June 2013 Mission Trip

Project 52 - 2013 Mission Trip

The June 2013 Mission Trip for Project 52 will take us to the small village of Las Charcas, Dominican Republic. We will be building a baseball field and working at a medical clinic. The deadline to decide is Jan. 15, 2013. For more information, contact Bill Clark or Pastor Tim Phillips.

Honduras Fundraiser
Weekends: Jan. 12 and 13 and Jan. 19 and 20, 2013

Purchase food items from Schwann’s and help raise money for those who will be going to Honduras in June.

Pre-orders will be taken on Jan. 12, 13, 19 and 20 between church services. A check payment will be needed with all pre-orders. Pre-orders will ensure you get the items you want. Gift cards will also be available to purchase.

Schwann’s trucks will be on site in the parking lot Sunday, Jan. 27 from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. New orders can be placed, and pre-orders can be picked up during that time. If you can’t get your pre-order on Jan. 27, please ask someone to pick it up for you. Thanks for your support. If you have any questions, please contact Pastor Phillips.

Project 52 Bowl-a-Rama
Sunday, Jan. 27 from 3-5 p.m. at Merle Hay Lanes in Urbandale

Project 52 would like to invite your entire family for an afternoon of fun for a great cause.

Here is how it works: Each bowler is to collect pledges for the event. We have space for 24 teams of 4-6 people. Each participant will be able to bowl two games (shoe rental included), enjoy pizza and drinks for free. Prizes will be awarded for most pledges collected, individual and team, high individual score and much more. If you are interested, there are sign-up sheets at the Welcome Centers. If you have any questions, contact Bill Clark.

Funds raised from the event will help build a baseball field in the remote village of Las Charcas, Dominican Republic. Since baseball is a popular sport, this new field will serve as an outreach to the youth. Please join us, and invite your friends. See you on the lanes!

Mission Prayer

Pray For Us Calendar

Mission prayer needs for missionaries, mission staff and partner churches. The following prayer requests were submitted to LCMS World Mission by your coworkers in the Lord's mission around the world. Click here for the link to the Pray For Us Calendar.

Prayers and Support Are Needed

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, we begin to see the devastating destruction of entire neighborhoods that occurred in seven states.

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has established a fund to those affected by the storm, so we encourage you to give financially to their efforts by clicking here. Gloria Dei will forward all funds received to the LCMS Hurricane Sandy Relief fund.

If you prefer to give a check or cash, we will provide envelopes in this week's Weekly Word.

Please continue to pray that God will provide comfort for those who have experienced great loss, and meet the needs for those who have been devastated by the storm.

President Harrison has addressed the relief by this video. Watch Video

To connect to the LCMS Web site, click here.

Joppa Outreach

"Share the Heat" Campaign

Donations provided heat for the homeless in the Des Moines vicinity. For example, a $20 donation will provide one week’s heat and a $80 donation will provide one month’s heat.
All donors will receive a tax deductible receipt for their donations from Joppa, a local non-profit organization created to foster a community of unconditional love, support and hope for the homeless.
Last winter, Joppa’s Founder and Executive Director, Joe Stevens, provided propane gas for 50 dwellings, but the cost became more than what he anticipated. This year’s
projection is $8,000 for the propane and heaters.

For additional information, you can contact Joe Stevens.

For moreinformation about helping the homeless, click here.

Missionaries at Mission Central

Mission Central located at 40718 Highway E. 16, Mapleton, Iowa, is a continual host for missionaries. Check out the list of missionaries who will be speaking. Please take some time and pray for them as well.

Missionaries speaking Mission Central

Mission Central's Web site

Orphan Grain Train

Relief for Human Need Worldwide

In loving response to Christ, the Servant, the Orphan Grain Train movement encourages and enables God’s people to share personal and material resources in bringing Christ’s name and character to needy people both far and near.

Sometimes that character expresses itself as a word well- spoken, sometimes as a bandage well-applied, and sometimes as a child well-fed.

To read about the latest relief news: Click here.

Tibet China News

In fulfilling our G.R.A.C.E. Vision of being courageous in outreach, we support three ministries outside of our nation, Uganda, Honduras and China. The following excerpt is from our partners in the China/Tibet area describing the impact of two churches that we have financially helped to build.
Your involvement reaches beyond the temporary. We just completed the construction of a new church building in a very remote place. We wanted you to see it and understand its meaning and to thank you from our hearts for your incredible faithfulness and prayers. We give special thanks to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, who prayed and raised the major funds for this project.
In the culture we live in, a building displays something more, something beyond the temporary. The building becomes a statement about those who use it. It says they are serious about what they believe; it says what they believe is here to stay and is meaningful for the community. It says they are a positive part of the community and the nations.
Please know that your faithfulness, your prayers and your involvement goes beyond the temporary in more ways than we can express.

