ELCIC Members In Mission for Others

For over 20 years, members of the ELCIC have been responding In Mission for Others through their compassionate justice and support of the ELCIC’s Global Hunger and Development Appeal (GHDA).

On July 1, this mission for others and the compassion with which we support this ministry will continue through the integration of GHDA into the work of Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR), and our capacity to reach out to those in need will be strengthened.

GHDA has a long-standing history of supporting the hungry and poor of the world by providing funds for hunger relief and long-term development both close to home and around the globe. Thank you for your generous support of GHDA. ELCIC members have donated over $17 million to the work of GHDA since its inception.

It is with your support and through partnerships with CLWR, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and other organizations that GHDA has assisted in:

• providing immediate relief of hunger and other emergency needs—most dramatically and generously after the Indian Ocean Tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 when ELCIC members contributed $600,000;
• assisting those who struggle with the causes and effects of poverty through long-range development;
• educating the church to understand and confront the causes of hunger; promoting social and economic justice as it relates to hunger;
• as well as supporting and advocating for government policy and programs in such areas as housing, child poverty and aboriginal right.

On July 1, ELCIC members will be called to be In Mission for Others through your support of CLWR but our compassion for helping those in need and our call, to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with [our] God (Micah 6:8) remains as strong as ever.

CLWR reaches out to the world’s poor and disenfranchised in six main ways: community development; material aid shipments; emergency relief; refugee resettlement; support for alternative trade; and placement of international volunteers.  More detailed information about each of these program areas can be found on CLWR’s website www.clwr.org.

The website also serves as a resource to ELCIC congregations wishing to engage their members in a conversation and call to action about development issues. Materials are available for use with a variety of groups in your church including children, youth and adults. Materials may also be ordered by calling CLWR toll-free at 1-800-661-2597.