2017–2019 Mission Grant 19

RECONNECT to the Body of Christ

Circuit 28 — Texas District

$50,000

The congregations of Texas District Circuit 28 have a great desire to work together as one group in training mission workers to share the Word and unite these congregations and communities. The Rio Grande Valley of Texas shares the border with Mexico and has a large Hispanic population, many of whom are among the poorest of poor, at risk and unchurched. They have developed a long-range plan to assist the struggling congregations in reaching out to the communities to bring the Word into the homes of hurting families. The first step in the plan has been realized with the arrival of a Director of Christian Education (DCE) that will be serving the circuit – not just an individual church. With this in place, the next stages can begin by training leaders within the congregations in a mission and ministry model utilized by a local, thriving congregation, building campus relationships with the 50,000 students attending local colleges, and conducting community mercy projects. These funds will assist in the project startup costs, training materials, transportation costs, scholarships, and other incurred expenses of the training program.

Free rice meals for the families.

Group picture after classes.

WHEREAS, Today the United States is the third largest mission field in the world; and
WHEREAS, The Brownsville/Harlingen Texas metro area in the Rio Grande Valley has the distinction of being the lowest socio-economic metro area in the United States with 35% of the people living in poverty; and
WHEREAS, Bold new steps such as the ‘RECONNECT to the Body of Christ’ initiative are required to reconnect struggling congregations and their communities to the body of Christ; and
WHEREAS, ‘RECONNECT to the Body of Christ’ is a nontraditional missional model program that will show small struggling congregations how they too can bring professional church workers and relationship building programs into their circuits, training church members in successful methods of reconnecting congregations with their community; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the delegates gathered at the 2017 Lutheran Women’s Missionary League Convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico, vote the sum of $50,000 to help fund RECONNECT to the Body of Christ.

Donate to the 2017–2019 Mission Goal

Family visitation and Bible class at a colonia.

A family receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. Praise God for all things He does for us.

DCE Brenda Segovia installation. Brenda accepted the Divine Call to the nontraditional missional DCE position serving Circuit 28 in the Rio Grande Valley. Brenda started August 1st, 2016.