In Austin, Texas, this weekend - Mission in Borderlands

Connecting Ministries: Mission in Borderlands

The “Peace not Walls” task force has prepared a “Connecting Ministries” event to be offered through the Southwestern Texas Synod’s School of Mission on Saturday, October 2nd, at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, 200 W. Anderson Lane, Austin, Texas, from 10 am – 4 pm.

Connecting Ministries focuses on creating understanding, relationship and opportunities for shared mission and service at the border regions of the world. This event will focus on borderland ministry in both the Holy Land and the Texas/Mexico border region, featuring the SWT Synod’s work in the in the Rio Grande Valley and the work of our sister church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land.

We are blessed to have two extraordinary leaders for this journey into border ministry.

Niveen Sarras is a member of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, where she is involved in Christian Education with a special focus on children and youth. Niveen is currently a Ph.D. student at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. She received the Kathryn Sehy Endowed Scholarship for 2008-09, a newly-established fellowship fund that supports a student in the area of interfaith studies. She is particularly interested in interfaith efforts in Israel/Palestine and plans to return to Palestine to continue in academic and mission work.

Rev. Mariana Mendez currently serves as the mission pastor of Mision Luterana “Agua Viva” in the Texas border town of El Cenizo, near Laredo. Mariana and her husband, Pastor Moises Mendez, support the ministry of seven gathered communities in the region in worship and Bible study and a range of co-operative ministry activities to meet the needs of people struggling with poverty and limited opportunity.

Under the guidance of these leaders in presentations, interactive sessions, role playing and worship, participants in Connecting Ministries will experience the lives, issues, questions, and opportunities faced by those who serve and minister in these places, and will discover their own place and ways to participate in sharing these vital ministries.

For more information and to register, visit our website: www.swtsynod.org/form10300.htm

For more information contact:
Tammie Danielsen
SW Texas Synod/ELCAPeace Not Walls Task Force Member
Tammiedanielsen@yahoo.com
405-206-6912

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