Picture this
perilous hydraulics of payday lend- ers and the like, that would be “mis- sion.” But unless present plans are expanded, it appears we’re only seek- ing to serve our own “convenience, status, success and even comfort.” Philip A. Gardner Sandusky, Ohio
Charity and justice I found the article “Justice” (August, page 3) by Peter Marty to be pro- vocative and challenging. I question whether it is helpful or desirable to collapse the dichotomy between charity and justice. Both are essential to our Christian calling, but each is a separate disciple (Micah 6:8). Our churches do a good job of charity.
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Hope for the long haul Roberta Sadiki (not shown) and her children Kristijan (left) and Valentina are among the many helped after 2014 fl oods killed dozens of people and affected 22 percent of Serbia and 39 percent of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The family received food and hygiene packages from Church World Service’s “Winterization 2014-15” program, which received funds from Lutheran Disaster Response. Since torrential rains hit, the ELCA has spent a year participating in fl ood-recovery efforts in Europe’s Balkan Peninsula. The family lives in a Roma settlement, coming to the capital of Serbia, Belgrade, a couple of years ago to seek medical assistance for Kristijan, whose life is no longer threatened. Since they can’t return to their damaged home in Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia, they continue to live in the cardboard and plastic sheeting houses in the settlement.
Church newsletters are filled with examples of how we are feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless and visiting the pris- oner. But we are often silent when issues of social justice are raised. ELCA social statements often go unread, and we seldom act on any recommended course of action. Take hunger, for example. In 1980 there were 200 food banks in the U.S. Today there are 40,000 food banks, pantries and soup kitchens. The truth is that hunger is not fundamentally a charity issue but a justice issue. People are hungry because they don’t have enough money to buy food. An
JOVANA SAVIC, CWS/EUROPE
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increase in the minimum wage is one of many ways to address this issue. Justice moves us into the political arena, an uncomfortable place for many, but it’s an essential place for us to be. Charity and justice must walk side by side. The Rev. Bernard Kern North Richland Hills, Texas
October 2015 49
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