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Contribute supplies for Lutheran World Relief Health Kits

to be assembled at ECLC on Sunday, Jan. 6, between services.

• One hand towel, dark color recommended
• One washcloth, dark color recommended
• One bath-size bar (4-5 oz.) of soap, any brand, in its original wrapping
• One adult-size toothbrush in its original packaging
• One comb, wide tooth preferred, remove packaging
• One metal nail file or nail clippers with file attached, remove packaging (do not substitute cardboard emery boards for the file)
• Six Band-Aids® (or similar brand), preferably 1/2" to 3/4"; secure together with a rubber band
• NOTE****: NO TOOTHPASTE THIS YEAR DUE TO HOMELAND SECURITY REGULATIONS!!!!!!

Do not add other items. All items should be new and in good condition.

Project Comfort Fund Note : LWR's approximate cost to handle and ship one LWR health kit overseas is $1.10

TIME TO GATHER HEALTH KITS ITEMS

  We'll fill the kits for Lutheran World Relief on Sunday, January 6, 2008

 by Sue Lyke

  A Lutheran World Relief Health kit is . just a few ordinary items: washcloth and hand towel, comb, toothbrush, bandaids, soap and nail clippers/file. But to a person fleeing warfare in Darfur or hunger in east Africa or living in a refugee camp in Jordan until it's safe to return to Iraq, these kits help not only with mundane needs of daily living, but also remind them they are not alone.

  Sound schmaltzy? It's true. During a recent teleconference with LWR volunteers around the U.S. , the LWR project coordinator for health kits, quilts and other projects talked of their significance to people in crisis. She admitted that LWR not long ago reassessed the worth of sending items such as these to crisis spots worldwide. She and other staff interviewed recipients of the kits and quilts and school kits and layettes. Almost to a person they talked about the value of these homemade and home assembled items that served to connect them to others. “They told us that these simple gifts soothed them in their struggles in a way no mass produced, mass gathered items could,” said Brenda Meier. “These gifts from congregations around the country reminded men and women and children who'd experienced horrific crises, that they were not alone. Caring people took note of their pain and reached across the oceans to send their love.”

  Last January, members of Edina Community Lutheran Church assembled more than 300 kits. Much of the supplies were purchased by several members. It would wonderful if more of us contributed the items for a kit per person in your household or contributed $10 to cover the cost of the materials and shipping costs.

  Look for the boxes in the narthex and downstairs and let's get filling them!

Donate to add a classroom to Losinoni village primary school

By Kate Byom

In June, a group of ten ECLC youth traveled to Tanzania with no idea what lay ahead of them. All of us alumni of past mission trips, we knew that it would be nothing like teaching Bible School in Idaho or building a community center in the mountains of Panamá. But really, beyond that we had no idea. What we found was a truly educational, inspirational experience. We divided our time between Selian Hospital, an HIV/AIDS clinic, hospice visits with Selian, a local Lutheran church, the Masaae Girls' Lutheran Secondary School, safari and a small village called Losinoni.

Although all of these experiences had profound impacts on all of us, the little village of Losinoni has motivated us the most to change the lives of the people we met. The primary school in Losinoni has approximately 660 students from the surrounding area, the majority of them members of the Maase tribe. The families of these students are fully dedicated to their children receiving education. These indescribably poor families will sacrifice everything in order to send their children to school. Despite this dedication, the conditions of the school are sub par. Each of the nine teachers at the primary school has a classroom with approximately 120 students and very sparse supplies.

One hundred and twenty students per teacher. Five students in desks made for two. And a simple solution. The twelve of us (ten youth and two chaperones) are attempting to raise enough money to build another classroom for the Losinoni primary school. $10,000 is enough to build an entire classroom, furnish it and provide educational materials for the schoolchildren of Losinoni. Please help us raise money to send to Losinoni and change the lives of the children and the future of the village.

Donate online at www.eclc.org/giving/contribute.html under "Tanzania match."

Kairos presentation on September 25, 2007, is available as a CD/mp3 file from the church office.

Click here to go to a tithe calculator.

Click here to go to a British web site that will show you how your income ranks in comparison to the rest of the world.