Category: Zone News - Lutheran Women's Missionary League California Nevada Hawaii

Zone 6 News

9/22/2021

by Marian Durbin, LWML President, Trinity Lutheran Church, Fairfield

A major source of pride in our organization is that in January of 2011 we "adopted" the Jonathan Federwitz family in Papua, New Guinea. All proceeds from our monthly bake sales go directly to this family in support of their mission, and our congregants have generous hearts! During Covid we had "No Bake/ Bake Sales" and were still able to meet our commitment to them.

Jonathan, Carrie, and their family have visited us twice and told us about their work, New Guinea life, and even preached on the two Sundays they were here. So, we do feel we know them. We look forward to their newsletters and have learned much about Lutheran Bible Translators.

Zone 13 News

9/22/2021

by Marilyn Munz, Zone 13 President

Zone 13 was able to come together for a Quilt Tying Party in July. Our hope is to send all finish quilts to Lutheran World Relief in October.

LWML at Grace in Crescent City is making their famous Grace Cooper Frozen Pies. As of this writing our pie count stands 225. The pie sale is slated for November 6th at Grace Lutheran Church.

Our Fall Gathering is scheduled to be held at St. Marks, Ferndale on October 2. President Martha Dubke will be our guest speaker. Pastor Ty Bramwell will lead us in Bible study, “Living in the Days of Noah—Today.” (A new study published this year by LWML.)

Zone 14 News

9/22/2021

by Laura Lynn Ledson, Zone 14 President

Finally, the Zone 14 Rally will be held this month. The last plans are being implemented, changes put in place, RSVPs announced. On Saturday, September 25th, Good Shepherd Hall at St. Mark Lutheran Church, Santa Rosa will open its doors at 9:30am for the early registration with coffee, tea and breakfast treats. An ingathering to benefit Redwood Gospel Mission of men's and women's socks will be taken at the door. "And I heard the voice of the LORD saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me,'" from Isaiah will open the day. The inspiration for this theme came from the powerful hymn "Hark the Voice of Jesus Calling". Our new pastor, Rev. Gary Gerloff, is the keynote speaker. We will sing some more to the notes of the keyboard played by Gregg Campbell. Elaine McFarlane, one of our district vice presidents, will give a shortened version of "Change", some guidance, and tools to see our lives in different forms. Then the proverbial potluck will be served by the ladies in a careful way. Also, space between seating and masks will be required. The afternoon continues with a few surprises up our sleeves. We must include a short business portion for a vote to be taken on president and vice president. Elaine and I will continue in our positions due to no other nominations. The gals will have a chance to shop at the LWML STORE AND MORE, where many lovely hand-made items by members and such will be on display. Safe travel home will end the wonderful day of fellowship.

The next zone gathering is planned for Saturday, October 30th this year. This will be our annual servant event to make thanksgiving cards for military families. The ladies will also work in another area of Good Shepherd Hall of St. Mark on quilts. A third group will bag dried beans of ten varieties, enough for delicious pots of soup. The churches present will have an opportunity to take these to their congregations to sell and benefit missions. We love working together!

Zone 19 News

9/22/2021

Messiah, Citrus Heights

Barely two weeks following Zone 19 President Sherry Clifton’s return from the Kentucky convention, Messiah’s Society in Citrus Heights invited her to give a report on the convention. On June 14 at their monthly meeting five members and Pastor Morris Stephens welcomed former Messiah member Sherry for a fascinating couple of hours travelling back into the biblical past.

The highlight of Sherry’s presentation was our viewing of a portion of the video, “Genesis: Paradise Lost” which was introduced at convention, giving scientific evidence which can be used to “to expose flaws in evolution theory and support the biblical 6-day creation account.” So often we know what we believe but it is hard to put into words. These books can give believers many answers to share with their friends and family. We looked through and discussed two more books Sherry had purchased at the convention: “Creation Museum Signs” which answers questions about Creation, and “Ark signs: That Teach a Flood of Answers.” Our discussions left us with more questions than answers.

