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At age four, I sat on the floor of a North Dakota living room, clinging to each word as the Hilles, missionaries to Cameroon, spoke of how little boys and girls very far away loved and served Jesus. This spoon, their gift to my family, became a symbol of both their faithful service and our support of missionary service.
That missionary relationship planted the seeds for my missionary service 25 years later. Indeed, a covenant sponsorship is a promise to be in relationship: to communicate with each other, pray for each other, to give generously and receive graciously.
On behalf of all missionaries, I invite you to covenant to support an ELCA missionary. To learn more go to www.elca.org/globalmission/support.
on April 29th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I love this story, Twila! I can see how folks could use this story as the basis for a children’s message. For example: First show the children an everyday object related to your congregation’s missionary or companion synod. Take the opportunity to note how God created the people of the world to be wonderfully different and wonderfully the same. Note how your congregation is connected to neighbors around the world through ELCA Global Mission, ELCA missionaries, ELCA World Hunger, and the Lutheran World Federation.
on May 1st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Lew and Marian Hille are good friends of ours and I can attest to their dedication to serving others. After serving as a missionary in Cameron, Lew was Exec Director of Self Help International (Waverly,IA), and served as area directors for Bread for the World (Austin, TX) and Oxfam (Minn). Marian’s career was as a nurse. Twila has provided an apt tribute to two special people.