Christus Victor Lutheran Church

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.

Happy Hearts + Helping Hands = Healthy Babies!

Many thanks from Social Ministries for helping make our annual Midwife Kit ministry project such a great success. This was our 9th year putting together these live saving gifts and we feel blessed that this project continues to have such a special place in the hearts of so many of you.

Our cradle was filled each week with your generous donations, which enabled us to assemble 310 kits this year. A sincere and heartfelt thank you to Andrea Robens and her mother, Karen Wilson for their nearly year-round involvement in this ministry as garage sale mega-shoppers, hat makers, and for serging hundreds of onesies into t-shirts for the project. We simply would not be able to assemble as many kits as we do every year without their invaluable involvement. Many thanks also to Dawn Glewwe and Susan Edmans confirmation group who not only made beautiful handmade blankets for the project, but enthusiastically joined us to assemble the kits.

Thanks so much to everyone from Christus Victor and Lily of the Valley that came to celebrate Mothers Day a little early by helping assemble kits. We had a total of 28 volunteers cheerfully buzzing around from table to table collecting the items needed for each kit and then boxing them up. This year at the last minute we found ourselves unexpectedly short of approximately 30 blankets needed for kits that were otherwise ready to go. Members of Lily of the Valley saved the day by running out to purchase the needed blankets- ladies, you are awesome and much
appreciated!

Hard to believe that just a few simple supplies zipped into a plastic bag can have such a powerful impact in saving lives of both mothers and babies half-way around the world. This simplicity and the beauty of helping usher in new life continues to draw us together in ministry and love, and for that, we from Social Ministries are so very grateful!

The Social Ministries Committee is excited to announce our new upcoming project slated for September – PACK IT UP – sending care packages for service people.

We are in the beginning stages of planning for this project. Do you have any relatives and/or friends currently serving our country overseas? We are compiling names and addresses of those servicemen and servicewomen and plan to send care packages to as many of them as we can. Has anyone been involved in this type of program? If so, the Social Ministries Committee would love to hear your ideas and suggestions. Please send names, addresses, ideas and suggestions to Michele Iaria at miaria@charter.net or 952-891-1303 or speak to anyone on the Social Ministries Committee.

Thank you to all who participated in Christus Victor’s annual midwife kit project. On Mother’s Day weekend the Social Ministries Committee and other volunteers assembled 310 midwife kits for mothers-to-be in Tanzania, Africa. The kits, assembled using donations from the congregation, are used by midwives to create sterile birth conditions. We hope that over time, these kits will help improve infant mortality rates in Tanzania. Thanks again from the Social Ministries Committee!

The American Red Cross Bloodmobile Bus will be here on

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH 1:30PM–6:30PM

LOOK FOR THE SIGN-UP SHEET AT THE WELCOME DESK

Here are some helpful tips for all of you kind and generous blood donors:

Before your Donation

• Get a good night’s sleep.
• Eat a good breakfast and lunch.
• Drink extra water and fluids to replace the volume you will donate, but avoid caffeinated beverages.
• Eat iron-rich foods to boost your iron level.

During Your Donation

• Relax and think about the people you are helping!

After your Donation

• Drink plenty of fluids over the next 24-48 hours to replenish what you lost during donation.
• Avoid strenuous activity or heavy lifting for several hours.
• If you feel light-headed, lie down with your feet up.
• If for any reason, something doesn’t feel right, call the American Red Cross toll-free number provided to you after your donation.
• Enjoy the feeling of knowing you helped save lives!
• Enjoy one of the delicious snacks provided by the Social Ministries Committee

If you have any questions, please contact Michele Iaria at 952-891-1303 or miaria@charter.net