Pillow Cases — A Reflection of Jesus’ Love in Action

LWML women along with men and youth of Eternal Hope Lutheran Church, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota were very engaged in collecting cotton materials and sewing pillow cases. This was a very busy and joyful Saturday, January 19, 2019. We accomplished the sewing of 295 standard size pillow cases, plus their delivery to Children’s Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota, in Minneapolis. During the past seven years we have donated a total 1,060 of these beautiful pillow cases to this Children’s Hospital. Children’s Hospital is nationally ranked with high performance in two pediatric specialty medical and surgical care areas, — Pediatric Pulmonology & Lung Surgery and Pediatric Diabetes & Endocrinology.

During an April worship service, these pillow cases were blessed, and displayed to share their beauty and purpose with all members of our Church.

“Souper” Bowl of Caring — A Reflection of Jesus’ Love in Action

When the Esther Guild of Trinity Lutheran Church, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was planning our projects for 2019 the idea was to choose more projects that involved our “hands to work for Him and our feet to go on His errands.” We used the LWML website to come up with some of our ideas. We particularly liked “A Year’s Worth of Caring” which was the January 2018 activity in the Mission Service Activity Archives. (Note: There is also an updated 2019 “year’s worth” in the archives.)

The January project was the “Souper Bowl of Caring.” Esther Guild invited our entire church to participate. An old kettle was set in the narthex with a sign explaining what it was for. The project was promoted in the church newsletter and bulletin. In all, Esther Guild collected 70 cans of soup and 12 boxes of 4-pack crackers. The donations were taken to our local food pantry, Neighbor to Neighbor, to help feed and warm the hearts of people in need during these cold winter days.

Of course, making monetary donations to worthwhile causes is always helpful. However, it seems the projects that are more hands-on give us a better connection to the people we are trying to reach and help. Esther Guild certainly enjoys these types of projects and we are putting more of them on our project list this year. The “Souper Bowl of Caring” was a good way to start the year sharing our blessings with others.

Quilts for Orphans — A Reflection of Jesus’ Love in Action

Epiphany Lutheran Church in Chandler, AZ

On January 18, 2019, Jean Weber, Kathy Baumhofer, and Judie Christensen, members of Epiphany Quilters, at Epiphany Lutheran Church in Chandler, AZ, drove to Grace Lutheran Church in El Centro, CA, to deliver 27 twin and lap quilts to Rev. Doug Griebenaw. Those quilts were then delivered to an orphanage in Mexicali, Mexico.  Photos depict Judie Christensen presenting the quilts to Pastor Griebenaw and the orphans receiving their quilts at the orphanage.

Submitted by
Kathy Baumhofer
Estrella Zone 29 LWML President
Pacific Southwest District