Prayer Requests
Please remember to support Tibet through your prayers.
Pray for God’s opportunities to live beyond the temporary among the Chinese.
Pray for the Chinese Christians.
Pray for opportunities in Tibet, China for the people there and our outreach.
Pray for breakthroughs in the stronghold of Tibetan Buddhism.

Report from China

by Brad Peyton, Shining City Foundation representative

Shining City Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charity with which Gloria Dei has worked on several missions-related projects in China.

Shining City Foundation got its start in 1998 when two Gloria Dei members, Scott Raecker and Brad Peyton were introduced to a Christian couple who had been living in China and working with an orphanage in Yunnan Province. The couple had helped the orphanage take in abandoned children, in some cases literally rescuing newborns from dumpsters in back alleys. Through their efforts, care for the orphans, particularly infants, was also greatly improved and mortality was reduced dramatically.

Raecker and Peyton were so impressed with the couple's work, they decided to seek financial support for the many humanitarian projects the couple had been doing in China. Beginning with a series of smaller projects designed to improve living conditions at another orphanage in China, Shining City Foundation began to take shape.

Eventually, with the aid of grants and financial support from Grinnell College, Rotary International and members of Gloria Dei, Shining City Foundation has been able to provide housing for over 60 orphans, develop a farm that is capable of providing food for nearly 300 orphans, develop and equip a medical clinic that serves a rural village of about 5,000 people, provide solar-powered water heaters, medical supplies and bedding for a rural school for over 400 children, and provide ongoing educational scholarships that continue to support over 200 students.

In 2001, Raecker and Peyton traveled to China to see the work being done there firsthand. This initial trip inspired subsequent trips in 2002, 2005 and 2007 to review progress on existing projects and to plan new ones. Gloria Dei members who participated in one or more of those trips included: Scott and Martha Raecker, Deb and Dan Timmons, Andy and Marilyn Varley, Jared and Mary Walter and Brad Petyon.

With the earthquake in Sichuan Province earlier this year on May 12, many new challenges and opportunities to introduce Christ to the people of China are emerging. With the help of Gloria Dei and its members, Shining City Foundation is already responding to those needs. For more information on the work being done by Shining City Foundation and Gloria Dei in China, please contact Deb Timmons at 289-0360.

For more information about Shining City, please go to www.shiningcity.org

Work in Taiwan

Since part of our vision is to be courageous in outreach, we support many ministries throughout the world. During the month of April, we will highlight the work and the culture of Taiwan where Dr. Stephen and Maggie Oliver serve. Last year, Gloria Dei gave $7,000 from our mission envelope offerings to help their work in Taiwan.

The Olivers

Dr. Stephen and Maggie Oliver serve as career missionaries in Asia, where Stephen is the Asia theological education facilitator and New Testament professor at China Lutheran Seminary in Hsinchu, Taiwan. He teaches New Testament courses to Chinese students who are preparing to be pastors, counselors, missionaries, evangelists, teachers, directors of Christian education and pastor's wives to grow in their faith and service. In addition, as LCMS World Mission's Asia Theological Education Coordinator, Dr. Oliver facilitates mutual support, interaction, visits, and communication among the seminaries to build upon their efforts to train indigenous servants of the cross to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth and shepherd Jesus' flock.

Born in Memphis, Tenn., Stephen grew up in Japan and in the southern and western sections of the United States. He graduated from Concordia University, Portland, Oregon, and from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. Stephen then served as pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Carlisle, Iowa. He met his wife, Maggie, in Taiwan. In 2006, Maggie earned a Master of Arts in counseling from China Lutheran Seminary. Last year, Isaac joined the family on May 13, 2007.

"My main prayer request," Stephen said, "is that I would learn the Bible and Chinese well with a heart that is pleasing to the Lord (I Corinthians 13:1). I pray that God will give me his love for Chinese people so that through this ministry, the Spirit will work fruitfully in many peoples' lives."

