Peace Notes Summer 2021 - Word of Peace Lutheran Church

Matt Tilstra
Matt Tilstra is one of our incredible and vital volunteers at
Word of Peace. He grew up on a farm in southwestern
Minnesota, and he and his wife Elizabeth have lived in
Rogers for almost 19 years. They have three children, Will,
Isabelle, and Elliot.
During his spare time, Matt enjoys
playing games and watching
movies with his family. He also
enjoys tinkering with home
automation and says that his “family
puts up with me when I try to
‘improve’ something that was
working perfectly fine before.”
In 2006, the tornado that came
through Rogers destroyed their
home and upended their lives in so
many ways. Volunteers from Word
of Peace showed up the morning
after the tornado to begin helping
with clean up, and Matt shared, “the
Church’s presence in our
community was there when we
needed it most.” As they rebuilt their
house, Word of Peace continued to be present in their
lives—preschool, church school, Sunday worship—they
became members a few years later.
A few years ago Matt started volunteering in the sound
and media booth during worship services and with our
livestreaming video technology just last year. He enjoys
being able to use his electrical engineering experience in
unexpected ways and said that he “can honestly say that I
never expected to be able to serve the church knowing
how to calculate attenuation losses in a coaxial cable or
how to configure an RS-485 network.” For all of us nonengineers,
those things are needed to connect and control
the cameras we use for our livestreaming
worship services and
events.
In the last year, Matt shared that we
have installed over 1,000 feet of new
audio and video cables at Word of
Peace. These cables help us with our
new equipment and technology. He
wants people to know that if anyone is
interested in volunteering with sound
and media to go ahead and do it. They
are always ready to help people learn.
As a final note, he shared that “it has
been my privilege to volunteer each
week for the past year during the
pandemic. In a time of great change
and uncertainty it grounded me to
know that something I did every week was hopefully
making a difference for others.”
Thank you Matt for sharing your story with us, and we are
incredibly lucky to have your passion and skills helping us
do ministry at Word of Peace.
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PUT YOUR FAITH
INTO ACTION!
For opportunities to serve, visit
wordofpeace.org/faith-in-action
Each of us has a story of how we put our faith
into action. If you have a story that you would
like to share, please contact Deacon Lydia
Svenulski at lsvenulski@wordofpeace.org.
If you are looking for ways to serve, or are
discerning how God is calling you to put your
faith into action, please contact Deacon Lydia
or any of the pastoral staff.
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