Social Ministry

Holiday Food and Gift Basket

Sunday, November 20, 2011 - 8:00am - Sunday, December 4, 2011 - 11:17am

In 2011 over 950 families were served by the Holiday Food and Gift Basket program. Thank you to all who participated in this program.

Companion Synod in South Africa

Metro Chicago Synod has been a companion to the Central Diocese in South Africa for over 10 years. This area is located around the area of Johannesburg, with headquarters in historic Soweto or "SOuth WEst TOwnships". The current project is to build a preschool and after school mentoring program at Eersterust Lutheran Church in Pretoria. This church abuts the property of the local elementary school. The plan is sponsored by members of the church who are retired educators in Pretoria. For more information on the project or to match funds sent by the Metro Chicago Synod see www.mcselca.org.

Missionary Sponsorship

Mary Borgman has just arrived in South Africa and needs our dollars to do her work. She serves with Diakonia AIDS Ministry (DAM) in Soweto as an HIV/AIDS worker. Through this work, Mary is able to use her experience as a Social Worker; for 5 years she worked with Child Protective Services and for 3 years as a Domestic Violence Legal Advocate in Washington.

Diakonia AIDS Ministry is a community intervention ministry of ELCSA Central Diocese. This is the Companion Synod to Metro Chicago; for more information see http://www.mcselca.org/who/companion_synod/

Christian Peacemaker Teams

When Good Shepherd member Suzanna Collerd joined CPT after college graduation we began learning about this organization. CPT was founded in the Chicago area in 1986 by people who felt that faithfulness to what Jesus taught called us to new forms of public witness, which may include nonviolent direct action.

CPT has teams of trained peacemakers in Israel/Palestine, Iraq, on the Arizona border and in Columbia. Short-term teams (5-14 days) travel to crisis settings to protect human rights, engage in public peace witness and to report to home churches. These short-term teams are open to applicants over age 18.
Web site: www.cpt.org.

PADS

West Suburban PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter) is a nonprofit organization that provides meals and overnight shelter for the homeless in West Suburban Cook County. It operates for eights months of the year. Volunteers from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church purchase and deliver breakfast each Tuesday during the shelter season. For information, contact William Peterman. In addition, volunteers staff a PADS shift one Monday at Euclid Methodist church. To volunteer for a Monday shift contact Eric Wegener.

Kidz Express

Kidz Express was founded as part of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church's social ministry in 1997. Kidz Express was a dream of the founders, Warren King and Duane Ehresman, to move forward in faith by providing programs and services that helped build self-esteem in inner city children, exposed children to the larger world around them, modeled the life of Jesus Christ as a guide for daily living, and bridged the gap between the Austin area of Chicago and Oak Park. Kidz Express has evolved into an organization focused on developing mentoring relationships with children from the Quincy and Central neighborhoods within Austin. Today Kidz Express is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; however, it remains closely partnered with Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. In the fall of 2005, Kidz Express moved into its own buiilding at 342 S. Laramie in Chicago. Kidz Express meets most Saturdays and Thursdays from September thru June and on special occasions during July and August. Over the past 18 months, we have experienced tremendous growth. We have grown from 25 to nearly 80 children participating in the program, with an average weekly attendance of 35 children over the past 18 months. Check us out at www.kidzexpress.org.

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