TOGETHER:                  The AICEME Newsletter
Association of International Churches In Europe and the Middle East	Fall 2001

Where does one find the words to speak our sorrow, hold high our hope, intercede for those in need when terror intrudes in life?

Scripture is the first and most obvious place. In the days following the September 11th horror, I turned to the Psalms, to Lamentations, to Jeremiah and Isaiah to find words for prayer.

But to my astonishment, words of prayer also found me through a most surprising source: hymns. Within days of the terror in New York and Washington, hymns were written to sing the threnody of our loss and the hope that is ours in Christ.

The first one that came my way was from a Presbyterian pastor, Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. Her hymn is sung to the tune, St. Anne ("O God Our Help in Ages Past") and is entitled, O God, Our Words Cannot Express the Pain We
Feel –

O God, our words cannot express
The pain we feel this day.
Enraged, uncertain, we confess
Our need to bow and pray.

We grieve for all who lost their lives
And for each injured one.
We pray for children, husbands, wives
Whose grief has just begun.

O Lord, we're called to offer prayer
For all our leaders, too.
May they, amid such great despair,
Be wise in all they do.

We trust your mercy and your grace;
In you we will not fear!
May peace and justice now embrace!
Be with your people here!

Other hymns were written while the smoke still poured from the rubble.
One was by Herbert Brokering, the author of the Lutheran Book of Worship hymn, Earth and All Stars. His hymn sang of sorrow and fragile new
beginning, loss and hope and is entitled, Life Again Begun as sung to the tune "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" –

Dear God, behold the crying,
the anger in our eyes,
and danger reappearing
as we cannot surmise.
Behold your world is mourning,
we bow, we bend, we kneel.
O hear our grief unspoken
and mysteries we feel.

We mold our steel to weapons,
you turn them to plow shares.
We plan retaliation,
you give us rules to care.
We bury dead remorseful,
you raise us from the dead.
May we when finished crying
believe the words you said.

Dear acorn in the forest,
awake and face the light.
Dear children who are weeping,
God holds you through the night.
For when the dark is over,
there wakes a morning sun,
and what was dead is rising,
and life again begun.

Dear Lord you chose the hillside
to say the words we cry.
You know the hurt between us,
you know the reason why.
When all our tears are finished
and minds again hold still,
surround us with your mercy
and lead us with your will.

For all who now go weeping
with tears so deep inside,
give them a glimpse of seeing
into the other side.
Forgiveness is the power
you give us from the tree,
now open dim some beauty
ahead for us to see.

I found myself deeply moved by the poetry of these hymns, the lamentation they evoked, the hope they held high.
A third hymn is by Carl P. Daw Jr. and entitled -- When Sudden Terror Tears Apart. It's sung to the tune St. Falvian ("Almighty God Your Word is Cast")

When sudden terror tears apart
the world we thought was ours,
we find how fragile strength can be,
how limited our powers.

As tower and fortress fall,
we watch with disbelieving stare
and numbly hear the anguished cries
that pierce the ash-filled air.

Yet most of all we are aware
of emptiness and void:
of lives cut short, of structures razed,
of confidence destroyed.

From this abyss of doubt and fear
we grope for words to pray,
and hear our stammering tongues embrace a timeless Kyrie.

Have mercy, Lord, give strength and peace, and make our courage great;
restrain our urge to seek revenge,
to turn our hurt to hate.

Help us to know your steadfast love,
your presence near as breath;
rekindle in our hearts the hope
of life that conquers death.

I am still groping for the words to respond to the events of September
11. For now, I grieve and turn especially to the Psalms and prophets to give voice to my lamentation. And yet, with every passing hour, every passing day without a military response that would trigger an endless cycle of revenge, profoundly I hope too, and so once more turn to the Psalms and prophets to articulate and hold high my hope.

In all I try to be guided by the crucified and risen Christ. Most often these days I think of him on the road to Emmaus. He's the stranger who joins the journey of two grieving pilgrims. They spoke to him their grief, voiced their broken hope and yet marveled aloud at the miracle of resurrection they'd heard from some women.