Taiwan Fact Sheet

Population: 23 million
Size: 13, 99 square miles
Average Income: $14,000 per year
Economy: Industry and Commerce
Religion: Chinese folk religion 93%; Christians 4.5%
Language" Mandarin (official) Taiwanese
Government: Multi-party Democracy
Literacy: 96%
Climate: Tropical
Life Expectancy: 77 years

More Facts about Taiwan

Located 100 miles from the Chinese mainland, the mountainous island of Taiwan is home for 23 million people. Ancestors of the modern-day Taiwanese are Han Chinese, who migrated from the mainland two to three centuries ago and today make up 97 percent of the population. After the fall of the Chinese mainland to the Communist Party in 1949, Taiwan became the refuge of the Nationalist Chinese government.
On September 30, 2007, Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party approved a resolution asserting a separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country." It also called for general use of Taiwan as the island's name, without abolishing its formal name, the Republic of China.
Taiwan is one of the most densely populated countries in the world: 1,500 persons per square mile. Three of four Taiwanese are city-dwellers. Whereas 40 years ago, agriculture contributed about half the nation's wealth; today industry and commerce account for 75 percent. Taiwan's dynamic capitalist economy makes it the 13th largest trading power in the world.
More than 68 percent of Taiwan's people practice Chinese folk religions, a blending of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, with traditional religion. A strong emphasis is on the veneration of ancestors and the worship of many gods. Most people follow traditional religious practices out of respect for their culture and family. However, the youth are secularists and have abandoned family religions.
LCMS Work
The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod began work in Taiwan in 1951. The China Evangelical Lutheran Church Taiwan (CELC) became an LCMS partner church in 1966. In 1967, Concordia Middle School opened and continues to educate middle school and high school youth. Each year, 200 graduating seniors enter the highly competitive university system of Taiwan.

Information supplied by the Web sites of LCMS, Wikipedia and Taiwan

2012 Honduras Mission Trip - Saturday, June 30 -Saturday, July 7, 2012

Posted June 17, 2012

The team from Gloria Dei is eagerly preparing for the trip to Honduras from June 30-July 7. The team consists of Gary Wasko, Christine Wasko, Tim Phillips, Ashlynn Boerhave (non-member from South Dakota), Taylor Bergman (non-member, Bill Clark’s nephew) and Bill Clark.
They plan to help with evangelism, children’s ministry and provide general medical, dental and pharmaceutical services to those in Honduras.
In the last year, many individuals from Gloria Dei have come alongside to support this trip: The sixth grade girls made blankets on May 20; Gloria Dei Quilters created many beautiful quilts (check out the Narthex); individuals gave eye glasses, vitamins and other medical items, and many financial donations were received to purchase Spanish Bibles.
Thank you for your support, and please pray for this team as they reach out to our brothers and sisters in Honduras.

General Information:
 Medical/Evangelism trips include: evangelism, children’s ministry, general medical, dentistry, and pharmacy. They may also include optometry and chiropractic if you have optometrists, ophthalmologist, and/or chiropractors as members of your team.
 Teams reside at Casa de Esperanza (new mission house) in a very comfortable setting. Bedrooms have bunk beds, showers and modern restroom facilities. Both American and Honduran meals are served
throughout the week.
 Days usually begin at 6:15 A.M. with daily team devotions.
 Casa de Esperanza has 24 hour security.
 Typical clothing is Jeans, T-shirts, poncho, comfortable shoes and one casual outfit for Church. Bedding and towels are furnished.
 Passport is required. Since it takes time to obtain a passport, it is extremely important that you begin this process immediately. It is important to know that passports must have 91 days of validity remaining upon
your return to the United States

If interested, contact Bill Clark at 491-8543 or e-mail Bill.

History of trips

A trip to honor and to build - Dominican Republic Feb. 2012

View a short video of the trip.

What started as a random seat arrangement on a plane in 2006 ended up with a commitment to help those in poverty. Dustin Blythe, Bill Clark and Pastor John Dawson were complete strangers on a three-hour flight from Houston to Honduras for a mission trip. They quickly forged a friendship and bounced ideas on how to form a charity to serve others. What they did not know upon their arrival back in the states was the news that would change all of their lives forever—Dustin’s 18-year-old son, Treye had been murdered. He was tragically stabbed to death while pulling a friend out of a fight.

Despite the devastating loss, Dustin, Bill and Pastor John continued to work on the prospects of starting a charity. The idea of “Project 52” came to Bill one night when looking at a photo of Treye wearing his football jersey touting the number “52.”

The number 52 was a perfect number—52 weeks in the year to help people as well as the great reminder of God’s unfailing love in Psalm 52.

But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God’s unfailing love. Psalm 52:8

Last year the number took on another dimension during a conversation on a rooftop in the Dominican Republic with Bill; Wayne Blythe, Treye’s grandfather; and Matt Banzhaf, Treye’s high school friend. A missionary, Cristian Santiago, shared his dream about building a gym facility on the third floor of a vocational school that serves 100 young people each day. When Cristian said they needed $52,000 to fund the project, without hesitation all three men replied, “Yes, count us in!”

