Fall is a time of high activity coming from our summer rest. While there was a lot taking place at home and Prince of Peace over the summer, it's still a different schedule. The after hours calendar is not as full during the summer and many people took their much needed vacations. We kicked fall off with "God's Work. Our Hands". where over 325 people participated in many opportunities throughout the weekend. That's more than double the amount we had last year! Thank you to Debbie Heidrich and the Community and Global Ministry team for organizing and coordinating the weekend and having a coordinator/leader for each site. Adding Saturday enabled more opportunities for Prince of Peace to partner with local organizations. Thank you for praying for all those involved and participating where you could. It is sincerely appreciated by your neighbors and communities.

As we kick off our 20/20 Vision campaign this fall, I am excited about the possibilities that this brings to Prince of Peace. The opportunity to expand our ministries to reach more people, to provide more camp scholarships, to support an intern that wants to fulfill God's vision of a world restored with grace and peace, and to support our partners such as HTF and Trinity Seminary.   It's exciting. Then reality hits and the questions come, "How can I give more?" "I am already giving what feels challenging." "Should I give again?"    

Many of us have stories of our faith journey and often times they take place outside of Sunday worship. I want to share a part of my story with you that helps explain in a small way why I am so passionate about ministry.

I am from Cleveland, Ohio, and the oldest of 6 children. I was not raised in a churched family. When I was about 10 years old, someone shared with my mom an outreach called Friendly Town. Friendly Town was run by a group through a church in Cleveland. They networked with other churches around Ohio to match inner city children with host families in the suburbs of Cleveland or a rural community such as Conneaut Lake and Ashland, OH. It was to give inner city children an opportunity to see outside of the city. At age 10, I traveled on a bus from Cleveland, OH to Shelby, OH to spend one week with a family that I only knew through a letter (no internet back in those days). I was both anxious and excited at the same time. My host family had no children of their own at the time, so I was met by them and a neighbor's child. During the week I learned about life on a farm, attended Sunday worship, attended the Wednesday evening church dinner, an ice cream social at the Grange and a county fair. Being a city kid, this was all new to me! Seven days later, the parents drove me back to my home and visited with my family for a short time and left. We kept in touch by letters, Christmas cards, and birthday cards. For the next 4 years, they requested me as their Friendly Town child. The last year, I was at their home for almost the entire summer. I loved it! I drove the tractors around the farm, could stack hay 6 high, learned how to ride a horse, and every week we went to church to Sunday worship and the Wednesday community meal. Their church community was their family. I quickly became part of that family. I was welcomed and loved by them and their community. I truly believe that the Friendly Town outreach program and my host family planted my seed of faith. During high school and college, I attended church if a friend invited me. It wasn't until I graduated from college and settled in Columbus, OH, that I began to seek out a church. I honestly don't know why, except that I remembered the feeling of belonging to a community and that I loved the Sunday messages about Jesus. It was at this time that I decided to be baptized and joined Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Westerville, OH.

I share this with you because I believe that we don't always get to see the benefit of our gifts. I do believe that as we continue to reach out to others and invite them in, do God's will on earth as it is in heaven, and live & love like Jesus, that we continue to plant seeds and grow disciples through our ministry.

We are prayerfully considering our stewardship and how we can share God's blessings with others. I invite you to do the same.

May the peace and love of God be with you always,

October 1 - Final Faith Boards are due to the youth room (129).

Check out our most recent e-News for pictures, activities,
and information about Senior High Youth Ministry at POP.