In that context, Jesus turned to "Moses and the prophets" to find the words and to unfold the undying hope in Scripture which pointed to himself.  Later he joined the two pilgrims at table and was known to them in the breaking of bread.

Many have spoken of these days as "a different world" after the events of
September 11. Maybe. Maybe not.

As for me, I'll sidle up to Cleopas, his companion and that stranger on the road to Emmaus. I'll listen carefully as the stranger interprets "Moses and the prophets". I'll hold out my hands in need and in hope when bread is broken and shared. I'll voice my lamentation and hold high my hope. And I'll listen with utmost care to that deeper memory of the voice of the Risen Christ: "Be not afraid. I am with you always."

Rev. Stephen Larson

Evangelical Lutheran Church

of Geneva

Faith Sees the Glory

(excerpts from a sermon preached  on September 16)

John 11: 1-3, 17-44

In that wonderful and touching story from John's Gospel that we heard this morning, the two sisters, Mary and Martha, who with their recently de-ceased brother Lazarus, were among Jesus' closest friends, express their natural human grief and questions to Jesus. Both of them reproach him: "Lord, if only you had been here, our brother would not have died."  Doesn't that sound like the question the Psalm-ist asked and the questions we've been asking God this week? God where were you? How could you have turned your face away when those hijackers drove those planes into those buildings? How could you let such evil loose upon the innocent? If you had been here, God, this wouldn't have happened. Maybe you haven't been asking those ques-tions, but I have. But then, so did Jesus as he hung on the cross. Remember those words that the choir sang so beautifully a moment ago: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

But as I spent some time with this familiar story of Jesus, grieving with his friends Mary and Martha, not only for their own loss, but for his also, for he too loved Lazarus, I began to hear another question, deeper than my own questions, my own outrage, my own grief. Above the clamor of my own demand, "Lord, if you had only been there, these dreadful attacks would not have happened," I began to hear Jesus' question to Mary and Martha, as a question to me also, "Did I not tell you that if you have faith you will see the glory of God?"

That, it seems to me, may be the question we've got to hear above the questions of our anger and our loss. As a Christian, I know about the import-ance of faith. St. Anselm reminded us of that centuries ago, when he said, "I have faith in order to understand." We often get it turned around don't we– thinking that we have to understand, that we have to have the answers to our questions before we can have faith. But St. Anselm was right, and all the other great saints of our tradition got it right: it is faith that leads to understanding.

So perhaps this morning we need to hear the voice of the Risen One asking us, "Did I not tell you that if you have faith, you will see the glory of God?"  We need to hear that question because our own vision is too near-sighted, we are too deeply and too often entrenched in the immediacy of the tragedy, too shackled by our own unconscious complicity in evil to really understand apart from faith. It is faith which brings understanding, which brings light, which brings us the ability to see the glory of God even in the darkest night of human evil and human loss. St. Paul said, "Now we see as though in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now we know in part; then we shall understand, even as we have been fully understood." And I don't think that Paul meant simply that now in our earthly life we only have partial understanding, but that then– someday in heaven, we'll have full understand-ing. No, for Paul, "now" means life without faith, life without the reality of Jesus' resurrection, life lived wholly within the boundaries of our notions of the possible, life on Good Friday with no Easter in sight. "Then" is life on the other side of Easter, life that is trans-formed by trusting in the God who raised Jesus from the dead, life in a world where the decisive battle against the powers of death has already been fought and won, even if those powers haven't yet realized it and are still capable of causing us harm. Faith and faith alone sees that the harm is not ultimate, not the final word.

