August 16, 2024
Caminando Juntos – Walking Together
Dear Church,
Since 2009, Grace Lutheran has been in partnership with Mensajeros de Cristo (Messengers of Christ) in Guatemala. This is a partnership facilitated through Iglesia Luterana Agustina de Guatemala and the St. Paul Area Synod ELCA.
It is a partnership of walking together. Of praying for each other, of mutual learning and increased understanding and solidarity. As part of our covenant, which was renewed in November 2023, Grace Lutheran travels to visit Mensajeros de Cristo every two years or so.
We will be traveling to Guatemala again on March 20-29, 2025. These trips are made up of members of our congregation who both have already been involved in our Guatemala partnership and ministry team, as well as people who are interested in walking together, but have not yet traveled or participated in the ministry team.
It is a commitment to be on our travel delegation – there’s a lot of preparation done beforehand and there are time and financial obligations. On September 15th, the Guatemala ministry team will be hosting a forum after worship on what traveling to Guatemala is like, going over what a typical trip looks like, the time and financial requirements, and generally sharing what you might expect if you commit to being part of the delegation.
This forum is open to everyone to learn more about this aspect of our partnership, whether or not you are considering traveling in March. At the forum, there will be time to sign up for a 1:1 conversation with a member of the ministry team board if you are seriously thinking about traveling in March 2025. The forum is not a requirement to travel, but having a 1:1 is, so if you can’t make the 15th, please reach out to Lisa Wolf. We are hoping to have an idea of how many folks are seriously interested in traveling soon after the forum.
Many blessings on your weekend!
In Christ,
Pastor Reed
Every Friday, we send an email to the congregation and any others who would like to learn more about the Grace community. The last four Friday emails are posted below.