The Scroll - Texas-LouisianaGulf Coast€¦ · Today’s Dream Tomorrow’s Reality: Racial Justice...
Transcript of The Scroll - Texas-LouisianaGulf Coast€¦ · Today’s Dream Tomorrow’s Reality: Racial Justice...
Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synodical Women’s Organization
April 2016
The Scroll 2015/2016
Synodical Board · · ·
President Deana Fuchs 525 N Hwy 336 West Columbia, TX 77486 979-417-4942 (cell) [email protected] Vice President Carolyn Muske 2106 Beazley St. Brenham, TX 77833 979-836-9954 (home) [email protected] Treasurer Kim Holle PO Box 269 Baytown, TX 77522 832-457-0863 (cell) [email protected] Secretary Cindy Weidemann PO Box 291 Carmine, TX 78932 979-224-7891 (cell) [email protected] Barbara Brown Pearland, TX 77584 281-798-2138 (cell) [email protected] MiLisa Gaertner La Grange, TX 78945 979-966-7214 (cell) [email protected] Anita Kramer Bellville, TX 77418 979-885-8639 (cell) [email protected] Angela Bell Bellville, TX 77418 979-270-1238 [email protected] Andi Wiltse League City, TX 77573 281-787-4743 (cell) [email protected]
President’s Message Greetings Sisters in Christ!
First I would like to apologize for the length of time that has passed since the last Scroll was sent out. I’m going to be completely honest with all of you; I’ve over-committed myself. I’m stretched to the limit and because of that, I’ve worn my-self out. Do you ever feel completely exhausted? It’s not really a physical ex-haustion as much as a mental exhaustion. And because of that exhaustion, my motivation to get things done is suffering even more! The amount of things I’ve taken on wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t also a worrier. I stress and worry about things that are completely out of my control. I know that I’m not the only one that is this way. Are any of you reading this feeling the same way? What do you do when you feel stressed and worn out? Well, I’ve been trying very hard to turn to God through prayer and bible study. I’ve heard that the first step to improving a situation is admitting that you have a problem and my prob-lem is I say yes to too many things. Because I try to do too much, I find that eve-rything suffers because I can’t do anything to the best of my ability and, more importantly, I can’t take care of myself the way I should. The anxiety and worry literally eat me up and make me feel like I’m drowning. Here is a verse that I’ve been coming back to quite a bit lately… “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. “ Philippians 4: 6-7 I have found that after I spend some time in prayer or study and turn my thoughts to God, the chaos that is my life becomes more peaceful (even if just for a little while). Hopefully, the more I do this, the calmer my life and my mind will become. Yes, I still need to learn to say “No” to some things, but, even when I feel like life is out of control all around me, giving my worries over to God and taking just a few minutes a day to spend some time in conversation with Him can help bring some calm to my day. I’m learning to also turn to others more often; to ask for help. That is one of the things I love about Women of the ELCA—there is a community of sisters that I have all around me to help support me and pray with and for me. So let’s all pray for each other—and let’s learn to release our anxieties and stress to God because with release will come peace. Maybe then we won’t all feel so worn out. Is it a deal? Blessings!
THE SCROLL
If you would like to receive The Scroll by mail you will need to buy a subscription. Please fill out the follow-
ing and mail to:
Deana Fuchs 525 N Hwy 36 West Columbia, TX 77486
Cost: $8.00 per year or $15 for two years MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO TX-LA Gulf Coast SWO
Name: _________________________ ______ Phone: ________ _______________________
Mailing Address: __________________________ ____________________________________
E-mail Address: _________________________________________________ __________
Congregation: ______________________________________________________ __________
Cluster: ______________________________________________________ _________________
Speaker’s Bureau
Are you looking for someone to speak at an event? These women have graciously of-
fered to share their knowledge and experiences with groups needing a program. Feel
free to contact them if you are in need of their service. If you’d like to add your name
as a speaker, please contact Deana Fuchs and we’d love to add you!
Today’s Dream Tomorrow’s Reality: Racial Justice Advocacy
Learn about Racism today and White Privilege
Programs can be for one hour, one day or a weekend.
Liz and Beverly Curtice
Contact: [email protected] or 832-454-1903
Romanian Mission Trip
Share her recent mission trip to Romania with For God’s Children International.
