A congregation responds to OK tornadoes

In August, our very own Pastor Barbara Simmers from Peace Lutheran in Slidell led a group on a good will mission trip by van to Oklahoma in response to the Tornadoes. They had made solid contacts and intended to work in the communities around Shawnee, OK that were hit the day BEFORE the widely publicized Moore, OK. Most of the families hit in these other areas are impoverished and without insurance.

This group of ten people traveled to Shawnee, Oklahoma, which included three teens, two pastors, a couple of senior citizens and middle-aged folks.

They worked together with Debra Big Eagle, who's outreach was helping out the local children affected by the tornadoes with $5 gift cards and schools supplies. Debra shares that 552 homes were affected in her county, with 91 homes destroyed in nearby Steelman Estates, an impoverished mobile home park. 

Although the group may have been small, they were greatly supported by others. Together with them they brought 125 book bags each filled with the following items:

• 3 spiral notebooks
• 1 ruler
• 1 box of gobsters, runts, bottle caps, etc.
• 1 glue stick
• 1 Terragona pencil & 2 No. 2 pencils
• 1 small Kleenex package
• 1 24-box of colors
• 1 pack of markers
• 1 pair of scissors
• $5 Walmart gift card
• 1 assignment pad
• 3 books - new story book classics on the 8-12 year reading level
• 1 pair of Mardi Gras beads

All the goods for the book bags and school supplies came from a variety of sources supporting this project including:

• Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod

Congregations:

• Peace in Slidell
• Christ the King in Kenner
• St. Mark's in Metairie
• Hosanna in Mandeville
• St. Paul in Baton Rouge

Community Groups:

• Lions Club - Pearl River
• VFW - Pearl river
• St. Joseph Hospice
• Canon Hospice
• Where Y'At Senior Citizen Group
• Whispering Forest Elementary in Slidell

And of course, the amazing support of the members of Peace Lutheran in Slidell.

September Mission Moment

Imagine having to walk seven to ten miles every day – just to attend school. It’s a long, hot journey and you are worried about your family who need help back at home. But you know that an education is the best way to secure a better future.

Having to choose between supporting their family or an education is a real challenge faced by thousands of girls in the rural areas of Malawi- one of the poorest countries in Africa.

But thanks in part to your support many girls are no longer faced with this obstacle.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi is not only one of the fastest growing Lutheran churches in the world, but it’s also a trusted leader in providing some of the most basic human needs. In addition to spreading the message of God’s unconditional love, the church is often the place where the community turns for health care, food and even education.

With help from you through the ELCA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi started a primary education program. This program turned church buildings in remote areas into classrooms. While the community uses the building for worship on Sundays, students occupy the building during the week. Children no longer need to make the tough decision of dropping out of school or walking miles to receive an education. They can study right in the community.

We are a church that believes God is calling us into the world- together. Through your weekly offering to your congregation and your gifts to ELCA Vision for Mission, your help strengthens our church’s commitment to love and serve God’s people, around the corner and around the world.

Together, we are helping open doors to new ministries, revitalizing existing congregations, sharing the gospel with others and growing the church for the sake of the world. We accomplish more together than we could ever do otherwise.

Thank you for your partnership – both prayerfully and financially – in transforming lives.

We cannot keep silent about what we have seen and heard! Acts 4:20

Christine Donahue
TLGCS Mission Interpreter Coordinator
cedonahue@gmail.com

August Mission Moment

What an exciting time

Forty children recently received life-changing surgeries for crippling deformities or burns at the Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre in Tanzania — and that was just one week! The ability to perform that many operations is just one of the benefits of the expanded training and program development at the center.

Your contributions allow ELCA missionaries Dr. Mark and Linda Jacobson to be a part of this important growth. “What an exciting time of great thanksgiving this is for our ministries in Tanzania,” they say.

“Our training efforts to address the huge shortfall of health care professionals have leaped ahead. In the last few months we have been registered as a training center and our assistant medical officer training program has been accredited.” Also, they add, “We have taken the final steps toward opening our own nursing college in February 2013!”

The center has also become an international training center for African surgeons to study laparoscopic surgery and join the global movement to this video surgical care.

“These are some of the programs and ministries that you have been supporting so generously. We have great opportunities to serve 
and to share together in these ministries and outreach,” Mark and Linda say.

Your gifts are helping to make a world of a difference in God’s global mission! Thank you!!

Over 240 missionaries
 serve in over 50 countries.  To find out more about how to directly support a missionary either personally or through adoption by your congregation, visit: www.ELCA.org/missionarysponsorship

We cannot be quiet about what we have seen and heard! Acts 4:20

Christine Donahue

TLGCS Mission Interpreter Coordinator

Send me your congregation’s God Stories! cedonahue@gmail.com