A letter from Burkhard Paetzold serving as Regional Liaison for Central and Eastern Europe, based in Germany
Fall 2014 - European Christians' Meeting
Dear Friends,
I hope you enjoyed a great summer!
Let me thank you for all your prayers and support. I thank you in particular for your peace prayers, it's so much needed in Ukraine as well as in the Middle East these days.
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Final Worship at the Christian Assembly in Wrocław, July 5, 2014
German churches prepare for their annual Ecumenical Peace Decade festival, November 9-19. The theme is "Befreit zum Widerstehen" (Liberated to Resist). During the yearly 10 days of the "Friedensdekade" (Peace Decade) many churches join in worship services and prayer groups, or show movies, invite peace activists, develop creative workshops, and much more. This is to remind us to resist cultures of violence, including the violence in our own culture.
In Europe we have just commemorated 100 years since the beginning of World War I and 75 years since the beginning of World War II. Ironically at the same time leading German politicians are discussing whether Germany should assume greater international responsibility. This would also include more participation in "military" interventions. Given that Germany was an aggressor in both wars, a majority of Germans soon after World War II agreed "to never touch a gun again." But then the Cold War began and both East and West Germany within their respective military blocks rearmed gradually and targeted each other.
When this phase of modern history ended and the Berlin Wall came down 25 years ago, it seemed to be a release from stockpiling weapons and building military capabilities. Many dreamed of a "peace dividend" from necessary and seemingly possible disarmament. Churches, once a source of conflict themselves, have long accepted a bridge-building role.
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Poster of the 2014 Peace Dekade in Germany "Liberated to Resist"
Churches urged a "just peace" with justice as its main feature and fair economic relations, respect for human rights and international law among people and nations. It's a proactive concept based on strengthening diversity and mediating conflicts. Today unified Germany's role in the geographical center of Europe asks for bridge-building rather than participating in military adventures.
However, ironically during the post–Cold War period Germany became the world’s third-largest exporter of weapons. Within the life of the PC(USA), the international peacemakers have annually shared their ministries to address and reduce conflict in their countries. This year Pastor Viktor Ignatenkov from Russia has described how outreach to orphans has been a key part of mission and peacemaking in his region.
In July I attended the "Central and Eastern Europe Christians' Meeting," which took place in Wrocław, Poland. The motto of this year‘s meeting was from Galatians 5.1: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." "Being free in Christ" was the theme as 4,000 Protestant Christians from Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, and Ukraine as well as German regional churches, including the Evangelical Church of Berlin Brandenburg (EKBO), gathered.
"Freedom"—a subject after the 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall—was discussed by looking at the "constraints" of globalization. One Polish preacher pointed to it by saying: "The period after the 'change' seems to me like the moment when Moses received from God the tablets of the law, while the people built a golden calf out of impatience and now think they have to thank this calf for the turnaround."
The General Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Hungary spoke gratefully of the freedom obtained 25 years ago and the role of civil society and emphasized that we should live responsibly with the gift of freedom. "The warning of the Apostle Paul maintains its relevance to today,"he said. “'I have the right to do anything,'”you say—"but not everything is beneficial. 'I have the right to do anything'—but I will not be mastered by anything" (1 Cor. 6:12)."
One of the forums during the gathering discussed the free movement for workers within the European Union and the social dislocation resulting therefrom. More than 3 million Romanians work abroad since the country became a member of the EU in 2007. They work to subsidize their families at home. Many of them are nurses for the elderly or cleaning ladies or work in seasonal jobs. Most start from the gray job market (illegal work for which employers don’t pay taxes, provide health insurance, or pay into a pension plan, and employees don’t pay taxes). Their children stay with grandparents or other relatives or even friends or neighbors. Some of these children end up in institutions. They are called "Euro-orphans." UNICEF has estimated an increase of 350,000 orphans per year in Romania alone. These children suffer from separation anxiety and depression. As such this group is an easy target for sexual abuse and drug addiction.
Our mission worker Liz Searles, working with NOROC (New Opportunities for Romanian Orphaned Children) in Tulcea, Romania, is fully aware of this challenge, and NOROC is providing individual help as well as developing strategies.
On the other side of this equation, for instance in Germany, there is a significant shortage of nursing staff. Official statistics talk about a shortage of 130,000 nurses to work with the elderly. Many families rely on Eastern European nurses. Some work under sometimes unworthy conditions and minimal pay. In order to address social upheaval a closer cooperation of the diaconal departments in churches of different countries becomes more and more important.
One of our European partners, the Christian organization Eurodiaconia, addresses some of these issues by linking "diaconal actors to examine social needs, develop ideas and influence policies impacting Poverty and Social Exclusion, Social and Health Care Services and the Future of Social Europe. Eurodiaconia also provides a platform for transnational networking and best practice sharing."
The next "Central and Eastern Europe Christians' Meeting“ will take place in Budapest, Hungary, June 23–26, 2016. I'd like to invite you to consider this gathering as a destination for a future visit to Europe—a wonderful chance to meet and share with a great number of different Central and Eastern European Christians. Or if you have planned a trip in summer 2015 already, think about including the German Kirchentag (church assembly) in Stuttgart, Germany, June 3–7. I hope we can meet at one or the other event. Please let me know.
Dear friends, I ask you to pray for my fellow PC(USA) mission co-workers in Europe, and to recommit to providing for their sending and support with your gifts. Please continue to pray for the peacemakers and for all the Christians and churches that struggle with their role to protect freedom by resisting injustice and violence in each of their environments.
Thank you again for your support.
Grace and peace,
Burkhard
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 312
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