FOUNDATION NEWS Caring for the Ministry of Grace: "Ecclesia Perpetua" March 2018 | ||||
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By Donna King | ||||
The Grace Foundation just said yes to matching (2:1) all the funds our youth raise for their trip to the ELCA Youth Gathering this summer. We're so very grateful. You make us bold to dream God's dreams - and to follow where they lead. Who knows how the world will be changed! I've been watching the Hellebores grow by my front door. They remind me of you, Grace Foundation. They change my perspective on life in the world. Most of the year Hellebore leaves are big and green. In summer and fall, they're beautiful, but quiet. In the winter, when the weather is tough and most plants are dormant, the big green leaves of the Hellebore stand out. They make a path that welcomes me home. You are like that, too, Grace Foundation: You are the kind of green strength that comes from the gifts of time. Sometimes you stay behind the scenes, sometimes you make the way forward. I think you are at your most amazing this time of year. Hellebores are called Lenten Roses. Just when life turns to spring, their new buds poke up out of the ground. Some people advocate cutting the old leaves down when the new buds appear. "It's easier and tidier," they say, "you'll notice the new growth more." But I think that's a mistake. The old and the new need each other. Find a Hellebore and take a look. This is a worth Lenten meditation: Watch how the sturdy old leaves move over to make room for the new buds. Watch how, little by little, they lay themselves down to make a frame around what is just beginning. But the older leaves aren't done yet, they still have an important job of pulling energy into the ground and the roots that feed the plant. Yes, the older leaves are starting to show the wounds of time, and, yes, the mix of old and new is messy. It's untidy, but it's real... and it's beautiful. You are like this, Grace Foundation: All the gifts that have been poured into you now make energy for new life to bud up and grow. You magnify the dreams of the past by laying yourself down to make a way for those dreams - and the world's new life - to become reality. Over the years, you've supported our new life in so many ways. You helped launch staff positions. You matched the funds we raised to renovate the basement. Your gifts helped us build our garden. When those Sunday School kids grew, you sent some to Camp to connect faith and earth more deeply. When those kids grew some more, they said yes to God's opportunity to connect with the global church by planting trees (in Germany and in Corvallis) to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. This was a moment our youth saw as exciting, a global witness of hope essential for the world's future. Just like the Hellebores, our kids, too, grow to lay themselves down for others. Grace gives our kids a sense of God's mission and helps them hear God's call. You, Grace Foundation, help them dream big. With your help, youth from Grace have served in Guyana and Africa, and helped locally through Jackson Street Youth Shelter. When the Spirit stirred and called us to follow Christ into the world, you, Grace Foundation, matched all that we raised so that we could go to go to the ELCA Youth Gatherings in New Orleans (after Katrina) and Detroit (just coming back to life after Continued on next page... |
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economic collapse). This summer we're on the go again, to make a difference building literacy in the very global community of Houston, Texas. Without you, Grace Foundation, we might not have found our way. After we raised the money we needed to go to our first Youth Gathering, I remember one parent saying, "It seemed so big and so impossible, but we did it. We really did it!" Now we know - because of your big help - that we can. Just imagine: What will God do with people who know "they can?" These are God's dreams for the world that we are called to participate in, God's energy that is laying itself down to make a way for new life to bud up in the world. Thank you, Grace Foundation, for helping us participate. Who knows how the world will be changed! Thank You - Who Knows How the World Will be Changed! |