Liz Curtice / Contact: [email protected] or 832-454-1903
Prayer, Promoting Women of the ELCA, Thankoffering/ Thanksgiving/ Thanks-living
JoAnn Fuchs / Contact: [email protected] or 979-345-7092
Liberia Trip, Justice Issues, Gender-based Violence, Promoting Women of the ELCA
Deana Fuchs / Contact: [email protected] or 979-417-4942
Taichi as Moving Meditations; Sacred Dance
Peg Swavely / Contact: [email protected] or 281-225-4296
Children’s Treatment Center, Adoption, Elderly, Disaster Response
Diane Covert / Contact: [email protected] or 713-557-3802
Lutheran Foundation of the Southwest
Can speak on Establishing Endowments, Legacy Giving, Habits for Success, End of Life
Planning, Writing Tributes to Those You Love, Celebrating Stewardship
Lizbeth Johnson, Gift Planner
Contact: [email protected] or 713-775-1595
WEBSITES OF INTEREST
Women of the ELCA www.womenoftheelca.org Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Women of the ELCA www.gulfcoastwelca.org Our webmaster is Elida Lopez – feel free to contact her at quinamari@gmail with any information you’d like to see or add to our website!
Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod www.gulfcoastsynod.org Evangelical Lutheran Church in America www.elca.org Lutheran World Relief www.lwr.org Café - stirring the spirit within www.boldcafe.org
We no longer need every active unit to send in a list of all officers; instead we just need a contact person for each church. This would most likely be your unit’s President. Please send your contact’s information as soon as possible via email to Deana Fuchs at [email protected] or Cindy Weidemann at [email protected]. Please in-clude a mailing address, phone number and email address (if available) along with the name. Thanks for helping us update our records!
ACTIVE UNIT LIST
Help us update the Active Unit List for our SWO!
Please don’t throw me away, delete me or stick me in a file! Instead, make cop-
ies or print me out and share me with your friends or other women in your unit!!
The Scroll Is Now Available Via E-Mail To help the Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synodical Women of the ELCA save money and eliminate waste,
we are trying to get women to receive the Scroll via e-mail. It is free to receive The Scroll electronically so
encourage other women in your unit, church or cluster to send their email address to the Scroll editor,
Deana Fuchs at [email protected]. Or collect addresses and forward them yourself!
2016 Cluster Coordinators & Liaisons
Cluster Name Board Liaison Coordinator Coordinator Email Coordinator Phone
Bayou Vacant
Coastal Andi Wiltse JoAnn Fuchs [email protected] (979) 345-7092
Southeast Barbara Brown Cheryl Robinson (713) 471-4128
Central Houston Kim Holle/ Cindy Weidemann Vacant
Southwest MiLisa Gaertner Vacant
Brazos Anita Kramer Maxine Schwarze [email protected] (979) 836-6825
Western Carolyn Muske Betty Huebner [email protected] (979) 836-5888
TREASURER’S REPORT
Using God’s gracious gifts Stewardship: Everyone has a different definition. Here’s one that works for me. Steward-
ship means to use the gifts God has generously given to us to care for the gifts that God has
graciously entrusted to us so that those who come after us can rejoice in them in their turn. Our
loving God has given us so much—everything we have, everything we are, everything. And
one of the many gifts that God has graciously entrusted to us is our beloved community of
women created in the image of our loving, generous God. When you lovingly, generously use
some of what God has given you to care for Women of the ELCA, you are helping to sustain
our organization for our daughters and granddaughters, nieces and great-nieces, young friends
and younger friends for generations yet to come. Your faithful support of Women of the ELCA
will make a difference in the lives of women you may never meet, maybe even in the lives of
women not yet born—who, through the organization your generous giving sustains, will reach
out to love and serve our neighbors in Christ just as you have done. That’s the power of grate-
ful, generous stewardship! Thank you.
From biblical times to today: Women are generous givers by Audrey Novak Riley
Stewardship—giving generously to support the ministry we all care about—is really a lot more enjoyable than some people think. It’s about connection, affirmation, attachment, invi-tation and gratitude. Those are all good things, right?
Connection.
Have you ever thought about how much you care about Women of the ELCA? Now think of all the women you know and all the women you don’t know who are active in every expression of our organization. They care just as much as you do. We all care about Women of the ELCA.
Affirmation.
