outreach
The Little Organization that Grew
Holistic Ministry of Children of the Horn of Africa (HMCHA)
Bethlehem Lutheran Twin Cities has not only started churches in Minneapolis,
but Megersa Kumbi, a Bethlehem member, has started a ministry that is
flourishing in Ethiopia. HMCHA is 11 years old, and growing. Every year since
2011, members and friends have visited this beautiful country to work on
important projects, like building a bridge, teaching children, setting up a library,
and more. We come home blessed by new relationships with our kind and loving
hosts and our sponsored children. Bethlehem members sponsor children whose
lives are improved, who can attend school and go on field trips, learn about
health, nutrition, self-defense and more.
Two camps are planned for July and August to help prepare middle-schoolers
and grade 9 students to be successful in high school. They will stay overnight
at the new community center for 5 days of study, devotions and fun, learning
chemistry, physics, math and English.
Our newest projects involved a team of
public health doctor and nurses who
formed focus groups in three villages to
determine the health issues that most
concern the villagers. Two days were
spent treating and educating villagers
about the health concerns (e.g., acute
febrile illnesses, intestinal parasites and
respiratory infections). Follow up plans
will come next and, hopefully, expansion
as funds permit.
The other project was redoing the deck
of the bridge with metal (pictured here),
which was finished at the end of May. A
team of three Minnesotans worked hard
to finish before the rainy season began in
earnest.
Many of you have asked when you can join us on a service trip to Ethiopia.
October is a beautiful time to go, so watch for informational meeting dates soon!
Tentative dates are around October 16-30. Get ready to teach English, do some
health teaching and start on the building of a playground next to the community
center. What fun!
The Community Center
Habitat Summer Build Dates:
July 16-20 & August 20-24
Last month we shared that we are
doing an experiment this summer. We
are building upon our congregat ion's
rich history with Habitat for Humanity.
For the first time, we are going to be
doing two weeks, on site, building a
home in partnership with Twin Cities
Habitat. The dates are July 16-20
and August 20-24. There are still
opportunities for you to sign up
online to spend a day or a couple of
days building relationships with other
Bethlehem members and building a
new home for a family that needs a
safe place to call home.
But there's more. This home will
make an incredible difference for
this one family. There are also other
families, across the city and across
the country, that need access to safe,
affordable housing. Bethlehem has
deep connections with a number of
organizations here in the Twin Cities
that are working to address some of
the challenges confronting families
seeking to secure a place to live.
Partner organizations like Beacon,
Habitat, ZOOM House, Our Savior's
Housing - to name a few - are on the
ground each day working towards long
lasting solutions to this challenge.
As the congregation works to help
one family through this year's build,
we want to provide opportunities for
you to learn and lend your voice and
energy to this work. We are building
an online learning portal where you
can discover more about challenges
related to housing. You can see some
of the ways our partners are trying
to address the issue and find out the
impact of upcoming legislation. There
will be podcasts, videos, articles and
blog posts that seek to provide some
additional context, and next steps
inviting you into participation. This
will go live on our website on July 9.
We look forward to engaging you all.
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