At age 4, I sat on the floor of a North Dakota living room, clinging to each word as the Hilles, missionaries to Cameroon, spoke of how little boys and girls very far away loved and served Jesus. On that day, they gave a hand-carved and painted wooden spoon to my family, a gift that became a symbol of both their faithful service and our support of missionary service.
That missionary relationship planted the seeds for my missionary service 25 years later. Indeed, a covenant sponsorship is a promise to be in relationship: to communicate with each other, pray for each other, to give generously and receive graciously.
The important work of missionaries is taking place today in lands far and wide. I invite you to find out more about the missionary work being done in your name. Consider—as individual, group, congregation—to covenant to support an ELCA missionary. Find out more.
This message was adapted from “Thanks Be to God!: ELCA Missionary Stories” written by Sue Edison-Swift that first appeared in the November 2010 issue of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather) magazine.
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