Serving dinner at The Family Place

Family Place meal servers

Saturday afternoon, a bunch of us turned out at The Family Place, a day shelter for homeless families.  We brought food and prepared dinner.  Marsha Foss, in the red shirt to the left, volunteers regularly at the shelter.   Volunteer Bob Fallat (not pictured) gave us a tour of the shelter, located behind First Baptist Church of St. Paul.  On average, the families helped by the shelter are homeless for no more than six months.

Our confession last Sunday

I went to workshop on genocide at Christ the King church last Saturday.  It was excellent.  We first learned about the genocide in Cambodia, then in Rwanda.  Carl Wilkins, a relief worker in Rwanda for a number of years before the civil war broke out and the only American to stay during the genocide, was at the workshop and told his personal story.  

Two Tutsi people were living with Carl and his family and Carl knew these Tutsi people would be killed when they left.  His wife and children left for safety, but Carl stayed.  He protected his Tutsi friends and also prevented the killing of children in an orphanage. 
 
His talk was disjointed, rambling, loopy, but intelligent and he finally got his points across.  Sometimes he cried and he said he does that.  Fifteen years have passed and I think he’s still suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. 

The nations of the world knew that genocide was happening, yet not one nation attempted to stop it.  The UN sent troops but they were ordered to not use force, not even to protect Rwandans from mass slaughter.  Madeline Albright tried to get the interest of President Bill Clinton, but was unable.  The U.S. had “no interests” in Rwanda.  We did nothing.  Neither did Belgium, the past colonizer of Rwanda nor France, a protectorate of Rwanda.

I went to church Sunday heavy with this information and needful of something, I didn’t know what.  But I found it in our confession:

Leader:       God of history and Creator of all peoples, we stand before you as among those

accountable for the well-being of your creation.

Congregation:      We have failed you – as individuals, as a church, as a nation. We have easily spoken a commitment our lives do not confirm. We have lightly proclaimed a gospel our common life has denied. We have stood firmly against sins we were never tempted to commit.

L:      When we kept silent before popular evil,

C:      we called ourselves realistic.

L:       When we endorsed what everyone favored,

C:      we called ourselves good.

L:       When we forsook Christ’s cause of well-being for all your children,

C:      we called ourselves merely human.

L:       Blessed with riches,

C:      we have let the walls of gold entomb us.

L:       Honored with prophets and critics,

C:     we have abandoned their dreams and tamed their cries for justice,

L:      Commanded to serve,

C:      we have expected service.

L:       Pardoned in order to pardon,

C:      we have forgiven only ourselves.

L:       Received in order to give,

C:      we have given in order to receive.

L:       Blessed in order to bless,

C:     we have blessed in order to get.

L:       Saved by your grace,

C:     we thought we had it coming.

All:    Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.

L:       Gracious God, make us all bold to ask for the saving grace of your forgiveness, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All:    Amen.

 

Pastor Wayne granted us absolution. 

 

I am not one to assign guilt and shame, but after spending a day contemplating two genocides in the recent past and knowing that one continues in Darfur, I needed that confession and the absolution.  I do not have a personal hand in these horrors but I have responsibilities.  We all do.  We are one people.  Now, what will we do?

Reva Rasmussen, Deacon

2008 School Tools Drive

The Mission and Social Justice Committee invites you to participate in the 2008 Pilgrim School Tools Drive, sponsored by the Saint Paul Area Council of Churches.  With the cost of necessities rising rapidly, the need is especially acute for low-income children (K-12) at risk of beginning school without the proper supplies.  From July 27 through August 17, school supplies will be collected at Pilgrim.

Pilgrim members are asked to help gather school supplies for children in need.  Please place new school supplies in the School Tools collection box in the narthex by August 17.   School supplies will be delivered on August 18.  Especially needed are the following items (for a full list, click here):

• Backpacks

• 3-ring binder s & Trapper Keepers

• Calculators

• Pocket dictionaries

• Facial tissue (boxes or individual packs)

• Spiral notebooks (wide-ruled)

School Tools go to benefit students in St. Paul area communities and ensure they have a successful learning experience marked with dignity when school begins this fall.  Supplies collected by St. Paul area churches are distributed to schoolchildren by nine partner organizations that work directly with low-income children and families.  Partner organizations include the Community School of Excellence, Project SPIRIT, and St. Paul Public Schools Program for Homeless Families and Children.

For more information, please contact Pilgrim member Jay Oakman at justin_oakman@hotmail.com .  Thank you for supporting this year’s School Tools Drive!

Possible Mission and Social Justice Projects

Dear Mission and Social Justice Group Members:

In preparation for our kick-off meeting, I am sending you information about a couple of projects that your group might take on. Please take a look at these links, in advance of our meeting. We’ll discuss these ideas, as well as any others you may have, when we meet next week.

Rice for Dinner

Here is an article from The Lutheran about this effort:

The Lutheran, www.thelutheran.org:

Page: Rice for dinner
Address: http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=7153&key=51165407

Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy
This is the main public policy organization for Lutherans in our area. They are involved in a number of efforts your group may want to get involved in:

Minnesota Without Poverty

Hunger 101

This is an interactive experience, in which participants learn what it’s like to try to find food resources for the poor in the Twin Cities:

Hunger 101 Event–July, 2008