where you go, i will go; where you lodge, i will lodge ... 2.pdfi will lodge; your people shall be...

W A L K I N G I N S O L I D A R I T Y W I T H * I

Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people,

and your God my God.— Ruth 1:16

WORSHIP AND BIBLE STUDY SERIES #1

W A L K I N G I N S O L I D A R I T Y W I T H * 1

Purpose of the General Board of Global Ministries The organization’s purpose is found within the expression of

the total mission of the Church. It is a missional instrument of The United Methodist Church.

Materials and resources that show how The United Methodist Church is working for God’s mission around the world.

Series #1 was created by a collaboration of a number of people: Mary Ellen Kris, Ministry with the Poor Consultant to the General Board of Global Ministries, who served as the overall editor; David Wildman of Justice and Discipleship at the General Board of Global Ministries, who developed the Bible Studies and related devotional materials; Jorge Lockward of Global Praise at the General Board of Global Ministries and John Thornburg, clergy member from the North Texas Annual Conference, who served as music editors; and Hal Sadler, with the design team of Mission Communications of the General Board of Global Ministries, who designed and produced the overall resource.

W A L K I N G I N S O L I D A R I T Y W I T H * 1

© 2011 The General Board of Global Ministries. All rights reserved.

Material from this series may be reproduced without adaptation in accordance with the copyright restrictions contained on the music selections, and provided the following notice appears with the excerpted material: From the Ministry with the Poor Worship and Bible Series #1 Copyright © 2011 The General Board of Global Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

inistry with the Poor is one of the four priority areas of focus of The United Methodist Church. These focus

areas are meant to educate, inspire, mobilize, connect, and engage the people of The United Methodist Church in our common mission of becoming and helping others to become disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

“Ministry with the Poor involves ministries of love and justice where appropriate action is defined and taken in right relationship with, among, and by those who are impoverished — materially, spiritually, or otherwise. One way or another, all experience suffering and poverty, all are in need of grace, and all are called to minister to and show grace to others. Guided by love and grace, Ministry with the Poor requires mutuality of relationship with, by, and of the poor.” (Ministry with the Poor Guiding

Principles and Foundations, adopted October 29, 2010 by the United Methodist Interagency Task Force on Ministry with the Poor)

This Ministry with the Poor Worship and Bible Series #1 is the first in a series of worship and Bible studies to be used as spiritual resources regarding engaging in ministry with the poor. This series is composed of different units that can be used either as one unified series, or as separate, downloadable units that can be used on specific occasions. Each unit includes scripture verses to be read, an interpretive reflection based on those scripture passages, questions for discussion and action, a prayer, hymns (with sheet music) that complement the reflection themes, as well as a list of other hymns that lift up the same themes.

More information is available at: www.ministryWITH.org

INTRODUCTION

“�Remember the myriads of emigrants who are constantly crowding to our country. Let not their differences in language, manners, religion, or conditions in life throw us at a distance from them.”— Pastoral address, Methodist General ConferenCe 1852

2 W A L K I N G I N S O L I D A R I T Y W I T H * W A L K I N G I N S O L I D A R I T Y W I T H * 2 3 W A L K I N G I N S O L I D A R I T Y W I T H * W A L K I N G I N S O L I D A R I T Y W I T H * 3

hroughout the Bible, ministry with the poor includes widows, orphans, and migrant workers (i.e., sojourners, aliens,

foreigners, or strangers). The well-being of these economically vulnerable groups was considered the measure of how faithfully a community was fulfilling its covenant with God and neighbor.

In a desert climate that suffered regular droughts and

famines, people often had to migrate to another land in order to survive. Such migration could increase people’s vulnerability to forced labor and other forms of exploitation and discrimination. Under

these circumstances, an ethic of hospitality and mutuality

with migrants was critical for the survival of all the communities in the region.

The book of Ruth starts with Naomi, her husband, and two sons migrating from Bethlehem in Judah to Moab because of famine. The two sons marry Moabite women,

and when all three men in the family die, Naomi decides to return home to Judah. Ruth, one of her Moabite daughters-in-law, insists upon joining her: “Where you go I will go; where you lodge I will lodge; your people will be my people; and your God my god” (Ruth 1:16).

