Our Mission Festival Sunday 2008 Emphasis was on the ministry of Brugemann
and the Lutheran congregations serving our Lord in La Frontera.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In February this year I had the privilege of visiting your congregation and preaching on the occasion of your Mission Festival. Ann and I enjoyed our visit very much! You have a lively congregation with big hearts. Your hearts were so big that you gave us a gift of $3,000 (and several boxes of health related articles) to pass on to Lutheran congregations serving our Lord in La Frontera (the Border region between the United States and Mexico). I am writing to share with you how that gift has been received and used to serve God’s people working among some of the poorest of the poor in our world today. As we traveled the border this year we have visited five ministries and passed along your gifts to them:
Iglesia Luterana El Buen Pastor in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico received $1000 which they used in their current Church building project. This is a congregation with a lively mission of its own as well as an outreach ministry to one of the poorest colonias of Juarez. They have outgrown their present sanctuary and are constructing one about 10 times larger to accommodate their growing congregation’s needs.
Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey in Reynosa, Mexico received $500 toward their building project. This congregation is served by a retired ELCA pastor with great vision for this mission. It was this mission that first caused us to fall in love with the Lutheran Churches in Mexico. They have torn down the old sanctuary and are building one three times the size of the original on the same piece of land.
St. John Lutheran Church in San Juan, Texas received $250 toward their health ministry and several boxes of medical supplies you collected in March. This multi-cultural congregation goes once a month to Reynosa, Mexico to conduct health clinics for residents served by Cristo Rey Lutheran Church.
Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey in Piedras Negras, Mexico received $750 toward the construction of their new sanctuary. The poorest of the poor attend this growing congregation that was brought into being by Lutherans in Eagle Pass, Texas, most of whom are very low income families themselves. The mission has outgrown its original worship space and one 5 times larger is now almost completed with the help of many Lutherans in Texas.
The Comite Inter Luterano para Ministerios en La Frontera (CILMIF) received $500 to use for members to attend a future meeting. While the ELCA regroups to provide ministry to Lutherans on both sides of the border in La Frontera we feel that is very important for this original group to continue in order for some sort of continuity to remain whenever the new structure finally comes into being.
In behalf of your hermanos and hermanas in La Frontera,
Muchisima Gracias!
God bless you all!
Sincerely and Gratefully,
Pastor Bill Bruggeman