Hand in Hand Global Mission Support Blog Digest

Operation Thanks-Giving cards are doing what we hoped they’d do: giving ELCA missionaries an affirming hug from home.  Here are two of the “thanks4thanks” notes that have reached my desk.  Thankful blessings, Sue Edison-Swift.  P.S.  I’m mailing the last of the first-round of cards tomorrow.  I’d be happy to mail another round (or more!) of cards, so send your Christmas and Valentine-themed greetings to Global Mission Support, 8765 W. Higgins Road, Chicago, IL 60631.

From Michael Church (Romania)
Thanks for the “Operation Thanksgiving Card” cards, which arrived today. Terri and I were surprised and touched. This was our first big holiday away from our families, so it was a little extra-tender.  Just so that you know, I have also sent thank-you letters by email to the pastors of Trinity, Vale NC, and Grace, Howell MI. I asked the pastors to print and post them, so that the people who wrote the cards would know that they arrived and that we on the other end were grateful.  There was a third card, with no signature, so here’s a “thank you” for that one!  [All of you who sent in "random acts of thanksgiving" cards without a signature, consider this thanks for you!--Sue]

From Emily Ewing (Slovakia)
hi! i received some operation thanksgiving cards, and i figured i’d pass along a note of thanks. my birthday was the saturday after thanksgiving and i was in budapest (i’m currently a young adult in global mission in slovakia) with other people from my program celebrating thanksgiving. when i got back on sunday night, i had mail waiting for me. when i opened it, it was a wonderful surprise to see the operation thanksgiving cards. i know they weren’t for my birthday, but it just brightened up my night as i read them and looked at them. i felt loved and i felt like maybe this whole big lutheran church really is smaller and more connected than i think. it was wonderful timing, so thank you more than you can imagine for the cards!!
in god’s peace, emily  www.emilyinslovakia.blogspot.com

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This is the next in a series of “Give thanks!” moments offered by ELCA missionaries and sponsors. Learn more about Operation Thanks-Giving at http://wwww.elca.org/handinhand. –Pr. Twila Schock.

Kathryn Lawler and David Wunsch write, “Our Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program in Argentina and Uruguay has the tradition of spending Thanksgiving at an ecumenical retreat center on an ecological farm in rural Uruguay.  Growing up in a northern climate, I always associated Thanksgiving with the end-of-harvest cornucopia, a symbol of abundance and prosperity.  Here Thanksgiving comes in late Spring and at a time, just three months into the YAGM volunteers’ year of service, when they are grappling with themes of abundance and scarcity.  During our Thanksgiving time together we often reflect with new eyes on the abundance that we could not see when we were in the midst of it.  We also reflect on the abundance in the midst of scarcity that we experience in our new host communities.  In addition to the cornucopia, our lives become enriched with new symbols of abundance, even in the midst of scarcity and poverty:  for example the abundance of hospitality you experience when you are greeted with a kiss on the cheek when you walk into a room or when the communal maté (traditional tea) gourd is passed to you, a silent gesture letting you know that you belong.”

ELCA missionaries Kathryn Lawler and David Wunsch serve as the ELCA’s regional representatives in South America.  The Lutheran churches of Latin America have heard the cry of the poor.   In response, they provide a holistic ministry that serves the community and blends Word and Sacrament, advocacy, and diaconal ministries in human rights, gender and economic justice, education and health.  ELCA missionaries supply ministry-building skills as requested by companion churches and grants support projects that address social and economic issues, as well as leadership development.

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This is the next in a series of “Give thanks!” moments offered by ELCA missionaries and sponsors. Learn more about Operation Thanks-Giving at www.elca.org/handinhand. –Pr. Twila Schock.

Pr. Dana Nelson and Tom Ososki write, “On our first Thanksgiving here in Peru as a missionary family, it was really important to me that our kids get a chance to eat a traditional Thanksgiving meal.  Yet, I didn’t have time to cook!   So we made a ton of unsuccessful phone calls and drove all around the huge city of Lima trying to find a restaurant that served  “Thanksgiving food.”   We finally found one, after it was already dark out.  It was inside a golf-hotel far on the other side of the city.  I remember looking at our small kids across the table in a huge formal dining room that was practically empty.  Our second year in Lima, Thanksgiving was totally different.  We were not alone!  We found a church that has a big, welcoming pot-luck Thanksgiving supper and an ecumenical worship service.  Dozens of people were there from all around the world.  I met other missionaries working in Peru and many other folks as well.  My husband and kids and I shared a table with a Peruvian family.  It was a wonderful evening!

ELCA missionaries Dana Nelson and Tom Ososki work in parish ministry in Peru.   The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Peru (ILEP) is a young church of over 1100 members, committed to working with the most vulnerable in society.  Its congregations are mostly in Lima, with one each in Cusco and Iquitos.  The ELCA accompanies the ILEP in the areas of leadership development and mission outreach.

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Hannah's card: "Have a blessed Thanksgiving as you have been a blessing to others." (St. Peter's Lutheran, Hughestown, PA)

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Five-year-old Kara's artwork (St. Timothy, Camp Hill, PA). The text inside her card reads "Thanksgiving is fun. May you be a faithful misionary in all you do."

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"Thank you for spreading the word of God. Best wishes, Chuck." (St. John's Lutheran, Easton, PA)

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Lia's Operation Thanks-Giving artwork. (St. Mark's, Waukesha, Wis.)

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Noah created a pop-up turkey card (Our Savior, Devils Lake, ND).

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"Share the Love" OT card from Salem Lutheran, Fremont, Nebraska.

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