Madang - an opportunity to explore

I visited a number of booths, all of interest. But to give some examples, here a few in particular.
I bought a very artistic cross on a necklace by Hyeryena Jung, http://hyeryena.blog.me/, who had the most amazing ‘sculptures’ made from steel, using illumination from behind. She explained it involved cutting the steel and welding, so no simple project. Her designs were wonderful.

I visited a booth with a focus on people with disabilities, and bought a form of a ‘holding cross’ on a necklace.

At the Presbyterian Church in Korea booth, I received a lovely silk pouch for free made by the women of PCK. I also bought three lots of Korean chopsticks as gifts. I’ve now learnt to master these chopsticks (I’m more used to Chinese chopsticks).  

I visited a booth that promoted solar energy, with ideas about holding a ‘harvest thanksgiving’ service for people who have installed solar panels. It also suggested making certificates for people, to celebrate the ‘harvest’: ‘in our time when everyone talks about climate change, you took the initiative and went ahead as a good example. What you harvest from the Sun as energy benefits not only you but the environment and is therefore beneficial to all of us’. On the invitation to the ‘harvest of renewable energy’ it says, ‘traditionally we give thanks for the harvest that comes from the fields and garden. But I think the time has come for all of us who share the planet to turn our attention to creatively reaping from water, wind and sun’. What a great idea!

I’m interested in the session on media, ‘Hearing many voices for justice and peace’, where participants can explore the relevance of communication rights to the transformation of political, economic and social structures that prevent or obstruct improvements to the lives of poor, marginalized, excluded and dispossessed people. The presentation will highlight the role of civic social organizations, especially the churches, in promoting communication as a basic human right, essential to people’s dignity and community. Topics to be covered includes experiences of empowering people through communication to express their aspirations and needs, strengthening the voices of women, the democratization of the media, and the role of social media and digital platforms. It’s presented by World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), www.waccglobal.org

And another resource that was a catalyst for more thinking is titled, ‘Telling the Truth: the right to public memory’ (an Anglican Church Journal). ‘In North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia – wherever groups of people have been systematically victimized – thousands are still living with the pain of past atrocities, acts that have remained publicly unacknowledged. Their right to public memory has been suppressed. You can’t really claim to have freedom of expression unless you have the right to know and remember what happened in the past, and to tell your stories in public. Not surprisingly, those most affected by the loss of their history are the most vulnerable: minorities, indigenous people and the poor. The records of past atrocities are ploughed under in a field of silence so that victims’ stories are rarely heard’. The WACC supports projects that help people reclaim the past and bring them into the public sphere so that all citizens can understand the basis on which their country moves forward. Very applicable to the Australian context with Aboriginal people, and also with asylum seekers and refugees, to name just a couple of key areas where stories of the past (and what is happening now) need to be told.

I picked up a really useful resource, which includes liturgies and prayers – Asia Communication Sunday: Communicating Climate Justice. It has real ‘grunt’ in its approach to speaking publicly and in worship about climate change. I look forward to exploring how this might be used in other contexts.

I picked up the bookmark with the ‘five marks of mission’ in the Anglican Church, and was reminded how powerful it is to have these expressed so succinctly - a broad missional focus (2 'inside' the church; 3 beyond the church walls):

• ·      to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
• ·      to teach, baptize and nurture new believers
• ·      to respond to human need by loving service
• ·      to seek to transform unjust structures of society
• ·      to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth

Space for inter-religious encounter

 

where strangers become friends.....

crosses of the world - Madang hall