Carmel Lutheran Church Visits

We had a great time in St. Louis!

7th, 8th and 9th grade students from Carmel Lutheran Church (Carmel, IN) served at the Peace Center in St. Louis – all morning preparing for the afternoon carnival, organizing and cleaning (projects ranged from planting/gardening, cleaning, painting, upgrading the computer lab and organizing materials/storage spaces).

We welcomed 40 community children (children who have come from refugee camps and are new to America) who came and had a great time at the puppet show, games outside, face painting, crafts – and most importantly, they heard the sweet story of Jesus! For some of these children, this was the first time someone has sat down with them to tell them how much God loves them – an amazing opportunity that God provided! In the picture below, you can see all the children who came to the carnival (some we recognized from last year too). Community members made us a cultural dinner of Pilipino stir fry and Nepalese soup and donuts (tastes like funnel cake!) – topped off with macaroni and cheese of course.

We managed to have some unique, St. Louis city fun too – making sure to eat at Fitz’s root beer, visit the Arch, the City Museum and of course Ted Drewes (famous custard).  Praise God for providing us with a mission and leading us to tell others about the Good News!

Kaitlin Quote: “This was a great opportunity for our students to meet people they might not ever meet/know, to help them in understanding that God’s people are different races, ages, communities – and he has called us to serve them. Our students got the opportunity to share the Gospel with children who have never heard it before, God certainly provided opportunities at CFNA and I can tell the impact that this center is making in this community and among God’s Kingdom. It even reminded the adults in our group how important it is to share Jesus with everyone we meet.”