December 2015 Newsletter
December 2015 Newsletter
December 2015 Newsletter
December 2015
unrecognizable, useless,
crushed and broken
has been, and
continues to be,
restored. That
is what we
celebrate
at
Christmas:
God
coming
and living
among us
and the
restoration of
life.
Tin Soldiers
Tin soldiers have been around a very long
time. The toy soldier pieces are considered a part
of Americana and folk art that is collected. The
older tin soldiers were a solid cast from tin or
lead or pewter. Those soft metals were easy to
bend or crush, destroying the features and
making the soldiers unrecognizable from how
they looked when first cast. Not unlike each of
us: first cast in the image of God, we fell and
Gods image within us is, well, many time
unrecognizable.
1 John 4:9 This is how God showed his love
among us: He sent his one and only son into the
world that we might live through him.
Pastor Andy
Love in Jesus,
Pastor Harrison
Were having
a jolly time
in Family
Ministry!
The time to celebrate our Lords birth has
arrived! Decorations are going up, parties are
being planned, children are compiling lists, and
we are preparing our hearts to worship our God
in a deeper way. As all of this goes on we are
reminded that some do not know Christ Jesus,
we are reminded of our blessings and the love we have around us. I have a challenge for you
this holiday season. Choose several people in your community, the cashier at the grocery
store, your mailman, a waiter or waitress whom you have come to know, a barista, people who
you see on a weekly basis. Leave them encouraging cards or a small gift once or twice. Let
them know you love them because Jesus loves them. Make a point this Christmas to share
Jesuss love, the love he died to share.
We have so many exciting things happening in family ministry this season! Between youth
group, advent services, Sunday school and confirmation, we are a busy bunch!
Sunday school started the year with the story of Joseph and moved on to Moses. During Advent
the children will be learning about John the Baptist, the angel Gabriel and of course the birth of
Jesus. Each Sunday we light our advent candle and talk about the meaning. Sunday December
20th we will be having a birthday party for Jesus! We are asking parents to bring a party dish to
share! We will be opening up the classroom dividers and having our party as one big group! We
light the fourth advent candle at 9:45, the party starts at 10!
Youth Group meets just about every Wednesday from 6pm-7:30 except during advent, we meet
at 6:30 instead of 6. Once a month we do a service project. In honor of Veterans Day the youth
made 25 prayer bags for the VA office. The bags consisted of baked goods, candy, nuts, and a
card. The VA office was surprised and grateful for the gifts. Wednesday December 9th we will be
putting together gift bags for homeless teens! Tuesday December 15th at 6:30 we will be having
our youth group Christmas party at the Buschs house! No youth group Wednesday the 16th. If
your youth is attending the party please send him/her with a gift for our white elephant gift
exchange. There will games, food and baking! Please contact me for driving instructions!
Confimration is well under way! Our wonderfully dedicated confirmands will have their third
retreat on December 12th at 5:30. We will be contuining in our Lutheran Life journal, units 5-7.
Dinner starts at 5:30. Instead of breaking for dessert, we will wait until the end of class and have
a small party! Wear a silly Christmas swearter or outfit! We are doing a service project in
Tuesday December 22nd. The children will be helping out with the moble food pantry at Hope
Lutheran Church on Northern Lights. Please have your youth there by 4:30.
First Communion will take place on December 13th for those who took the class in November.
Please contact me as soon as you can and let me know which service you will be attending so
we can plan accordingly.
Lastly I would like to address our Angel Tree! The Sunday school classes have put together an
Angel Tree for children of prisoners. The gifts are on behalf of the incarcerated parent. Most of
these children are in Juneau so we will need to mail the gift to them. The angel tree is set up in
the narthex December 6thDecember 20th. Please consider the act of kindess as part of your
Christmas good-doing. Some of these children have not seen their parent in years, what a
blessing it wil be to receive a gift from them! The process is pretty sinple,
choose a child (or two), contact their caregiver to ensure the information
you have received is correct, buy a gift and mail it out! Please let me
know if you have any questions!
I wish you all a very merry Christmas with love and many blessings. Its
a pleasure serving our Lord God here at ALC.
