Dear friend, 

I am thankful for your support of the ELCA Malaria Campaign and ask that you make one more special gift this year. We have less than two months to raise $1 million, and we need your help.

Today, thousands of children in Africa will contract malaria. It will start with a fever, headache and vomiting. But within just a few days, the disease can turn deadly - all because of the bite of a mosquito. 

A child dies from malaria every 60 seconds. Most are children under the age of 5.

Our church is making a difference. It has been less than two years since the ELCA Malaria Campaign joined the global movement to fight malaria, and we have already seen a reduction in the number of deaths from this preventable, treatable disease. Thank you for being a part of this! 

Give now to help reach our goal. Your gift will ensure that the work of the ELCA Malaria Campaign continues. We need to raise $1 million more by the end of our fiscal year - January 31 - so that malaria programs in Africa that are just getting off the ground will continue to gain momentum. I know we can do it!

We are a church that believes God is calling us into the world - together. Join the ELCA Malaria Campaign, working with Lutheran churches in Africa, to provide what is needed to help eliminate deaths from this disease - for good. Please give today. 

Thanks for your gifts, prayers and partnership. 

In Christ's service, 

Jessica Nipp Hacker

Coordinator, ELCA Malaria Campaign

P.S. For resources on how to get your congregation involved visit www.elca.org/malaria.  Remember that your gift, received before Dec. 31, 2012, is tax deductible as allowed by law. 

 

Join other youth from all across Alabama and Mississippi at the Alassippi Youth Gathering on February 9 at Ascension Lutheran Church in Jackson, MS. Cost is $20 per person which includes lunch, programming, and a t-shirt. Our theme for this year is "Get Wet" and the band Starboarders will be our musicians for the day. Register online and download the publicity poster on the SES Youth website. 

Are you looking for a way to change live s? Do you like listening and talking with youth?Consider applying to be on the Affirm 2013 Staff. Affirm is our leadership and discipleship event held at Berry College for 6th through 12th graders and college freshman and sophomores June 16 through 21. Staff applications for Affirm 2013 are due on January 15. You can download the application online here. Staff arrive on the evening of June 14th for a weekend of training. There is no financial cost for you, just your time. 

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The SESLYO 2013 Assembly is February 22 through 24 at Grace Point Episcopal Retreat Center in Kingston, TN. SESLYO is an acronym for Southeastern Synod Lutheran Youth Organization. Two youth from each congregation in our synod are encouraged to attend and serve as delegates representing their congregation. Similar to the Synod Assembly, the youth will participate in business sessions and workshops. The weekend also includes lots of fun and fellowship and of course youth-led worship. In 2012, you might remember that from this event came a resolution from the SESLYO assembly about having Immigration Conversation back in your home congregation. Cost is $100 per person. A congregational information packet and individual registration is available on the SES Youth website. 

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• April 19-21, 2013: All-Georgia youth Gathering at the FFA-FCCLA Camp in Covington, GA for 6th through 12th graders
• June 14-21, 2013: Affirm at Berry College
• June 23-29, 2013: Bishop's School at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
• July 6-21: Synod Roots to Wings Trip to Germany (space is still available)  

 

Registration for the summer of 2013 at Lutheridge + Lutherock + Luther Springs is now open! Be sure to check out new programs and opportunities to save on your camp fee!

Here are links to all the information you'll need to make the summer of 2013 one you'll never forget:

• To register for summer 2013
• To see all programs offered at Lutheridge
• To see all programs offered at Lutherock
• To see all programs offered at Luther Springs
• To sign up and save by referring a friend (available at all three sites -- save $25 for each new camper you refer)

Seminary hosts the annual Rural Ministry Conferences that have been held in Dubuque since 1982. Each year's conference addresses issues and themes pertinent to the well-being of rural communities and the ministry of rural churches. This year's theme is Food and Faith. Keynote speaker is Dr. Norman Wirzba, Research Professor of Theology, Ecology, and Rural Life at Duke Divinity School and Research Professor at Duke's Nicholas School for the Environment. He is also the author of Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating. The conference will include worship, keynote speakers, workshops, and Bible study, and offer participants a unique opportunity to network with others who are active in and concerned about rural ministry. Presenters come from a variety of denominations. Learn more here.
 

Lutheran Services of Georgia (LSG) is responding to Christ's call to welcome the stranger by creating a new ministry, Friends in Hope, to visit immigrant detainees at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. During their visits to Stewart Detention Center, volunteers have been supporting detainees by spending time with them and listening to their stories. In partnership with El Refugio, a hospitality house for families of detainees and other visitors, LSG has sponsored 4 visits to the Stewart Detention Center, during which 20 volunteers have seen 10 detainees.

According to Anton Flores-Maisonet, pastor of the Alterna community that founded El Refugio, these visits have been meaningful for the immigrant detainees and also for the volunteers. Here is what Anton told a recent group of volunteers: "Your visit matters. It matters to the men who are held inside and are filled with so many emotional and spiritual questions and doubts. It matters to the loving families and friends who are praying for a reunion - sometimes hoping against all odds. It matters to you as you wrestle with the implications of what it means for a for-profit corporation to be operating the largest immigration detention center in the U.S. in the poorest county in Georgia - all in our name and with our tax dollars. It matters." 

