“Whatever you do for the least of these, you do unto Me.” Matthew 25:40
One of my favorite songs in our Preschool/Kindergarten Christmas program is “Go Tell It On The Mountain”. My heart just smiles every time this group gets to the chorus and their sweet little voices enthusiastically belt out the message:
“Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere
Go tell it on tell mountain that Jesus Christ is born!”
Our littlest disciples recognize that it just wasn’t the shepherds that had the important job to share Jesus with others, but the command found in the Bible to “Go and make disciples of all nations” is a directive given to all of us.
We began this school year with the theme “We’re On Our Way” as we navigate our way through COVID and find creative ways to share Jesus with others despite this pandemic. Listed below are a few more opportunities through which God has opened the doors and allowed us to meet this objective during this school year:
2021 Turkey Trot Details:
On the brisk morning of November 12th, all students of St. Matthew Lutheran School “trotted” around the St. Matthew parking lot to raise money for “MOST Ministries”, a local non-profit agency that sends missionary teams to impoverished countries. Not only do MOST missionary teams provide eye glasses to those who cannot see and do not have the finances to purchases glasses, but also the first thing that eye glass recipients see are Bible verses! In addition, we also collect old eye glasses for these missionary teams to use in their clinics.
It is with great joy that we can announce that the grand total that our students raised was… (cue drum roll) $8,307.42!
In addition, we had 100 students who raised $50 or more and received a commemorative Turkey Trot T-shirt! Furthermore, we were also able to collect over 500 pairs of glasses! This is amazing! We give God all of the glory for how many people will be blessed by all of your efforts!
Teacher Service Project:
During the months of September and October, our school Chapel offerings
were designated to work in conjunction with all Lutheran Schools in the states of MI, OH, and IN to raise money for food boxes designed for needy families in the Fort Wayne area. Our school was able to collect enough money to fill ten boxes, which helped ten struggling families. What’s even more exciting is that our teachers were able to actually pack these food boxes when we attended the “Connections Conference” two weeks ago.
Together, Lutheran schools from all three states were able to fill 1,000 boxes of food and 500 Blessing Bags filled with hygiene and small items. We pray these boxes and bags will be a blessing to many families!
Friendship Friday designated this week for Oxford families:
Typically, the first Friday of each month is designated as “Friendship Friday”, where treats are sold during lunch to help sponsor our World Vision and Compassion International children. However, this week, our 8th graders have asked that we use this opportunity to help the families in Oxford that were affected by last week’s tragedy. As a result of their passionate hearts, this week, we use our brand new popcorn machine for the first time! Any student who would like to make a donation of any amount will receive a box of popcorn. We pray these funds will be a blessing to the hurting families in Oxford.
We pray that many will see the love of God through these efforts!
Have a great time “going” and “telling” others about our great God!
In His Love,
Mrs. Palka