Finally, from her tour of The Ark Encounter, near Lexington, Sherry was able to bring to life for us what it may have been like to step back into time and be a passenger on the 510 feet long, 51 feet high, and 85 feet wide replica of Noah’s Ark. The companion book to her visit, “Journey Through the Ark Encounter” can help answer them for us.

Sherry also shared with us the myriad of convention information and activities including the new 2021-2023 Biennium Mission Grants, speakers, exhibits, servant projects, and other outside excursions around Lexington, the Horse Capital of the World!

Immanuel, Jackson

Immanuel LWML resumed meetings this past winter 2020/2021, taking precautions of masks and distancing. We elected new officers and decided to set goals for projects that would help our community and reach out to members of our church who were not able to attend in-house worship or LWML.

At Christmas time we packed up Care Kits for Men and Women at our local Kit Carson Nursing Home. We crafted Candy Cane lapel pins for the residents to wear, along with the Legend of the Candy Cane Gospel attached to each gift bag.

Our “craft sewing” group tied a stack of no-sew fleece blankets which were delivered to the local Women’s Shelter. We began a card ministry—sending cards with personal notes at Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day to friends and ladies of the church who cannot participate in the LWML meetings. We are also using the Blessing Cards from the LWML website.

At our April meeting, we enjoyed a "Spring Cleaning” Bible Study, so our service project was to donate used clothing from our closets to the local women’s shelter along with donations from our congregation. SERVE the LORD with GLADNESS!

Zone 5 News

9/22/2021

by Linda Lynch, President, Zion, Terra Bella

Since our society is not very active in the summer months, we reminded everyone to bring their mite boxes to church in our worship service bulletins. This brought awareness to our church members, and it was very successful too!

Our officers have also met to make plans for the year and are very excited about some events coming up. Besides honoring LWML on LWML Sunday, we have some church events this fall that involve the LWML, our annual Christmas Bazaar and luncheon in December. These all involve serving foods and making craft items/baked goods to sell. These homemade goods help raise money for some worthy projects in our church and in LWML. One project we have is to give money to seminary students each month to help support them. We are also looking at how to make our meeting/program nights more inviting so hopefully the younger women may be able to attend.

As always, it is in God’s hands, just like our LWML Sunday theme states, “Our hearts in HIS hand”, which I love! “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly” (1 Peter 4:8)

Zone 8 News

9/22/2021

by Marilyn Taddey, Zone 8 Publicity

Several women from Zone 8 congregations attended the CNH District retreat held August 27-29, 2021 at the beautiful ECCO Conference Center in Oakhurst, CA. The Conference Center was a peaceful setting in spite of warm temperatures and somewhat "smokey" skies due to ongoing fires burning to the north and east. The grounds are peaceful, the rooms/beds are comfortable, and the food is plentiful and delicious!

The opportunity to join fellow Christian Women from congregations throughout the District in joyful singing lifted our spirits! Early morning devotions were led by the pastors in a beautiful outdoor "chapel" area overlooking a peaceful pond (with a white swan).

The group Bible Study "Waiting on the Lord" was led in a very creative way involving the women in skits and small group sessions to enable all to speak and share life experiences. Late afternoon and evening hours after dinner were involved with service projects for Days for Girls and Phil's Friends or games and snacks in the Chapel lobby. The day closed with an encouraging Evening Devotion.

Sunday worship/communion in the chapel was a wonderful expression of joy and thanks with hymns, prayers, and inspiring messages.

Zone 9 News

9/22/2021

by Vicki Zimmerman, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Atascadero, CA

We had a visitor that came with a familiar family. Pastor James Cerdenola from the Philippines, whose current call is with a Lutheran Seminary located at an elevation of almost 5800 feet.

Pastor James noticed our beautiful quilts in the pews made my many of our LWML women. When the individuals and families head off to Seminary, all they have are the clothes that they pack and a few personal items. No blankets at all. Pastor James had asked if we would contemplate sending some of these beautiful quilts to the Seminary for these families.