Rachel Goodell
Director of Fmaily Ministry
907-538-5958
Letter of Thanks
Rick McCafferty
LIM-Native Ministries
This is to the
congregation and everyone
that is involved in making
Anchorage Lutheran Church feel like home.
Thank you so much for letting my wife, Jane, and
me be a part of the ALC family. We have felt
nothing but love and welcomed here at ALC. I
personally want to thank all of you for
supporting me in my seminary education with
Concordia Seminary, so that I can study to
become a Lutheran pastor.
My wife and I are Inupiaq Eskimos. I am
originally from Kotzebue, Alaska and my wife is
originally from Brevig Mission, Alaska outside of
Nome. I am a retired Correctional Officer for the
State of Alaska, Department of Corrections (DOC)
and my wife works for Cook Inlet Tribal Council
(CITC).
While working for DOC, I witnessed three
generations of Native men and three generations
of Native women go through our correctional
system. I saw how domestic violence is a
generational curse that is handed down through
our Native people. This hit a core in me, as I grew
up in a home with domestic violence. YHWH has
called me to work with those that have Wounds
of the Heart.
I am very grateful to all of you here at ALC for
supporting me in this ministry. THANK YOU so
much for your open arms and warm hospitality.
Merry Christmas!!!
Christmas Party
The annual
Womens Guild
Christmas party and
luncheon will be held at
Carol Dragers home on
Saturday, December 12,
beginning at 11:00 a.m. All
ladies of the congregation
are invited to attend.
Lunch will be provided by Carol and fellow
LWML members. We will be taking part in
the local community Toys-for-Tots program
again this year. If you are interested in
supporting this program, please bring along
an unwrapped gift/s for any age child.
Should you care to participate in the
Christmas tree ornament exchange, bring an
anonymous gift-wrapped ornament to trade.
Please join us for this festive occasion of
Christmas caroling and good fellowship.
Carol guarantees to have a least one
decorated tree in every room of the house!
4812 Potter Crest Circle, 338-1430.
ALC Choir
If you havent been a part of a church choir for a
long time, you may want to join our choir at
Anchorage Lutheran. We meet on Wednesday
evenings and sing at scheduled times at the 8:30
traditional service. Our new director, Tamara
McCoy, is a trained and accomplished singer and,
while teaching interesting anthems and songs,
gives wonderful how-to-sing advice. Our choir,
small and mighty, sounds fuller and blended due
to her lead. We have a good time of fellowship
too. Please consider joining us. All voices are
welcome.
Terry Callies,
Licensed Deacon and President
Anchorage Lutheran Church
Gambia
Michelle Ritchie
Greetings on behalf of the people of The Gambia,
I want to thank so many of you who have
opened your hearts to those in need across the
globe. I was honored and blessed to be able to
speak at the Womens Guild luncheon six weeks
ago. I have to tell you that God is working in so
many amazing ways as I plan my next trip to
Gambia. I am very blessed and humbled that God
allows me to do this work serving his people in
some very remote areas in Africa. This work is so
much bigger than one American nurse and one
Gambian professor who had a dream of helping his
people. This kind of work takes a large team of
people working together to get necessary aid to
our clinic in the Gambia. It takes people who take
the time to pray for those in need, it takes
compassionate hearts who offer generous gifts of
money to bring food, vitamins, and much needed
medicine to those who are dying from lack of
access to these things we so often take for granted
in our own lives. It takes people like you who
shower their love and support on people you will
never meet except in a photograph.
You listened to their needs and have responded
so generously. I am blessed beyond words and
want to thank you for the $3500 you graciously
gave to help me make that initial trip to Africa. I
also am so grateful for the generosity of the ladies
who heard the stories of the people and the needs
of the three clinic sites. From one luncheon you
raised $600 and my Gambia account continues to
grow. This will be used to get much needed
medicines like antibiotics to those who are dying
from disease and starvation. Especially the
children. Your generosity will provide them a
better and healthier life. My hope and prayer is to
continue this workyour worknot just on my
next trip to the Gambia, but in the years to come.
You are the hands and feet of Jesus. You give
generously, love those who you will likely never
meet, and provide hope to those living in hopeless
situations who may not know the love of Jesus.
