Monthly Mission Message: Breaking Down Walls

“On Nov. 9, 2019, the world will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. As we look back to remember this important moment in human history, we are reminded that there is much work to be done to tear down the walls that divide us today. We are called in this moment to advocate for an end to division and oppression in our own communities and throughout the world. My friends, I encourage you, your congregations and your communities to join together in proclaiming this truth — that we are one human family.”
— The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director for Global Mission, ELCA

One of the ELCA’s advocacy groups is “Peace not Walls.” It pertains primarily to the Israeli-Palestinian divisions and the walls being built to separate the two. We also hear a lot about a wall on our southern border—again in an effort to separate people. But there are invisible walls too—walls of hunger, poverty, loneliness, mental illness. Those walls keep children of God from being full participants in society. Maybe you are behind one of those walls yourself. What can we do? The same admonition from Rev. Padilla (above) applies to invisible walls too. There is much work to be done, but we must tear down the walls that divide us. We must be advocates for those who suffer from the walls, reach out through the walls to break them down. If the Berlin Wall can come down, so can the rest!

ELCA Advocacy and Global Mission are supported through your congregation’s Mission Support. Thank you!

We are church together for the sake of the world. God’s Work. Our Hands.