September 2017

STAFF MINISTER’S REPORT
As Missionaries of Christ, we bring everyone we come in contact with closer to the Savior.
We have decided to go ahead with this new event and coordinate it together with
our school. We are calling this event “Fall Family Trunk or Treat”. We have picked
the date of Sunday, October 29, 2pm - 4pm (which is also Milwaukee’s trick or treat
time). We will be encouraging the community to bring their children to this “childsafe”
event. We are asking our members to decorate the trunks of their vehicles.
We will pass out treats, have a guessing contest, and invite people to come inside
our building for treats of pies, hot coffee, chocolate and cider, popcorn, etc. This
event would also be an opportunity to use it as an “open house” for our church and
school.
We will need congregation’s support for this new event. Can you support us by
decorating your vehicle and handing out candy to our community? We would also
like to conduct a raffle where we will ask our visitors to provide their contact
information at this event. Can you donate something that we can raffle? We have
had great success with receiving community contact information through these
raffles and this has resulted in new Centennial members in the past. Can your
family support the church and school with your time and talents?
Since this is a children-friendly,
Christian event,
please refrain from decorating
your vehicle
in a overly scary fashion.
We have a pie sign up sheet on the bulletin board in the church lobby. Please sign up if you can donate a pie or other
dessert. If you want to donate something for a raffle, please see me. We can always use your financial gifts as well. Help
us make this new event a blessing to our church and school! Thank you.
~Bob Garbe - Minister of Evangelism & Outreach
MISSION MOMENTS
Death and Demons Defeated BY SOUTH ASIA COORDINATOR
Recently, a member at a WELS sister church in Asia died in an accident. This
young woman, wife and expectant mother, fell out of a tree while harvesting
berries. Our sister in Christ attended three Christian training workshops at
the Scripture Learning Center in South Asia. Her dream was to eventually
serve the local national church.
An American may wonder why a pregnant woman was climbing trees! An
understandable question. The answer is bone-jarring poverty leads Christians
to work in unsafe conditions in this Asian country.
The husband called the pastor who was attending a seminary session. The pastor left immediately and took an all-night bus
to offer personal support to his grieving member. But, the bus had a flat tire at one o’clock in the morning and there
wasn’t any spare. He then walked nine hours to reach the village.
There is immense pressure–from the surrounding Hindu community–when Christians die. In this instance, the Hindu
neighbors said the mother's abdomen must be cut open to remove the baby. Their belief was that the baby would become
a demon and haunt the village. However, the law says it is illegal to do this. If the family gave in they would be breaking the
law. And, once they broke the law, then, anyone in the community could accuse them of committing a criminal act!
Several men spent the night at the church guarding the body, so that no one would come in the middle of the night and
remove the baby from the mother’s body. They dug two graves but, both times the Hindu community confronted them and
would not allow them to bury the mother with her child. Sometimes Hindus intimidate Christians into carrying their
deceased many hours from their villages. Christian families then are unable to visit the grave site.
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