Interfaith Shelter Gratitude Celebration

Dear Ones -
Thank you, thank you, thank you! We have successfully completed our mission to provide a warm safe place to sleep in Bloomington, Indiana from November 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010! Congratulations on a job well done (but not finished). As many of you have expressed, our work is not complete because tonight there will be 30+ people looking for another place to sleep. So, the IWSI Task Force has extended my contract to organize a Homelessness Summit to bring together all interested parties in the next few months to work toward a innovative and integrated solution to our community situation.
Please contact me if you would like to help with the planning.

A more urgent matter is we have planned a Gratitude Celebration for the IWSI, in particular, for all the volunteers who made the program a success. It will be from 5-7 pm on Sunday, April 11, 2010, at First United Church, 2420 E. Third Steet, Bloomington. We have planned an IU Jazz Ensemble to play, along with refreshments, including finger foods. It will be a
wonderful way to celebrate the IWSI community we have built. We need a fairly accurate count of how many people to prepare food for, so please RSVP to me by 5:00 pm Tuesday April 6 if you are planning on attending. You can RSVP directly to me at tom@innerspark.org.

With deep gratitude,
Tom
Rev. Dr. Thomas F. Capshew, Interfaith Minister
Interfaith Winter Shelter Administrator
Cell Phone (812) 219-6734

Violence in Nigeria and the Mashiah Foundation Update

For World Aid's Day a couple years ago, we supported an ELCA effort in Nigeria called The Mashiah Foundation/Women of Hope for women and children with HIV/AIDS through a sale of their quilted items. They also spoke at the ELCA Global Mission Event and created the magnificent gigantic quilt (in this photo above) that they gave to the ELCA. Here is the link if you would like to learn more them:

http://www.mashiahfoundation.org/

I recently emailed them to find out how they are doing with the recent violence in Nigeria and received this update from the parents of the missionaries:

Hi--

Thanks for your concern. We've talked to Mary Beth a couple times since the violence began Sunday morning. They haven't experienced anything or heard any fighting where they are. In fact, on Sunday Mary Beth spent the afternoon at a nearby pool with the kids. Today Hillcrest notified all parents to pick up their kids at noon. Other activities around the community and ministry ground to a halt too because so many people just chose to go home and not be out on the streets. She doesn't know if anything more is happening or if people are being super cautious. It's interesting that this violence is receiving so much news coverage while the violence in January, which was much worse, didn't make the news at all. That was probably due to the fact that the Haiti earthquake happened about the same time.

Rick and I just returned Saturday from our month-long visit to Nigeria. We were originally scheduled to go over there right as the January riots took place. The result was that we delayed our trip for two weeks. We felt safe while we were there, and even went about most of our usual in-town excursions. There are military personnel at various spots throughout the city to stop rioting as it happens. Yesterday's violence occurred in small villages on the outskirts of Jos.

Thanks for your prayers.

Sandi

News from Francisca in Chile

We received this email from Francisca today:

Hi!
Don´t worry friends, in my house nothing happened, because my house is very strong and solid, only it was the fright of the sudden movement of all the things for the earthquake, lamentably in other places of my country the houses fall out and the families stayed in the street, but we have a good government here at the time are calm of that everything will go out well. Only it is a thing of time. Thank you for your worry! I love you.
Francisca

Who is that with Cindy?

You might notice someone new worshiping with Cindy from our committee. Please take a minute to welcome Jonatan, Cindy's husband, during his first trip to the US! Welcome to St. Thomas Jonatan!

World Day of Prayer

World Day of Prayer will be celebrated on March 5. See the bulletin insert for details. Women around the world especially celebrate this day. See the article in the Lutheran magazine discussing how important this day is to so many people. Consider participating in some way to show your solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Christ around the world, whether at home or as part of the local recognition discussed in the bulletin insert.

Prayers for Chile

Please keep the people of Chile in your prayers after the massive earthquake there recently. Please pray specifically also for our sister synod and the family of Francisca, the youth who visited us this summer.