Sometimes people feel that stewardship somehow isn’t as good as other forms of disciple-ship. It’s not as spiritual, not as noble . . . it’s for people like tax collectors and Judas, who was in charge of the disciples’ common purse. But you know, that common purse must have been pretty plump to keep 13 hungry men going along the road for all that time and still book a big enough upper room for a good Last Supper together. Who kept that purse plumped up? The Gospel of Luke tells us at the beginning of Chapter 8. “Soon afterwards [Jesus] went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women . . . who provided for them out of their re-sources.” It was the “women who provided for them out of their resources,” that is, out of the resources that had been entrusted to them by our generous and loving God.
Luke even names some of these generous women disciples: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and “many others.” Thanks be to God for those generous women disciples. And there are “many other” generous women disciples still providing for Jesus’ ministry today—some of them are even reading this newsletter. Just like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and the rest, generous women who care about ministry are still making it possible.
Attachment.
Giving to Women of the ELCA makes a difference in people’s lives—especially in the lives of those who give. How? Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34). Giving nourishes a relationship that may be just in its beginning stages or that may have grown routine. When we give, we grow more attached to the organization we support. Giving makes the heart grow warmer.
Invitation.
Will you join me in giving to Women of the ELCA? It’s easy to do. There’s a “Donate Now” link at the top of every page on our website, womenoftheelca.org. We can join Faithful Friends and become sus-taining givers. We can send in a Thankoffering any time the Spirit moves us. Our congregational units and synodical women’s organizations can forward our regular offerings and convention offerings for us. We can direct Thrivent Choice dollars to Women of the ELCA. We can even set up our bank ac-counts to make regular monthly gifts for us, the same way we set up our bank accounts to pay our electric bills.
Gratitude.
Thank you for all you do as leaders of Women of the ELCA. Through your generosity in serving and giving, you make a real difference in people’s lives—not only your own, but in those of people you may never meet, people whose stories you may never hear. Thank you.
You ask what is “Faithful Friends”…Faithful Friends are steadfast supporters
Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter; whoever finds one has found a treasure. Faithful friends are be-yond price; no amount can balance their worth. Faithful friends are life-saving medicine; and those who fear the Lord will find them. (Sirach 6:14—16)
Sturdy shelter. Beyond price. Life-saving medicine. Yes, we thought, those phrases certainly describe the many steadfast supporters of Women of the ELCA. So that’s what we’ve named our new giving program: Faithful Friends. Faithful Friends is an easy way for you (or your congregational unit or syn-odical organization) to give monthly to Women of the ELCA by automatic withdrawal from your checking account or by automatic charge to your credit card. The Faithful Friends program supports the Women of the ELCA general fund, which makes it possible for your churchwide organization to act quickly and flexibly in response to any need that may arise. The prophet Isaiah tells us that God says, “I am about to do a new thing” (43:19a). And Faithful Friends is one way you can help Women of the ELCA be ready forwhatever new thing God has in store. All you need to do is visit wom-enoftheelca.org/FaithfulFriends, download the form that’s linked on that page, print it out, fill it in and mail it to: ELCA Gift Processing Supervisor, 8765 W. Higgins Road, 5th floor, Chicago IL 60631
You can start your automatic monthly gift right away, and you can stop any time with just a phone call to Women of the ELCA, 773-380-2730, or by email at [email protected].
“Reprinted with permission from Interchange, the churchwide newsletter of Women of the ELCA, Copyright © 2015 Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.”
You give in many ways…
Thankofferings
For more than 100 years, Lutheran women have carried out the tradition of collecting Thankofferings at home
and in the community to give thanks for blessings in the ordinary and extraordinary moments of life. Your
Thankofferings, which support the ongoing work of the churchwide expression of our organization, have long
been the backbone of its ministry.
Regular offerings
When do the women of the Women of the ELCA group get together? For coffee? Quilting? Prayer? Bible
study? Most groups gather an offering each time they meet. Whether the amount is five dollars or 50 dollars,
these regular offerings help connect every local activity to the larger community of Women of the ELCA.
Your congregational unit keeps a portion for its local activities and shares at least half with the synodical
women’s organization.
Your synodical organization keeps a portion for its ministries and shares 45% with the churchwide women’s
organization.
Event offerings
When offerings are gathered at our synodical conventions and cluster or conference events, at least half is
shared with the churchwide organization.
Undesignated gifts
Undesignated gifts – that is, those marked “Where needed most” – make it possible for the syndocial organi-
zation to respond quickly when unexpected needs arise.
