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ELCA World Hunger Stories
By Pr. Lisa Rygiel

This month has 5 Sundays in it and that means that we will collect a 5th Sunday Blessing on May 31. As I mentioned in last week’s e-formation, our next offering will go to ELCA World Hunger. Below are some stories of some of the great work performed by them.

Pilar’s Story
Pilar, who lives in Peru, first went to a soup kitchen looking for a hot meal. She found that and much more. Beyond feeding her body, the soup nourished her spirit and transformed her life.

In the 1980s, Peru was in a social and economic crisis. Grassroots soup kitchens began rising up across the country in response, largely led by women in the community. It was during this time that Pilar first visited her local soup kitchen. She had her first daughter when she was a teenager and dropped out of high school to care for her. Shortly after the birth of her second child, Pilar separated from her husband. She remembers feeling like the dreams she had for her family had “vanished.” She was having a hard time supporting her two children. 

At the soup kitchen, Pilar found the food she needed along with a community. She says the women who established the program taught her that together, “we are powerful.” Pilar quickly became involved as a volunteer herself, cooking with firewood, asking for donations and carrying water.

Since the early days, Peru’s soup kitchens have grown into an established program, deeply rooted in the community. The Peruvian government now provides space and some funding for the kitchens in Pilar’s district. Gifts to ELCA World Hunger help stock the kitchens and support their staff and volunteers. In addition to serving over 16,000 nutritious meals every month, Pilar’s soup kitchen offers “Learning to be an Entrepreneur” workshops, loans for women starting small businesses, climate justice training, etc.

Pilar has also remarried and raised a total of five children, whom she has empowered with the strength she learned from her fellow soup kitchen volunteers. Pilar, now 71, is dedicated to training new generations to continue this work, transforming her community and country. 

Jenna and Georgia’s Story
Jenna and Georgia were in their second year of confirmation studies at Grace Lutheran Church in Fairmont, Minnesota, when a speaker came to talk to their class about hunger. The speaker shared global and local statistics that alarmed them. “It is hard to accept the fact that I cross paths with so many people experiencing food insecurity,” Jenna says.

The speaker also talked about the ways they could get involved in combating hunger. A lot of them — such as food drives and pantries — were activities their congregation was already doing. Every Wednesday evening, Grace hosts an “Open Door” community meal for anyone who wants a free, hot meal and some company. The congregation regularly welcomes about 200 people of all ages from Fairmont and the surrounding rural area, which has especially high rates of food insecurity.

Grace received an ELCA World Hunger Daily Bread grant, which allowed Grace to expand its advertising, prepare more food and welcome more people through its doors.

Jenna and Georgia already knew some ways they could answer God’s call to feed their neighbors. Still, they wanted to do more, and the confirmation speaker mentioned one thing Jenna and Georgia hadn’t thought of before: a community garden.

They brought the idea to their pastor, who suggested that they could use an old Girl Scouts garden plot nearby to grow produce for the Open-Door meals. Last summer, Jenna and Georgia started weeding the plot, cleaning it up. 

Grace received an additional ELCA World Hunger grant that allowed the congregation to buy seeds and tools. As the gardening ministry grows, it also included volunteers from the congregation and community who can care for the garden. The produce they grow will be especially important to the community as government funding cuts make resources scarcer. The Grace congregation hopes their garden will help fill the need for nutritious fruits and vegetables. Overall, Jenna and Georgia believe this project will bring their neighbors closer together.

Farmer Wansa’s Story
Farmers in Iraq are experiencing the long-term effects of war, infrastructure damage and water scarcity driven by their changing climate. ELCA World Hunger helps them find new, sustainable ways to water their crops and feed their families. Farmer Wansa received a sprinkler irrigation system and training in how to use it. “The new irrigation technique led me to reduce the costs in farming,” she says, “and my income doubled and made me financially stable.”

May 31, Holy Trinity Sunday
10 a.m. Sunday Worship

Announcements

  • Sunday Fellowship: Join us after worship on Sunday for food and fellowship.
  • Camp Out Change of Plans: Due to high wildfire dangers and related restrictions as well as schedule conflicts among people who wanted to attend the campout but are unable to do so, we have postponed the upcoming campout.
  • Wednesday Book Club: There will be no Book Club on Wednesday, May 27. However, sessions will resume focusing upon What if Jesus was Serious – A Visual Guide to the Teachings of Jesus We Love to Ignore, at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3 in the Fellowship Hall. You can join at any time, so if you haven’t been able to attend before now, why not consider doing so.
  • Time of Prayer and Coffee: We are invited to join our siblings in Christ from the Methodist church for a time of prayer and coffee at 10:30 a.m. each Thursday at Kangaroo Coffee -in the Marketplace on Commercial Street.
  • 5-Loaves: We have all of our delivery drivers identified for this coming Saturday. However, please save the date for our next 5-Loaves delivery, which will be Saturday, June 27.
  • 5th Sunday Offering: Next Sunday (May 31) is our 5th Sunday offering to benefit local and global programs of the congregation. Our 5th Sunday offering in May will benefit Lutheran World Relief.
  • Pride Month – June 2026: Zion’s Lutheran kick off Pride Month (June) with a Potluck and Ice Cream Social after worship on June 7. All are welcome.
  • Summer Supper Gatherings: At 5:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each summer month, we will gather in the Fellowship Hall for food and fun. The dates are June 10, July 8, Aug. 12, and Sept. 9. There is a sign-up sheet in the Fellowship Hall for food and activities. If you want to help provide food or to head up an activity, please let Julie Wersal or Jo Moss know.
  • We’re Here for You: For pastoral care, call Zion’s at 719-846-7785 or send an email: zionsluth@gmail.com.

E-formation – Holy Trinity Sunday

On every Sunday of the church year, we praise our triune God. Yet on this coming Trinity Sunday, we attend especially to the mystery of our three-in-one God. Come to worship and receive the blessings that the Trinity gives.

Matthew 28:16-20
Called the Great Commission, the church proclaims this text on Trinity Sunday, affirming that even after the observance of the Ascension, the triune God is always present in the church. The conclusion of the Gospel of Matthew includes the trinitarian words that most Christians use at baptism: “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Genesis 1:1—2:4a
According to Christian doctrine, God is and has always been triune. The church has seen in the ancient Genesis cosmogony the everlasting Trinity at work in creation: God speaks the Word and breathes the divine Spirit over creation.

2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Many Christians over the centuries use this passage from 2 Corinthians as an opening invocation or a closing benediction. Especially beloved is Paul’s description of the attributes of the triune God as grace, love, and communion.

Zion's Lutheran Church
zionsluth@gmail.com
719-846-7785