Ruth demonstrates faithful solidarity and accompaniment with Naomi in crossing borders and cultures. Not only are they both economically vulnerable as widows, but Ruth has now become a foreign migrant worker. Fortunately, Ruth finds work alongside other women in the field of Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s. Naomi says: “It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise you might be bothered in another field” (Ruth 2:22). These ties of solidarity and kinship protect Ruth, a young, female foreign worker, from exploitation and abuse that she may well have faced at another work site.

Given the risks and realities facing migrants in biblical times, the Bible included many prescriptions to protect foreign migrant workers and their families. Remembering their past experience as enslaved foreigners in Egypt laid the foundation for the Israelites to practice a prescribed ethic of hospitality with foreigners.

REFLECTION

Ministrywiththepoorinvolvessolidarityandaccompaniment–walkingwiththeeconomicallyvulnerable,marginalized,andexcluded,suchasmigrantworkersandtheirfamilies.

Biblical Readings:

Ruth — special focus on Ruth 1:16; Ruth 2:22; Deuteronomy 24:19; Ezekiel 47:22; 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7; Ephesians 2:19


In Deuteronomy, the well-being of the whole community depended upon compliance with covenantal obligations, including providing basic necessities to foreign workers and widows. When people harvested fields, olive trees, or grape vineyards, they were not to go through a second time to pick everything; instead, “it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings” (Deuteronomy 24:19). The prophet Ezekiel, addressing a Jewish community living under Babylonian colonial rule, even proclaimed that land shall be provided to foreign workers who live with the people. “You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who reside among you and have begotten children among you. They shall be to you as citizens of Israel” (Ezekiel 47:22).

Today, an increasing number of governments, and employers, forget or ignore the biblical injunctions to treat migrant workers with dignity and equality. Most of the people we would call migrants today work long hours for minimal pay and no benefits, doing backbreaking work under arduous conditions. Mistreating and cheating these workers is not uncommon. In place of a prescribed ethic of hospitality, humane treatment, and inclusion, governments are enacting harsh anti-immigrant policies that divide families and deny basic human rights to many immigrants. In a global economy where goods, services, money, and jobs flow freely across permeable borders, it is sadly ironic that people who migrate across borders out of economic necessity are treated as outlaws, outcasts, or an underclass of workers to be used and thrown away.

Jesus and the disciples left everything and became migrant workers, traveling from one town to another. The apostle Paul was a migrant worker for the early church. Paul traveled thousands of miles and lived temporarily in many communities.

One of those communities in which Paul worked and spread the good news was Corinth,

a cosmopolitan trading city with many goods and many migrant workers. A diverse and often divided community, Paul counseled the Corinthians to draw strength from their diversity and stand in solidarity with the most vulnerable in their midst: “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit…To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4, 7).

As in biblical times, most of the people we call migrant workers today have family in several countries, and in rural and urban areas. Many migrant workers go to great lengths to send remittances back to their families at home. As with Ruth and Naomi, family ties are just as important today, though often very difficult to maintain.

Today in communities with large immigrant populations like Corinth, the Church can become a kind of diverse, inclusive, extended family of people who come from many places. Unfortunately, like the early church, the Church today often is still divided in many ways along lines of ethnic background and nationality. That, too, is sadly ironic.

Where would the Church be without migrant workers? Without poor migrant workers, such as Paul and the other disciples, the early church never would have spread across the Roman Empire. Indeed, Methodism would not have become a movement without the itinerant ministry of John Wesley and many other migrant workers in England; and Methodism would not have swept across the United States without the migrant, itinerant Circuit Riders.

When we stand in solidarity with migrant workers facing exclusion, low wages, and harsh working conditions, and when we accompany migrant workers and their families in the quest for justice, then we open ourselves to the blessings of the Spirit promised in Ruth, in Deuteronomy, in Ezekiel and in Paul’s Letters to early churches. “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).


