Advent Midweek Worship and Words from the Bishop

Tonight is the last Wednesday of Advent!

We'll gather for soup supper at 6pm. At 7pm we'll move into the sanctuary for Holden Evening Prayer, a lovely sung vespers service. There will be time for quiet reflection and prayer - just what so many of us need in the midst of this busy season of preparation!

 
Words from the Bishop:  -"For nothing will be impossible with God."

We continue our Advent lifting up of ministries with special needs.

Several years ago the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bolivia asked the Montana Synod to bring a cattle specialist from Montana to advise the church on its cattle raising efforts. There is a small farm in Bolivia that raises cattle near the northern border with Brazil. The proceeds from the cattle farm are used to support a children's ministry in the city of Cobija.

Cobija is a rough town. Because it is a border town, it is a major drug transportation hub. And because drug traffickers are loathe to get caught, they recruit children to carry the drugs back and forth. When Pastor Luis was sent by the Bolivian Church to start a ministry in Cobija, he began with the children. He saw that children were being used, abused and discarded. And he vowed to protect the children. His congregation is mostly children. They know that they can come to the center any time, day or night, for food, for education, for protection.

We brought a cattle expert to the farm, and he designed a system that would get water to the cattle and increase productivity. Now we need to help them raise the $8000 that it will take to pay for the pumping system. The Montana Synod Women's Organization (WELCA) has taken on the challenge to raise $2000. Can you help with the rest? Can you help raise money for the cattle farm, so that the church can continue to reach out to the vulnerable children of Cobija? Please send your gifts to the Montana Synod, and mark them "Bolivia Water Project."

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty."

Bishop Jessica Crist