ALWS and the Good Samaritan
30 June 2023
ALWS and the Good Samaritan
Dr Brian Neldner
On World Refugee Day, Lisa McIntosh chats with someone who has given decades of service to the church and to refugees. Australian Dr Brian Neldner, 90, is the former World Service Director of Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the former head of Lutheran World Service Australia, the forerunner to Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS). Photo LWF/T. Miller
One in six Lutherans worldwide was either a refugee or a displaced person as a result of the Second World War. That meant there were more Lutheran refugees in Europe (8 million) than there were people Australia at the time (7 million).
LWF was the first to take this step on the basis of the Parable of the Good Samaritan – that we need to help everybody in need, including refugees from other [religions]. And so I always say that the Parable of the Good Samaritan is the rock on which Lutheran World Service is built.
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