ELCA Pacific Typhoon Response

Pacific Typhoon Response

One of the most powerful storms ever recorded, Super Typhoon Haiyan, crashed across the central islands of the Philippines. Your help is needed to make a difference in affected areas. Through partnerships and as a member of ACT Alliance, Lutheran Disaster Response is responding to the most urgent needs of food, water, clothing, shelter, sleeping material and medicine.

Gifts designated to "Pacific Typhoon Response" will be used in full – 100 percent – to help with immediate and long-term need. Your generous offerings of prayer and financial support will help those affected as they journey to recover.
 

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Other Ways to Give:
  

Give by MailLutheran Disaster Response
39330 Treasury Center
Chicago, IL 60694-9300
Write " Pacific Typhoon Response "
on your check's memo line.

Give by Phone
Credit card by phone: 800-638-3522

Donations may also be made online and via your own church.

Please join with others around the world in praying for those affected by these storms.

St Thomas Mission Fair 2013

Youth Group is coordinating our Crop Walk involvement

Thank you to everyone who participated in the St Thomas Mission Fair!  Below are photos from the mission fair booths highlighting several of the many wonderful organizations St Thomas is involved with: MCUM, St. Vincent De Paul's, Opportunity House, Interfaith Winter Shelter, Bread for the World, Network of Biblical Storytellers, Kiva St Thomas Lenders, Crop Walk, Living Waters, New Hope Shelter, Sister Parish, ECHO, St Thomas Community Garden, and Mother Hubbard's Cupboard!

Sunday School's Offering Project to support our missionary and a local Preschool 

Beads from our friends at Living Waters

Interfaith Winter Shelter

Pamela's talking Bible!

Checking out all of the countries where St Thomas Lenders has made Kiva loans.

Beautiful bounty from the St Thomas Community Garden

ECHO and the St Thomas Community Garden table

St Thomas 4-6 graders completed a scavenger hunt with clues for each booth

Bread for the World booth

ELCA Anniversary Celebration at St. Thomas

A BIG thank you to everyone who supplied items for the personal care kits and who helped assemble them Sunday, as we marked the 25th anniversary of the ELCA together! With you help we assembled 78 kits, far exceeding our best guesses - thank you!!

We had a wonderful intergenerational experience, with people a wide variety of people supplying items for the kits. Then on September 8, every child in the Sunday School put together a kit, as well as members of the congregation, Pastor Lyle and youth group. Thank you to the Mission Endowment Fund for assistance with the shipping costs to Lutheran World Relief. The kits are sent all over the world to help people in need, such as immediately after natural disasters.

Our Visit from Karen Anderson, ELCA Missionary

What a delight to have our new missionary, Karen Anderson, join us for a pitch-in/pot luck dinner and presentation. We had a variety of Chilean dishes to try - a few recipes are on the Welcome Center if you wish to try any.



Karen shared some of the educational materials they have developed for community health education on topics such as HIV, nutrition and smoking. She gave a presentation on the activities and impact of EPES, the public health organization in Chile she founded over 30 years ago.



Here are a few of the people who gathered afterwards for a departure photo with Karen. Thanks to everyone who helped with this event. We look forward to learning more about Karen and her ELCA sponsored work in Chile.

Delegation to Living Waters

Welcome home to our second delegation from St. Thomas who went to visit our friends at Living Waters church in Cherokee, North Carolina! Thank you for helping us continue to build our relationship between our communities. Here are a few photos from their trip, thanks to Dean and Kathleen.

Here are our delegates, Dean, Sydney, Ruth, Pastor Jack, Kathleen and Pastor Jack and Lisa's daughter.

St.Thomas supports the food pantry and clothing available to Living Waters - thank you to the Mission Endowment Fund which provided a financial gift to support fresh fruits and vegetables. Below are photos of the pantry and clothes closet.

Delegates were happy to have time to get to know Pastor Jack and his family more this time and have some time to see the museum and other aspects of the community.

With both delegations, we try to be present to participate in worship, joining together as two ELCA congregations. We are thankful for our friends at Living Waters and that we are one body.

If you would like to be a part of future delegations or to participate in other aspects of our relationship with Living Waters, please let the mission committee or church office know.

Meet our new missionary, Karen Anderson!

Come Have Dinner With Our New ELCA Missionary from Chile!

On the evening of Sunday, August 11 we will be gathering at 6 pm at church for a pitch-in meal to get to know our new ELCA missionary, Karen Anderson. This is a great opportunity for our congregation. Missionaries do their best to visit each congregation at least once, so this is wonderful that we get to meet her early on in our new relationship!

Karen writes, "As ELCA global mission personnel in Chile, I look forward to the opportunity to share with you some of the exciting things that have been happening in our health ministry at the Fundación EPES and to learn more about your communities and congregations."

All our welcome! Hope to see you August 11th.

Invitation to Congregation: LWR Personal Care Kits

The Mission Committee would like to invite the congregation to donate items for Lutheran World Relief Personal Care Kits. The Mission Committee is coordinating this as part of the ELCA's "God's Work, Our Hands" nation wide celebration of our 25th anniversary on September 8th.

"When LWR distributes Personal Care Kits, it’s often to people who have lost everything. In the wake of an earthquake, or having fled from violence as their homes were overtaken, they clasp a towel from a faraway place, with a bar of soap, a toothbrush…and washing up, they know that they have not been forsaken by the world.
The very simple gesture of giving a Personal Care Kit can give someone the encouragement to start anew, starting with a bath. You can share God’s grace and love by providing that simple comfort."

Here is the list of items we are seeking this summer for each kit. LWR recommends shopping at stores such as The Dollar Store for these items, especially since thinner towels are sometimes difficult to find in other stores. You are invited to donate one, more or all of these items as you are able:


One light-weight bath-size towel (between 20"×40" & 52"×27"), dark color recommended. The thinner the better rather than super big fluffy towels since they need to be shipped

Two bath-size bars (4 to 5 oz.) of soap, any brand, in original wrapping

One adult-size toothbrush in its original packaging

One sturdy comb

One metal nail clippers (attached file optional)

Please bring the items to church this summer (especially during August) and place in the marked container in the narthex or in the church office. Our deadline is September 8 when we are assembling the kits.

Thank you!