The Courier Published in the Interest of The Luther League of the SELC District of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod Fall Issue

"HIGHER GROUND"

by TARA TITCOMBE, Christ the King Lutheran Church, Lodi OH

(one of the 138 Youth from the SELC District

who attended the LYF GATHERING)

On July 26 several people from Christ the King Lutheran Church of Lodi Ohio and Calvary Lutheran Church of Parma Ohio headed to New Orleans for the National LCMS Youth Gathering.  We prepared ourselves for a fun filled week of worshipping and praising our Father, but I don't think anything could have prepared us for the mountain top experience we were about to have.

Our plane left on Friday, July 27.  The fun didn't really start until Saturday the 28.  We took a nice walk in the rain to the Convention Center to register.  In the Convention Center they had various activities to participate in.  "The Big Easy" youth center was a place where teens could relax.  There were concerts going on and plenty of bean bag chairs to sit back on.  Also in the Convention Center was "Ground Zero."  This was a place where you could walk around and look at different booths, not to mention pick up anything free the booths had to offer.  "Ground Zero" also had many different rides and games ranging from inflatable slides to a ferris wheel to making all kinds of crafts.  All this was just in the Convention Center.

"We prepared ourselves for a fun filled week of worshipping

and praising our Father, but I don't think anything could prepare us

for the mountain top experience we were about to have."

- Tara Titcombe, Christ the King Lutheran Church, Lodi OH

Our first time in the Louisiana Super Dome was Saturday evening.  Imagine, if you can, 35,000 teenagers all packed into the Super Dome, all singing and praising God.  In the Super Dome we had the mass events and Bible studies.  On Sunday in the Superdome we had a worship service with communion.  Four people in our group were in the choir that sang during the service.  The choir had around 700 people in it, one of the largest choirs we had ever sung in!

Every morning we would make our way to the Super Dome to hear speakers and for the mass events.  In the afternoon our group would try to make time to see the city and we would also go to the Convention Center and walk around in "Ground Zero."  Then the evenings we'd head back to the Super Dome for another Bible study, to hear more music, to listen to more speakers, and have much more fun.

Our group's days were pretty full but we did get to tour the city and see many different sites.  We went to the French Quarter, the French Market, and we walked around to just see everything.  Going to the French Quarter I can fully understand why they call it the city of jazz music.  There were street bands and street performers all over.  It was nice to get to see the city.

The time we spent in New Orleans flew by.  Leaving was the hardest part.  On Wednesday, August 1, we had our final mass event and Bible study.  A speaker on Wednesday had a very good speech and in it he said how easy it is for us to worship the Lord with 35,000 other people but when we go home we won't have those 35,000 people there with us.  When we go home, we will still have to be strong in our faith and stand up for our beliefs.

The whole LCMS Youth Gathering was an amazing experience.  I know it made me much stronger in my faith.  Our group really bonded together and I know I made freinds for life.  I still feel strengthened from this experience and I know I will never forget that trip to New Orleans.

Tara Titcombe

Christ the King Lutheran Church

Lodi, OH

SELC District "Higher Ground" Attendees   Alsip, IL - 6 Cudahy, WI - 8 Hazleton, PA - 9 Lake Mary, FL - 25 Lodi, OH - 6 Manchester, NJ - 9 Norridge, IL - 1 Orland Park, IL - 7 Oviedo, FL - 26 Parma, OH - 5 Racine, WI - 5 Streator, IL - 9 Viera, FL - 10   District Support Staff: Rev. Rick Schauer, District Coordinator Rev. Chris Cahill, Community Life Builder Rev. Phil Miksad, Community Life Builder Tom Bailey, District Booth Joy Dzurovcik, District Booth Meredith Friedman, District Booth   Total:  144

    Well this summer like every summer, the youth group of Peace, Galloway, New Jersey, takes their annual spiritual journey to the Agape Farms in Mt. Union, PA.  This trip takes a few months of planning to go right, but our group is lead by Vetern Creation Camper - Deacon Tom Woodley.  He puts much preparation into this event and brings about 30 - 40 campers every year.

    Our trip this year started early Tuesday morning at about 8:30 a.m.  All the campers from Peace, have theri bags packed and are ready to go.  Like always there are first timers, and then veterans - aka me.  This year we had our largest group ever, so with everyone there, we began to load suitcases, and assign people to cars.  We sadi our final goodbyes and we were off to Creation Festival 2001.

    On the road, Kim Kimpton (my sister), John Kimpton - Squints (my brother), Ed Chalupa, Pastor Phil (the driver) and myself, all rode together on the 6 hour drive to Creation.  Pastor Phil was the lucky one to get us four, and we definitely made it a memorable first trip up there.  The normal "are we there yet," and then the ultimate classic, "Pastor Phil, he's looking at me" comments were made.  On our way to Creation, we always meet up with another church, Village Lutheran and together we stay on the same campsite.

