While Dave Taffe from Faith Lutheran in Morris was in South Africa last November, he and the 16 others from SWMN Synod learned that no one is a missionary alone, and that mission work is apartnership. When sharing their gifts, the SWMN missionaries were also the recipients of the missionary work of our neighbors in Christ in South Africa.

The primary mission of the group was to facilitate an AIDS conference for leaders in the congregations and circuits. The IMBIZO HIV/AIDS conference was conducted at Urnphumulo, Kwa-Zulu Natal. Nov. 13-15.

Significant progress could result because of work done on this synod mission trip. "This is how we own what is our responsibility in the mission of Jesus Christ," said Rev. Linda Pedersen, Synod Minister.

South Africa is in the midst of an HIV/AIDS crisis resulting in many deaths throughout the South-Eastern Diocese (SED) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Southern Africa (ELCSA). The United Nations estimates that 5.5 million adults and children in South Africa are infected with HIV. The disease has orphaned an estimated 1.2 million children

"Misinformation doesn't die easily," said Pedersen. "You're dealing with a large population that has very limited, if any, formal education. The Lutheran Church in South Africa brings hope and grace, not judgment."

With financial resources from SWMN Synod, ELCA Global Missions and Global Health Ministries, the conference provided an opportunity for synod and SED members to talk about the gifts God has given each of us to bring healing and hope in dealing with the devastating results of HJV/AIDS.

Taffe said the trip had great impact on his frame of mind and on his life. "South Africa has seen entire generations of people wiped out by HIV/AJDS. Fighting this disease requires changing political, cultural and economic forces that are so deeply ingrained."

Rev. Dr. Harvey L. Nelson, pastor at Zion in Litchfield, summarized the HIV/AIDS Conference in a report that can be seen on the synod web site (www.swmnelca.org).

In the report, Nelson said the insight that 'everyone is positive until tested negative' forms the basis of responding to HJV/AIDS. Beyond workshops, testing and support groups, SED congregations seek to help infected persons and affected families by:

1. Having soup kitchens to strengthen already weak people

2. Finding ways to provide care for AIDS orphans

3. Having self-help projects (e.g. garden projects or hand craft projects) to support people

4. Building and supporting Care Centers for those affected

5. Working to provide hospice places and volunteers

6. Seeking to provide ways for people to get transport to and from clinics and hospitals

At the conclusion of the IMBJZO, SED Bishop Louis Sibiya thanked the group from SW Minnesota for their missionary partnership.

During part of the trip members of the group spread out to the countryside with host families. Taffe stayed in a home that housed 17 people. "I felt like I had stepped off the edge of the earth," said Taffe, who visited an area from which more than 60,000 people were displaced prior to the fall of apartheid in the mid-1990's. "You can't change the culture of the grandparents, but you can save the kids. They need a safe haven and that might be the church."

Rev. Phil Knutson, a son of missionary parents who lived in South Africa and is now a member of the ELCA staff living in South Africa, helped us to grow in this understanding and vision for being missionaries for our companion synod.

Pedersen added. "However haunting my experience in South Africa, I know there is hope in Christ and that our mission partnership makes a difference. Now we have our work to do, using our voice, financial resources, organizational skills and education to partner with others for Christ's mission in the world."

How can you help?

Pray for our brothers and sisters in the South-Eastern Diocese

Work with your conference/circuit Companion Synod Committee

Provide money for student scholarships

($40/year for elementary students, $100 for secondary students)

Send checks to: Southwestern MN Synod, PO Box 499, Redwood Falls, MN 56283, with "SA Scholarships" in the memo line.