"Bear One Another's Burdens"

At the Latin America Study Day, the focus was on exchanging ideas about commitment to "the neighbour."

Diaconal ministry is one of the cornerstones of Christian life. But how does the commitment to "the neighbour" differ in different cultures and countries? And where are there parallels? Participants at the Latin America Study Day organised by the Ev.-luth. Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM) discussed these issues. The day, which has been a fixed item on the ELM's annual programme for many years, also serves to facilitate contacts between people interested in Latin America and to practise one's own faith in the awareness of a global community. The ELM was a guest at this event in the Haus der Kirche an Liebfrauen in Neustadt am Rübenberge. The Evangelical Lutheran church district of Neustadt-Wunstorf itself maintains a lively partnership with a church district in southern Brazil.

Pastor Cristina Scherer, an ecumenical employee of the ELM and herself Brazilian, opened the day with an interactive devotional. The biblical figure of Tabita from Acts 9:36-43 took centre stage, and a text about Tabita's work was read with distributed roles. "I would like to invite you to live the essence of the Christian community and to be protagonists in the community of faith, to actively participate in the life of the community and, like me, to bear witness to God's love for his people in word and deed," she says. "Can we really do that?" is the question posed by her counterpart. Tabita then talks about the sick she visits or the people for whom she sews clothes. She concludes: "The best thing is that I feel very happy when I can help people carry their burdens."

Connected via Zoom, Rodolfo Gaede, lecturer at the EST theological college in São Leopoldo (Brazil), reported on the diaconal ideas and actions he has experienced in his church, the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil. For example, there are people who have learnt medical skills and in remote areas offer free services to help with emergencies, such as snake bites. Or the families who help other families with the harvest when someone is absent due to illness. Groups are formed whose members can be sure that they, too, can count on the solidarity of the community if they ever need help themselves.

Rodolfo Gaede also explained the biblical-theological foundation of such ministry. In the apostolic letters, the Greek term "allelon", which is translated as "one another", appears again and again. One example is Galatians 6:2: "Bear one another's burdens." The Christian community lives its faith in a system of reciprocity, in a relationship of mutual solidarity, the commitment of each individual to the other people in the community, says Gaede.

Superintendent Ottmar Fricke (Walsrode) gave an insight into diaconial ministry in one of the church districts of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover. He described regular offers of help for older people, but also spontaneous ideas such as a woman who provides coffee for cemetery visitors and chats with them. While in Latin America it is often existential emergencies that are alleviated through diaconal commitment, in Germany there is more demand for care for people who are lonely and looking for someone to talk to.

"Diaconia is commitment on a small scale, but with a big impact," summarises Nina Roggenbuck-Bauer, ELM International Partnerships Officer. She says that sharing ideas is motivating. How is diaconal work financed, when it such service a matter for politicians, and where is there a need for help or support? This was the topic of the afternoon as participants told each other about "their" projects and experiences.