    We made a few stops on the way to Mount Union, PA, but we arrived at around 4:00 in the afternoon to Creation camp grounds.  We waited in a line to get in, but we think of that as a good sign that many people are coming to glorify our Lord.  After we got in and taken to our site, we waited for Mr. Woodley to direct the cars where to park and then the camp was set up.  The tents went up quickly, and everyone wasthen free to explore Creation.

    The concerts didn't start until 6:00 Wednesday night.  So Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and afternoon, is the free time given to us to meet others and check out the landscape (being that we are flat-landers from South Jersey, a hike up a mountian is always a must do).  So with the hike up the mountain, Bible studies, card games, ice breakers, and exploring the shops were all done on the free time.

    It was almost time Wednesday night for the Concerts to begin and the traffic to get in was increasing.  We gathered up our group and we headed down for the concert to begin.  There were the most people there ever for the Wednesday night show.  The concerts were great and there was a speaker and big name bands.  After the last concert ended around 12:00 midnight, Peace all comes back to camp and everyone hung out until we felt like going to bed, which means we really didn't.

    Thursday morning came a little too early for some people, but with everyone up before 8:30 we ate breakfast and at 9:00 everyone was at the main stage for our "Morning cup of coffee" show.  Another round of speakers and bands went on, and all were great as normal.  All day there were activities for anyone to participate in.  Assortments of shops to shop in were also present.  That night there were great concerts by the big name Christian rock bands.  A huge communion was done for everyone in Creation.  Everyone returned to camp, a little more tired this time and they went to bed.

    Friday is always a special day at creation.  The amount of people in attendance is always amazing and the featured activity at night is a candle lighting with everyone in Creation.  Everyone was excited that night and all were in attendance.  All of Creation sang together as we raised our candle to the Lord.  "It's just a breath-taking experience," is the normal reaction a newcomer has with this event.  But no matter if you're a newcomer or a veteran, the candle lighting service always give a wonderful feeling.

    On Saturday, it's the last day and everyone is on their own.  Meals become the left-overs from the week, but still they always taste good.  The feature event on Saturday is the baptisms in the lake and the closing band finishing with fireworks.  So, after the concerts everyone comes back to camp and our group has a closing session to wrap up Creation.  We talk about our spiritual lives and how we have grown.  After the session, everyone packs up because we have an early morning.

    On Sunday morning at about 5:00 a.m., Mr. Woodley breaks out the pots and pans to make his walk through the camp while making sure he gets his blackmail shots.  He is always seen with his camera and if you're having a bad hair day that morning, make sure you wear a hat because if you don't your photo will be up in the church.  Well, everyone half asleep normally packs up the end stuff and we load up in our cars to sleep on the way home.  A stop for breakfast is made and then the rest is a sleep from home, but with Mr. Woodley there's always a photo op especially while you are sleeping.  We pulled in that afternoon to see our parents waiting to welcome us back.

    Everyone had a great time and the experiences at Creation are absolutely priceless.  And that's why our Creation trip is our feature event for the summer.

    Vicki Kimpton

    Peace Lutheran Church

    Galloway, NJ

 A Pleasant Event in

Pleasant City

by Mary Hageman, Calvary Lutheran Church, Parma OH

    For at least several months, preparations were being made by Deacon Jim Hurst for Calvary youth to participate in a fall servant event.  He decided that the Calvary family and youth would help Mary Woodward, an employee of Lutheran Social Services of Pleasant City, Ohio (for all non-geographic people--Pleasant City is located in southeast Ohio).  LSS provides food, clothes and shelter needs for those whose homes have been destroyed by mainly floods, tornadoes, and fires, and also provides other types of services for people with other needs.  Mary is in charge of around 23 Ohio counties and her headquarters is in Pleasant City.

    Once the decision was finalized, Jim Hurst had the congregation gather needed items, supplies and cardboard boxes for the next couple of months.  One knew a lot of stuff was collected when an entire medium sized room was covered from floor to ceiling (well, almost).  During the week of the event, the youth and other church members repackaged everything into cardboard boxes.

    The big day is here!  Pastor Biermann, Jim Hurst, and a couple of strong men and Heidi Huth loaded the Big 17 foot U-Haul on the afternoon of October 12, 2001.  We were not going to take furniture and large appliances, but after we loaded the truck, there was extra space.  Since the old parsonage is being remodeled into a luxurious spacious youth room, we decided to gather any items that would fit in the U-Haul.  Two couches, arm chairs, lamps, pots and pans, dishes, end tables, and a stove were added to the truck.  We literally took everything out ofthe parsonage except for the kitchen sink!