How units can give
1. Make your check out to “Women of the ELCA.”
2. Fill out and attach either Form A or Form B, according to whether your offering is going to your syn-
odical treasurer (A) or directly to the churchwide office (B).
Use Form A for regular offerings and other offerings that go to your synodical treasurer.
Use Form B for Thankofferings and other offerings that support churchwide ministries of Women of the
ELCA or ELCA.
Follow directions on Form A and mail to: Women of the ELCA, Kim Holle, PO Box 269, Baytown, TX
77522-0269
Follow directions on Form B and mail to: Women of the ELCA, ELCA Gift Processing Center, PO Box
1809, Merrifield, VA 22116-8009
Find forms, envelopes and more online…
The stewardship resources page at womenoftheelca.org has links where you can download Form A, Form B,
the Faithful Friends form and more. Optional offering envelopes can also be ordered by for the cost of ship-
ping. Go to womenoftheelca.org and search “stewardship resources” or call 1-800-638-3522, ext. 2700.
The Nominating Committee for the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synodical Women’s Organiza-tion is in the process of preparing the slate of nominees for the convention to be held Sep-tember 17, 2016 at Memorial Lutheran Church in Texas City. This year the convention will be electing: Vice President, Secretary, three (3) Board Members and three (3) 2017 Nomi-nating Committee members. If you are interested in one of the above positions, please complete and return to JoAnn Fuchs no later than August 1, 2016. If you’d like to nominate a gifted woman who you feel would be an asset to our organization in one of these positions, please forward their name to one of the ladies on the nominating committee. We thank you, JoAnn Fuchs, St. John Lutheran, Angleton, TX - Chair of Nominating Committee Pastor Sue Beall, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, College Station, TX Beverly Curtice, House of Prayer, Houston, TX FULL NAME ADDRESS STREET or P.O. CITY, STATE, ZIP PHONE CHURCH CLUSTER PRIMARY LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH ETHINIC/RACIAL HERITAGE E-MAIL ADDRESS Please circle Interest: President Treasurer Board Member Nomination Committee Age: Under 35 36-49 50-64 Over 65 My special gifts include: _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________ Signature
JoAnn’s contact information: 2245 Riverside Dr., West Columbia, TX 77486; 979-345-7092; [email protected] Sue Beall’s contact information: 3204 Woodcrest Dr., Bryan, TX. 77802; 979-220-0547; [email protected]
THE CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR 2016 CONVENTION
ON-SITE NOMINATIONS
According to Constitutional changes at the 2009 Triennial, we are no longer accepting Nomi-nations from the floor of a convention. Therefore, an ON-SITE NOMINATION DESK will be available at the convention.
Below is a brief outline of duties:
Duties/ Responsibilities of Vice President: Act in the absence, disability of resignation of the President. She shall assume the duties of the President until the vacancy is filled by the Board of the Synodical Women’s Organization at its next regularly scheduled meeting. The Vice President will al-so perform such other duties as requested by the President of the board.
Duties/ Responsibilities of the Secretary: Be the secretary of the board and the executive com-mittee of the Synodical Women’s Organization. Be responsible for recording and distributing minutes of the synodical convention, the board, and the executive committee. Give the units notifi-cation of the regular convention at least three months in advance and of a special convention at least one month in advance. Keep a correct register of the roll of units, along with the names of the officers of these units. Secure from the units such reports as from time to time may be required. Perform such other duties as the board may from time to time direct. Provide for the gathering and preserving of historical records and documents.
Duties/ Responsibilities of Board Members: Transact necessary business and make program-matic decisions between conventions. Set policies required. Supervise and coordinate the work of all committees which the Board may appoint. Network between Board and Churchwide. Determine time and place of convention. Prepare the proposed agenda, rules of procedures and program adoption by each convention. Report action to each regular convention. Recommend a budget to each regular convention. Fill vacancies in the offices and board membership until next convention. Determine the fact of the incapacity/ unreliability of an officer or board member to perform her du-ties. Act as Constitution and By Laws committee. Act in other matters as may be delegated. Be aware of duties to attend board meetings.
