On the way home I had a chance
to read Kathleen Norris’Dakota (an amazing book!). Compares
monks and farmers, Norris says “No one waits better than
monks or farmers. The farmers and ranchers of western North Dakota
can wait years for rain … Farmers and ranchers, whose hopes
are so closely bound with land speak in terms of next year country,
a region that monks tend to see as encompassing all of eternity.”
People are open. And, so are their houses! I found so many people
that didn’t lock their doors.
Volunteerism is a great feature of American society. I rarely
find this in “old Europe.” I’m always surprised
how people complete great projects with only volunteers.
South Dakota has many poor people, many “working poor.”
In Lemmon, I was told that unemployment is not the problem—a
high percentage of people had one or even two jobs—the problem
was that people still don’t have enough to live on. One
afternoon, I was able to work in a food pantry. Another morning
I served in the “Banquet” in Sioux Falls. Most of
the needy people I saw were minorities: African Americans, Native
Americans, and Hispanics.
Some towns are dying. When I arrived in McIntosh I heard, “We
have 217 inhabitants. Last week we still had 220. Three people
died and there will be nobody to move into their homes. We have
to tear the homes down.”
When I tried to explain the situation of the Roma—discrimination,
social economic marginalization, low self-esteem, loss of culture—and
about the difficulties in building bridges between them and the
majority nations I heard an echo: “Isn’t that similar
to the situation of Native Americans in our neighborhood?”
Someone said to me, “Our church gave up its outreach towards
Native Americans, but you have encouraged me to revitalize an
old idea of inviting everybody to the church for a monthly coffee
time where native and white people can share stories of their
daily life.”
Our Bible theme was “Jesus and the Samaritan Woman”
from John 4. Jesus, who actually wanted to pass through Samaria
to get to Galilee, has been delayed. He has begun to extend his
ministry beyond the Jewish homeland. He has crossed the cultural
borders and again has acknowledged strangers and outcasts. He
believed in an alien woman with her “outsider” background
and that God could act through her.
As a German, I’m aware of our terrible history of misused
nationalism during the Nazi regime. For me, it would be shocking
to see German flags in our churches today. State, nation, and
churches are strictly separated. In South Dakota, however, the
U.S. flag seems to be a normal piece of furnishing. On Memorial
Day, the Pledge of Allegiance was part of the worship service.
And, I think that praying for the victims of war and terror cannot
be only for Americans.
My own experience in a communist regime showed me how a humane
idea was turned bad by paranoia and abuse of power.
When I came home to Germany people asked me about America and
I can hear their prejudice. However, I have a lot of stories to
tell about so many amazing and hospitable people. And, I realized
we have a lot to learn from each other, especially about welcoming
strangers.
Grace and peace!
Yours truly,
Burkhard
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
330 |
