St. Thomas Kiva Lenders

Wow! The St. Thomas Kiva Lenders have just hit the $5000 mark for the 160 loans that the team has made to men and women all around the globe! That is really exciting! Thank you for being a part of their stories, walking along side of them as they take the initiative to improve their lives. May this continue to be a blessing for many more. Thank you from the Mission Committee!

Visit From Our New Friends From Living Waters

The visit began with breaking bread together at the Bakken home with our new friends from Living Waters (Cherokee, North Carolina, ELCA).

Pastor Jack Russell delivered the sermon as we worshipped together.

Blessing for our new relationship, walking alongside each other in faith.

Sharing gifts with one another, including this gift to us from Living Waters of a "Dream Catcher." We look forward to growing in faith and friendship together!

Prayer for Restless Discomfort

“May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.  May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.  May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.  May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done. Amen!”

    ~from ELCA blog on hungerrummblings

Evening on Islam hosted at St. Thomas on Monday, Sept. 10

Think you don't know enough about the practice of Islam?  Tired of hearing people equate Muslims with terrorism?  On Monday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m. Chris Ogan will host an informational panel about the religion and its practice that also provides information resources for further study.  Zaineb Istrabadi, Instructor of Arabic in IU's Department of Near East Languages and Cultures; Rosemary Pennington, Project Coordinator for Muslim Voices, an Indiana University project dedicated to promoting understanding and dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims; and Chris Ogan, a long-time student of Turkish Muslim culture, society, and media  will be the presentors. 

The evening will also include refreshments of tea and Turkish pastries and sweets.  Please join us.

St. Thomas Mission Fair on September 16

The Mission Committee would like to invite and encourage you to share your passion and knowledge about whatever service/mission projects you might be involved in either through St. Thomas or on your own.  The St. Thomas Mission Fair is on Sunday, September 16 between services and briefly after the late service and we would love to reserve some table space for you to display some literature, photos, objects and more from your organization or activity.   

This is an opportunity to raise awareness for mission related issues or projects here in our community, nationwide or around the globe that are near and dear to your heart.  Just let us know if you would like some table space so that we can reserve it and have a table sign ready for you with the name of the organization or project. 

This event is purely about raising awareness and enthusiasm, not about raising money, so it takes the pressure off and everyone can just share their passion for their activity and learn from each other!

If you have any questions or would like to reserve table space, please contact the Mission Committee (phone or email Shari) or the church office.

Cherokee Jewelry for Sale

On Sunday, August 26, after the early service and before and after the late service, Mission Committee members will be hosting a sale table of beaded Cherokee jewelry made by the women’s group at our mission partner congregation, Living Waters Lutheran Church in Cherokee, North Carolina.  The women use these jewelry sales as their fundraiser for their community service projects, so all funds raised will go directly back to Living Waters.  The jewelry is beautiful—please check out the table next Sunday.

Reflection on the First Delegation to Living Waters

 Pastor Jack and his wife and partner in ministry, Lisa.  Living Waters Church, below.

After a 10-hour drive, the last part of it through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, our delegation arrived in Cherokee, North Carolina, on Thursday night.  On Friday morning, we met with Pastor Jack Russell of Living Waters Lutheran Church.  He spent some time telling us about the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, the land that they now occupy (which is known as the Qualla Boundary), and their congregation.  There are about 13,000 eastern Cherokee--descendents of those who hid from the 1838 forced removal to Oklahoma which became known as the Trail of Tears) who now live on the tribal lands in North Carolina as well as in neighboring parts of that state and other states.  Of the 16 churches that serve the town and surrounding area of Cherokee, Living Waters is the only Lutheran Church -- and only one of 3 congregations that ministers to the community through a food pantry and clothing pantry.
 
We also met Lisa Russell, as well as their daughter and son.  We spent most of the day working in the food pantry (Lisa put our guys to work sorting all of the bulk foods into portion bags) and the clothing closet.  We were able to sort the bags and boxes of your donated clothing into categories for the upcoming distribution on June 27.  Lisa runs a truly remarkable ministry to the Cherokee community from their small church -- clothing is donated to anyone in need who comes to the church on distribution days, but she also works with the local Drug Court to give clothing to young people who are coming out of a rehab program as well as mothers and children living in the local emergency shelter for victims of domestic abuse.  Some of your donations will also go to a local group that works with men and women trying to find employment who need a set of good clothes for their job interviews.  
 
On Saturday, at Pastor Jack's urging that we learn more about the Cherokee history and culture, we went to the wonderful Museum of the Cherokee Indian in town, as well as the Oconaluftee Indian Village, which recreates the life of the eastern Cherokee people in the 1700s.  On Sunday morning, we were warmly welcomed at worship service, which begins with the traditional Cherokee practice of smudging -- sage incense is burned in a large sea shell and the shell is passed to each member of the community, who prays and cleanses themselves four times with the smoke from the incense.  The congregation also sings the Cherokee Morning Song and prays a traditional seven-direction prayer (East-South-West-North-the Sky-Mother Earth-and the inner human spirit).  All these take place before the official Lutheran liturgy begins.  After worship, we joined the congregation for a Father's Day dinner, with Lisa Russell's delicious Indian fry bread made into tacos, as well as lots of great desserts. We met and spoke with many members of the congregation and received a wonderful and warm welcome.  Monday morning, we regretfully left behind our view of the mountains and the cool weather (in the 70s every day we were there) and headed for home.  
 
We are all grateful for the opportunity to have represented our congregation to another loving and giving group of Christians at Living Waters.  We hope that this will be the first of many visits between our congregations.
 
On behalf of our delegation (Ruth Rives, Liz Gaskins, Alonso Saldivar, Darrell Bakken, and Dawn Bakken), thank you.

 Delegates Alonso and Darrell helping in the pantry at Living Waters (above).

 Delegates Liz and Ruth helping in the clothes closet at Living Waters (above).

The Smoky Mountains (above).  Thanks to delegate Dawn for this reflection and the photos!!