Grace and Peace and Greetings from First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Les Cayes, Haiti and Grace School on the island of Ile a Vache, off the southern coast of Haiti,

As a synod that is walking together, I am reminded that globally and spiritually, we do not walk alone!

Our mission team from Zion, Clarence Center returned Friday, July 30 from a seven-day journey to begin partnerships for mission support and presence for the people of Haiti.  After struggling for months to find connection points in the area, we were able to build partnerships with the Children of Israel orphanage and the Lutheran Church in Les Cayes, Haiti (about 100 miles southwest of Port au Prince).  And through the grace of the Holy Spirit, two of the missionaries that were working in Les Cayes were also beginning a Christian school and orphanage on the island of Ile a Vache.  So we headed down to the area with suitcases of supplies and meds to run two medical and dental clinics at the orphanage and school, as well as working out details for future teams to continue mission visits.

The area is hard to describe in words.  The devastation is still as fresh and raw as it was in the days following the earthquake that we all saw in pictures on the news: streets flooded with garbage, tents made of everything from tarps to jackets duct taped together, buildings still in shambles with no construction equipment in site...even the Capital building looks exactly as it did on the news the day after.  The need is beyond great.

But the potential for mission partnerships is equally great and the power of our God is even greater still.  One of our kids painted a saying on the wall in the youth room that goes: "Don't tell God how big your storm is, tell the storm how big your God is!"

The Team that just returned would be happy to help you tell that "storm" how big God is and show the people of Haiti tangible hope!  We would be happy to come and visit to tell you how to connect to one of the orphanages, Grace School, how to sponsor a child to receive care and meals and education and/or how to form your own mission team from your church or organization to get a project going.

Personally, I can tell you that my life has been changed.  Part of my heart is now permanently in Haiti and I now carry a piece of the hearts of the children of Les Cayes and Ile a Vache with me in Clarence Center.  And yet, through all the tragedy and poverty that Haiti has experienced, the children and people of those areas brought me hope through their smiles, their simplicity, their understanding of community, their resilience of the human spirit and their incredible faith.

Please be in prayer: for Haiti, for the people who continue to labor day in and day out in Haiti to bring hope and for your potential connection and presence with these beautiful people.

Still in One Peace,
Steve Biegner
Missionary in Clarence Center
Executive Director of Lutheran Charities of WNY
716.868.1232
stevebiegner@gmail.com

No one ever comes out and asks me, but I suspect that there are many people who wonder why my annual trips to Egypt have become such an important part of my life and ministry over the last four years. It's a fair question and there's no short or easy answer.

Instead let me share with you one story from my most recent trip to Egypt where I taught English for a month in addition to leading worship for three weeks at St. Andrew's United Church of Cairo while their pastor was on home leave. St. Andrew's Immigrant Ministry and Church is supported by the ELCA and is served by Pr. Peter Johnson (formerly at St. Martin's, Webster). This and all stories from my time in Egypt can be read on my blog: http://amy-in-egypt.blogspot.com/.

Wael is a student who is new to seminary this year and new to English as well. He is in my Level 1 class. Wael's English is difficult to understand - he struggles with basic grammar, his vocabulary is quite limited, and yet he wants so much to learn and to communicate. Sometimes when I am explaining something in class I'm certain that he has no idea what I'm saying. And yet at other times he surprises me with what comes out of his mouth.

At the end of study hall one day Wael surprised me. For the last week the more advanced students had been offering homilies in English in the daily mass. This is one of the things that I work with them on each year. In very broken English Wael said to me, "Pastor Amy I want . . . no I NEED to preach in mass. Next week I preach?"

"Wael if you work on your English very hard in the year ahead maybe next year you will be ready to prepare a homily."

"No. I must do."

"Wael preaching is very, very difficult. You must know grammar and you must know vocabulary and you must know correct pronunciation and you must be able to put your ideas from Arabic into English that is clear. This is very very hard."

"No. When Jesus go up, he send Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit send apostles to all nations and use all languages. I will preach. The Holy Spirit here."

The conversation continued for some time. The truth is that Wael is not ready to prepare a homily in English just yet. He has a lot to learn. Through their hard work, his brothers have made it look easy and Wael and other students want to try as well. What Wael doesn't know is that he preached a sermon for me today.

"I must preach. When Jesus go up, he send Holy Spirit. . . . I will preach. The Holy Spirit here."

This is good news indeed spoken to me by a young man who doesn't know the proper usage of the verb "to be" but who trusts with all his heart that the Holy Spirit has been sent to him to preach the good news of Jesus to his brothers and sisters in Christ. He has every confidence the Holy Spirit will use his broken English or whatever he has to offer. Oh to have such confidence, such determination, and such faith!

