Southwood Lutheran Church

Bringing Hope to Honduras

On Saturday, I will be flying to Honduras with 31 other team members for a dental/medical mission trip. We will be traveling to different villages every day, helping the people with problems with their teeth, eyes, or just their overall health. We’ve been planning this trip for close to nine months now, and I think I can speak on behalf of everyone when I say this: we can hardly contain our excitement.

I’m excited to go back for many reasons, but the thing I’m looking forward to the most is meeting Milca Vaneges. She is the daughter of Pastor Monolo and Roxana, the pastor and his wife of our sister church, La Ceibita. I met her first when she was in the womb, about two months before she was born in 2010. Our team had a baby shower for Roxana, and I’ve said that I’ve loved Milca ever since. Ever since then, other teams have gone down and met her, held her, and given her lots of love and hugs, but now I get the chance to finally meet her face to face. I get to love on the little girl I’ve been praying for since before she was alive, and tell her face-to-face, te quiero, which means “I love you.”

Next week, I ask that you pray for our team as we go into some of the most impoverished villages, and try to bring hope to the people, and pray that we take the spotlights off of ourselves and focus our hearts on the people we’re serving, because that’s when God will really be able to use us.

—Jenna Olson

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

Southwood Serves Recap

Over 400 volunteers served in the community last weekend for the 3^rd annual Southwood Serves.

Our photographers were busy! Did they capture you serving? View photos from the day.

Here are some fun facts from the day:

• 26,136 meals were packed at Kids Against Hunger
• Groups helped with yard work and cleaning projects at 15 homes in the Lincoln Community.
• 19 pairs of Bigs and Littles came to Southwood to participate in fun fall activities with Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Volunteers helped with yard work, cleaning projects and surveys at nonprofit organizations such as the Gathering Place, Humane Society, Lighthouse, People’s City Mission, Lincoln Children’s Zoo and Center for People in Need
• Groups brought cheer and good news through music to the residents at Madonna and Tabitha
• Volunteers helped prepare Camp Carol Joy Holling and Camp Sonshine for winter by wood chipping trails, painting, picking pumpkins, taking downs campsites and landscaping projects 
• 24 volunteers picked up litter, prepared flowerbeds for winter and washed windows at local parks
• 36 quilts were tied to send to our brothers and sisters in Honduras, Tanzania and other Lutheran World Relief locations
• Volunteers picked up litter, painted picnic tables and guard posts at Bluestem Lake so campers can relax in the beauty of the outdoors
• Over 90 handkerchiefs and crosses were made for Southwood Scholarship Students in Tanzania
• Volunteers disturbed Clinic with a Heart magnets and information in local neighborhoods
• A garden was cleaned and prepared for winter at Saratoga Elementary School that will be used to teach students about plants and gardening as well as yield vegetables for families in need

Thank you to everyone who volunteered and for being God's hands and feet in our community. I pray that our service brought many blessing to the community and the individuals we served.

Nicole Mroczek, Director of Missions

Every Day Opportunities to Share His Word and Love

My family & I have participated in Southwood Serves for the past 2 years. In 2010, my husband and son went to one home to do some construction work while I ended up going to Betty’s apartment by myself to help her with some “basic cleaning.” As I walked up the stairs to her home, I thought I was prepared for the day. I had my cleaning supplies in one hand and my vacuum in the other. What else would I need to take care of the task that I signed up to do? All I was going to do was clean, right? 

Betty met me at the door with a hug and a smile (though she had never met me). The first thing I noticed was not the cleaning needs of her apartment, but her eyes…eyes that were filled with sadness, but also a sense of contentment. Betty lived by herself in a downtown senior apartment building. She had some family in town, but for the most part, she spent many of her days alone. After cleaning for 2 hours, I realized I needed to go to the store for more supplies. Betty asked to go with me as she didn’t drive and wanted to get out of her apartment as it was a beautiful day outside. We spent the next hour walking around the store, sharing a soda and just talking. After returning to her home to clean, she shared many stories of how she had spent her life struggling with physical and mental health issues. Though she struggled every day and had experienced great loss in her life, she still found daily joy and peace because of her relationship with Jesus Christ. 

As hard as it was to leave Betty, I told her we would keep in touch. Betty and I kept in contact throughout the winter and will still occasionally leave messages for one another. Through my relationship with Betty and others, I realize God gives us simple everyday opportunities to share His word and love with those we come in contact with. Betty and I did nothing “fancy” that serving day ... we sat in her bathroom and talked, and walked the aisles looking for cleaning supplies in a grocery store, but we both soon found out that our relationship was built on the love we both felt for our Savior, Jesus Christ. Once again, God’s hands at work in everyday life! 

I hope you and your family will sign up to serve in the community on October 15, Southwood Serves Day. I promise that you will feel the presence and love of God in your activities of the day and that your heart will be fulfilled beyond belief.

In His Service,
Holly Leach          

View opening serving opportunities and join us for Southwood Serves 2011 on Saturday, October 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

Have questions? Contact Nicole Mroczek

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!

Southwood’s Sunday School Helps the Homeless

What do you do when you are hungry during the day? Do you go to your cupboard and pick out a cookie, bag of chips, granola bar, or popcorn to munch on?

Imagine if you were on a limited income and could barely afford to provide a meal for your family . . . our lives would be completely different and the snacks that we constantly reach for would become a rare treat.

This semester, Southwood’s Sunday School students have been learning about homelessness and the support that Matt Talbot provides to people in our community. Matt Talbot is a faith-based hunger relief and outreach program devoted to serving homeless and near-homeless men, women and children in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Our Sunday School teachers have been educating students through stories, educational videos, books, bible studies, and service projects. For the serving projects, the students collected money for Souper Bowl of Caring and socks to support Matt Talbot’s outreach programs.

Also, during the last month, students have been focusing on what it means to be homeless and hungry. Southwood’s Sunday School students decided to treat the people that Matt Talbot serves by providing snacks for them. Students donated healthy snacks to be distributed to families at Matt Talbot. In Sunday School, each student decorated a bag with a picture or message and packed 3 snack items in each bag.

The Sunday School collected so many snacks that it took an SUV to transport all of the bags to Matt Talbot. When the volunteers delivered the snacks there was excitement in the air! The Matt Talbot staff and the people they serve were overwhelmed by the Sunday School students generosity. The sacks will be distributed on the nights that Southwood volunteers prepare and serve the evening meal as well as for their street outreach, touching the lives of people that don’t come to the kitchen.

The Sunday School offering for the second half of the year is also designated for Matt Talbot. $2000 will be given to their gas voucher program to help the working poor who are trying to get to work. The fund they have is depleted the first day of each month.

We hope that through this outreach, our Sunday School students are a little more aware of the challenges that people who are homeless face. Thanks to all the Sunday School students and teachers who are showing Jesus’ love by caring for others.

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.