Prayer:

O�God�of�wayfarers,�orphans,�widows,�and�migrant�workers,�you�call�

us�all�to�walk�humbly�with�you.�Teach�us�to�walk�humbly�with�migrant�

workers�this�day,�we�pray.�Help�us�break�down�any�dividing�walls�that�

separate�citizens�and�immigrants�from�one�another�and�from�you.�

Bind�our�hearts�in�love�for�one�another�and�for�you.�For�when�we�walk�

together,�those�of�us�who�are�far�off�and�those�who�are�near,�all�find�

our�home�in�you.�Amen.�

Questions for Discussion and Action:

• Examine the labels in all your clothes and make a list of all the countries where things were made. We know the quality of the product and the price, but do we know the conditions of the workers who made them? Now think of the food you eat. How much is grown locally, and how much is imported? Why is it so much easier for goods, food, other resources, as well as companies, to cross borders than it is for migrant workers? What questions and concerns about migrant workers are being raised in your community? What role might the church play in supporting migrant workers and citizens alike?

• Are there migrant workers in your community? What are some of the hardships migrant workers face today? What are some strengths and gifts they bring to your community? In what ways might your local congregation accompany migrant workers and their families in the quest for justice?

• The United Methodist Social Principles state: “We call upon governments and all employers to ensure for foreign workers the same economic, educational, and social benefits enjoyed by other citizens. Foreign workers also need a religious fellowship, and we call for the churches to include these in their care and fellowships and to support them in their efforts for better conditions” (Paragraph 163F). What changes are needed in public policies to realize the values expressed in the Social Principles? How are churches offering hospitality and standing in solidarity with migrant workers?


Charity(DoNotOfferMeYourMoney)

1. Do2. Do3. Do4. Do

Cm

notnotnotnot

ofofofof

ferferferfer

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Ebyouryouryouryour

monpian

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ifififif

that’sthat’sthat’syou

allallallwill

Fm7

youyouthatnot

haveyougive

have

toto

canyour

give,spare,do,love,

Gm7

thoughthoughthoughthough

Cm

myI’myouI’m

clothes

spatsee

bleed

mayupmeing,

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beonas

brok

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tersed,lemless,

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which

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bounev

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seemsployway

frail

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live.care.

queue.move.

Fm/Bb

ForFor

IOh,

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mytheama

diglightper

wake

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pleassoothe

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you.God,Lord,sleep,

Fm/Bb

Godandbyfor

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inal

thatto

tendthoughgrace

live

Eb

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in

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faith

Bb/D reinofis

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1.2.3. 4.letnothudif

Fm7

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manfer

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ence

Fm/Bb

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itguish

theis

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through.God.Word.

Eb

G7b5

G7

cheap.

B

Db'9 Eb

Words: Kathy GallowayMusic: Jackson Henry

Words © 2003 WGRG, Iona Community. GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Users must contact OneLicense.net, 1-800-663-1501, [email protected] for congregational reprint permission, including overhead projection. Music © 2011 Jackson Henry. Administered by the General Board of Global Ministries t/a GBGMusik, 475 Riverside Dr., New York, NY 10115. All rights reserved.


Charity�(Do�Not�Offer�Me�Your�Money)�—�Keyboard Accompaniment

1. Do2. Do3. Do4. Do

notnotnotnot

ofofofof

ferferferfer

----

memememe

youryouryouryour

monpian

com

ey,ty,

swers,fort,

--

--

ifififif

that’sthat’sthat’syou

allallallwill

youyouthatnot

haveyougive

have

toto

canyour

give,spare,do,love,

Cm

Eb

Fm7

Gm7

thoughthoughthoughthough

myI’myouI’m

clothes

spatsee

bleed

mayupmeing,

-

beonas

brok

-inandaen,-

tattauntprobhelp

tersed,lemless,

----

andand

incaught

mynothe

which

fleshbounev

-

-

toodyemer

---

seemsployway

frail

-

toto

mentI

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Cm

Eb

Fm7

live.care.

queue.move.