Rev. Dr. Larry Kalajainen

American Church in Paris

Conference for

Pastors and Spouses

Antalya, Turkey

              April 8-15, 2002

Imagine a warm spring morning walk along a sandy beach speckled with stones, with snow-capped mountains on your west and a not-too-cold sea on your east.  Imagine climbing from the indoor swimming pool and entering the steamy sauna, gazing through a window upon a garden as you soak up the heat.  Imagine standing at the ancient site of Pisidian Antioch, where, if you could have stood 1,955 years ago, you might have heard Paul preaching his first recorded sermon.  Imagine scoring in water polo, beating your husband in tennis, or squashing a Presbyterian* in squash.  Imagine bedding down April 8^th in your French bed and saying to your spouse, “Just think, Honey, we’ve got six more days and nights of this marvelous Mediterranean holiday!”

My wife Renata and I have done our best to negotiate for you a most affordable price at the most desirable place for the 2002 Pastor and Spouses’ Conference.  The cost per person in a double room will be just $450.  That includes 7 nights in top-notch five-star resort hotels (the last two nights will be in downtown Antalya), all group trans­porta­tion and excursions, all meals (except for one or two you’ll eat on you own), and well-qualified speakers to enrich our understanding of early Christianity.

One of these speakers will be Dr. Mark Wilson, the founder and director of the Seven Churches Network, a resource on Biblical Turkey.  Mark has been researching and lecturing throughout Turkey during most of 2001 (his eleventh trip to Turkey) and is freshly familiar with all the Biblical sites we will be visiting during the conference and tour.  He also serves as Adjunct Professor of New Testament at Regent University and has formerly taught at Oral Roberts University and Central Indian Bible College.  Mark has authored or edited over ten books, including the recently published “Revelation” in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary and William M. Ramsay's updated St. Paul: Traveler and Roman Citizen.

Other presenters and resource people at the conference will be Art Beals, founder of World Concern Inter-national, author of When the Saints Go Marching Out and Beyond Hunger:  A Biblical Mandate for Social Respon- sibility, and experienced national and international-church pastor.  Partially retired but busy as ever, Art is currently a consultant to the Worldwide Mini- stries Division of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and has a growing expertise in church development work in Turkey.  Others you will grow to appreciate and love are the extremely gifted Bill and Nancy Rigg, who started and carry on ‘Salt Ministries,’ based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Bill and Nancy will be leading us in music and worship during the week.  Other plans for a few highly regarded in-country speakers are also in the works.

So, friends, it promises to be a rich and refreshing week in Antalya for you and your beloved spouse! And the dates for the Biblical sites tour that will follow the confer­ence are April 15-20.  Two terrific options are being considered for this tour, under the guidance of Dr. Mark Wilson, but regardless of which option is finally presented to you, the price will be held to $550 per person.  That means for just a $1000 per person you can take in he confer­ence and the tour – and we hope you do!

*James Bultema, International Church of Antalya, bultema@compuserve.com

Youth Conference--2001

The Fourth Watch of the Night was the theme of this year's youth conference in Zurich, Switzerland.  130 students and leaders from 14 different  commu-nities participated in a fun and enrich-ing week-end together November 15-18.  Rick Mumford, young life area director from Paris, was the speaker, and he carefully and thoughtfully worked through the gospel message in a way that was both challenging and engaging.  His humor was an added highlight, and the students responded to him enthusiastically. 

The band, Sisera Fell was also a big hit.  Four young men from San Luis Obispo, California lead us in worship through-out the week-end.  They are a talented bunch, clearly committed to their own journey of faith in Jesus Christ, and were wonderful role models for the students.  Both Rick and the band members showed a continual willingness to be among the students throughout the week-end, and this left a great impression as well.

The International Protestant Church of Zurich enlisted support from many in their community and did a great job of making the conference run smoothly.  We were especially appreciative of the late night snacks that went down well after busy days of learning, site-seeing, and building new friendships. 

Additionally, members of the church took each of us on a walking tour of Zurich where we felt the lingering presence of Zwingli's reformation movement in that very city.  The largest clock face in Europe adorns one of Zurich's building, and I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the old towns of Zurich and Stockholm.  Unfortunately, the Alps remained mysteriously hidden behind the clouds, but the Swiss spirit coupled with lots of chocolate helped us to envision this mountain paradise.

