RHONDA VANOVER
While they prepare peach delight, a dessert , Jericho Moses (left), Rhiannon Merculief and Lindsey Beans-Polk get direction from Jana Deiss, pastor of Table of Grace Lutheran Church in Bethel, Alaska. Table of Grace and other community partners launched Kids in the Kitchen to help children like Fiola Dema (inset) learn to grow produce, read nutrition facts and cook healthy, affordable meals.
help. They are young single parents. They are widows and former farmers. “Tobacco’s gone now. That’s really had an impact,” said Sharon Seneker, the agency’s director. Appalachian Helping Hands has a special heart for children, with Eas- ter baskets and Christmas presents, along with baseball and dance outfits. It has its own bicycle ministry. Local churches, including St. James Lutheran, Greeneville, began the ministry and remain strong sup- porters. But money is scarce. “We roll pennies to keep this min- istry going,” Seneker said.
Where family helps family “Family” is a big word for Richard Suero, pastor of Faith/Santa Fe Lutheran Church, Milwaukee. It’s how he built this church’s member- ship from 45 to 600 in seven years. Transplanted Latin American fam- ilies were growing the neighborhood. But when Suero arrived, the church had a rule that its pantry could only be used by members—even if they didn’t attend worship. “It wasn’t ... a real ministry. It was about coming, taking and going,” he
22 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
said. So Suero opened up the pantry to the community.
At dawn on Saturdays, he greeted and prayed with pantry visitors. Soon they came to worship. Like a brother, he tended to their needs. A man with a wrenching ulcer couldn’t get health insurance. Suero knocked on clinic doors until a willing sur- geon answered.
And now the pantry, called Des- pensa Latina, serves 150 families. “When people know you are here for them, they have another part of the family ... the church,” Suero said. There is another aspect of family for Suero, and that’s the greater com- munity of businesses, social-service agencies and other churches that now help him. “This is my calling: to make the family grow,” he said.
Filling the gap in the suburbs The Community Resource Center at St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Mahto- medi, Minn., connects hundreds of needy families in the northeast Twin Cities suburbs to the help they need. Four years ago, St. Andrew’s members already were working hard to lessen poverty in the inner city. But
with the downturn, the church was getting calls from the neighborhood, where services were scattered, non- existent or hard to get to.
“People were feeling lost,” said Kellie Cardinal, center director. St. Andrew’s leaders met with agencies and churches to figure out what a one-stop center might look like. A member then donated $150,000, enough to start the Com- munity Resource Center in the church’s great hall. In a year, the center has helped 750 families with food, hotel stays, case management, résumés and prayer.
A welcoming place
They came from refugee camps in Africa a half dozen years ago, drawn to Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, Glen Ellyn, Ill., for English
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52