This week you’re going to be seeing a change with our weekly emails. We are moving to a once-a-week email on Thursdays which will continue to be called Weekly Update. This will give you all the same information, but less clutter, for your inbox. We hope this will be a good change for you and continue to keep you connected to all we’re doing at Peace.

Also, right now I could use your help with a few things at Peace. First, we could use a few new volunteers to help with Sunday worships. Our ushers and set up crew have been a same few people for 3-4 months and probably longer. Please consider if you could come a few minutes early on Sundays and help set up for worship (especially when we’re outdoors) or act as an usher. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Second, I’m looking for someone to help organize our LSS refugee kits. We have completed our first round and sent 65 kits to Milwaukee last week. Peace will continue to collect items donated by the La Crosse Area Synod and I’m looking for someone willing to help organize these donations. If you’re interested in helping take inventory and organizing items into kits, please let me know. This will be a short-term commitment as we’re looking to have all items collected by October 24.

Please let me know if you can help or if you have any questions! We do this ministry together for the sake of the world. Thank you for all of the ways you help make a difference.

Blessings,

Pastor Dawn

Depends and Sippy Cups. I need to find a home for these items…a lot of them! They are the two unique items we’ve been blessed with this week. They are not part of the LSS kit list, and it seems that other organizations are restricting more and more what they will accept. So, what do we do with all the Depends and sippy cups?

Someone, I don’t even know who (no one from Peace), thought Depends and sippy cups were a good idea. I’m finding more and more; we think we know what people need. We try to put ourselves in others’ shoes and assume they would need exactly what we would want if we were in their situation. And so, we drop off items we think they need. As someone trying to organize an outpouring of generosity this week, this is when helping is hard. I love the generosity. I love the enthusiasm, but I don’t know what to do with Depends and sippy cups.

So, what have I learned? Let’s stop and ask what is needed before we take action. This goes for so many situations in life. When someone is struggling, ask what they need. When someone is hungry, homeless, or lonely, ask what they need. Sometimes we need sippy cups and Depends, but sometimes we just need someone to say, “How can I help?” A listening ear, a hug or a helping hand might be so much more valuable than any one thing that we could give someone.

Thanks for your generosity and your helping hands for our Afghan neighbors. We will make a difference in someone’s life.

Blessings,

Pastor Dawn

This Sunday we get to live out our mission to Welcome, Worship and Walk with Christ as we participate in God’s work. Our hands. Sunday. This is a great opportunity to come together as a congregation to serve our community. We will begin with worship outdoors, but we hope you will stick around to work on some of the service projects for our community and beyond. You can get a full list of projects in the article below and then click on the link and sign up! This year we will be partnering with Neighbor for Neighbor Food Pantry, the Mobile Tomah Community Table, Lutheran Social Services, the La Crosse Area Synod and community members. After our service projects are completed, we will be gathering back at Peace for lunch!  It’s going to be a great day and we hope you join us!

See you Sunday,

Pastor Dawn

As I was looking over our Weekly Update, I noticed that we have a lot going on right now that has to do with generosity. We’re supporting Lutheran Disaster Response with a focus on Haiti relief. We’re collecting items for LSS to put together kits for our Afghan neighbors as they settle into new homes. We’ve coordinated God’s work. Our hands. Sunday to happen on September 12. These are all incredible ways of being generous with our time, talents, and resources. Over the years as your pastor, I have learned the people of Peace are generous people. And so, I can’t wait to see the outcome of these efforts. Thank you!

At this time, several of us at Peace are also working through a helpful stewardship program called “Building a Culture of Generosity”. We are hoping to share stories of generosity throughout the Fall with an encouragement for you to fill out an Intention of Giving Card at the end. A lot of people shy away from what are often called pledge drives, but I have to say that I am excited about this work. It gives us an opportunity to dream about growing our ministry and the new ways we can be generous in the coming year. This is the amazing work God blesses us to do.

As information about Building a Culture of Generosity is shared, I hope you will engage in this with us. And then pray and consider how you might join us in being generous. God’s work. Our hands! This is God’s good work we do together!

With joy,

Pastor Dawn

The last few weeks have been rough.

If you’ve been following the news:

• Over 2000 people have died in the Haiti earthquake

• Countless Afghans are fleeing for their lives in hopes of finding refuge

• And the coronavirus is on the rise across our nation

It can feel like hopeless times. And yet, we are people of hope. We have a God that gives us hands and feet to bring help and hope in the midst of suffering

And so, I would encourage you to first and foremost pray for those who are suffering in this time. The world needs our prayers right now. And then consider how you might help. Check out the links below for Lutheran Disaster Response (Haiti relief) or the Lutheran Immigrant & Refugee Service (Afghan crisis). Consider donating to these causes that have boots on the ground and are doing important work for those who need it most. Or drop off a check at Peace and we will be sure to get your donations to where they are needed.

As many of you may know, Afghan allies are coming to Fort McCoy. We are actively seeking ways that we will be able to help out locally as well. So please, stay tuned for more information and share any information you might receive.

As the we hear in the story of Esther, perhaps we were born “for just such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). Let us be bold and step out in faith to share our resources and care for our neighbors.

God’s peace,

Pastor Dawn