June 18, 2007

What do Blacksburg, Virginia, and Peru have in common?

Dear Friends,

Last month I returned to the United States so that I could attend a wedding. First, I flew from Lima to Washington, D.C., to pick up my religious visa at the Peruvian Consular office on Massachusetts Avenue. The official who interviewed me was moved and excited by the work of the Presbyterian Church in Peru. He had me in and out of there in heartbeat.

From Washington I headed down to “good ole’” North Carolina to see my family. After discovering that I did have a suit in the country after all, I headed up to Blacksburg, Virginia, to celebrate a wedding. 

Blacksburg in recovery

Robert, a close friend and the groom in the wedding, works with an international student ministry at Virginia Tech. After the shootings on Virginia Tech’s campus earlier this year, it was encouraging to see ministries engaging in deep conversations about healing, hope, mental illness, social psychology, and solidarity with victims’ families in the midst of tragedy.

Blacksburg is a college town with a beautiful vista of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The people of the Blue Ridge are not used to the media attention that the shootings generated. The only other time the media swarms Blacksburg is to cover Hokies football, and that’s very much welcomed. You can ask my uncle David, born and raised just down the road in Galax, Virginia.

Before I travelled back to the United States, I took a couple of cabs in Lima during the days following the shootings. Every cabbie would ask me if I had heard about what happened at Virginia Tech. Peru shared the tragedy with Blacksburg because an undergraduate student from Peru was one of those killed in the shootings.

The wedding

The minister officiating the ceremony, an African American pastor of an antebellum A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) congregation, proudly donned a fair trade pastoral stole that I brought up from Peru. 

The stole was made by a group of Peruvian artisans who call themselves “Manna,” recognizing God’s provision for their daily bread. The cloth used for the pastoral garment is called “manta,” a Quechua word used in Andean Culture to describe the intricate design of the cloth. Manta cloth is also used by mothers to carry their children on their backs through the steep and cold Andes Mountains. 

Pastor Glenn Orr shows off the newly married couple and his fair trade "manta" stole made in Peru. 

The minister mentioned the significance of the manta in his message. It impacted me to hear him speak about the manta because I feel that it is particularly symbolic for Robert’s future family. Also, I felt that is was appropriate because Robert relates to international students every day, and it demonstrates how we are all inseparably woven together with humanity. There were over 12 countries represented at the wedding. 

Back home

I spent the rest of my time back home visiting several congregations. Churches in North Carolina showed a keen interest in the work of artisans. I am pleased that many congregations are thinking about the trends of globalization and how we are complicit in some of these harmful processes. The processes sometimes overwhelm me.

Jacob Goad accompanies members from Springwood Presbyterian in a weekly Bible study in Whitsett, North Carolina.

Now more than ever there are excited “amen eyes” that are starring back at me from pews. We are waking up to an age-old reality. What we do in the world really matters to God. Who we are as Christians is not disconnected with who we are as global citizens and as stewards of the earth.

If you or your congregation would like to help partner with the fair trade artisans of Peru, please learn how to purchase a Christmas box that contains an assortment of crafts at the Fair Trade Peru Web site.

Jacob