On the Theology of Accompaniment

I recently received a message from  Milissa May, a student at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary asking for some thoughts on this topic as she is writing a thesis on the theology of accompaniment in the Lutheran Church. So I asked my old friend and colleague, Pedro Veliz, from Lima, Peru for some of his thoughts on the theme of accompaniment

Some years ago I worked with Pedro in the Andean Regional Office of Lutheran World Relief when we were developing a methodology of working with the poor that we called accompaniment. After that experience I wrote the book "Partners with the Poor" published by Friendship press in 1993.

Here is a brief message from Pedro: (my translation with a few edits for clarity)

Dear Jerry,

Thanks for lifting up the theme of accompaniment. I wonder if  the younger generation has had little exposure to the word "accompaniment". (Years ago) when I first heard of its significance (from early colleagues in LWR) I understood it as a different kind of practice of helping the needy.

We (wanted to) help others by respecting their dignity as human beings so we looked for ways to be in solidarity, not just sharing what is left over or in order to feel good; rather it was out of a desire to see that others would live better, in a way that they deserved, a way that everyone deserves to live a better life.

My commitment as a Christian believer transformed this practice into a vocation, first looking at how to do accompaniment, but then I started to ask "Why?" and "What for?"  Such questions are not frequently asked by professionals today.

Then I found in St Luke 24:13-35 Jesus' model of accompaniment - showing patience, teaching, sensitivity, solidarity, love and respect. (This is the post-resurrection story of Jesus walking alongside the two men on the Emmaus road)

Today in my daily experience as a Lutheran Christian my feeling is that accompaniment is an ethical expression of the practice of service. I am studying the Sermon on the Mont, the longest of the sermons of Jesus, which gives us this ethical framework of accompaniment - the most integrated vision of service that God offers through his Son Jesus Christ.

I hope to write more about this to you soon. There are other questions and issues that will better explain this experience that I have had through many years of work with the church. 

Un abrazo fraterno en Cristo Jesús - A fraternal embrace in Christ Jesus.

Pedro Veliz,

Lutheran World Relief,

Andean Regional Office,

Lima, Peru