Augustana District

Partnership in Ethiopia

March 13, 2014 By Faith

Imagine this: You are in a congregation that began less than 20 years ago. You started with 368 members and are now well over 7,000. In this brief history you have already given birth to fifteen congregations and send out nearly 60 evangelists in your city (a largely Muslim region) and across the country. You are in your third 5-year strategic plan and have the intention of giving birth to 10 more congregations within the next five years. You are even expecting to send missionaries to troubled lands like Somalia and South Sudan.

This is our new and inspiring partner, the Tabor Congregation from Ethiopia, from whom we will receive more than we will give. We pray this partnership will call forth others within our denominational body, Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC), and congregations and synods of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY). A delegation of 11 people from the Augustana District (including Faith Lutheran’s Pastor Paul Knudson) visited Tabor in January, and brought back with them excitement for this new partnership.

Stay tuned, and you will see marvelous mission endeavors multiplied through the power of the Holy Spirit working within and among us.

One of the Tabor Congregation's worship spaces — One of the Tabor Congregation’s worship spaces

Ethiopia Mission Trip

November 3, 2013 By Faith

The Augustana District’s Board of World Missions has actively sought a way to meaningfully connect with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), the fourth-largest Lutheran church in the world. They believe they found it through a developing connection with the Tabor congregation in the city of Hawassa, Ethiopia.

This exciting congregation has grown from 368 members in 1996, to 6168 members in 2010. Even more impressively, the Tabor Congregation deploys 53 evangelists, and to-date has established 13 new EECMY congregations in the region – even in areas that are predominantly Muslim. It is this evangelistic ministry that most excites our Board of World Missions.

We are pleased to announce that between 11 and 14 people from Augustana District churches (from Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota) will be travelling to Hawassa this January 9-19, 2014. Their purpose is to further explore the possibilities of an active relationship with the Tabor Congregation and its outreach and evangelistic ministries.

Pastor Paul Knudson from Faith Lutheran will lead a delegation of ten or more volunteers to forge a partnership in witness between the Augustana District and the 7,000-member Tabor Congregation. Pray for this endeavor that all the final plans will fall into place and the Spirit will use this time so that our Lord’s Kingdom work will be strengthened mightily through this partnership.

Acts 1:8 will direct all that develops. In this verse Jesus before his ascension declares: “You will receive power when the Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Questions about this trip? Contact the church office at 587-2093 or email Pastor Paul Knudson.

Members from the Tabor Congregation in Ethiopia.

Ignite a Passion for Witness

November 2, 2012 By Faith

Pastor Dawit Yohannes’s congregation from Southern Ethiopia has planted 75 churches. They cannot contain the good news of Jesus Christ! Come and be inspired as Pastor Dawit shares their remarkable story at this evening event.

Monday, November 5 at Faith Lutheran Church

6 pm: Enjoy a simple meal and fellowship

7pm: A time for worship and hearing the story

A free will offering will be received to defray expenses for Pastor Dawit. This event is hosted by Faith Lutheran Church and the Augustana District Board of World Missions.

Call Waiting

March 28, 2012 By Faith

Faith Lutheran’s Pastor Paul Knudson supplied us with this month’s Pastor’s Page article about his upcoming travel to Ethiopia:

“Come over to Ethiopia and help us.” This call to us from the General Secretary of a vibrant, fast growing, 5.8 million member Ethiopian church was in some ways an unusual call. Indeed this national church body, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), filled with the Spirit, centered in Jesus Christ and anchored in God’s Word, is a People of God we need to ask to come and help us. The EECMY has added a half million members in the last two years alone. I know of no church body in any nation that has accomplished this! We need their help to bring a passion for Christ-centered and Spirit-empowered evangelical outreach back to Western Churches. The days of one way assistance are past. Nevertheless, this body of fellow believers is asking for our help.

This being said, representatives from Ethiopia, Tanzania, Cameroon, the USA, Canada, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Finland, Denmark and other nations are coming together for mutual encouragement in an International Mission and Theological Conference from April 21-26 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

I am thrilled with the opportunity to join with Christian leaders from all these nations to explore the partnership God has in store for us as we walk together and seek to respond to this Macedonian call. I will be traveling to Ethiopia with representatives of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) and the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). We leave on April 18 and return April 30.

The EECMY, having severed ties with the ELCA, is looking to the international Lutheran community for help in preparing their pastors and evangelists for the many challenges they are facing in their fast-changing world. They recognize their need for being grounded in sound doctrine, Biblical knowledge and other leadership tools. Worshipping, learning together and simply spending time in substantive conversations over these days will prepare us all for effective responsiveness to their call for leadership development.

We in the Augustana District and our Board of World Missions in particular are playing a specific role leading up to this conference. For us to learn of the needs it will be important to have many pastors and evangelists from the EECMY to be able to come. To this end we are inviting anyone interested and able to respond to send one of these leaders to the conference. Your gift of $60 will send one of these indigenous leaders. To date we have received gifts enabling over 50 to attend.

I would covet your prayers for this event and that I might learn much. I look forward to reporting back to you upon returning.

In Christ,

Pastor Paul Knudson

UPDATED: WOW Conference Highlights

October 11, 2011 By Faith

Women of the Word of the Augustana District held their second Annual Gathering at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Hutchinson, MN on October 1, 2011. It was a wonderful, spiritually-lifting day for those who attended. The women in attendance enjoyed getting together and feeling connected with one another. Stephanie Freund of Hutchinson spoke on our theme of “Coming Together,” Pastor Mark Richardson of the Augustana District led our worship service, four pastors from the two LCMC churches in Hutchinson, as well as a ladies group from the choir at Christ the King, provided special music.

Approximately 110 women attended with about 20 other people involved in break-out sessions, music, displays, etc. Twenty-two churches from Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota and Wisconsin were represented. The mission projects for this gathering were Hospice/Aids kits and Newborn Kits for Global Health Ministries. One hundred twenty-three newborn kits and forty-one hospice kits were collected and sent to Global Health. In addition seventeen school kits were brought and will be sent to Lutheran World Relief. Thanks to all who put these kits together.

Three new members were welcomed to the Steering Committee for 2012. Please feel free to contact any of the members if you have questions, suggestions or comments. Members include:

Coordinator: Mary Ebent – [email protected] 320-587-5442

Vice-Coordinator/Education: Jan Schulte – [email protected] – 605-695-4996

Treasurer: Emilie Wildey – [email protected] – 320-562-0180

Secretary/Newsletter: Diane Anderson – [email protected] 320-587-9352

Missions/newsletter: Dorothy Desens – [email protected] – 320-587-8777

Historian – Heidi Froemming – [email protected] – 320-587-5607

At Large Members: Beverly Tellefson – [email protected] 320-564-3475

Carolyn Fiskness – [email protected] 320-354-4742

Four of the Steering Committee members: Emilie Wildey, Diane Anderson, Carreen Pierson and Dorothy Desens attended the LCMC Convention in DesMoines on Oct. 2-4 and were members of a break-out session for the convention. They were thrilled to have over 80 ladies attend their session. We can see the need for connection to other WOW groups is present in our churches.

Written by Diane Anderson of Women of the Word

Below are photos from the Oct. 1 WOW Gathering at Christ the King.