ForFor

IOh,

mytheama

diglightper

wake

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nithatson,your

-

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tyshines

notheart

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withstato

clotheintis

cour

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me,me,tic,age,

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itflectslifedo

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doestheis

not

Fm/Bb

Bb7

Eb

Cm




Charity�(Do�Not�Offer�Me�Your�Money)�—�Keyboard Accompaniment

notglo

pleassoothe

dery

ingit

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pendthat

toin

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istheto-

you.God,Lord,sleep,

Godandbyfor

inal

thatto

tendthoughgrace

live

-

-ed,

II

in

- Godwalkam

faith

reinofis

vealdarkvalcost

- ing,

ness,ue,ly,

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willcanly,in

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Ab

Fm/Bb

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1.2.3.

4.

letnothudif

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spirtinis

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theis

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through.God.Word.

cheap.

Fm7

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Eb

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B

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Carnavalito

La

RefrainEm

la la la la

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Fine

Portuguese: Dá

English: Give

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tu

me

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your

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hand,

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on,

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er

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one.

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1. Walk2. Walk3. Fight

Em

toa

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faith,joy,jus

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que

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comto

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mosa

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God,fraid:way:

--

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pazde_umque_há

makessunjus

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solde

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lique_ainda

peoshinewill

se_a

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prea

ca

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free.

har.

vail.gain.

bar.

Em

--

--

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D.C. al Fine

Words: Felipe Centeno and Leonardo Fagundes; English trans., Jorge Lockward and Debra Tyree.Music: Leonardo Fagundes

Words and music © 1983 Felipe Centeno and Leonardo Fagundes. All rights reserved. Used by permission. English trans. © 2011 General Board of Global Ministries t/a GBGMusik, 475 Riverside Dr., New York, NY 10115. All rights reserved.

Carnavalitodeandar/CarnavalitofortheJourney


Carnavalito�de�andar�/�Carnavalito�for�the�journey�—�Keyboard Accompaniment

Carnavalito

La

Em

la la la la

la la

la

la

D

la

la

Em

Fine

Dá

Give

Em

tume

ayour- mão,

hand,

vawe

moswill

- sego on,

guir,

- jun

jour

D

tosney

--

ito

regeth

--

moser

--

anas one.

dar.

Em

-

3. Lu

1. Com2. Com

1. Walk2. Walk3. Fight

Em

toa

tan

inginging

-

---

ledo

inwith

in

da_a---

fégricon

faith,joy,jus

-

-

que

tra

emas

tice,

a,

--

-

tecom

to

powsured,lead

G/D

--

mosa

da_in

ereduning

-

-

-

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numcerjus

bya

the

-

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Deusteti

God,fraid:way:

--

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cazaça,

whothe

God’s

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pazde_umque_há

makessunjus

Am

desolde

allwilltice-

lique_ainda

peoshinewill

se_a

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ber

vai bril

ple

prea

ca

-

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tar.

free.

har.

vail.gain.

bar.

Em

--

--

-

D.C. al Fine

Words: Felipe Centeno and Leonardo Fagundes; English trans., Jorge Lockward and Debra Tyree.

Music: Leonardo Fagundes; harm., Jorge Lockward

Words and music © 1983 Felipe Centeno and Leonardo Fagundes. All rights reserved. Used by permission. English trans. © 2011 and harm. © 2002 General Board of Global Ministries t/a GBGMusik, 475 Riverside Dr., New York, NY 10115. All rights reserved.

10 W A L K I N G I N S O L I D A R I T Y W I T H *

Additional Music Resources:

The United Methodist Hymnal

434�Cuando�el�pobre/When�the�Poor�Ones

561�Jesus,�United��by�Thy�Grace

The Faith We Sing

2223�They’ll�Know�We�Are�Christians�By�Our�Love

Zion Still Sings

89��Koinonia

219�I�Need�You�to�Survive

Worship and Song

3152�Welcome

Global Praise 2

#119�There�Are�Tables�in�Our�City

Global Praise 3

#172/173�En�medio�de�la�guerra/Amid�the�pain�of�war

www.ministrywith.org

where you go, i will go; where you lodge, i will lodge ... 2.pdfi will lodge; your people shall be...

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