Christus Victor Lutheran Church

In April and May, faith trekkers are experiencing an hour that transports them to Mlowa, Tanzania and connects them to their Lutheran cousins. The goal of this five-week Faith Trek Rotation is: “In response to Christ’s love, we offer our talents in faithful stewardship to accomplish God’s mission in the world.” In the other four classrooms, faith trekkers are learning to “Use It or Lose It: The Parable of the Talents.” The Tanzanian Partnership Committee felt that this was a great opportunity to introduce all faith trekkers to rich culture of Tanzania through their five senses. Faith trekkers are seeing pictures of the people and places of Tanzania, smelling spices, tasting chappati (flat bread)), hearing music sung in Swahili and touching items that were brought back from Africa.

In addition to learning about the similarities and differences in the lives of children from Apple Valley and Mlowa, faith trekkers are learning that the offering they give each week pays for a child from Mlowa to attend secondary school. There is a Mlowa primary school which educates kids through grade five. There is no secondary school in Mlowa so if you want education beyond grade five you need to attend boarding school. The cost of a year of boarding school for a secondary education (6th grade through 12th grade) costs $300 per year. The average income of a Tanzanian is $350.

To celebrate their connection to their Lutheran cousins, faith trekkers are creating a drawing introducing themselves and we are capturing both the picture and the artist on film. The Tanzanian Partnership Committee will be sending these one-of-a-kind photos to Mlowa so that the kids there can see who their Lutheran cousins are.

In 2002, Christus Victor (CV) began a partnership with a rural Lutheran congregation in the village of Mlowa located in the Iringa diocese in the south central region of Tanzania. The partnership is called Bega kwa Bega (meaning shoulder to shoulder) and we are one of sixty-six congregations of the St. Paul Area Synod which have made this cross cultural connection. Ambassadors from CV have traveled to Mlowa to connect with our Tanzanian cousins four times and the next journey is tentatively planned for the summer of 2010 and currently, the CV Tanzania Committee is researching the possibility of bringing Pastor Lunagelo Mbwilo here to connect with us!

If you have any questions about Tanzania or our connection with Mlowa, please contact Diana Buffie, Barb Damlo, KC Claussen Gubrud or Dawn Youngner. Asante Sana. Thank you.

YOU are AWESOME CV!!  At last count, you have contributed 2298 food items to our local food shelf!  Your enthusiasm in stepping up to the plate to put a dent in hunger has been inspiring, (We imagine there might also be some enthusiasm for watching Pastor Kent lose his fabulous head of hair).  The food shelf continues to experience record demand & both greatly appreciates & relies on the support of members of CV.  Our commitment to the food shelf has made us an important partner for them, & our continued support is vital to their efforts in providing for local families in need.  We have only one week left to meet our goal, we are confident we will succeed!  However, Confirmation & Senior High youth, you have an uphill battle to meet your challenge, so get some friends together & get busy collecting food!

The campers are offering 2 evenings of babysitting so you can enjoy a break!  Babysitting will take place here at CV; Saturday, April 5th, from 4:00 – 8:00 PM & Saturday, April 19th, from 4:00 – 8:00 PM.  Please feed your kids before they come, or pack them a “sack supper”.  Ages invited: Infant on up.  Games, crafts, movies & snacks will be provided.  Please sign up at the “Information Desk”.  There will be a free will offering taken to help offset the cost of camp.

We’re not sure if you are aware, but our committee has been dwindling this past year.  We need fresh ideas on how to reach our visitors & encourage growth in our committee.  We would like to invite all the people of CV to come to our next committee meeting on Tuesday, April 9^th at 7:00 PM.  We are not asking you to join our committee (but please feel free).  We are just asking for some ideas & direction.  We thought maybe the first step would be to ask past committee members & joyful servant participants to come & share what were the most influential factors that caused them to become members. Then hopefully we can draw on those successes to formulate a plan to be more effective in recruiting new members.  We would greatly appreciate any input you have & hope that you will come April 9^th to visit with us.  Thank you so much!

for the last Faith Trek rotation which begins April 13^th.  Please consider leading in the CV Cinema or assisting in one of the other rooms.  Contact Claudia Glinski for more details.  Sign up on the bulletin board outside the nursery.

Not at all!  In fact, the Children & Family Ministries committee is already starting to plan for VBS.  Yes that is right!  Vacation Bible School will take place July 20-24 (with a special program on Sunday, July 27^th).  Registration will start in May, but mark your calendars now.  Come & have an amazing adventure with music, drama & POPCORN.