Christmas Dreams of Climate Justice

A Letter from Burkhard Paetzold, serving as regional liaison for Central and Eastern Europe and Facilitator of work with the Roma people, based in Germany

December 2018

There is a longing in our hearts, O Lord
for you to reveal yourself to us.
There is a longing in our hearts for love
we only find in you, our God.

For justice, for freedom, for mercy: hear our prayer. In sorrow, in grief: be near, hear our prayer, O God.

For wisdom, for courage, for comfort: hear our prayer. In weakness, in fear: be near, hear our prayer, O God.

For healing, for wholeness, for new life: hear our prayer. In sickness, in death: be near, hear our prayer, O God.

Lord, save us, take pity, light in our darkness. We call you, we wait: be near, hear our prayer, O God. — Anne Quigley

Dear friends,

First of all, let me thank you again for your prayers and support. I felt this connectedness with you in a very special way when visiting churches in September and October, and I want to thank all of you, particularly those of you who were my hosts, for your hospitality and openness.

I have known the above worship song for a long time. But a week ago, I rediscovered it in a song book that was put together for the Ecumenical Pilgrimage for Climate Justice from Bonn, Germany, to Katowice, Poland. I admire all the pilgrims for taking the time and energy needed to walk thousands of miles in a three-month journey, even though I was only able to join them for a small part of their walk, when they reached Berlin.

Their slogan is “Geht doch!” In German, this phrase means both “Walk! Move!” and “We Can!” I will come back to that later.

For many of us, Christmas is an expression of our longing for peace and wholeness: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all!” (Luke 2:14) Even in the darkest night, even for people for whom there is no room at the inn.

Christmas is the time when we are able to believe and dream like children again and when we feel we are together with many others in this belief, in this longing.

But after Christmas, does this sentiment disappear? Is the reality we fall back into too hard?

We should remember that God gives us this longing, this faith, not only for this Christmas season or for this year but for our entire lives.

But this longing, this dreaming, must eventually result in action. It must result in our starting to take the small and big steps that are necessary to help fulfill the world’s longing for peace and justice. German singer and songwriter Rio Reiser says, “Der Traum ist aus. Aber ich will alles geben, dass er Wirklichkeit wird.” “The dream is over. But I will give everything so that it will become reality.”

This Christmas, I will think of some of those who have started to act on this longing, this dreaming:

I will think, for instance, of the people from our Mediterranean partner churches and other groups who have begun to address the concerns that migrants and refugees in Europe have to live with.

I will also think this Christmas of the members of the Spanish Evangelical Church in Centro Los Rubios, Malaga, and how hard they are working to enroll refugees in special schools and involve them in meaningful tasks rather than just leaving them in the stress-filled legal and economic limbo that refugees always face when beginning life in a new country.

I will also think this Christmas of our partners and friends in the Waldensian Church in Italy, where the Waldensian Church is engaged in the twin projects “Mediterranean Hope” and “Humanitarian Corridors.” It is crucial for this work to become as firmly rooted as possible because the new populist Italian government is proving to be very anti-immigrant.

This Christmas, I will also think of our Greek partners in the initiative MOSAIK and the PIKPA solidarity camp who are providing community and services in unbelievably bad conditions in the Moria Camp on the island of Lesvos. More than 8,000 people are crowded together in the Moria Camp in an ever more hopeless and violent situation.

MOSAIK and PIKPA are small but powerful examples that encouraging people to unfold their inherent creativity can bring dignity to human beings from other countries who are knocking at our doors.

Among our partners in Greece, I especially want to mention the ecumenical workshop Naomi in Thessaloniki that provides textile work for refugees, among other programs. Manolis Ntamparakis from this project visited US churches as a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) international peacemaker. You can read his stories and those of his colleagues in their July 2018 and September 2018 newsletters.

My point is that our Christmas sentiment must be turned into action. And the actions we need to take are located not only in remote places but also in our own communities.

Recent studies show that each year global warming is forcing more and more people to give up their homes and become climate change refugees. Climate change will not only be a problem for our grandchildren — it has already begun. There is gross injustice in the distribution of the effects of climate change: among those most affected by this change are many nations (like ones in the South Pacific) that don’t belong to the rich nations’ club of carbon dioxide polluters.

We have a choice: we can be overwhelmed or proactive. I believe God always asks us to be proactive rather than just overwhelmed. Being proactive begins with the way we consume energy through the choices we make in the supermarket or the department store and through the way we commute or travel. Being proactive needs to become a matter of our daily routine.

Right now, I have the privilege of being together with others from the PC(USA) at the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland — a short train ride from my home.

I feel encouraged by the longing and positive energy in so many groups, quite a few of them faith-based, that have turned into creativity and action towards climate justice. All around me, I see an encouraging bounty of visions and best practices in action.

Whereas governments often only think in their respective boxes, we can say, “Hey! Go! Move!” and “We can!” as the climate justice pilgrims I mentioned above do.

Let me encourage you not to stop dreaming your Christmas dream on December 26, but to consider the small and big steps you want to take in your own lives to make this dream come true.

Thanks again for your prayers and support for my work!

Have a blessed Christmas season,

Burkhard

Please read this important message from José Luis Casal, Director, Presbyterian World Mission

Dear partners in God’s mission,

We near the close of 2018 inspired by the hope of Christ. God is transforming the world, and you are helping to make it happen.

Thank you very much for your support of our mission co-workers. The prayers and financial gifts of people like you enable them to work alongside global partners to address poverty, hopelessness, violence and other pressing problems in the name of Jesus Christ.

Every day, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers are blessed to be able to walk alongside their brothers and sisters across the globe. Listening to each other in faith and in friendship, they learn from each other how to work towards a world in which everyone flourishes. Acting upon what they discover together, PC(USA) mission co-workers and our global partners strengthen the body of Christ.

Because you are an integral part of God’s mission, I invite you to become more deeply committed to Presbyterian World Mission. First, would you make a year-end gift for the sending and support of our mission co-workers? The needs in the world are great, and World Mission is poised to answer God’s call to serve others.

I also invite you to ask your session to add our mission co-workers to your congregation’s prayer list and mission budget for 2019 and beyond. Your multi-year commitment will make a great difference in our involvement with our partners. The majority of our mission co-workers’ funding comes from the special gifts of individuals and congregations like yours, for God’s mission is a responsibility of the whole church, not a particular area of the church. Now more than ever, we need your financial support!

In faith, our mission co-workers accept a call to mission service. In faith, World Mission, representing the whole church and you, sends them to work with our global partners. In faith, will you also commit to support this work with your prayers and financial gifts? With hope and faith, I await your positive response!

At God’s service and at your service!

José Luis Casal
Director

P.S. Your gift will help meet critical needs of our global partners. Thank you!