
enjoy personally, Lutherans ensure that cocoa farmers earn the
income they need to feed their families, educate their children,
seek medical care and improve their communities. Fair
trade is more than just business: it proves that greater justice
in world trade is possible. It highlights the need for
change in the rules of conventional trade and shows how a
successful business can put people first.
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Divine chocolate from Ghana or mahugu wood art from Kenya make
wonderful gifts for special occasions. Whole communities benefit
when fair prices are paid for cocoa and crafts. Gifts made
by artisans who receive fair prices are available through the
LWR Handcraft Project.
To get involved:
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Every year, tons of material aid
donated by U.S. Lutherans is shipped to refugee camps,
hospitals, schools and villages in countries all over Africa.
A steady supply of donations to LWR warehouses ensures the
speediest responses to overseas requests.
To get involved:
Order the free "Be Involved!
LWR Parish Projects" booklet by calling 800.LWR.LWR2
(800.597.5972).
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>Other
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