Mission Trips

 

Congregational Trip to Tanzania a few weeks away!
Jambo Rafiki! - In just a few short weeks we leave for Tanzania, Africa - to visit our brothers and sisters at Sing ‘isi Lutheran. As we visit we wish to bring gifts of partnership and support. These gifts not only represent our friendship and love, but also our desire to help some of the poorest people of the world.

We’ve compiled a list of ways that we can make a difference as a congregation. If you would like to help make a donation toward any of these items, it would be appreciated by all! Your donations in any size really represent life to a place where life isn’t a natural assumption. If you have questions, please speak with Pastor Chris or Pastor Margaret. Asante Sana!

 

El Salvador 2011 – Plans for January Trip are Underway!
We are excited to be planning another congregational trip to El Salvador from Jan. 6–15, 2011. The purpose of the trip will be to continue the relationships and further the partnership that we are building with the Lutheran Synod in El Salvador. If you have an interest in being part of this trip, please talk to Pastor Chris or Gretchen Haugse.

El Salvador Trip: College students are encouraged
to be a part of this “unforgettable experience”

      • I feel so honored and blessed to have had this oppor­tunity – the sense of family and friends and fellowship is just confounding.
      • I left El Salvador with a renewed faith, with a new perspective of what’s most important in life, with new friends, and with a strong desire to return next year.
      • We have a lot more to learn from these people than we know.
      • A part of me will always be in the faces, hearts, and hopes of the people.
      • You could see God working through people.

These are just some of the impressions of the college stu­dents who have been part of our trips to El Salvador. All of them would agree that it was a life-changing experience that opened their eyes and their hearts.

Our next trip to El Salvador will take place from Jan. 6–5, 2011, and we would love to have a group of college students join us again on this very meaningful trip where we get to know the people and the needs of El Salvador.

This is a great opportunity to experience another culture and to understand the world as one global community of which we are all a part. It is, in the words of one of our students, “a very humbling experience, to go to a place that you felt had nothing and leave feeling that you couldn’t express all that you’d gained.”

If you are a college student who is interested in the trip or would like more information, please contact Gretchen (414-774-0441, ghaugse@me.com).

 

2010 Blue Ridge Mountain Mission to North Carolina
The Blue Ridge Mountain Mission Trip group has returned from its 8 day Mission Trip to North Carolina!

We celebrated the Mission Trip on Sunday, July 11 at both the 8:30 and 11:00 worship services. Youth and adult speakers shared their experiences at the services.

A special page for the 2010 Youth Mission Trip with details, events, information is [here].

Blue Ridge Mission Trip photos [here]

Blue Ridge Mountain Memories
After months of preparations and planning, the Blue Rridge Mountain mission trip is physically behind us.  But the stories we heard and the experiences we shared will be with us forever. 

  • There was Bob, who with “2 bucks, 2 shovels and an abandoned baseball field” started a community garden in the midst of a neighborhood plagued by violence and poverty.  That garden has become an oasis of peace and promise for the community.  (See the facebook group Pisgah View Community Peace Garden).  Off limits to the gangs that still operate in the area, the garden boasts rows of vegetables and flowers and is home to free-range chickens, bees, and the occasional orphaned duckling or mocking bird. 
  • There were Allen and Freddy, who worked tirelessly and with an abundance of humor to provide homes to first-time homeowners through Habitat for Humanity.
  • There was Susan, whose passion for the health of the earth fuels her tireless crusade to beautify all areas of Asheville, from the projects to parks.
  • There were the women at the thrift store who were moved to tears by the work ethic of the St. Matthew’s group.
  • There was Jen, whose administrative skills and heart for children translated into a program that provided mentorship and essential skills for low-income children.
  • There was Pastor Austin who opened his church to a group of teenagers putting on a VBS for his parishioners and whose deep faith and passion for justice enflame his ministry.
  • There was 4-year-old David, who was has undergone several surgeries for birth defects and whose smile was ever present and all encompassing.

All of these people and countless others who were part of our experience in Asheville, have enlarged our community and given enhanced meaning to the image of the church as the body of Christ.  All of them and their varied and diverse gifts have given face to Christ’s command to love your neighbor as yourself.  Through them, we were blessed to see the good that exists in a world that is too often defined by negative occurrences. 

We thank you for all of the ways that you support this trip that is such an integral part of the faith journeys of all the participants.

- Gretchen Haugse

 

El Salvador mission trip, January 7-15, 2010
Our mission trip to El Salvador took place January 7-15. This was a very meaningful trip with the group getting to know the people and the needs of El Salvador. Activities included cultural visits as well as various service activities, such as teacher training events and a possible remodeling project at Casa Esperanza. Photos and videos are now posted online.

The photo here is of the El Salvador mission trip participants at an historic meeting with Bridge community Santa Maria's mayor including "Engineers Without Borders" Wisconsin representative and other community officials. Click photo to enlarge.

Video slideshow of the El Salvador Mission Trip [here]

Photos of the 2010 El Salvador Mission Trip are online [here].

Videos of the 2010 El Salvador Mission Trip are online [here].

 

Photos: El Salvador Global Mission Forum Dec. 6
Photos of the Youth-Adult Forum with Dan Beirne are [here].

 

Mission trip slideshow
 (New Jersey 2008 and El Salvador & Colorado 2009)

 

 

2009 Road to the Rockies

A group of 65 youth and adults participated in the "Road to the Rockies" Mission Trip June 20-28. The “in-tents” experience will took them to Harvest Farm in Wellington, Colorado, a residential rehabilitation center for men recovering from drug and alcohol additions. The group stayed at Harvest Farm all week, with most of the group sleeping in tents.

Because the group was so large, it was not possible for all of them to work on the farm at the same time, so half of the group worked on the farm alongside the men, while the other half worked at various other sites in Fort Collins. Those sites included a Habitat house, a food pantry, neighborhood agencies which have property chores for the group, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Larimer County. The group was divided so that everyone will work at the farm for 2 days during the week, and all had the opportunity to share daily meals and devotions with the residents.

Photos of the Mission Trip are found on the Photo Album pages here.

 

2006 and 2007 Missions to Biloxi

Photos are now online from the 2006 and 2007 Mission Trips to Biloxi, Mississippi. In both 2006 and 2007 the groups made side trips to other locations, including Graceland (Memphis, TN) and New Orleans. Photos are included of the Mission Trip projects, as well as "off time" activities. Check them out here.