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Summer 2008 report The California-Arizona-Nevada Division held a unique Pacific Southwest District-wide Undie Sunday earlier this year. Logistically it was a challenging project. It began with a discussion in the office of Rev. Dr. Larry Stoterau, Synodical District President. He endorsed the project and suggested the Sunday after Valentine’s Day as the primary date. To facilitate the ingathering, the President of the PSD Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, JoAnn Bradley, was contacted and asked if the various societies would assist in gathering the contributions. She took it to her Board, and they readily endorsed the project. All the churches in the District received a mailing containing posters, copy-ready bulletin inserts and a few contribution envelopes for those who wished to help with the transportation costs. It was a tremendous success. The LWML Zone Presidents brought the ingatherings from their zone’s churches. The day of the ingathering was the March LWML District Board Meeting in Ontario. OGT committee members spent the entire day sorting and boxing. There were over 150 boxes of undies and socks for men, women, boys and girls. Extra items were brought to San Diego to be combined with this area’s ingathering. In addition, LWML societies in Arizona brought their ingatherings to the LWML Workshop in Phoenix in the month of February as most of their zone presidents fly to Ontario for the District meeting. A van full of donations was brought back to Chula Vista by Don and Shirley Anderson. Crown of Life LWML, Sun City, AZ Due to some medical issues for Don and Shirley these items were not sorted, boxed and identified until late July. The first 150 boxes were delivered to Norfolk by Norm Everhart, Division Vice Chairman, who attended the April OGT Board Meeting. The balance totaled 80 boxes. Some of these were delivered to Lutheran Border Concerns Ministry and the remainder was delivered to Melissa Salomon, Director of the Lutheran Hour Office in Tijuana, Mexico. These will be used as part of the LHM outreach efforts to people in need in this city of over two million. Churches also responded with nice contribution to help with transportation. We had chosen to work within the Pacific Southwest District due to logistical benefits. Our division also includes the California-Nevada-Hawaii Synodical District. One of the LWML zones above Los Angeles heard about the Undie Sunday and chose to have an ingathering for us also. These donations were picked up at their LWML District Convention in Bakersfield, CA in April and are part of our totals. The LWML ladies have been very supportive of Orphan Grain Train and are wonderful to work with. The Pacific Southwest District LWML at their convention in June approved a $10,000 grant to help replace our worn-out pickup. It received the largest vote of all mission fund project requests. We are so thankful and praise our Lord for His blessings. The dollar value of the Undie Sunday ingathering had to be quite significant. Fall 2007 Report By God's grace, our little division continues to move forward. We do not have a warehouse as of yet, but we have hope. We have some Lutheran real estate people looking on our behalf. We would be happy to use part of an existing warehouse. Real estate prices prevent us from attempting to purchase property. We continue to support the Lutheran missions in Tijuana, Mexico with quilts, healthcare kits, educational supplies and Spanish Bibles. Quilters in Chandler and Sun City West in Arizona and groups in the Los Angeles area continue to provide beautiful quilts for the Mexico project as well as the Los Angeles Nehemiah Project. Melissa Salomon, Director of the Lutheran Hour office in Tijuana, recently shared that a project intended to reach out to seniors in the area around the missions has been quite a blessing and that they only covered about half of the area they planned to cover so they will be continuing. Over 100 quilts were given out and the workers were greatly inspired. Choir robes and undies from a church in Los Angeles were delivered to Melissa this past week. Two loads of clothing have been delivered to the City Rescue Mission in San Diego, which provides a great deal of support to the homeless. On February 17, 2008 all of our District churches will be encouraged to hold an Undie Sunday, gathering new socks and underwear for boys, girls, men and women, and/or money for shipping costs. This is the Sunday after Valentine's Day, so it's a way of truly "Being a Valentine," sharing Christ's love with hurting people. We have hope of getting more activity started in the California-Nevada-Hawaii District in northern California. There is always the thought of another earthquake disaster in the back of our minds. Please keep all of our division in your prayers that we might all be better prepared to reach out with Christ's love in emergencies. Fall 2006 Report Greetings in Christ’s name from the Southwest. The main efforts from our Regional Division continue in support of the outreach efforts of the mission churches in Tijuana, Mexico, through the Lutheran Hour Office in Mexico and in support of the Los Angeles Nehemiah Project in the inner-city churches.
A propane commercial-style stove for use at a new day-care-for-adults facility in Tijuana, Mexico was recently donated by Lutheran Camp Caroline in Valley Center, Calif.
A CA-AZ-NV Regional Division truck and trailer provided by a grant from the Pacific Southwest District LWML. The quilters in Phoenix and Chandler, Arizona, continue to provide a good supply of quilts for Mexico. The Chandler group also provides crocheted hats for the children in Tijuana. The Grand Canyon District of the Lutheran Laymen’s League honored the ladies from both churches at their District Convention in March.
Some of the Chandler, Ariz. quilters at Risen Savior Lutheran Church. Several hundred quilts have been donated from the group thus far.
Quilters with a van stuffed full. Dedicated workers for the Lord and his children!
Don Ruettinger (right) coordinates the gathering of quilts for OGT. Don Anderson (center), CA-AZ-NV Regional Division chairman, is preparing to take a load of quilts back to California. Spring 2006 Report A vanload of quilts for Mexico was brought down from the Sacramento area by Luther and Londa Skov. They had the opportunity to visit the Lutheran Hour Ministries office with Melissa Salomon and visit one of the missions and make an outreach visit with Melissa to see first hand how the quilts are used effectively to share the Gospel along with meeting humanitarian needs. Melissa Salomon was the Lutheran Hour Ministries speaker for their convention and the ladies were quite thrilled to hear how the quilts are being used in the ministry there in Tijuana. Boxes and bags of health care kits and grooming kits have been delivered to Melissa. Backpacks filled with educational materials from the young people of the Iowa District West have been shared with Mexico through the Los Angeles Nehemiah Project. The youth and adults who make the trips out to Los Angeles in support of the Nehemiah Project also go to Tijuana to do mission support work while they are here. The Iowa-West Division of Orphan Grain Train volunteers pack the boxes of backpacks for shipment to California. All parts of the LCMS laity work closely in support of the outreach efforts around the world. Several Lutheran Women’s Missionary League societies have purchased Spanish Bibles for Tijuana. These are used in Bible study and outreach by the missions. Lutheran Hour Ministries’ “Equipping the Saints” evangelism outreach program is being used very effectively in Tijuana. Some of the quilts produced by the quilters in the Los Angeles area are being delivered to the Los Angeles Nehemiah Project. Dr. Lee Settgast and his group are using these quite effectively also. Dr. Settgast could use more quilts and good clothing but he has the same problem our regional division has--storage space. About 50 large bags of good clothing have been brought down from Los Angeles to San Diego for use by the City Rescue Mission to take care of extremely needy people. Since the last report, 54 boxes of health care kits from two churches in San Diego were delivered to Norfolk and were included in a shipment to the Gulf Coast for Katrina relief. Several boxes of quilts for Katrina Relief were taken to Norfolk this month. We are continuing to explore avenues for opportunities to carry out the mission of Orphan Grain Train. |
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California-Arizona-Nevada Regional Division
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