What a blessing, to send some quilts to individuals that are walking forward to help with God’s will. Pastor James and some of his family members helped pack up 22 adult quilts and 15 children quilts. He was so very thankful for our gifts. I received an email from him once he was in Manila, regarding a couple other Pastors that were on the flights home. He told them of his adventure and they asked if our LWML group would be willing to help their Seminaries.

Zone 3 News

9/22/2021

by Cathey King, Zone 3 President

So much has happened in the last few months since restrictions have lifted for a while. The Convention in Lexington was a thrill and blessing…odd to have so many people in one place! The district retreat at Oakhurst was so uplifting and restorative, body and soul both renewed.

Zone 3 is thankful and blessed to announce that National Mite Grant #28, the final grant chosen at Lexington convention, in the amount of $70,208, was awarded to the Hmong ministries at Paul, Merced! We are so happy for them as they have been bolstered by this infusion of money to help with the job of bringing lost Hmong souls to Christ. St. Paul Hmong Outreach Ministries in Merced, California, has been actively involved in outreach to Hmong communities in their native tongue for 15 years. In 2015 and 2018, Hmong language schools were founded. They are connected with host churches, St. Paul Lutheran in Merced and Redeemer Lutheran in Fresno, California. Through the schools and outreach at New Year’s festivals, the Gospel is being heard and families are being baptized and confirmed. Funds will be used to continue mission programs, develop new training modules, and support training implementation of Christ-centered educational materials in the Hmong language to be used in the schools, for festival outreach, and to share with other LCMS churches and districts.

The Zone 3 board met on Saturday August 21 at Grace, Modesto, to discuss, plan, and fellowship. Along with greeting each other and sharing, we chose a nominating committee and heard plans for our Fall Rally at St Peter, Lodi. The theme is A Journey to Serve and includes brunch.

At Grace, Modesto, the two circles, Naomi (daytime) and Mary-Martha (evening) have happily begun again serving after worship snacks on alternating first Sundays of the month. The Mary-Martha Circle has continued to meet via Zoom throughout much of the Pandemic. They recently had their first in-person meeting in the church library. Naomi has met off and on in the library during the pandemic and is looking forward to our first meeting of the LWML year with a possible 6 new members coming to the meeting!

Zion, Lodi, LWML/Sewing Circle ladies got together on June 19th for a work/fellowship party at Zion.

Zone 16 News

9/22/2021

by Rebecca Weisshahn, Zone 16 President

Dorcas at Our Savior Lutheran Church, Salinas CA
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

As things began to open up on the central coast, the women of the LWML at Our Savior Lutheran Church celebrated by having a brunch and time of fellowship together based upon Joshua 1:9. We had a variety of bears set up around the room to symbolize the courage and strength that we can have in our Lord, Jesus Christ. We listened to a short LWML devotion based on this chapter and verse as well. The food was delicious as was the company. We even played a game where we tried to stomp on balloons tied to each other’s ankles! Inside the balloons were tucked Bible promises to carry through the challenging times in our lives. It was a wonderful way to begin our LWML season!

Dorcas at Our Savior is also in full swing, meeting every week to make quilts for the domestic violence shelter in our area and to knit baby hats for the local hospital.

We are grateful to God that we are once again able to meet with one another, and we look forward to combining with other zones in the future for various events.

Zone 7 News

9/22/2021

by Cherylene Brueckner, Zone 7 President

The societies/churches in our zone are all faithful in collecting Mites!

Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Concord – Women of Holy Cross
We sponsored a “Diaper and Baby Wipes Drive” for Options Health in Concord from Mother’s Day to Father’s Day. Options Health is a Christian organization that works with mothers and fathers dealing with an unplanned pregnancy, in many cases helping them keep their baby. Health care, counseling, parenting education, and needed baby supplies are among some of their services. We collected enough diapers and wipes to fill the back of my husband’s truck. Options Health was very grateful for our support. We plan to repeat this as an annual event!

In August we met informally to craft birthday cards for our WoHC Card Ministry. We send out birthday cards to the women in our congregation. We also send out anniversary cards, sympathy and get-well cards as needed. This day we made 70 birthday cards!

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