According to Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS), there are over 400,000 immigrant detainees housed in the United States awaiting deportation or approval for asylum. These immigrants have been detained for civil, not criminal, violations, but nonetheless endure the harsh conditions of life in a detention center. LSG sees this reality as an opportunity to show compassion and hospitality to some of the most vulnerable and voiceless people in our country.

If you are interested in participating in this ministry or want to learn more about it, please consider attending a Friends in Hope orientation at the LSG office in Atlanta, GA on January 26. Register here to attend the orientation.

For more information, please contact Melanie Johnson, LSG's Volunteer Coordinator at mjohnson@lsga.org or 678-686-9619. 

Please take a moment to think of that one special youth in your congregation. You know the one; he or she is always asking you the hard questions, excelled in Confirmation class, and seems to have a yearning to deepen his or her faith. If that youth is currently in 11th or 12th grade, please consider nominating him or her for the 2013 Bishop's School.

The 2013 Bishop's School will be held the week of June 23-29 on the campus of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC. Youth from all over the southeast will come together to study with seminary professors, worship in Chris Chapel, and witness the way God is working in the world and in their own lives. They'll learn what it means to think theologically! Click here to view a brochure with additional information. Please note, nominations are due by April 1st, 2013. Feel free to nominate more than one youth from your congregation.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Coordinator for Bishop's School, Ms. Sandra Holland, AIM at sandrah@salutheran.com. You may also contact Ms. Tiffany Pieters in the Region 9 office at 803-461-3263 or tiffany.pieters@lr.edu. Thank you.

Does your life feel a little cloudy? Find some clarity! If you are discerning God's call to ministry, please join Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary for one, two, or all of the dates listed below to learn more about how we teach, form, and nurture women and men for public ministry. You will have a chance to attend lectures by distinguished faculty members, worship with the seminary community, interact with students and faculty in small groups, learn about financial aid opportunities, and meet others discerning God's call. LTSS spring visit opportunities include:

• Discernment Retreat: February 2 through 4
• Open House: February 25
• Seminary Saturday: March 23
• Open House: April 21 through 22

Families in Mindanao, Philippines, were still working to recover from 2011's Tropical Storm Washi when Typhoon Bopha struck the island in the early morning hours of December 4. Now Lutheran World Relief is rushing to respond to the overwhelming needs of people whose lives have been devastated by the storm. 

According to the latest reports 331 people are confirmed dead as a result of the typhoon and hundreds remain missing. More than 348,000 people have fled to evacuation centers for safety.

"The amount of devastation is significant," says Joanne Fairley, LWR's regional director for Asia and the Middle East.

The storm made landfall three times as it passed northern Mindanao, central Visayas and Palawan, but southern Mindanao was the hardest hit. The typhoon brought 130 mile per hour wind gusts and heavy rainfall that triggered landslides and floods along the coast and in farming and mining towns inland. 

Early government reports show that damage to housing and community buildings is severe; in some areas 95 percent of structures have been destroyed. Agricultural lands have also been affected, as have some LWR projects and partner communities. 

The Philippines (CIA World Factbook)

In the community of Hinatuan, where LWR works with families to improve income, partners report that the damage from Typhoon Bopha is much greater than that of Tropical Storm Washi. Water on roads and highways are waist deep in some areas and more than 34,000 people have been evacuated to shelters. Abalone and fish caging, a main source of income in LWR project areas, were completely ruined. 

Even before the storm went off-shore, Lutheran World Relief began assessing the damage on the ground and the needs of families in cooperation with the United Nations, local governments, fellow international non-governmental organizations and with local partner Habitat for Humanity Philippines. LWR is also working closely with partners in the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of church agencies engaged in development, humanitarian response and advocacy.

"As we get a clearer picture of the damage and the needs of the people, LWR will work with partners to develop an emergency response program that focuses on the most urgent needs, such as rebuilding livelihoods, providing shelter and creating financial resources for recovering families," says Fairley. LWR will also send a shipment of Quilts and Personal Care Kits to affected areas.

Lutheran World Relief is accepting donations to its Philippines Floods fund to respond to this emergency. Donations can be made online at lwr.org, by phone at 800.597.5972 or by sending a check or money order to Lutheran World Relief PO Box 17061 Baltimore, MD 21297-1061. 

WHO IS LWR? Lutheran World Relief, an international nonprofit organization, works to end poverty and injustice by empowering some of the world's most impoverished communities to help themselves. With partners in 35 countries, LWR seeks to promote sustainable development with justice and dignity by helping communities bring about change for healthy, safe and secure lives; engage in Fair Trade; promote peace and reconciliation; and respond to emergencies. LWR is headquartered in Baltimore, Md. and has worked in international development and relief since 1945. 

Lutheran World Relief is a ministry of U.S. Lutherans, serving communities living in poverty overseas.