Duties/ Responsibilities of Nominating Committee: Committee will be assigned one Board Liai-son other than the President. Determine a chair, set meetings by phone, email or in person; com-municate with Units and Clusters asking for names of suggested nominees; prepare nominations forms and send letters to nominees by mail/email as well as information to Web Site and Face Book sites if applicable; determine nominees to be presented to board and listed on slate of candidates positions in alphabetical order; collect biographical information to be presented for Convention Booklet and printed for delegates at Convention; prepare ballots leaving space for write in from “On-Site” and allow for second ballot if needed; assist with balloting process and present report at Con-vention. Prepare forms: “ON SITE NOMINATIONS” since we no longer accept nominations from the floor. “On Site” to be open several hours prior to convention at a well posted site with forms availa-ble – this will require 5 Registered Delegates Signature and Nominee is responsible for having copies printed of her Vita information to be passed out at Convention; time for close of “ON SITE NOMINA-TIONS” must also be well published.
TRIENNIAL DELEGATE NOMINATIONS
The Nominating Committee for the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synodical Women’s Organization is in the
process of preparing the slate of Triennial Delegate Nominees consisting of three (3) Delegates and three
(3) Delegate Alternates. Region 4F (our Synod) is entitled to 4 delegates (1 delegate for every 25 Active
Units in the Synod) , one of whom is the President. The 10thTriennial Convention (Business) is July 11-13,
2017; The Gathering is July 13-16, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minn. The request to be nominated as a Trienni-
al Delegate must come from your Unit or Cluster according to Article V, Section 6 of the SWO Consti-
tution. A Unit may submit the name of a nominee even though the synodical president or board mem-
ber is part of the unit. Signature of Unit President or Leader is required.
We ask for your thoughtful consideration as a gifted woman to help and support this ministry.
Q: What is a Triennial Convention?
A: Every three years the Women of the ELCA gather from all over the United States and Puerto Rico to con-
duct the business of Women of the ELCA, elect new officers and board, approve a 3 year budget and review
presented Resolutions and Memorials.
Q: What is a Resolution and a Memorial?
A: Resolutions are concerns brought to a Convention regarding information on an issue women wish to have
discussed and presented to their Synod board or Church wide board requesting some type of action. A com-
mittee reviews Resolutions at the Triennial Convention.
Memorials are like Resolutions, except your Synod has voted on this issue at a convention and have
asked that it formerly be sent to Church wide to be presented for action at the Triennial Convention. A com-
mittee reviews Memorials prior to Triennial Convention.
Q: What are my responsibilities as a Triennial Delegate?
A: Be willing to serve to vote on issues with your Region 4 F - TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod Women of the
ELCA delegation from July 11-13, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minn. This will require taking time off work, will-
ingness to travel, willingness to accept some financial responsibilities, willingness to serve on a Triennial
Committee if asked (this is an honor), willingness to serve as an alternate delegate if not elected as the main
delegate and willingness to have fun, develop new friendships and grow in faith.
At least 10% of delegates must be persons of color or whose primary language is other than English and 25%
First time delegates with consideration to variety of age, geographical location, diversity of experience, in-
cluding living with a disability.
Q: Will I get to participate in the Gathering? I don’t want to miss anything!
This time as in the past 3 triennials, Churchwide is keeping the Business Portion separate from the Gathering
portion of music, worship, workshops, fun and fellowship. The Business is conducted first Tuesday am
through usually Thursday noon. Gathering starts Thursday evening through Sunday am.
Q: What other financial responsibilities do I need to think about?
A: Your Airfare to and from Minneapolis will be paid for by Churchwide Women of the ELCA with
reservations to be made by you through a Travel agent set up by Churchwide. You will be assigned a
Delegate room-mate during the Business session and the room will be paid for early arrival Monday –
Wednesday by Churchwide. You will be responsible for paying for and selecting your hotel Thursday
through Saturday departing Sunday as well as paying for the Gathering registration fee. If you are cho-
sen to serve on a committee, they usually meet sometime on Monday. If you wish, you can come in early on
Sunday but you will need to pay for your own meals and hotel room. Also you are responsible for your
meals on Monday.
Meals will be served to delegates during Convention, but you will be responsible for all other meals during
the Gathering as well as your hotel room. Note that this may require moving to another hotel usually within
one to three blocks of the convention center. Bring good walking shoes.
NOTE: Once elected, if you are unable to serve for any reason, please advise the TX-LA Gulf Coast Women
of the ELCA President at once so that an Alternate can be alerted and Church wide informed of the change to
delegation.
