August 5, 2005

CHICAGO – Hundreds of Lutherans will come to the Baltimore Convention Center to learn more about what's happening in the world and how Lutherans are active in it. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will host a Global Mission Event (GME) Aug. 25-28.

Offered every summer by the ELCA, these events create a four- day global community in which missionaries, international church leaders, special guests and ELCA members encounter the world together. Plenary sessions, Global University sessions, worship, prayer, song, art activities and fellowship will explore the theme, "Gathered by God's grace for the sake of the world."

Participants will hear from ELCA mission personnel and international guests serving in Germany, Liberia, Mexico, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and other countries around the world.

More than 90 workshops and seminars – known as "Global University Sessions" – highlight the GME. Topics range from the plight of Christians in the Middle East to "Postcard from China."

Several speakers will address general sessions of the GME:

• The Rev. Elieshi Mungure, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, is studying at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.

• The Rev. Mark Alan Powell, professor of New Testament, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, is the author of "Loving Jesus."

• The Rev. Barbara R. Rossing, professor of New Testament, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, is the author of "The Rapture Exposed."

• The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA Division for Global Mission, is former bishop of the ELCA Caribbean Synod.

• The Rev. Kim D. Erno, director, ELCA Lutheran Center in Mexico City, is an ELCA pastor with more than 20 years of parish ministry.

International guests include Esther David, the Mashiah Foundation, Nigeria; Moses Gobah, director, HIV/AIDS program, Lutheran Church in Liberia; and John Rutsindintwarane, general secretary, Lutheran Church of Rwanda.

Baltimore is home to the central offices of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Lutheran Services in America and Lutheran World Relief (LWR). The ELCA works through those organizations to engage in settlement of refugees, relief and development work in the United States and around the world.

Belletech Deressa, director for international development and disaster response, ELCA Division for Global Mission, will host a tribute to the "Baltimore Partners."

LWR celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2005 and will sponsor an "Anniversary Room" of interactive displays during the GME for participants to engage staff in conversation about LWR – the relief and development ministry of the ELCA and Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod.

The LWR Fair Trade Fair will feature fairly traded handcrafts, chocolate and coffee. LWR staff will lead eight one- hour workshops on various aspects of their work.

As a symbol of the damage the Dec. 26 tsunami caused to lives and livelihoods, GME participants will receive tattered pieces of fishing nets that were abandoned along the beaches of the Indian Ocean. They will also celebrate the hope emerging from help given to replace those nets through Lutheran relief efforts.

A Friday evening session will address Christian Zionism.

A Saturday evening GlobalFest will pay tribute to the mission personnel of the ELCA by featuring interactive exhibits, special presentations, music, dance and dress from countries around the world.

The GME includes programming for people of all ages. Childcare will be provided for children from infancy through age two. A children's program will offer a creative mix of learning experiences for children age 3 to 10. Special programs for junior high and senior high school youth are also planned.

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 in the Baltimore area have played key roles in organizing the event.

ELCA News Service