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.

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.

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.

Come, Eat, and Serve!

Southwood is doing something different this year for the Lenten Meals! For each meal we are focusing on one of Southwood’s Hunger Ministries by sharing serving stories, statistics, and ways that people can get involved. Also, in partnership with the Fellowship Team, volunteers will be serving the same meal that is served by our volunteers. A free will offering will be collected and all proceeds will be donated to the featured Hunger Ministry.

Our featured Hunger Ministry on March 30th is the Backpack Program.

Quotes from Backpack Students

“It helps give my family food because we needed it. We don’t have that much food so it really helped. We really liked the juice can things.”  –Athena

“Food program is helping us save some money because we are trying to go to California to see my cousin. Before the backpack program we didn’t have that much food.”   –Elijah

“It has helped us save some money and food. Before the backpack program we did not have enough time to go grocery shopping.”   –Alba

“It saves us money so we can rent a van. I kind of like the food. It gives us more food to feed our family.”   –Lennell

“I think it is cool that I get to share the food with my family. My mom likes it when she cooks the food. She likes to know where it comes from.”   –Le Dereyn

“I like to share the food with my sister and my brother. I love the food that is in it. I share with my mom and dad too! I love the oatmeal in the back pack—it is yummy.”   
–Sarah

“I like how they give us food each week. They give us vouchers, so we can go buy food.”
–Rice

“I am thankful that I get a backpack. I am thankful for the healthy food they give us and the juice.”  
–Josina

BackPack Program Facts:

• In 2010, Southwood provided 2,100 backpacks to Saratoga Elementary which is approximately 10,500 meals.
• There are 1,877 LPS kids in the Backpack Program
• There are a total of 14,851 K-12 kids participating in LPS free and reduced lunch, 7,825 are in elementary school.
• In 2010, 73,403 backpacks were handed out. At 5 meals per day, this equals 367,015 
• In Lancaster County there were 9,596 kids living in poverty in 2009, which is an increase of 23% from the numbers in 2008.
• In Nebraska, 1 in 5 homes with children are at risk of hunger.


Want to Serve with the BackPack Program?

Southwood provides funding and volunteers to bring 60 food-filled BackPacks every Friday to children in need at Saratoga Elementary School. You can get involved by:

• Sorting and packing food—Sundays at noon in the Fellowship Hall
• Delivering food to Saratoga—Thursday afternoons
• Distributing BackPacks – Friday afternoons

Contact: Marin Salisbury to serve!

Year of the Child

Heart to Honduras has made 2011 the “Year of the Child”. Southwood works alongside Heart to Honduras and this year we will make a great impact on behalf of the little ones—the ones who suffer the most when there is poverty, inadequate healthcare, poor education, and lack of safe drinking water. Southwood is working on the largest project in the 10+ years we have been serving in Honduras—replacing a severely inadequate water system in La Ceibita.

Consider this…Unsafe drinking water steals the lives of 5,500 people each day—more than war, natural disasters, aids or even hunger. Yet, it rarely makes the headlines in the newspaper, nor does it circulate in water cooler conversations in the workplace. It is a silent killer—one that quietly preys on the world’s most marginalized and forgotten people.

Water. We drink it. We cook with it. We use it to wash our hands. We use it to shower. We use it for laundry and dishes. We use it to wash our cars and our pets. We water our lawns with it. And we even fill up swimming pools and play in it.

The truth is, clean water is an integral part of life as we know it. Now imagine this—what would life be like without it? What would life be like if all we had was dark, murky, bacteria-infested water? Would you drink it? Would anyone drink it?

For more than 884 million people, one in every eight, this is reality. For them, water is not a source of abundant life, health and well-being as it is for us. Rather, it is the birthing ground for sickness and disease. Water, as they know it, strips them of opportunities for education and work, and contributes to an endless cycle of poverty and despair. This is the global water crisis, and it steals the lives of nearly 5,500 people each day, most of them children.

Southwood is helping to solve this problem in La Ceibita. Because of this project, every person in LaCeibita will have access to safe drinking water in their homes each day. Please keep this project in your prayers.

Todd Stark

This spring and summer, teams from Southwood will be traveling to Honduras and Tanzania. The Lent and Easter offerings will support this mission work by aiding in the construction of Christ homes, providing medical and dental care, education opportunities and vacation bible school. For more information regarding Southwood’s Global Mission work or to get involved, contact Nicole Mroczek.

Be an Angel of Hope

 . . . Sponsor an HIV/AIDS Orphan or Needy Student

In Tanzania, Primary School is sponsored by the Government. If students want to advance to Secondary School, equivalent to high school in the US, students are required to pay their own tuition. When parents or relatives can’t afford to pay tuition, students are often forced to leave school, and without an education they are nearly assured a life of poverty. Education Scholarships in the Angel’s Giving Hope for Tomorrow Program help provide these young students with a good Christian Education.

