Trinity Lutheran Church

2012 serving dates are Thursdays, March 8, May 10, July 12, Sept. 1 and Nov. 8
4:30-7:30 p.m.
Faith Lutheran Church, St. Paul

Trinity’s Loaves and Fishes Ministry involves Trinity members and friends in a partnership with Twin Cities based “Loaves and Fishes,” a non-profit organization that coordinates multiple meal serving sites reaching individuals and families in need. Our responsibility is to organize, purchase, prepare, serve and clean up a hot, nutritious meal six times a year at Faith Lutheran Church in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul. We serve approximately 150 each time, with a spaghetti dinner as our specialty. (We also serve a brat/hot dog picnic-style meal in summer months.) Each time we serve, more than 25 volunteers are involved. This outreach ministry enables us to be an extension of the body of Christ, serving in our community beyond the walls of Trinity. It meets an obvious and persistent need and is very rewarding as well. Please consider joining us! For more information on this ministry please contact Jeff Anderson or Russ Savstrom.

You are invited to join Pastor Joy Johnson and her dedicated staff as they minister to the homeless, the struggling, the battered, and the lonely in the Midway area of St. Paul. Opportunities include:

• Street ministry the third Saturday of the month
• Making blankets for the homeless
• Assembling personal care kits/bags
• Two annual picnics and school supply events
• Mentoring (ESL, financial, Medicare system paperwork, etc.)
• Collecting and delivering household and clothing supplies
• Community lunch for the homeless and hungry every Monday

Contact Pastor Joy Johnson at 651-646-6549 or Tom Thiets, Missions Director, via email with questions.

The Angel Tree filled with name tags of children with incarcerated moms and dads can be found in the Narthex during the holidays. Your gift will fill a child’s heart with joy. You can help in the following ways:

•  Select an “Angel’s” information off the tree and purchase the gift
• Wrap the gift and drop it off at Trinity
  
• Helpers are needed for sorting and delivery
  
• Financial gifts are also needed to help with postage expense
  

Contact Gloria Williamson at 651-430-1001 or Tom Thiets, Missions Director, via email with questions.

Shop for supplies for local and global mission and partners as seasonal bargains become available. A need for school supplies, clothing, kitchen equipment, tools, and other items for mission partners locally and globally is on-going. Other items shoppers search for during end-of the-season sales are warm clothes in the spring and summer wear in the fall. Others watch for bargains at local big box home stores for tool discounts and specials that help mission projects move forward. The need is great, so we need more bargain hunters! Contact Lisa Thiets via email or Marlene Harty at 651-439-6444 or via email.

Education is the key to an improved life for our Tanzanian partners. Public school is available only through grade six. Beyond that, students may attend secondary school at their own expense. Trinity maintains a vibrant relationship with the Bomalang’ombe Secondary School of the Iringa Diocese. In that partnership Trinity provides the opportunity for many students to move forward in their educational goals. Each student’s tuition is $400 per year. All levels of donations are welcome. Contact Tom Thiets at 651-439-7400, ext. 146 or via email with questions.

Lutefisk Dinner prep day: Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2-12
Lutefisk Dinner: Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012
This food-based fundraising event provides funding to a variety of hunger related ministries. Your support and participation helps provide assistance for those in need. Volunteer in the kitchen, as wait staff, for ticket sales, and more. Contact Joan Newman at 651-436-8609 or via email.

Mission gifts can be made to the Trinity Endowment Fund to support new and ongoing ministries. The interest on the funds each year helps Trinity continue to serve with our neighbors in need. If you are interested in helping to sustain Trinity’s mission presence in the world please contact Tom Thiets at 651-439-7400, ext. 146 or via email with questions.

When you plant a seedling you’re never sure how fast it will grow, or what shape it
will branch into and what growth obstacles it will need to overcome.

Mission Tanzania is such a seedling, but a few short years after its planting, Mission Tanzania has grown in many unexpected and wonderful ways, and will continue to do so with your support and enthusiasm.

Over the past four years:
• Electricity and water systems for the 400 students have been partially installed with a new 400-foot deep well.
• Work on the first set of boy’s & girl’s dormitories is complete.
• The first of seven new staff duplexes is nearly completed.
• The multi-purpose hall & kitchen are used every day for classes and meals.
• The administration and teacher preparation building is complete.
• The foundation has been laid for a new science laboratory.
• The first building of four new classrooms is up and waiting for a roof to be built.
• Sustainable plots for growing corn, beans and vegetables are underway as is a pine tree farm for lumber production. Land has been designated for an orchard of fruit trees with the end goal of helping the school become self-sufficient.
 

2012 Trip Dates: TBD

Everyone is welcome to join our team as we work side-by-side with our Guatemalan partners continuing the work on a new hospital for the Santiago Toliman community on the shores of Lake Atitlan. People with all skill levels are welcome. Please contact Tom Thiets via email with questions.

Click here to read about Trinity's Senior High Mexico Mission trip.