by Jonathan Krause
To make a Fanta cake you need:
- 1kg plain flour
- yeast
- sugar
- cooking oil
- coconut cream
- a little water …
- … and, of course, the secret ingredient, Fanta, for flavour.
How much Fanta? That’s Kiso’s trade secret. Along with how long you bake the cake in the ‘oven’ your husband has built from an old oil drum, and half-buried in the dirt, with space underneath for a fire to heat the oven.
Kiso lives in Pamalabus Village, Mumeng, in the mountains outside Lae in Papua New Guinea.
Here, through the support of the Lutheran family in Australia and New Zealand through Australian Lutheran World Service, Kiso – also a Lutheran – is bringing love to life using another secret ingredient – SALT. SALT is a special approach to talking with people in order to help them identify their strengths, and gain the skills and confidence to solve their problems and build a better life for their families. The acronym works as follows:
S – stimulate
A – appreciate
L – listen, learn, link
T – team-up, transfer
It’s part of the Mat Ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG (ELC-PNG).
Kiso is a Team Leader for the Mat Ministry in her community, and explains it’s all about following the example of Jesus from Matthew 5, where he went to the mountain and then sat down with people to talk:
‘We sit down together. There is no big man or small man. We can talk freely because there is no boss’, she says. ‘In this ministry we want to help one another as we can have a satisfying life for everyone. I visit one family each week, but if I am in an area I can sometimes visit four or five families.’
Kiso does this work as a volunteer for her church, as an outworking of her faith. She says the SALT approach is having a real impact in helping the Lutheran church effectively support people in their daily lives.
Through ALWS Christmas Action this year, you can support the Lutheran church in PNG grow the Mat Ministry and SALT approach, support adult literacy and train young women to be community workers. Your donation is matched with the generous support of the Australian Government, and complements the evangelism work of LCA International Mission. Working together, this is how God can use us to bring love to live. Use the pack you receive at church this Christmas to donate or contact ALWS at alws@alws.org.au or on 1300 763 407. www.alws.org.au
