Christus Victor Lutheran Church

On behalf of the Social Ministries Committee, I would like to thank the congregation for their generous support of Armful of Love.  This year we helped 10 families enjoy Christmas.  This was the largest number of families we have ever helped.  I want to extend a special thank you to Mariah Glinski, Sarah Gwin, Julie Manning, Megan Hanson, Hannah and Andrea Perendy for their assistance in sorting and packing the gifts.  There were tons of presents to pack up!  I also want to thank the Glinski’s and the Iaria’s for helping deliver the gifts to the warehouse.

Thanks again for supporting this mission.

Merry Christmas,

Jaclyn Brandes

Social Ministries Committee

Feed My Starving Children is making great strides in the fight against world hunger. Thank you to Christus Victor Lutheran Church for your part in what the Lord has done through FMSC in 2009! This year more than 400,000 volunteers will pack more than 91 million meals to feed God’s precious starving children. In recent weeks, FMSC has shipped food to Haiti, Nicaragua, Honduras, the Philippines, Moldova, El Salvador, Somalia, Liberia, Tanzania and Guatemala. Feed My Starving Children is blessed by your partnership in our mission of feeding bodies and spirits. He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will reward him for what he has done. Proverbs 19:17 

May you be especially blessed this holiday season!

When the members of the Social Ministries Committee look back and count our blessings from Thanksgiving, we have much to be thankful for.  Most notably, we are so thankful to the members of Christus Victor and our partner, Thrivent Financial, for helping us make our annual Thanksgiving basket ministry a huge success again this year, despite a challenging economy.  Your overwhelming generosity toward those who could most benefit from caring hearts and outstretched hands made all the difference in enabling us to serve just as many families as last year, with a total of 200 baskets!

The morning we spent together making and distributing our Thanksgiving baskets went by so smoothly and quickly that one might not realize all the different pieces and people that fit together in order to help make this ministry the success it has been.  Thrivent Financial plays a big part every year in giving us a very generous donation to get things rolling.  Your wonderful donations and/or purchases from the garage sale concession stand and to the Adopt-A-Family Thanksgiving basket fund make up the bulk of the rest of the funds needed to purchase all supplies for the baskets.  Once funds were secured, people-power did the rest in making it all come together.  We had volunteers that supplied a delivery truck complete with volunteer drivers.  We had Cub Foods of Apple Valley help get us the best possible prices and make sure we had everything needed.  Last, but far from least, we had tireless volunteers unloading the delivery truck, making boxes, filling baskets, coloring pictures for the baskets, carrying baskets (they’re heavy!), and giving out/delivering baskets to thankful recipients.  

From the beginning fund drive to the last basket given out, we were blessed with volunteers of all kinds.   Kids of all ages, including a Confirmation group, families, adults younger and older, members of Christus Victor, Lily of the Valley, and Casa de Oracion, all came together to serve the Lord, to share each other’s company and to serve others.   Looking down the church hallway at all the baskets lined up, no one could pass without saying, “Wow!”   Wow indeed.  Many heartfelt thanks from the members of Social Ministries for your generous hearts and helping hands in making this ministry such a success this year.  You are all truly awesome!

Every member of the church is a servant, gifted by God through the Holy Spirit to build up the whole Church.  On Sunday, January 10 and Sunday, January 17 we will be focusing in worship on our gifts, talents, and passions that God has given to us; how and where we can serve; and making a commitment to serve in some ministry in the church.

“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights”
James 1: 17

Stewardship is about more than money. It is about being faithful stewards with all of the blessings and gifts God has given us, especially God’s love through Jesus Christ. Stewardship is a key part of our faith
life as disciples of Jesus Christ.

As we begin to focus on Stewardship again this fall, we want you all
to grow, not only in your generosity, but in your understanding of
Christian Stewardship. You are all members of this household of God,
and therefore you each have an important role in supporting the
work/ministry of this household, called Christus Victor Lutheran
Church. We ask that you think about these core principles of
Christian Stewardship and talk about them with your family.
Here are some questions to consider:
- What have you learned about Stewardship?
- What do you need to remember about Stewardship?
- What is the most challenging aspect of Stewardship for you and your family?
- How might God be inviting and challenging you to grow in your Stewardship?

Core Principles of Stewardship: (1 Cor. 16, 2 Cor. 8 and 9)
1. “Stewardship” literally means “household economics.” In this case, the economics of the Christus Victor “household.” That means that every member of Christus Victor is an important contributor to the whole family — both our nuclear/local and extended/national/global family of God.

2. Christian Stewardship goes beyond the Old Testament Law of Tithing to focus instead on God’s overflowing grace, blessings, and abundance through Jesus Christ. “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Cor. 8: 9).
The starting point is God’s Grace and Blessing!

3. Christians give proportionately according to their means, and even beyond their means. “For they [the Macedonian Christians] gave
according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us
earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry” (2 Cor. 8:
3-4). The tithe (10%) is not the end goal, but rather, the assumed
starting point according to God’s Law in the Old Testament. The
average Lutheran household gives 2% of their income in offerings to
support the ministries of the Church.