Sia is a beautiful young girl who is participating in the Angel’s Giving Hope for Tomorrow Program. Her father died of hiv/aids in December, 2001 and her mother died of the same disease in January, 2007. Sia is now in Form 6, equivalent to community college in USA. Her letter to her sponsor reads:

  “I am still saying thanks very much and God bless you my sponsor. But what I can beg you is only to go on pray for me so that the mourn which my mother give it to me can be removed and be comforted. I don’t have anything to do instead of pray and go on stand hard so that I can succeed in my life. It is so painful two parents to leave me when I still need the parent’s love as a daughter even though I have my young sister and my young brother. So pray for me together with our family so that one day we can be in a good position after we finish our education an get a very nice work. This can be obtained only by getting good academic performance. It is only something which can me and my relative to be happy and enjoy life.”

You can be an “Angel Giving Hope for Tomorrow” by sponsoring a young student in Tanzania. Brochures available at the Southwood Serves Wall or Contact:

• Mary Carstens • gmcars@msn.com or 402-423-6133
• Diane Kacvinsky • kacvinskyd@yahoo.com or 402-310-5873

Asanti sana, mungo akoo baricky (“Thank you very much and may God bless you” in Swahili)

This spring and summer, teams from Southwood will be traveling to Honduras and Tanzania. The Lent and Easter offerings will support this mission work by aiding in the construction of Christ homes, providing medical and dental care, education opportunities and vacation bible school. For more information regarding Southwood’s Global Mission work or to get involved, contact Nicole Mroczek.

Come, Eat and Serve!

Southwood is doing something different this year for the Lenten Meals! For each meal we are focusing on one of Southwood’s Hunger Ministries by sharing serving stories, statistics, and ways that people can get involved. Also, in partnership with the Fellowship Team, volunteers will be serving the same meal that is served by our volunteers. A free will offering will be collected and all proceeds will be donated to the featured Hunger Ministry.

Our featured Hunger Ministry on March 9th is Meals on Wheels.

Please enjoy this family’s experience of serving Meals on Wheels:

When we were asked to consider Meals on Wheels, we didn’t know exactly what to expect. We were hopeful it would be a positive experience and it has turned out to be much more enriching than we anticipated.

It has been enlightening to see some of the residents of Lincoln with a different set of eyes, seeing how people in need live “in our own backyard”. The conditions they live in are not always ideal, but it helps our family appreciate all God has given us.

When it is our turn to serve, the kids eagerly take turns to deliver the items…almost to the point of arguing and fighting whose turn it is. Overall our kids enjoy helping others. It is encouraging to see that they gain satisfaction from serving others.

When our daughter, Anne, reflected on her serving experience she said “I think Meals on Wheels is a very good experience and it has given me a good feeling. I loved meeting new people and knowing I made a difference in someone’s life.”

Our daughter, Brynn, commented “I thought it was cool how we went to a woman’s house who couldn’t hear very well. I liked it. I also liked walking and seeing all the people that we delivered meals to because we were helpful.”

It hasn’t always been easy for our family due to scheduling conflicts or one of the kids having a “bad day”, but it is something we could do as a family and serve others.

Larry and Gina Fuelberth
Anne, Brynn and Nolan 

Meals on Wheels Statistics:

• Southwood’s volunteers deliver 34 routes each month, which averages out to about 510 meals every month
• 67 and 70% of Meals on Wheels clients cannot afford to pay for their meals
• Meals on Wheels serves 2,600 meals per week.
• Meals are delivered 7 days a week, 365 days a year
• Meals are prepared fresh each day in Tabitha’s kitchen
• Each meal costs $5.50

Want to Serve Meals on Wheels? Brighten someone’s day with your kindness! Deliver meals provided by Tabitha to members of our community who cannot cook for themselves.

• Volunteer's delivers a hot, noon meal to individuals in Lincoln who are homebound or recovering from an injury or illness.
• Deliver a food box that includes staple food items with nutritious meals to individuals who are homebound. Volunteers must be able to lift 30 pounds.

To volunteer, contact Rhoda Claridge.

The Gathering Place on 10/11

One of Southwood’s mission partners, The Gathering Place, was featured on Lance’s Journal on 10/11 News! The video was filmed on Southwood’s night and you can see several of Southwood’s volunteers serving in the background!

   

A team from Southwood serves the evening meal on the 2nd Monday and 3rd Thursday of each month. To serve sign-up at the Southwood Serves Wall or contact Karen Rooney for more information.

Perfect Excuse Not to Cook - Pancake Feed

Saratoga Elementary School is hosting a pancake feed of Thursday, October 21 from 5:00 - 7:00 P.M. in Saratoga's Cafeteria (2215 South 13th Street). Proceeds will benefit Saratoga's playground fund. 

Cost is $2 for 2 pancakes and 2 sausages.

Bring your friends, family and small groups to dine together to support the students at Saratoga Elementary school. 

 

Eat FREE and Support TeamMates!

Tomorrow, October 6, Qdoba is opening a brand new location downtown at 12th & P Streets and is hosting a party for Lincoln TeamMates! Come eat for free between 5:30-8:00 P.M.  All donations will benefit Lincoln TeamMates.