Remembering the Strenges and 

Dan Strenge's Funeral Arrangements 

+Bishop Jon V. Anderson 

I am sad to share with you that the Strenge's son, Dan Strenge, died on Wednesday, Dec. 17.  I invite your prayers for Pr. Larry, Pr. Elizabeth, their son Nathan and his wife Amy, and their entire family in this time. Dan had wrestled with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for a number of years. He took his life. We entrust Dan into our God's gracious hands.

The funeral is being planned for Sat. Dec. 27th at Celebration Lutheran Church, in Sartell, at 10:30 in the morning with a visitation preceding the service beginning at 9:00 a.m. There will also be a visitation the night before from 3-7 p.m., also at Celebration Lutheran in Sartell.  

The family is inviting memorials be directed to ELCA World Hunger and to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research (www.solvecfs.org).

This sad news also impacts Celebration Lutheran in Sartell (where Pr. Elizabeth serves). We invite you to hold their community of faith in your prayers as well.  

Again, I invite your prayers for the family in this time of loss and support in the days to come. Let us join in praying that God will bring light into the darkness of this moment. 

Thanks and God Be With You - Synod Minister of Networking Pr. Andrea DeGroot Nesdahl

+Bishop Jon V. Anderson

For the past three years former bishop, malaria fighter and Synod Minister of Networking Andrea DeGroot Nesdahl has shared her gifts and touched lives in our synod.

December 17, we said goodbye as she approaches her end of service and begins her retirement. We will miss her humor, wisdom, ideas and faithful service.

After Christmas we will share more about what we will do next for staffing, but for today we give thanks to God for Andrea who has been a gift to many in her ministry in our synod. May God bless her in the next chapter of her life as she explores old and new callings that have been waiting for more attention. Godspeed Andrea. 

Advent Appeal
 We are more than half-way through the Advent Season. We hope you have been enjoying the gift of Advent Reflections recorded by your synod staff and council members. 

We are almost through using our matching gifts of $8,000. To date we have received 63 Advent gifts for a total of $6,924. Your gifts will help fund local ministries like Lutheran Campus Ministry, seminary education, and keep the cost of the Equipping Congregations Day low so more people can attend.

Your Advent gift will be doubled and provide you with a glow from Christ's light brightening the way for ministry through Southwestern Minnesota.

You can mail a check to: SW MN Synod Advent Gift, PO Box 499, Redwood Falls, MN 56283 or click here to give online. 

Thank you in advance for your generous support.

Update on Your Synod's Mission Support

+Bishop Jon V. Anderson 

Your gifts change lives, supports congregations and makes our mission possible.

Our synod's life depends on generous people giving to congregations who give to mission support which is divided between funding our synod's life and our churchwide organization.

At the end of November we had received $1,439,202.

We want to say thanks for this. We also want you to know that our giving is off compared to last year by -$97,396.  We have been watching this trend and managing as carefully as possible our resources.

If you have the capacity to give a personal gift you can do that through your synod's Advent Appeal.  You can cut a check or go to our web site to give electronically.

As you reach the end of the year and make decisions about resources that exceed your expenses, we would be thankful for additional support from your congregation if it is possible. 

Clothing drive helps nutrition needs in south Africa

By Dave Pedersen

When members of Zion Lutheran Church in Arlington and others were recently packing the truck with donated clothes, there was one observer in particular who fully realized the importance.

The night of the clothing drive pickup happened to be the same night when Zion hosted the meeting of the area companionship ministry that pairs congregations in southwestern Minnesota with congregations in southern Africa.

Skhumbuzo Mntambo (right) from south Africa, was on hand at Zion Lutheran Church in Arlington when Oather Martin picked up many bags of clothing used as a fundraiser to send nutritional meals to Lutheran congregations in Africa.

After Mntambo watched people like Zion members Dave Battcher and Joyce Bening, plus Pastor Katherine Rood from Christ Lutheran in Glencoe throw bags of clothes on to the truck, he said he was humbled.

"It touched me to see the love for a brother in another country," said Mntambo when viewing the loving task of work done with the clothes drive. "Whatever we receive from their work, I saw how people are sweating because they love us."

Zion is in the Minnesota Valley Conference that is paired with the Vryheid Circuit in southern Africa. This partnership is about walking together, each recognizing and celebrating what God has given them, utilizing identified resources and assets on both sides.

The terms of companionship and partnership are used to describe the church-wide global missions program that paired the synods of the ELCA with other Lutherans in the world.

What evolved was the creation of a deeper lasting relationship and understanding of the culture, politics and visions for hope. In the past few years there have been visits by people to and from Africa, making the ministry more personal.

Agreed upon project areas include agriculture, education, pastoral leadership and HIV/AIDS. Nutrition is a key weapon in the fight against HIV/AIDS. That is why a clothing drive was conducted to raise funds to provide nutritional meals in the Vryheid Circuit.

Zion has been the leader in the amount of donated clothing, shoes, belts, hats and any material. It is collected by the Disabled Veterans Chapter 37 in Hutchinson and marketed through the Savers outlet stores.

This is the third year for the clothing drive program that sent 26,000 meals packed in 28 boxes to the Vryheid Circuit, one of the poorer areas in the Diocese. Meals are bean and rice based with high protein added. They are packaged in Tanzania and sent to Johannesburg for pickup. The program is Feed My Starving Children...click here to read more.