This is just one story about the daily encounters that keep calling me back to Egypt. There are others as well.  I return to Egypt because of the relationships I have formed and because I feel called to be there. Somehow my presence matters and God is using my presence to change my life, and to change the lives of those I encounter.

I'm grateful to Bishop Jerge and many others throughout the church who support the ministry I do in Egypt. If you'd like to hear more about Amy-In-Egypt, please contact me. I'm happy to give presentations and share my experiences and pictures as I'm able.

Amy Walter-Peterson serves as Assistant to the Bishop and Director for Evangelical Mission in the Upstate New York Synod. She's back from her fourth summer of teaching English at St. Leo the Great Coptic Catholic Seminary in Cairo, Egypt. See also Called to Mission.

This week’s Alban Institute e-news features an article on Evangelism and the Under-Thirty Crowd by Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook. She writes:

“A November 2009 issue of The Week featured a story, "Losing our Religion," that focused on the rapidly growing numbers of the religiously unaffiliated in the United States, the so called Nones, and asked if organized religion is fading. Younger than the general population, many Nones believe in God yet are skeptical about organized religion. The article quotes recent statistics suggesting that if this trend continues, cohorts of nonreligious young people will replace older religious people and account for one-quarter of the American population. Another recent article in USA Today concluded that young adults born in the 1980s and 1990s, approximately 72 million people, want to make an impact and are socially-conscious yet do not relate to traditional institutional structures. A decreasing number of these young adults view churches as places to make a difference or to develop their leadership skills.

“The fact that nearly every major denomination is aging and losing members has been a concern for the last thirty years, yet institutional efforts to reverse these trends and to capture the religious imagination of young adults have been limited. Mainline denominations, historically and culturally self-conscious about evangelism, are further challenged to proclaim the good news in today's religiously pluralistic nation and world. What then is the role of evangelism with young adults today? What are some of the ways that the Christian church can better respond to the spiritual questions of young adults in a religiously pluralistic age? How might congregations better respond to the gifts and skills young adults have to offer?”

How you would respond to the author’s questions?

• What is the role of evangelism with young adults today?
• What are some of the ways that your church is responding to the spiritual questions of young adults in a religiously pluralistic age?
• How might your congregation better respond to the gifts and skills young adults have to offer?
• In addition, what is your congregation doing to intentionally engage those under the age of thirty in meaningful ministry?

To read the entire article or to subscribe to the Alban Weekly visit The Alban Institute website.

Amy Walter-Peterson
Director for Evangelical Mission/Assistant to the Bishop
Upstate New York Synod - ELCA

You're invited to comment on our new Facebook page discussion on this topic here.

If you would like to reply privately you may email Rev. Amy Walter-Peterson at awp@upstatenysynod.org.

Chris Swingle • Staff writer • Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester • June 27, 2010

About 30 seniors did gentle exercises to music on a recent Wednesday morning at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, laughing at instructor Bonnie Slack's jokes.

After holding onto a chair and balancing on one foot, then the other foot, Slack suggested: "OK, now, both feet up."

The church's new Wellness on Wednesdays effort, which is open to any senior in the community, starts with blood pressure readings at 10 a.m., followed by the low-impact exercise session (which can be done seated or standing), a presentation by a guest speaker and a light lunch.

Rides within Webster are even available from a church volunteer if you call the church by noon the day before.

The goal is socialization. "We were looking for people to have a place to come and meet friends," says Marguerite Manning, who facilitates the program.

Wellness on Wednesdays began April 21, coincidentally after the town's Senior Center at 985 Ebner Drive closed for heating problems that were beyond repair and the town programs relocated temporarily to the Damascus Center, 979 Bay Road, and other locations. The church program had been in the planning stage for months before.

Barb Bills, a Baptist who this month attended Wellness on Wednesdays for the first time, says she liked it and enjoyed seeing people she hadn't bumped into in a while. "I congratulate the church for starting it," says Bills, of Webster. She joked that she might recruit people to attend her own church.

Marge Cario of Ontario, Wayne County, has attended multiple times and believes the exercise is helpful for her health.

Dick Campbell of Webster, one of the few men in the room, joked: "I'm here for all the women."

On a more serious note, he says that the program's speakers have been very good. Recent topics included digital cameras, Lifespan services and a musical performance.

Also, says Campbell, "the fellowship is the big thing."

Marian Kachmaryk of Webster agrees. "It's a good social activity," she says. "It's a different mix of people every week."

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If you go

Wellness on Wednesdays runs from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, 131 W. Main St., (585) 872-5180.

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Special thanks to the Democrat and Chronicle for allowing us to reprint this article.