IDE Thrivent Check

Thrivent Financial Supports IDE Events

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is very pleased to provide $6,875 to assist in the funding of the following 2007 IDE sponsored events:

Early Childhood Conference: January 27th
Spring Professional Workers Conference: April 30-May 1
Pastors Golf Outing & Luncheon: June 25th
Fall Pastors Conference: October 1-2
Church Secretary’s Conference: TBD
Singles Retreat: TBD

Thrivent Financial Representatives Chuck Zadow (member of Concordia, C.R.) and Kari Kibby (member of Zion, Hiawatha) presented the check to Rev. Dean Rothchild.

St. John's Lutheran Church in Waverly, Grace Lutheran Church in Artesian, Immanuel Lutheran Church in Waterloo

The human care committees of St. John's Lutheran Church in Waverly, and Grace Lutheran, Artesian, and Immanuel Lutheran Church of Waterloo, along with the Black Hawk Chapter of Lutherans For Life worked together to raise diapers and other needed supplies for four local agencies that serve new mothers in need. The donations given included baby formula, bibs, towels, and a total of 1,845 diapers! The diapers and other supplies will be donated to House of Hope, a transitional housing program for new mothers, Alternatives Pregnancy Center, a crisis pregnancy center, the Salvation Army, a homeless shelter, and Cedar Valley Friends of the Family, a battered women's shelter. The multi-church effort was designed to witness to mothers and families who have chosen life in the midst of some difficult circumstances as well as educate congregation members of the agencies in the community that are working to support these new families. One of the agencies, Alternatives Pregnancy Center, saw 649 individuals from May-October 2006 who heard the gospel message, discussed spiritual matters and prayed with a staff member. Mary Collins, Executive Director of Alternatives, had this to say about the people they serve, "Many of the young women who come to us have been involved in abusive and broken families. They have seldom, if ever, been to church. They know little about our Savior, but it is our hope and prayer that when they leave the Center, they have received a glimpse of His love and abundant life!" Those involved with the diaper drive wish to thank all of the congregation members who supported this effort through their donations and prayers.

IDE ILLL Zone #3

Members of Zone # 3 from the International Lutheran Laymen’s League gathered at Holy Cross in Davenport to hear suggestions on how to help their congregations and their pastors keep the” Iowa Ablaze” movement alive. Keith Schmidt and Allen Schmid, (Zone # 3 President) encouraged their listeners to attend the League’s convention on April 20-21 at Camp IO-DIS-E-CA.

This Spring Rally was an attempt to make the driving time and possibly weather conditions a little more acceptable for driving several miles from other cities to enjoy the fellowship of our rallies. Some members have been attending these rallies for 20 years or more and it is the smiling faces and the handshakes that keep them coming back. The Rally started at 10:00 A M and was history shortly after the noon meal of Soup & Sandwiches. It was followed by a short presentation on making the bracelets.

Keith Schmidt our Intl.LLL President did an excellent job of presenting the many different programs of the League that are designed to help congregations in their outreach efforts. You may find the League’s website at www.LHM.org.

John Moeller ( Media and Young Adult ), told the attendees about Davenport’s “Mississippi Valley Youth And Young Adult Fair Booth venture.” This is a multi-church venture that wishes to identify and mentor the next generation of League and congregational leaders. Iowa Dist East LLL leaders are now asking all congregations in the district to help make 30,000 “salvation, or Jesus bracelets” like Iowa West brought to the Iowa State Fair last summer. If your congregation truly believes the phrase “Come Worship With Us” We could use your help in making some of these 30,000 bracelets and explain a program called “Prove His Grace” that can be used to fund the bracelet making and promoting of the LCMS in “Our half of Iowa”. Contact us at Terrajohn1@msn.com and just type LHM in the subject line.

2007 IDE Spelling Bee

2007 District Spelling Bee Held at Valley Lutheran

The annual Iowa District East Spelling Bee was held at Valley Lutheran School in Cedar Falls on March 10, 2007. Fifty-three students representing eight schools participated in the event. In the preliminary round, each contestant received seventy-five words to be written and six oral words. The top three contestants from each of the three age levels advanced to an oral spell down to determine who would take home the first, second, and third place trophies.

This year’s trophy winners are:

3^rd-4^th grade level:

1^st- Isaiah Armbrecht, LISWilliamsburg

2^nd-Anna Hage, Central Newhall

3^rd-Katharine Benya, Trinity Cedar Rapids

5^th-6^th grade level:

1^st-Zack Richardt, Trinity Cedar Rapids

2^nd-Kaitlyn Pegump, Central Newhall

3^rd-Harlan Owen, Trinity Cedar Rapids

7^th-8^th grade level:

1^st-Anthony Hardy, Trinity Cedar Rapids

2^nd-Mara Huebner, Community Readlyn

tie for 3^rd-Matthew Malm, Valley Lutheran, Cedar Falls

& Tyler Cook, Immanuel, Waterloo

A traveling plaque, presented each year to the school with the most overall school points, went to Central Lutheran of Newhall, with a total combined score of 422 points. Next in line was Trinity Lutheran-Cedar Rapids, then LIS-Williamsburg, Community Lutheran-Readlyn, Dubuque Lutheran, St. Paul’s-Latimer, Immanuel-Waterloo, and Valley Lutheran-Cedar Falls.

