Youngchurch
Compassionate kids I
t’s a world where a lot of people deal with poverty, hunger and dis- ease on a daily basis. Thankfully,
ELCA youth know how to show compassion and care. Youth at St. John Lutheran
Send stories of your youth group (pre- school-confirmation age) or craft ideas to: Andrea Pohlmann, 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago IL 60631; andrea.pohlmann@
thelutheran.org.
Church, Marion, Wis., put their hearts into an effort for Haiti. The people of Haiti are suffering from the aftereffects of the 2010 earthquake, including cholera. Thousands have died from this waterborne disease. In a sermon, Gisele Berninghaus, pastor of St. John, talked about how the people of Haiti are struggling and how ELCA Disaster Response is pro- viding aid (
www.elca.org/disaster). Some of St. John’s children took it upon themselves to start a fundraiser called “Hearts for Haiti” to support the ELCA’s efforts. The students make paper hearts, which they give to people who contribute $1 to their cause. So far, these kids have raised more than $75 for Haiti relief. Disease due to a lack of clean water is a problem for many in the world. To help, Sunday school kids at St. Mark Lutheran Church, Valley, Neb., collected 300,000 pennies over a four-month period as part of “Pen- nies to SWIM.” SWIM—Safe Water International Ministries—distributes technology to areas in need (www.swimforhim. net). St. Mark’s money will help SWIM provide a water purification system that can meet the needs of a village of 1,000 people.
The kids col-
lected their money in a 5-gallon water jug. They sought donations, raked leaves and more to earn these pennies. One youth report-
40 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Eight children strong, youth at Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Dorothy, N.J., are powerful advocates in the fight against hunger. Among their projects is the ELCA’s Buck-a-Chick sale, where coloring pages lead to chicks for families living in poverty.
edly cleaned his parents’ cars out each night to look for change. Hunger is also an issue where kids show compassion. Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Dorothy, N.J., may only have eight kids in Sunday school, but their fundraising prowess has proven mighty. The youth, ages 4 to 10, have collected more than $1,000 to help eradicate global and local hunger. In 2010, the children performed a Christmas program called “Hold Onto
Your Hat, it’s Christmas.” After the service, they sold personalized Bethe- lehem Lutheran hats that they had designed. With the proceeds, they bought more than $300 worth of goats and chicks through God’s Global Barnyard, which supports animal-related projects of ELCA World Hunger (www.elca. org/hunger/barnyard). They also donated $300 to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission to fight local hunger.
The children also participated in the ELCA’s Buck-a-Chick sale during
Lent. They colored 280 chicks using a coloring page they downloaded from ELCA World Hunger’s website. By selling their work for $1 each, they raised $280 to give chicks—a source of food and income—to families living in poverty. M
Youth at St. John Lutheran Church, Marion, Wis., raise money to help Haitians recovering from hurricanes by making and selling paper hearts.
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