During the following 52 weeks, Project 52 organized numerous fund-raisers to build the gym, and indeed raised more than the $52,000. On Feb 19, Treye’s 24th birthday, a team of 24 individuals, including Treye’s grandparents and cousin along with eight of Treye’s friends, as well as members from Gloria Dei and other churches will dedicate the newly constructed “Project 52 Treye Blythe Gymnasium.”

“It’s hard to express in words just how special this dedication is going to be for everyone that is or has been involved in this project,” says Matt. “To be able to honor Treye’s legacy and unveil a state-of-the-art gymnasium for that community on what would have been his 24th birthday, is truly special.”

“I’m extremely happy that the gym is going to be named after Treye,” says Corey Viet, another high school friend traveling with the team. “It is going to be a pretty emotional event, because there were so many memories in high school made in the weight room and playing athletics. Treye was always looking to improve athletically and it is a huge honor to be a part of the dedication to honor him.”

The gymnasium will be opened to the local school and to the public. A local man whose life was radically changed by Jesus Christ will staff the gym. He believes the gym will provide a positive alternative for young adults who are wasting their time and talents on the streets. Within this mentoring framework, he plans to share Jesus’ love by example and word.

Treye’s father, Dustin, also believes in the possibilities of the gym. “My hope for the gym is that it will be a sanctuary for young kids to not only get off the street, but to give them an outlet where they can engage in healthy activities,” says Dustin. “Treye’s story will be visible to them as well, and my hope is that they can take the lessons of Treye’s death (how we treat others and speak to others can have profound implications) and learn from that in a positive way. The gym is also part of the Christian school, so my hope is every child that enters that gym hears the Gospel as well.”

After the dedication, the team will be involved in working with several non-profit organizations as well as a surprise construction project for Juanito, a man who works at the school and raises two small children alone. Last year, the team built a one-bedroom and a one-bathroom home on a piece of land that Juanito proudly purchased. Since more funds were raised than needed for the gymnasium, Bill and the team plan to surprise Juanito with the resources and labor to complete the house by adding another bedroom, kitchen and living room.

“Our contacts in Dominican know our plans, and they promised not to tell Juanito,” smiles Bill.

Since Project 52 will continue to rally to “help the least of these,” they plan to spend the next 52 weeks after their February trip to raise additional funds to furnish the gymnasium with cardiovascular machines.

“I think the gym will honor Treye’s legacy in the same way he died. Treye laid down his life for someone he barely knew—yet in his death he has impacted so many,” says Treye’s father. “This gym will be an extension of that, as his name and his memory will be on a gym for kids he has never met. I hope it inspires the kids in that community to achieve great things–and when they are able, to give back to others.”

For more information or to donate to Project 52, click here.

History of trips

Uganda seminary student update

In 2006, Gloria Dei committed to support Yeko Waako, an Ugandan who desired to attend seminary. He was passionate about the opportunity to gain knowledge that would match his desire to share God’s love and grace. He has now completed three years of his seminary and will soon commence his fourth year as a vicar in Uganda.
In a recent correspondence to Pastor Burcham, Yeko writes, “I sincerely appreciate all you and the church have done for me. I pray that you pass my thanks to all the brothers and sister in Christ over there.”
Yeko continues, “Life in the seminary is a blessing since you have made my study of theology, which is the primary goal, a possibility but has also been a great challenge in terms of daily needs.” Due to his limited source of income, he faces financial hardship to meet basic daily needs. In addition, his visa recently expired and must be renewed.
To renew it, he must submit a medical certificate, police clearance, repatriation and the visa fee itself. His application is made to the South African embassy which is inundated with numerous requests because of the 2010 World Cup.
Yeko has requested additional funds to cover some of the necessary expenses for his last year of seminary. He also inquired about obtaining a used computer to assist him in his final year at seminary and in future ministry assignments.

Since Gloria Dei is committed to being courageous in outreach and we want to support Yeko in his godly pursuits, we have granted all his requests.
Please keep Yeko in your prayers. Life in Uganda is quite a bit different than in America where we have so many luxuries at our fingertips. God is faithful on both continents, so pray for Yeko’s family, his final year of seminary, his needs being met and that he continues to see God’s mighty hand upon his life and ministry.

Uganda Fact Sheet:
Population: 29.9 million
Life expectancy: 50 years
Adult literacy rate: 67%
Official Language: English
Secondary Language: Luganda
Religions: Christian and Muslim
Government: Democratic Republic
Economy: Services sector; previously agriculture; also recent discovery of oil and natural gas
Source: Careinternational.org.uk

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is dedicated to helping people. For more information about their missions and prayer needs, click here.

You tube