Serve

Global Outreach

Good Shepherd Supports Lutheran Missionaries to Ukraine
Pastor Andy, Monica, Moriah, and Isaiah Coyle

We have been praying for a Lutheran Missionary to support and our prayers have been answered!  In September 2010, our GSLC  Benevolence Team unanimously voted to support the Coyle’s through East European Missions Network, or EEMN (see www.eemn.org).   This ministry is consistent with our vision of equipping people to pass on the good news to the next generation!

What’s their Vision?
The Coyle family will be heading to Ukraine in July 2011 to run a Bible Training Center.  This center will provide a place where existing and potential leaders from Ukraine and the Russian speaking world can be trained and equipped for ministry in churches.  Many churches do not have pastors, and many members of these churches lack Biblical knowledge about fundamental issues concerning Christian faith and life.  

Where is the Center?
The Bible Training Center in Petrodolina (outside of Odessa/Black Sea) will include a Youth Center and Mission Building.  Plans in the future include constructing a larger building for the Bible Training Center.

Who will Attend?
The Bible Training Center will be open to adult students of all ages, with the majority in the range of 18-30.  Ukraine’s Lutheran youth ministry, as well as Lutheran ministry partners in Russia and other nearby countries, provides a network from which to draw students.

If you would like more information about the Coyle’s and how they are equipping leaders for ministry please visit amcoylefamily.blogspot.com or go to www.eemn.org. 

 

World Vision Child Sponsorship

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Members Sponsor 50 Children in Umzimvubu, South Africa

Umzimvubu is a poor community of several villages in South Africa, near the eastern border of Lesotho. ??Many problems afflict children living in Umzimvubu: food shortages, inadequate housing, a lack of education, and the effects of widespread HIV/AIDS infection.

Some quick facts about Umzimvubu

  • 98% of classrooms lack basics like furniture, textbooks and toilet facilities
  • Only 5% of households have a consistent, sustainable food supply
  • 50% of households are caring for at least one orphan or vulnerable child

Through Sponsorship in Umzimvubu, World Vision is:

  • Providing children and families with supplemental food, clothing, medical care and skills training
  • Paying children’s tuition, providing school uniforms, textbooks and other learning aids
  • Sharing Jesus’ love with those who need to know Him
  • Planting new farms, improving classrooms, and providing new economic opportunities for families
  • Caring for those suffering from HIV/AIDS

To read more about Good Shepherd’s support of the Umzimvubu Area Development project please read this PDF.

Bread for the World

Bread for the World: Letter Writing Campaign

Periodically, the Outreach Team will host Bread for the World Letter Writing Campaign Sunday Mornings. The goal of this project is to influence our government leaders to help the poor and hungry of our nation and world in a more effective way. Below is the “Ask.” For more information about Bread for the World, go to www.bread.org.

The “Ask”

We are asking Congress to pass legislation that strengthens the ability of the United States to promote global development, foster economic growth in low-income countries, and support the efforts of poor people to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty and become self-sufficient.

We will urge a new Congress and administration to elevate global development as a priority of U.S. foreign policy in order to restore America’s role in the world and strengthen U.S. national security. We will call on Congress and the administration to chart a new course for U.S. foreign assistance that embraces the following principles:

  • Make poverty reduction a primary goal of U.S. foreign assistance.
  • Develop a national strategy for global development with coordination at the highest levels of government.
  • Provide reliable, flexible assistance in partnership with recipient countries to meet their long-term development goals.
  • Provide opportunities for these partner countries and communities to participate in the development of priorities and programs of assistance.
  • Focus assistance on outcomes, with measurable goals and objectives, including systems of accountability to Congress and the American people.
  • Align U.S. aid, trade, migration, energy, and environmental policies so they work together to promote sustainable global development that reduces poverty.
  • More closely coordinate with other international donors to reduce program duplication and the burdens on recipient governments.

Chrysallis Ministries

Chrysalis Ministries Inc. was founded by John and Carol Dettoni in 1992 with the purpose of developing effective biblical leaders and teachers in a rapidly changing world. John and Carol hold International Chrysalis Institutes (ICI’s) to teach and spend time developing indigenous leaders. Recently (May – June 2009), they have held ICI’s in Southeast Asia (Singapore, Philippines). They have also held ICI’s in Central and Eastern Europe (Hungary, Budapest, Romania). These Institutes focus on equipping church leaders (young and old) to build healthy growing churches that will be self-sustaining.