We were given free time to explore the elegant Bahnhofstrasse and all of its fancy shops or simply wander through old town and enjoy the quaint village setting.  Some went ice skating and others took in a little culture along the way.

This was my first youth conference and I was impressed with how quickly the students began to interact with one another.  From the first moment, they showed a willingness to try anything, to participate fully, to get to know others, and to simply dig in and get the most out of the week-end.  I was en-couraged as I saw a sincere desire on the part of many students to be pur-suing an active faith, in spite of the many challenges that they face in their daily lives.

Upon arriving home, one of our students uttered, "I'm definitely going next year."  I think that in itself is a strong affirmation of the importance of this gathering.  Of our students, only one had been on a retreat like this before and that was in Berlin last year.  These are invaluable experiences that provide life long impressions that will often impact a student's journey of faith in significant and lasting ways.

Thanks to Zurich we enjoyed a wonderful week-end together, growing in friendship and growing in Christ.

Rev. Jodi Fondell

Immanuel International Church,

 Stockholm

Anniversary in Moscow

During the first week of December, the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy celebrates the tenth anniversary of its food-sharing ministry.  The fall of 1991 marked a turning point in the history of our congregation, as well as in the history of Russia.  For the first time, churches had the freedom to organize social ministries, and at the same time, the long queues and spiraling inflation were driving many of the church’s neighbors into poverty.  The congregation itself was also changing rapidly—from an insular U.S. embassy chaplaincy to a truly international congregation.

MPC’s leadership discerned a calling to reach out to those who were suffering as a result of the chaotic economic situation.  It was a time of great uncertainty, and therefore of frightening risks, for a small congregation in an ambiguous legal environment.  Yet, I remember a sense of excitement, faith, hope and boldness reigning in those early discussions about how to serve our neighbors.  John and I were lay members of the congregation at the time, and we sat on the committee which was trying to figure out how to open a soup kitchen in a city that had not allowed charitable activities in the past seventy years.

In December 1991 we inaugurated two ministries:  a soup kitchen for 150 impoverished elderly Russians, and the distribution of bags of groceries to foreign students (primarily Africans) whose stipends had disappeared in the economic upheaval.  Both of these programs continue to this day.  MPC currently operates three soup kitchens which feed 850 pensioners and single mothers a hot meal each day.  In addition, we distribute 200 bags of groceries each fortnight to foreign students and refugees. 

MPC’s food-sharing ministry stand as a testimony to God’s faithfulness.  Throughout the years, the soup kit-chens have been through many periods of trial:  rapid inflation, shortages of funds, changes in leadership, and many, many daily difficulties (e.g., drunken patrons and salty soup).  It is a bless-ing, perhaps even a miracle, that these kitchens have served out meals each day for the past decade.  The kitchens have remained a rock of stability in a country, and especially in a congre-gation, where rapid changes are con-stantly overtaking us. 

At this time we are thankful to God for caring for this ministry over the years.  One of the most beautiful things about this ministry is that it belongs to no one except God.  God has blessed the ministry with faithful servants over the years.  We are thankful for all who have come to Moscow with ready hands and an open heart:  for MPC’s previous pastors and chaplain’s assistants, for the coordinators past and present, for committee members, and for volunteers and donors.  God alone knows all their names.  Throughout the years, various international congre-gations have provided support for this ministry, and we remain grateful for your concern for the poor in Moscow. 

An anniversary is also a time for looking to the future.  Over the past months MPC’s leadership has reflected on our calling to serve our neighbors, and we have responded by seeking out new ways to be in service.  Our congre-gation of foreigners has a particular calling to be in ministry with other peo-ple considered outsiders in Moscow.  We have begun cooperating with Metis to distribute food assistance to needy African-Russian children.  In addition, we have opened a food pantry to pro-vide groceries to African refugees. 

Noel Calhoun

Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy