Southwood Lutheran Church

Honduras Trip Update

We received another update from our Honduras Team:

Another day in Paradise! Finished Christ homes and sewing projects. We have finished 5 gardens so far and one more on Thursday. VBS has been fantastic with the youth. They have been great to have this week.

Natalie is back to normal so everyone is in good health.

Youth did the devotions last night. They shared their experiences and thoughts which were very neat and touching. We also did communion together and that was a great experience. God has touched our group deeply this week. We are all having a great time with relationships and fellowship. Thank you for all of your prayers.

God Bless,
Bob

Thank you for all of your prayers. They will return to Lincoln on Saturday, March 17.

Honduras Mission Team Update

Currently, 15 volunteers are serving in Hondruas. Please continue to keep them in your prays because knowing that people are praying for them helps strengthen and encourages them. Pray for safe travel, good health, and that there work will continue to strengthen our relationship with our brothers and sisters in La Ceibita.

Here is an update from trip participant, Bob Kacvinsky:

Hi from paradise. The youth are making a lot of friends and everyone has been having a very good trip. Natilee got sick last night so keep her in your prayers. Sunday we went with the church leaders on a boat ride on Lake Yojoa and had dinner with them at the resort. We went to services Sunday night. Andy and Cheryl gave testimonials and Jeremy lead the congregation in singing. Cool experience.

On Monday, we finished trimming one house and will work on the other one Tuesday. Jeremy, Lynn, Kelly, Alec and I worked with two families to build 3 gardens and teach them about vegetables. Cheryl has been teaching two women how to make uniforms and they are doing great.

Andy, Lynn, and Kelly went to town yesterday (Monday) to purchase the food for the meal on Monday night. During the day, we had 100 in the yard playing soccer, kickball, baseball, bubbles, and Frisbee – all at the same time. Looked like a war zone but everyone was having a great time.

This morning (Tuesday), Jeremy gave a testimony and had everyone holding back tears. Today we will finish the second home, continue the sewing projects and gardening project.

Everyone is doing great!

God Bless,
Bob Kacvinsky

Pastor Sara Sabbatical: UPDATE

During the summer months, Pastor Sara is on sabbatical for 12 weeks spending time with our sister church in Tanzania. She will teach and preach, visit families and pray with people. Most importantly, we pray that God will use this time to strengthen Southwood’s partnership with Uswaa in ways that will deepen our relationships with God and with each other. Occasionally she sends updates on her experiences. Below is one of her recent thoughts. 

 

Lights

Two years ago Heidi and I visited with Job Urassa, the father of Irene, who is the student we sponsor in Secondary School. At that time he was asking if there was any way to get Irene moved into the dormitories at the school because she had to study by candle light. There is no electricity to their home. She eventually got moved into the dorms and is excelling in her studies.

I remember thinking at the time that I couldn’t imagine studying by candle light. The power goes out here all the time, so candles and flashlights are constantly in use. Someone was asking us how often the power goes out in Nebraska. They were shocked to hear us say that it was less than an hour per year, shocked. They probably are without power 25% of the time.

We are lucky, the place we are staying has a generator, so when the power goes out, the generator is usually running within minutes. On Saturday night we were staying elsewhere and the power went out at 6 p.m. We sat and talked while it got very dark until about 7 p.m. Then we had dinner by candle light, then at 8 p.m. we each took a candle to our own rooms to go to bed. 

I really wasn’t tired at all, so I tried to read by candle light. I had to very carefully hold the dish the candle sat in as to not drip wax on my lap. I had to hold the candle right up to my book and then slowly lower it in pace with my reading. It was slow going. I had to set down the book and switch hands with the candle each time I turned the page. It was tedious. In one hour, I read 10 pages. (Just to compare, the next morning I read 40 pages from the same book in on hour.) Finally at 9 p.m. I just went to bed because it was too difficult to continue.

Every time I think about that one hour, I think about the kids who have to study by candle light each and every night. They come home from school in day light hours, but help out at the home getting dinner ready, the animals fed, and cleaned up. Then, when the sun has gone down, their tired eyes strain to complete their assignments next to the dim light of a candle.

I couldn’t do it. I know Mary and Laura Ingalls probably did, but not me.

So, today I’m thankful for electricity. Seriously, flipping on a light switch is small and simple and one of the most insignificant things you’ll do today, but be thankful as you do it!

As I'm getting set to post this the power has gone out again. But its after midnight, so I best just hit send and go to sleep.

Pastor Sara Sabbatical: UPDATE

During the summer months, Pastor Sara is on sabbatical for 12 weeks spending time with our sister church in Tanzania. She will teach and preach, visit families and pray with people. Most importantly, we pray that God will use this time to strengthen Southwood’s partnership with Uswaa in ways that will deepen our relationships with God and with each other. Occasionally she sends updates on her experiences. Below is one of her recent thoughts. 

 

Confirmation

The confirmation class meets every Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Every single Saturday! I just would love to know how a schedule like this would go over at Southwood.

Here’s how the day goes:

• 8-9 - An hour long lecture on the Bible.
• 9-10 – An hour long lecture on the catechism
• 10-11 – Cleaning the church property (they use machetes to cut the grass, and bundles of dried grass to sweep the walkways) This is supposed to last an hour, but both Saturday’s I’ve been here their work has gone until noon.

They have the classes on Saturdays at 8 a.m. to remain consistent with the school schedule. It makes me tired just thinking of this though, every Saturday at 8 a.m. – if our students and their families didn’t rebel I’m almost positive that this pastor would.

How about it Southwood? Shall we join in solidarity with our brothers and sisters at Uswaa? Shall we shift the schedule to confirmation every Saturday, all morning long?

 

June Honduras Mission Trip

On June 4^th, a Mission Team with members from Southwood and five other churches will be traveling to Honduras for a week. The team’s mission is dental/medical in nature. Our team consists of two dentists, a Nurse Practitioner, a nurse and twelve others who are eager to serve in anyway God leads them.

Our team will spend a day in LaCeibeta, home of our sister church, to:

• Conduct a dental/medical clinic
• Conduct Bible School for the children
• Teach proper tooth brushing techniques with the help of our Dental Dog “Colgate”
• Serve a dinner to the members of the church
• Share in worship with our sister church members

We will then travel to a different village each day for the remaining four days to conduct dental/medical clinics and Bible school in each village. For many of these villages, our dental/medical team will be their only opportunity for dental/health care for a year or more.

For over half of our team of 16, this will be their first trip to Honduras. It is great to see so many new people wanting to join in our passion for mission in Honduras. We all look forward to using our God-given talents, many talents we likely don’t even know we have yet.

Brenda Kuper

Sign up to be a prayer partner for a specific person at the Southwood Serves Wall or commit to pray for the entire team before and during their trip.  Knowing that people at home are praying for the volunteers strengthens and encourages them.

Southwood has Raised the Roof!

Thank you for supporting the Tanzania, Nkiraawanga Church Project!  We have reached our goal of 1,500 blocks and surpassed it to bring our total to 1,543 blocks!  We give thanks and praise to God for our congregations generous hearts. 

The Nkiraawanga Church is located in a remote area in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Members in that area walk hours to attend church and worship at Uswaa, our sister church, which is 4-5 miles up the mountain. For the elderly and the sick, it is too great a distance, which means they are rarely able to attend worship. These donations will help “Build Hope” for our brothers and sisters in Tanzania by helping to build this church in Nkiraawanga. 

Thank you for your support!

Tanzania Church Project Update

Thank you for supporting the Tanzania Church Project! We have collected donations for 1,318 blocks and that number is still growing!  We are so close to reaching our goal of 1,500 blocks and only have 182 more blocks to go.

 
 
If you were out of town or didn’t get a block, you can still participate by donating $12 per block. You can stop by the Southwood Serves Wall with your donation or

Donate Online Today by giving through Southwood's secure Online Giving and entering "Church Project" into the "Other" field.

To read more about our church in Nkiraawanga, click here.

Where did you see God today?

Rick and I were first time travelers to Tanzania in March 2011. The group planned to stay for three weeks, which at first seemed like a long time to be gone from home. However, the time went fast and it was a very interesting, awesome, humbling, learning experience.

During our evening devotions, we pondered the question: "Where did you see God today?" It was soon very evident that God was everywhere.

• We saw Him in the clouds viewed from the airplane and the wonderful welcome that awaited us when we landed in Kilimanjaro airport.
• We saw God in the faces of the students at the schools we visited. 118 of these were Southwood-sponsored students. They were thankful for their education, for having a safe place to live and for someone who cared about them.
• We saw God in the faces of the caretakers at the three orphanages, who lived with the children they cared for.
• We saw God in the faces of the people who attended the three churches we visited as we shared their worship and communion. God was evident in the rhythm of the songs they sang and in the joyous moves to the music that they made.
• We saw God in the people who transported us, who fed us, who advised us, who guided and hosted us as we learned about their country and shared in their customs and daily lives.
• We felt God in the companionship of our fellow travelers as we shared meals, discussions, laughs, bumps and rough roads.
• And finally? We saw God as we arrived safe at home and saw the faces of our loved ones who waited for us.

SO, YOU SEE, GOD IS EVERYWHERE!! And for this we are thankful!

Kathy McLaughlin

Tanzania Church Project Update

Thank you for supporting the Tanzania Church Project! We have collected donations for 1,169 blocks and that number is still growing!  We are so close to reaching our goal of 1,500 blocks and only have 331 more blocks to go.

 
If you were out of town visiting family on Easter Sunday or didn’t get a block, you can still participate by donating $12 per block. You can stop by the Southwood Serves Wall with your donation or

Donate Online Today by giving through Southwood's secure Online Giving and entering "Church Project" into the "Other" field.

To read more about our church in Nkiraawanga, click here.

Southwood Builds Hope in Tanzania

 

Thank you for supporting the Tanzania Church Project!  To date, we have collected donations for 714 blocks and that number is still growing. We are almost halfway to reaching our goal of 1,500 blocks.  If you would still like to participate, please bring your donation of $12 to the Southwood Serves table in the Café or you can also donate online  by giving through Southwood's secure Online Giving and entering "Church Project" into the "Other" field.

These donations will help “Build Hope” for our brothers and sisters in Tanzania by helping to build this church in Nkiraawanga. It is in a remote area in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Members in that area walk hours to attend church and worship at Uswaa, our sister church, which is 4-5 miles up the mountain. For the elderly and the sick, it is too great a distance, which means they are rarely able to attend worship.

Can you imagine walking 4-5 miles each Sunday to attend worship? Can you imagine walking that far with young children or an elderly relative with you? A person in our congregation has been actively trying to imagine what this would be like:

Yesterday I walked four miles, partly to walk off my Easter dinner and partly to relate to the distance traveled in Nkiraawanga to attend worship. Since I live here in Lincoln, I took my cell phone with me, just in case I couldn't make it I could call my son to come pick me up. Good News, I did make it. But while I walked I thought about how often I would do this to attend worship, I thought of my mother and the fact that she could never walk this far and would not be able to attend worship. I thought about how much I admired the commitment of the people in Tanzania and their desire to worship. I am thankful for the opportunity to help these people build a place to worship closer to their homes. DeEtte Turgeon

To read more about our church in Nkiraawanga, click here.