Rise Up Together

“We are the church that shares a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. Liberated by our faith, we embrace you as a whole person – questions, complexities and all.”

Have you ever seen 30,000 people come together for one purpose? I have at the ELCA National Youth Gathering in Detroit, Michigan last summer. The youth gathering takes place every three years and is held in a city of need. For two years it was in New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina. Last year it was in Detroit because of their low economic standing and large amount of poverty in the city. Detroit needed help so the gathering committee decided to go there and help out. There were three days of activities: Proclaim Justice Day (service), Proclaim Story Day (synod), and Proclaim Community Day.

Proclaim Justice Day: 10,000 youth each day went out to do service projects. They would meet at the Hart Plaza and then go off into the community and serve the people of Detroit. Many groups painted old houses to make them look nice. Others boarded up homes that were condemned to live in. Both these two and other activities were to help the neighborhoods look nice and also to raise the prices on homes. Houses and yards were more appealing to the eye and so more people would want to move there. Boarding houses increases people’s desire to live in the neighborhood and increases the cost of the homes in the area. In these homes that were no longer inhabitable many homeless people found refuge and served as location of violent crimes. When these houses are boarded up it prevents people from getting in to them. With less violence around, these neighborhoods are much better off, in turn increasing the value of housing. The people of Detroit welcomed this service.

Proclaim Story Day: A synod in the ELCA church is a region of churches that has a bishop elected and three council officers to oversee the community of churches. I belong to the Southeastern Iowa Synod. On this day everyone got together with their own synod and had worship and filled out a book to get to know one self more. I personally did not like this day because I found it both really boring and I wasn’t feeling well.

Proclaim Community Day: This is the day we got to spend in the Cobo Center where there were stations of different things set up and activities to do. The most memorable one was the Walk for Water simulation. It was a .1-mile walk that you had to carry a 50-pound water jug around a course. The course had different stops to stimulate what happens when women have to go get their water each day. One stop was diseases another was a flood so we had to walk through pool noodles. In many parts of the world women have to walk about 3.7 miles each day to get drinking water for their families. This is a long walk that is crucial for the survival of their family. The simulation and the information gave me an appreciation for the region of earth we live in; we should cherish everything we have and to donate to this cause to help build wells in the villages so women can do other jobs in their communities.

I hope that all youth can participate in gatherings to come.