    On the road we go!  Brian Schuster piloted the U-Haul with his two lovely assistants Racheal Huth and Joey Weber.  While my mom, (Patricia Hageman) and myself took my stealthy knight rider with Deacon Hurst in the lead with his vehicle cruising down I-77 (which by the way goes all the way to Florida).  We met Mary at the food pantry where we decided to spend the night.  The next morning the guys traveled to Pearl's place, where they would be responsible to burn, tear, and clear the rest of her burned out house to make room for her new trailer.  Several weeks prior to our arrival, an accidental fire left Pearl without a home to live in, so the guys were there to help create a place for her to live in.  After the guys created a 10 foot tall bonfire, Pearl served them the best hamburgers in Ohio.

    While the guys were at Pearl's, the girls stayed at the food pantry.  Our first job was to take school bags and fill them with various school 

supplies.  We made at least 30 school kits, and within a half hour all the bags were distributed to neighboring children.  Then a few of Mary's volunteers, Rachael, Mrs. Hageman and myself unloaded the U-Haul.  Mary Woodward had advertised to the community of Pleasant City a free clothing give-a-way from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Rachael, my mom, and I helped people find items that they needed.  Mary would not let anyone who attended the give-a-way leave unless they had at least 3 boxes full of items.  After the give-a-way and lunch (which were not Pearl's fabulous burgers--according to the guys), we sorted, repacked, and reorganized Mary's garage, where she stores all extra needed items that she collects.

    When the guys returned, Mary took us on a field trip to The General Store, where hanging on the walls were stuffed heads of wildlife that live in southeast Ohio.  Shortly after the general store, we departed our separate ways.

    This was my first overnight servant event, and it was an awesome experience.  I can't even describe the appreciation on the faces of the people who stopped by for the give-a-way.  The best part was watching someone pick up a clothing article that I wore as a youth and knowing it will be put to good use.  The only thing I will not miss about this experience is the overpopulated ladybugs!

    If you have not been on a servant event, I recommend asking your youth leader or counselor to take you on one.

Your sis in Christ,

Mary Hageman

"Putting our Feet Together"

Lutheran Bible Translator Joe Boway (second from R, standing)

born in Liberia, West Africa, visited the Pentecost, Racine WI

group to talk about the challenges of Bible translation

Did you know that there are about 6,000 languages in the world?  Of those languages, only 987 have some portion of scripture translated, while only 383 have a complete Bible translation.  There are about 400 sounds in almost every language.  Not every language has a symbol to represent each sound.  If you think about the letter "A" in the English language, it has many sounds but just one symbol.  Think of the different sound the letter "A" makes in the following words:  APPLE, APE, ABOUT.

While each language has many sounds, not all the sounds are used in the writing system of each language.  However, the "Internation Phonetic Alphabet" has a letter(s) to represent each sound.  There are a small number of "representative alphabets" in the world.  For instance, a language without a literary form in the Middle East would use a different representative alphabet than an unwritten language in South America.

These are just a few of the things the Racine group learned when they hosted Lutheran Bible Translator Missionary Joe Boway, born in the jungles of Liberia, West Africa.

Joe was introduced to Christianity when missionaries John and Kathy Duitsman moved to his village.  John & Kathy's children were the same age as Joe, and Joe soon began to learn how to read and write English.  Joe was instrumental in translating the Bible into the Krahn language.  The Krahn language has 9 vowels and 15 consonants.

Bible translation definitely comes with it's challenges.  For instance, in the New Testament, Jesus curses a fig tree, but the Krahn people have no idea what a fig is.  Because this is a historic even (Jesus actually did curse a fig tree, it was not a symbol or metaphor) the verse is translated "a tree, known as the fig" since the Krahn people know what trees are.

In other cases, the translator uses "borrowed" words.  For example, the word "table" does not exist in the Krahn language.  The Krahn people don't eat at a table, they eat sitting on the ground.  In this case, the Krah language "borrowed" the word "table" from other languages, and it became part of their language.

Another challenge is understanding the culture of a people group.  3 John 1:14 in English reads, "I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face."  Talking "face to face" in the Krahn culture has the connotation of settling a dispute.  It is actually similar to an umpire and a baseball coach after a controversial call.  The original Greek reads, "we will talk mouth to mouth," but "mouth to mouth" means something completely different in our culture!  Instead, the verse in Krahn is translated, "I hope to see you soon, and we will put our feet together."

The role of the Missionary Bible Translator is changing.  Probably the most effective means of reaching out to a people group with an unwritten language is to first live among them and become their friend.  After becoming a friend with the people, it is easier to study the language, discover it's meaning, and translate effectively.  Some of the missionaries Joe learned from were effective because they went hunting and took a personal interest in him and things he liked to do before he became a Christian.

After Joe led the youth and adults in Bible class, the Racine group took Joe and his friends from Chicago for bowling and pizza.

Tim Hasko

Pentecost Lutheran Church, Racine WI