Here is an update on the situation in Chile from the IK Synod Office:

Partners in Mission,

As you know by now, Chile was hit with a serious earthquake the morning of February 27. The ELCA has released news about how the earthquake is affecting our companion church, the IELCH (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile). Here is a link to the most recent (as of 6:00 EST Saturday evening):

http://www.elca.org/News/Releases.asp?a=4461

In addition, through other communications channels I have received the following bits of information about some particular individuals and congregations, some of which is in the news release linked above.

From ELCA churchwide staff: The earthquake was really major and long. Both Pastora Gloria Rojas and Karen Anderson (ELCA missionary who works with EPES, a community health organization in Chile) are in their homes communicating by phone (cell phones do not work). Pastora Gloria has been able to contact all the congregations and pastors except Concepcion. Concepcion and Talca (near Concepcion) is where the major damage happened because of the proximity to the epicenter and has no communication. There are two IELCH congregations in/near Concepcion.

From an I-K Synod Global Mission Committee member's phone conversation with Pastora Gloria's son: Everyone in Santiago is doing well some structures tumbled they do not know how extensive the damage is at this time but they do know that Pastor Oscar (who serves in Concepcion) and his family are doing well.
I have sent a communication to Pastora Gloria assuring her that the people of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod are in prayer for her as she leads her church through this tragedy and for the people of the IELCH as they minister to one another and others around them even as many of them assess damage, work through grief and uncertainty, and look for a way forward.
Please share this information as broadly as possible, accompanied by encouragement to hold Pastora Gloria Rojas, the people of the IELCH, and the people of Chile in prayer. As more information becomes available we will share it synodically. In coming days we will also be in conversation with IELCH leadership about ways in which we as a synod can best express our companionship with our sisters in brothers in Chile, both in the immediate future and in the weeks and months ahead.

In the meantime, if folks desire to give immediate financial donations to Lutheran relief work in Chile they may do so through the ELCA's International Disaster Response at:

https://community.ELCA.org/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=537.

Thank you for your solidarity with the people of the IELCH and of Chile in general as they now seek to stand on the firm foundation of God's gracious promise of resurrection and new life.

Grace, mercy and peace be with you,

Pastor Bill Gafkjen
Assistant to the Bishop
(Campus Ministry, Candidacy, Global Mission & Synod Assembly Planning)
Director for Evangelical Mission

Note from Missionaries Kate and David

February 18, 2010

Dear Friends:

A couple of days ago our family boarded a plane from Boston to Buenos Aires and our two and half month home assignment came to an end. As we now reflect on what this time back in the United States has meant to us, the image of the medieval pilgrimage comes to mind. Medieval pilgrims usually set out toward a specific destination in light of a particular event. They traveled to be eyewitnesses of sacred events and places. They went seeking first-hand knowledge and experiences of a particular way God can "break into" human lives and transform us for God's own purposes. In our case the destination has been into the heart and hearths of your congregations and homes. The event has been the celebration of our shared faith in Christ and our connection through global mission.

As with the medieval tradition of showing hospitality to pilgrims and wayfarers -- who were warmed by the glowing embers of the hearths of inns and homes along the way -- you have so generously received us in your congregations and homes. You have welcomed us with potlucks replete with delicious food as we gathered around tables for joyful fellowship. We helped complete the circles around your Communion tables and joined our voices with yours in prayer and songs of thanksgiving and praise. We were privileged to be invited into the intimacy of many of your homes to swap stories over an evening cup of tea in your living room or a morning coffee at the kitchen table. We truly had the privilege of many delightful moments of fellowship during this time! Thank you!

Your hospitality has sustained us along the way and has strengthened us for our journey now back to our ministry in South America. Visiting your local missions and ministries has energized us with a renewed sense of passion and purpose. Like the pilgrims who returned to their ordinary lives with so many tales from afar, we return with all the richness of the life and faith stories that you have shared with us.

We also want to give a special thanks to our siblings and parents who helped to care for our children Emily and Matthew during much of the time we were visiting sponsoring congregations.

Tomorrow we leave for a camping retreat with the Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) volunteers who are serving in Argentina and Uruguay this year. It will be like the crossroads where the paths of several pilgrims meet as we share tales of our travels with them and hear their stories from these months that we have been away. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

In Christ,

Kate and David

Attached pictures:

One of several happy reunion moments with our children after being away visiting sponsoring congregations.