Pentecost is Where You Find it

June 4th is the Feast of Pentecost, the festival of the Holy Spirit. It is celebrated as the Birthday of the Holy Christian Church. Frankly, many traditional congregations aren't doing very well.
It is not unusual to hear of the closing of a Lutheran church. Both the Evangelical Church in America and the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod are suffering from clergy shortages.

This being the case, the title "Pentecost Comes to SW Minnesota" on the podcast site of Luther Seminary intrigued me. I was born in SW Minnesota. One can't swing a dead cat in that part of the country without hitting a Lutheran church. The chapel address tells of how congregations in SW Minnesota found a future by serving Latinoes and Laotians. Pentecost happens, it appears, where people seek ways to reach out to others.

Pentecost at St. Mark's

We've earned another $500 selling Fair Trade Coffee and Chocolate at St. Mark in Salem for the Yatima Group Trust Fund Orphanage. The orphanage gets those funds. Growers get a proper price for their crops. The presentation of this check and another $200 donation on Pentecost is in the planning stages.

Even more exciting is this item from the Woodburn Independent:

Immanuel Lutheran Church:

At Immanuel, we have been extremely blessed and have the opportunity to be a continued blessing in the Woodburn area and also to be a blessing to children in Tanzania. Immauel believes the teachings of Jesus compel us to reach out to those in need, wherever they are. As we look forward to building a new church building in Woodburn -- to expand God's kingdom here -- we can also look forward to helping to expand the care of an orphanage in Tanzania, a place where people have so little to survive on.Jesus said, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me. whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me." Matthew 25:35-40.On May 7, Dr. James Lace will be at both worship services to share about the orphanage in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Lace is a Salem pediatrician who has helped in starting the Yatima Group Trust Fund for this orphanage. The orphanage initially was intended to provide care for 50 orphans. However the number has now grown to 95 orphans. Children leave the orphanage at age 16. These children are primarily orphaned because they lost their parents to AIDS/HIV infections. Other killer diseases such as malaria also claim many lives.The vision of the Yatima orphanage is "To have a society in which African children can grow up free from the threat of HIV/AIDS and that we have a society which cares for and strives to identify and combat sources that lead to further production of helpless orphans and street children."A tithe (10 cents of every $1) of the money given to the Catch the Vision Share the Mission, for the purchase of Immanuel's new church property, is planned to be given to the Yatima orphanage. On May 7, Dr. Lace will share about possible uses of that money. Plan to hear him speak about the compassionate work that is being done at the Yatima orphanage.

(That tithe could be $40,000)