You can always check on line: www.womenoftheelca.org for more information or Triennial 2017
TRIENNIAL DELEGATE NOMINATIONS
FULL NAME ADDRESS STREET OR P.O., CITY, STATE, ZIP PHONE CHURCH CLUSTER PRIMARY LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH ETHNIC/RACIAL HERITAGE E-MAIL ADDRESS Would this be your first Triennial as a delegate: YES___ NO___ Please circle age group: Under 35 36-49 50-64 Over 65
My special gifts include: SIGNATURE OF UNIT PRESIDENT OR LEADER SIGNATURE OF NOMINEE Please return to: JoAnn Fuchs, Chairperson of the Nominating Committee, no later than August 1, 2016. .
CHURCHWIDE REPRESENTATIVE FOR 2016 CONVENTION
This year we are excited to welcome Ely Smith as our Churchwide Repre-sentative to our annual convention. Here is some information about Ely.
Ely Smith,Executive Board Treasurer, 2014-2017, Women of the Evangeli-cal Lutheran Church in America
Ely Smith was elected treasurer of the churchwide executive board in July 2014. This is her second term on the churchwide board. She serves on the finance committee and as chair of the development committee.
Ely was previously on the board of the Southwestern Washington Synodical Women’s Organization. She served as treasurer for two terms.
She was president of her local unit at Trinity Lutheran Church in Tacoma, Wash. During her term, she led the board in developing new programs and encouraged “out-of-the-box” thinking to encourage new participa-tion. Ely has also served as treasurer of her congregation’s church council.
Ely enjoys travel with purpose. In 2001, she went to Romania on the NW Medical Teams’ Gifts of Hope mis-sion, distributing small gifts, bread, and warm clothing to hundreds of children displaced during the Ceausescu regime. Upon return, she became a founding board member of World Change for Children, an or-ganization dedicated to addressing the needs of children in poverty, particularly in Romania. In 2005, Ely par-ticipated in the summer English-language program with China Service Ventures. She also volunteered in Rey-nosa, Mexico, at Children’s Haven International.
Ely resides in Fircrest, Wash., a small city on the edge of Tacoma. She has two sons, six grandchildren, a dog, and a cat. Educated at Pacific Lutheran University, Ely worked as an accountant for non-profit organizations for many years. Her love of the unique has led to an unusual acquisition: a caboose.
Ely feels extremely privileged to serve on the executive board. She embraces the opportunity to share the women’s organization with women all over the world, helping to promote peace and justice, and helping women live out our mission statement, with God’s help.
For the “physical offering” for our upcoming convention, we are asking units to col-lect money for Water to Thrive. Someone from their organization will be the key-note speaker at our convention.
So what is Water to Thrive? They are a faith-based non-profit that is dedicated to the mission of bringing clean, safe water to those who need it in rural Africa. So far they have funded more than 500 water projects in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda, benefiting more than 250,000 people. Almost a billion people in the world today do not have access to clean, safe water. More than 3 million people die each year from wa-terborne disease, all for a lack of clean water – something that we may take for granted here in the United States. With $5,000, Water to Thrive can build a well that will provide safe, clean water to more than 250 people for 20 years.
Here are some fundraising ideas for collecting monies for Water to Thrive:
* Collect your change in water bottles or put a large water jug in your Church for congregational members to put in their contributions.
* Make water your only beverage for a month and save the money you would usually spend on other drinks and donate the money saved to Water to Thrive.
* Create a Water Droplet Wall – make paper water drops, sell them for $1.00 each, and then display them on a wall.
* Hold a bake sale, car wash, or garage sale.
The Scroll Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synodical Women’s Organizationa 525 N. Hwy. 36 West Columbia, TX 77486
Our Mission Statement To mobilize women to act boldly on their faith in Jesus Christ.
Our Purpose Statement
As a community of women
created in the image of God, called to discipleship in Jesus Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, We commit ourselves to grow in faith, affirm our gifts, support one another in our callings, engage in ministry and action, and promote healing and wholeness in the church, the society, and the world.
IF YOU ARE A FACEBOOK USER - PLEASE JOIN OUR GROUP! The Texas Louisiana
Women of the ELCA SWO has a Facebook page!! If you are a Facebook user -
please consider joining our group! We would like to use the group as a forum for
sharing ideas and publicizing events taking place throughout the SWO.
Click on this link to join! https://www.facebook.com/groups/233279656754496/