Thanks to all the contestants, school representatives, parents, and the many volunteers for all the hard work and time to make it a fun day for all. We would also like to thank Quota Club International, Blue Line-Cedar Falls, Pella Windows-Waterloo, Iowa Sports, and Bethany Bible Chapel for their support in sponsoring this event.

Valley Lutheran was proud to host the event and looks forward to other such events in the future. For more information contact VLS at (319) 266-4565 or visit www.valleylutheranhigh.com.

St. John Lutheran Church in State Center

Mrs. Inez Badger of St. John – State Center, commissioned this crucifix to be carved by Reverend Vitali Gavrilov, a Deacon of Tranfguration Lutheran Church – Touim, Khakassia, a city in south central Siberia, in the fall of 2005.

Rev. Gavrilov began work in January 2006 and the corpus was completed in October 2006. The Reverends Daniel S. Johnson (Redeemer – Marshalltown) and Michael Scudder (Faith – Mt. Pleasant) brought the corpus back with them through airport security when they returned from their latest trip to Siberia in November 2006. Deacon Vitali Gavrilov learned this art of carving while serving a prison sentence in a Siberian prison in the 1990s. While he was in prison Pastor Pavel Zayakin - Abakan, Khakassia, visited him. After he was released from prison he was baptized and joined the Lutheran Church in Siberia. He now serves as an ordained Deacon (an assistant pastor in LCMS terminology) under Pastor Zayakin in the small city of Touim. The life story of Rev. Gavrilov can be read in the Siberian Lutheran Mission Society (SLMS) May 2005 newsletter, available as a “pdf” download at www.tslms.org. A recent article about life in Touim, Khakassia is published in the May 2007 SLMS newsletter.

Pictured: Pr. David Steege and Mrs. Inez Bager (St. John – State Center) stand next to a processional cross dedicated on Ash Wednesday.

Collage Hills Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls

Spring Break 2007: New Orleans

As thousands of people in Iowa were wondering when they were going to get their power back from the ice storm, 13 college students and 2 leaders from College Hill Lutheran Church and Brammer Student Center in Cedar Falls, IA had their eyes set on going down to New Orleans for spring break.

As we started our trip, we were blessed to stay with host families at St. Charles, MO and then at Jackson, MS. One of the amazing spots that we visited was Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, Missouri. This history and beauty of this church and location was enjoyed by all.

As we traveled into New Orleans, we meet up with Rev. Jerome Terry and his wife, Dora. They showed us to our new home for the next three and half days.

We were soon off in the vans to the Ninth Ward and the Lower Ninth Ward to see the damage first hand. As we were driving, the van was silent with gasp of disbelief of what we were seeing. We then got a quick tour of the French Quarter as we would later spend a couple of nights there enjoying the atmosphere.

The work week started off early Monday morning. The original plan was to help with the clean up of the Bethel Lutheran Church building but the damage was too great. The church now is going to be destroyed and rebuilt. Instead we helped them clean up the grounds from other people dumping garbage on their lawn. We also had two groups helping at another church and a home with some painting that needed to be done. Later in the week, we had the opportunity to tear down some drywall from two homes so that they can start the rebuilding

This gave us an opportunity to help folks start getting their lives back. As the time down there came to a close, we got to worship with other volunteers. One of the students summarized the trip as: humility, reality and hope. We have given hope to the people in New Orleans and they have touched our lives forever.

College Hills Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls

College Hill Lutheran Church and Brammer Student Center was the site of the game night for the International Programs in the Cultural and Intensive English Program.
Foreign students attending the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls. Students and staff involved in the program came to the Student Center for an evening of fun, fellowship and food. The program will also be having their graduation program at the Brammer Student Center for those students completing their English training and moving on to other University programs. Assistant program director, Chris Pesek, organizes the events with/for the students. The College Hill Lutheran Student Fellowship and congregation members are pleased to have the group utilizing the facility.

Grace Lutheran Church in DeWitt

Grace Lutheran Church, DeWitt – The Sunday School participants “Marched” into March by declaring it Brent Jurgersen Month. 1st Sgt Brent Jurgersen, a former Sunday School attendee and confirmed member (class of 1976), who served in Iraq, endured a number of injuries resulting in having a leg amputated. Because of the love and dedication to his soldiers and friends, and his desire to ride a motorcycle, his fellow soldiers wanted to surprise him with a Harley Davidson Trike. Thus the fundraiser began! Grace Sunday School (along with the congregation) hopped right on and rode along with four exciting Sundays – March 4th was bring a friend to Sunday School – after all, we were helping our friend Brent! March 11th was “Cool Dude” Sunday, complete with shades (sunglasses), funny hats and a Harley Davidson Jacket. March 18th was “Wearing of the Green” and March 25th was Patriot Sunday where the red, white and blue colors were displayed (see picture) and treats were enjoyed. The total amount forwarded to Texas to put towards the trike was $1674. 88. The trike (along with a trailer) is to be presented to Brent on April 14 in Texas where he is currently stationed.