Kit Ministers Pack Boxes With Love

The Kit Ministers of Messiah Lutheran Church continue to prepare kits for Lutheran World Relief (LWR).  Last year Messiah supported Lutheran World Relief with 970 Layette Kits, School Kits, and Health Kits.  This year the Kit Ministers have set their goal even higher.  They intend to prepare over 1000 kits which will be used by LWR to support those in need around the world.  Every day in 35 countries, Lutheran World Relief works to combat the causes of poverty and the dignity it robs from people’s lives. We advocate for Fair Trade that helps farming families and artisans earn a better income. We teach people to better care for themselves, their communities and the environment. We teach people how to be less vulnerable to natural disasters. We advocate with and for them for policy change that more fairly represents them. We counsel them after manmade and natural disasters, and help them recover with material aid. We do all of this exclusively with partners from the communities we serve. Our partners help us remain incredibly efficient and effective. Our partners let us help people help themselves…for a day when they won’t need us at all.

Would you like to help the Kit Ministers in their mission?  Please contact Rhonda Gaede or the Church office for more information.  You can also make a designated offering to the kit ministries by marking your offering envelope with "Kit Ministries".

Baobab Blast - Vacation Bible School

Last week 43 children from Messiah Lutheran Church and other area churches participated in Baobab Blast a vacation bible school experience.  At Baobab Blast, the kids received a message of God’s unconditional love. They participated in activities to help them understand how to build nurturing relationships with God, family, and others. They also participated in the mission project, Africa Jam, in which they learned how to help expand God’s community.  Africa Jam is a youth empowerment organization serving more than 10,000 young people in Cape Town, South Africa.  The children also shared some of the music and bible verses they learned during vacation bible school at the Sunday worship service.  Please watch the video to see a sample of their music.  Special thanks to Dorothy Seitz the leader of this years vacation bible school and the 30 adult and youth volunteers who helped make the Baobab Blast a wonderful and enriching experience for all of our children.

Mission Trip to Lutheran Church in Guatemala

Editors Note: The following Story and photographs were submitted by Bill Emerson, one of the missionaries on the recent trip to Guatemala.

Between 18 and 26 June 2010 four members of the SE Synod visited Iglesia Luterana Agustina de Guatemala (ILAG). These were Bill Emerson, Dennis Fry, and Christina Daniel, all from Messiah Lutheran Church, Madison, AL, and Glenna Mason, from Christ Lutheran Church, Prattville, AL.

The ILAG is headquartered in Guatemala City and the Lutheran Center consists of three buildings, two of which have been built in the last three years, and are used by visitors and for classes and church services. One of the new buildings has four dormitory style rooms on the first floor, with each room having space for six people. Above these rooms are the new chapel and a storage area. The second new building has a kitchen and dining area and above that a large class room. This was the center for the SE Synod representatives while they were in Guatemala City.

On Saturday morning, June 19, the SE Synod visitors painted a wall at the ILAG center, then in the afternoon several native/indigenous women and their children visited ILAG. Glenna Mason helped teach sewing to the women while the others taught the children crafts and Bible stories, and supervised them at play.

Sunday morning we all attended a church, La Resurrección (The Resurrection), which ILAG has supported for several years. While it is in a poor neighborhood the building itself has greatly improved over the last four years and now has a nice floor, a roof, good pews, and is painted. When Bill Emerson first visited the church in 2007 it had a dirt floor and the cinderblock walls were unpainted. Missionary Amanda Olson de Castillo helped conduct the church service. After returning to the Lutheran Center we attended the chapel service at the center. In the afternoon we painted a large railing on the roof of the newest building.

On Monday, 21 June the group left Guatemala City and traveled north over the mountains and through the highlands in preparation for visiting two villages, which we reached the afternoon of Tuesday, 22 June. Each village contained about 12 families. Esther de Castillo and the younger Padre Horacio Castillo were the trip leaders. The last part of the trip included a 2-1/2 + hour ride over rough roads and a ½ hour hike through some muddy trails and crossing a few streams. We reached Bella Vista about noon and attended a two-hour church service, then met with village leaders and had a late lunch.

We then took a boat ride to another village, Porvenir de los Martires, where we helped dedicate a brand new church building and participated in the initial service in the building. We spent the night at this village. We left Porvenir de los Martires on Wednesday, June 23, and took a boat upstream for several miles where we met our van and driver so we could return to Guatemala City, where we arrived about 10:15 pm.
Bishop Horacio Castillo had been hospitalized with a hand injury and he was at the ILAG center when we returned and is recovering well. The SE Synod group, with Amanda, toured Guatemala City and then we visited a school sponsored by ILAG. We taught crafts related to Bible stories to the children at the school.
After a visit to Antigua on Friday, we left on Saturday, 26 June for a return to Atlanta!

Stephen Ministries

The PBS “Religion and Ethics” news show recently aired an eight-minute feature about Stephen Ministry. You can watch online on the PBS web site: www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/tag/stephen-ministry ...just click on the April 9, 2010 “Stephen Ministry” feature.



"Christ Caring for People through People"

What is Stephen Ministry?
Our congregation's Stephen Ministry equips lay people to provide confidential, one-to-one Christian care to individuals in our congregation who are experiencing difficulties in their lives.  Stephen Ministry is a confidential ministry: The identity of those receiving care and what takes place in each caring relationship remains private.

Who can benefit from having a Stephen Minister? 
Anyone who has experienced a change in life that has resulted in stress or loss may benefit by meeting with a Stephen Minister. Throughout life, there are times when each of us needs the care and Christian friendship that a Stephen Minister can provide.

Would you like to learn more?
Please visit the Stephen Ministries Page at www.mlutheran.org.