June 7, 2005

CHICAGO – Cass County, North Dakota, is "one of the largest refugee resettlement sites in the United States in the past 10 years." To celebrate that diversity and learn more about building global relationships, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will gather at the ELCA Global Mission Event (GME) July 14-17 at North Dakota State University and the FargoDome, Fargo, N.D.

Thousands of Lutherans are expected to reflect on the 2005 GME theme, "Gathered by God's Grace for the Sake of the World" in Fargo and August 25-28 at the Baltimore Convention Center at the Wyndham Hotel in Baltimore.

"Global Mission Events are four-day events that bring together an amazing collection of people," said Anne Basye, associate director for global resources, ELCA Division for Global Mission.

The events "bring together Christians from around the world – church leaders, missionaries, former missionaries, people who are going to be missionaries and don't know it yet, and [other] people from congregations. Together they learn about God's mission in the world, worship and have a great time," she said.

The ELCA Division for Global Mission primarily organizes GMEs with support from other ELCA churchwide units and Thrivent Financial For Lutherans, a not-for-profit financial services organization based in Minneapolis. Volunteers from the Fargo and Baltimore areas will play key roles in organizing the events.

"When I began working with the Fargo local planning committee, it came as a surprise" to learn that Cass County is "one of the largest refugee resettlement sites in the United States in the past 10 years," Basye said.

"Fargo is in a part of the country that is traditionally one of the strongest senders of missionaries for the ELCA. Many former and current missionaries come from North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota. There is a natural affinity between this region and global mission," she said.

Participants of GMEs will hear from ELCA mission personnel currently serving in Argentina, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Jerusalem, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania and other places in the world. Workshops and seminars – known as "Global University Sessions" – highlight the GMEs. Topics range from Christianity in Japan to migrant worker issues in Fargo and Moorhead, Minn.

Featured speakers will include Vidhya Rani, secretary of the Women's Desk, United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India; Leymah Gbowee, Women in Peace Building Network, Liberia; and the Rev. Ibrahim Azar and family, Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem.

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, will preach at the GME closing worship on July 10. Hanson is also president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), a global communion of 138 Lutheran churches in 77 countries, with 66 million members. The LWF is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

GMEs are multigenerational and include programming for all people, Basye said. "A children's program will offer a creative mix of learning experiences for kids ages 3 to 10. Junior high school students will participate in an immersion experience on China, facilitated [in part] by the Global Language Villages of Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. Special programming that connects senior high school Lutheran culture to a global perspective is also planned," she said.

"Global mission is a very strong focus of congregations in the Fargo area, and this is an excellent way for people who are already interested in global mission through the activities of their congregations to really connect with the big picture of what's happening through the ELCA in global mission," Basye said.

"Fargo congregations have many existing international connections," she said. "Olivet Lutheran Church has strong connections with Palestinian Christians who are producers of olive woodcrafts, and they have been supporting that ministry for a long time," she said.

Dade County in Florida and Cook County in Illinois are the top two counties that resettle refugees, said Basye.

"While we think of North Dakota as a really homogeneous place, there are people from Bosnia, Kurdistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Vietnam. The world already lives in Fargo. Part of what this GME will do is lift up the surprising diversity that is in Fargo, thanks to the efforts of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which was instrumental in making them a part of the community." Basye said.

"The cultural gifts of the refugee community will be highlighted during the GME GlobalFest, which features interactive exhibits, special presentations, music, dance and dress from countries around the world.

ELCA News Service