4. Christians give systematically, which means they give their offerings weekly during worship. “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come” (1 Cor. 16: 2). Keeping up with regular giving helps the giver be a cheerful giver. Trying to
catch up at the last minute to satisfy a commitment made earlier can make us reluctant or grudging givers.

5. Generosity and joyfulness in giving flows from the love and joy of
God in Christ Jesus, and the love shared with sisters and brothers in
Christ, and all people in need. “I am testing the genuineness of your
love” (2 Cor. 8: 8). Someone once said, “It is possible to give
without love, but it is not possible to love and not give.” Jesus
wants us to give out of love.

6. From this starting point, Paul teaches that there is a direct
correlation between our generosity in giving and our love of God. The generous Christian is one who truly believes that, “God is able to
provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work” (2 Cor. 9: 8). As Christians, we are called to discern between our needs and our wants, to come to a deeper understanding of what is enough and that God does bless us so that we can be a blessing to others.

January is a time to get reconnected with your faith community. Download the January 2009 newsletter and get connected.

Book of Faith Initiative
Members of Christus Victor are taking up the Book of Faith Initiative, a program of the ELCA, by forming several small group bible study groups. Groups are forming in January, and will meet once per month all year. Read more…

Town Hall Forums & Annual Meeting
Town Hall forums are running January 11 & 18 to precede the annual meeting on January 25. Come discuss the goals of our church in the coming year as we deal with a shrinking budget. Learn more on page 2.

Senior Connections 2009
A full calendar of events is planned for our “real” seniors. More details on page 5.

Thank You From Mlowa
Read about the impact your prayers and support are having on our brothers and sisters in the Mlowa parish in Tanzania. More details on page 6.

Youth Fest
School is back in session, and the youth are busy again. The youth pages are brimming with going-ons on page 9 and an invitation for an upcoming TEC weekend is on page 7.

Upcoming Events
Town Hall Forums are January 11 & 18 at 9:45am
Annual Meeting is January 25 at 9:45am
Bloodmobile is on Febuary 24 from 1:30-6:30pm
Men’s Retreat is Feburary 20-22
Adult Forums resume on February 8 at 9:45am

Christus Victor’s Tanzania Partnership Committee has changed its name to Christus Victor Missions Committee. This name change will empower our committee to build on CV’s strong partnership with the Mlowa parish in Tanzania and explore other mission opportunities. Stay tuned for more information about the Kids Alive Program, a nonprofit working with orphans in the Dominican Republic. If you can’t wait to find out more, contact Jody McDermott-Baty.

Sponsor a Student; Change a Life

If ever you wanted to make a difference in the life of a child, a family and an entire village in our partnership congregation, seize this opportunity to give a Tanzanian secondary student a year of education. A year of education costs $350 and, sadly enough the average annual income of a Tanzanian is $350. Currently, members and friends of Christus Victor sponsor 23 students! Because of the generosity of these donors, 23 students have a chance to improve their lives and the lives of their families. In a few weeks, we will send out letters to all of the student sponsors thanking them for the year of education and asking for their continued support. There are more students who could use the help. Each year, Pastor Lungelo Mbwilo and a committee must make the difficult decision on who receives a scholarship and who must wait. Let’s make his decision easier. Please prayerfully consider giving a child a year of education. Opportunities exist for half or even quarter sponsorships! Team up with friends and family and pool your resources. For more information, contact Dawn Youngner or call the CV office at 952-454-6927.

CV Garage Sale Raises More Than $16,000 and Will Help Raise Crops in Mlowa, Tanzania!

Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime. Author Unknown

The August Redeemed Treasures Garage Sale at Christus Victor raised an amazing $16,400 due to the hard work and donations of the volunteers of CV. Did you know that a small portion of the proceeds will help teach people in Mlowa Tanzania how to feed themselves more efficiently and effectively? Our partnership congregation was invited by agricultural experts from the Institute of Agriculture of Tumaini University in Iringa, Tanzania, to participate in a three-year project designed to improve the way they farm. All that stood in the way of their participation was money – $2000 each year for the next three years. And, with the CV Council’s approval, funds from the Garage Sale were designated to support this worthwhile project and others. As many of you know, our Tanzanian friends in Mlowa are subsistence farmers. They must farm in order to have food for their families. It is humbling and sobering to realize that Pastor Lunogelo Mbwilo is both a pastor and a full-time subsistence farmer! This project will bring agricultural experts from Minnesota and Tumaini University to our friends in Mlowa and empower them to raise additional food for their families and their community. More information about this life-giving project is on the Tanzania bulletin board in the Narthex. To all those who donated items, volunteered their time and shopped the Redeemed Treasures Garage Sale, thank you from the CV Missions Committee!

Learn about Tanzania the Minnesota Way – at a Potluck

The St. Paul Partners (an organization connected to the St. Paul Area Synod and the Bega Kwa Bega Program) is hosting a Celebration Dinner and Fundraiser Event Saturday, September 20th, from 4:30 – 8:00 PM at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Shoreview. This event is being held to celebrate the drilling of the 100th clean water well in the Iringa, Tanzania area! Come and learn more about this life giving project! For more information contact Dawn Youngner.