West Papua - Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen

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men do not work effectively, because they are
lacking capacities and the employees do not devote
with all their energy. In an exemplary case
this is clearly described. It shows how the rights
of a woman who became victim of violence, were
not protected but consistently she had to suffer
acts of revenge from the side of the offender.
All this raises questions: How can situations and
living conditions of women be perceived? How
can one fight for them? How can they be protected?
Where and to whom these conditions
have to be told?
Bible study:
“With other Eyes”
With a view to the above described reality I want
to invite you to read the Bible “with other eyes”,
by trying together to address the problem. There
is a way that enables us to find a possibility how
to overcome violence, the sort of violence women
in Papua experience at the moment and the
violence women have to experience all over the
world, always and at any time, in all regions with
their respective traditions.
Doing this, all of those who take part in the discussion
will benefit from each other by sharing
their knowledge, their perception, their understanding
of God and the world. Reading the Bible
“with other eyes” permits a view on the situation
of the Bible text and an understanding of the relevance
for the different current contexts. The aim
is to develop a common understanding in order
to tackle the actual problem.
For doing so I compiled a number of questions
by which the Bible devotion “with other eyes” can
be started.
We find the text for the Bible study “with other
eyes” (with the eyes of another person) in Luke
18:2-8: “The Parable of the unjust Judge”
In this paragraph Jesus tells a parable about a
poor widow who demands justice from a judge.
(2) He tells as follows: In a certain town there was
a judge who neither feared God nor cared about
men. (3) And there was a widow in that town who
kept coming to him with the plea. “Grant me justice
against my adversary” (4) For some time he refused.
But finally he said to himself: ”Even though
I don’t fear God or care about men, (5) yet because
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the widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she
gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me
out with her coming!”
(6) And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust
judge says. (7) And will not God bring about justice
for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and
night? Will he keep putting them off? (8) I tell you,
he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However,
when the Son of Men comes, will he find
faith on the earth?”
Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Who is a poor widow for you in your context?
When and where can we find someone like
this “poor widow”? If you look at the situation
of the poor widow and how persistently
she “faces” the unjust judge where would
you see it in the present context?
Who is the unjust judge in your society?
When and where can we recognize this unjust
judge? How do you rate the behaviour
of the judge, who neither cares about God
nor men?
What do you think about the verses 4-5?
What does the unjust judge probably think?
How do you understand the verses 6-8?
If there is violence against women in your
family or culture, how does it look like? How
can it be overcome? Which attitude do you
have in your family and church to confront
the problem?
Do organisations/ authorities in your society
exercise violence? What is done against
it? Does church play a role in overcoming
violence, does church address the case?
If violence against women exists in your
church / congregation, what is done in your
church / congregation to tackle it?
Is there any cooperation in your area of life
between family, church, organisations and
authorities to overcome violence against
women?
If up to now justice for women has not yet
been achieved, in which way, where and
how help is needed in this regard?
gerechte gemeinschaft von männern und frauen