Through you and your work, they will know Jesus
and their children will be healthier.
You make more of a difference than you will
ever know. Thank you again for your love, prayers,
and support of this brand new mission in Africa. I
522-3636
Activities:
three day Bible School for all ages
Sunday evening worship at Nunapitchuk
Moravian Church
daily breakfast for children and families
bicycle jamboree
evening young adult basketball and devotions
community program at Moravian Church
meetings with Pastor Coolidge and leaders of
Nunapitchuk Moravian church
informal outreach and visitation
discussion with Russian Orthodox
Bishop David and Father Phillip of
local congregation
Mission Sunday at ALC on June 7, 2015
fun
Statistics:
Population of Nunapitchuk (2011 AK DOL
estimate):
Financials:
Total Budgeted Expenses:
518
111
139
$10,000
$4451
$6411
expenses by type
charter airfare
scheduled airfare
food (for children & team)
crafts & music
shipping
supplies (totes, etc)
gifts
bicycle repair
LKSD building use
TOTAL EXPENSES
IN KIND DONATIONS
airfare
$1559
$280
$973
$706
$130
$224
$220
$209
$150
$4451
$ 1960
(7 tickets donated
by airline miles)
$?
$ 1960
$ 6411
WHY:
The purpose of the mission is to proclaim
the Gospel of Jesus Christ and pray for the
Holy Spirit to work among the people there.
Mark 16:15. This ministry is a partnership with
the Nunapitchuk Moravian Church which
invites us to the village each year. 2015 was
the tenth consecutive year of ministry in
Nunapitchuk for Anchorage Lutheran Church,
sharing the Word of God and celebrating the
hope we have in Jesus Christ.
Since inception, 46 missionaries (including
15 teens) have made 93 trips to the village. Of
those, over 50% of the missionaries have
returned for multiple years. We pray that in
coming years, if it is Gods Will, the Holy Spirit
will continue to move people to go.
NOTES
1. The financial situation is stable. Seed
money in the Nunapitchuk account is
maintained from year to year in order to
forward fund the mission. As of 10-31-15,
there was $6165.53 in the Nunapitchuk
Mission account, ostensibly sufficient to fully
fund a 2016 mission. Air travel is the largest
expense, and donation of air mileage tickets
for the Anchorage/Bethel leg significantly
reduces cash requirements.
Guest Ministry
Kathy Callies, Guest Ministry Coordinator
Merry and blessed Christmas! It is so exciting
to prepare for the coming of Jesus as a babe in the
manger, and to also prepare for his 2nd coming!
I am so thankful for the guest ministry team
and I take this time to say thank you to all the
faithful servants who serve in this most
important ministry with me! I am so excited to
have so many opportunities to welcome friends
and family and guests to worship this Christmas
time! Thank you for your hospitality!
In the November Newsletter, I touched on
First Impressions and how important it is to give
a warm and friendly welcome to Gods House. I
would now like to add a bit more to that.
I continue to encourage the Guest Ministry
Team to also de-greet (as I call it) after the
service. This is the time when we have more time
to visit with the guests and to introduce them to
others. Did you know that the ten minutes after the
service is over, is the time when Guests have time
to evaluate the friendliness of the congregation? Do
we as a congregation walk the talk and reach out
to the people we have not yet met? Or do we just
get together with our friends and family in our
closed circles, and the guests are standing alone
and ignored? Way too often, I have seen that after
services, and I pray to God that He gives each of us
the eyes to see those He has sent and that we offer
His love and friendship to them.
This Christmas, we will be blessed with many
guests and visitors. I know we are a friendly
congregation to one another, but I pray we will
look around, and when we see someone we do not
know yet, or someone standing alone, please take
the time to introduce yourself. When we are warm
and caring and friendly, this will be our invitation
to them to come again. Each time they come back,
they will be able to hear the Word of God. It is my
prayer, He will touch their lives in such a powerful
way.
Isnt it exciting that God gives us this gift of
hospitality, and we have this awesome opportunity
to make a difference for Him! All of us, (not just
the greeters), it is for all of us to welcome guests
and visitors with His love!
Merry Christmas! Come Lord Jesus, Come!