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"Do Whatever Needs Done"

5/19/2023

As an only child often left alone, Anita Hlava played records, sang to herself, enjoyed the quietness of being still, curiously observed, and learned from artists working on their crafts about ways to use her talents to serve others. Anita's mother often reinforced this guiding concept by telling her daughter, "To do whatever needs done."

Reflecting on all, Anita witnesses, "God put this within me."

Anita's faith, gifts, and skills were further refined through being welcomed to practice daily worship and retreats that allowed time to "be still." "Church was the best place to be. I felt at home." As a nine-year-old, Anita confirmed her faith and consciously began her "walk with Jesus."

The church continued to be essential to Anita as an adult, but she felt disconnected when her community church's Oratorio Chorus disbanded. She missed singing in the church choir, and shared her sadness with her caring neighbor, telling her how much she missed it. Her neighbor then did an extraordinary thing! She invited Anita to join her in singing in her church choir. Anita accepted the invitation and joined the Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church choir, where they welcomed her.

In addition to the choir, Anita also found a list of many opportunities to use her talents and skills "to do whatever needs to be done" with one of the women's groups, the Anna Circle. It seemed like a good match for her, so she attended a meeting, was warmly welcomed, and served the group well.

Anita soon received a request to be on the Women of the Church board. But she was not a member of the church! That soon changed. Anita's promise "to walk with Jesus" continued. She did what she felt called to do at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, encouraged and supported by our synod. As a member of the women's board, an elder, a choir member, the choir's director, a cantor, and as an assisting minister, she continues to serve as one who will "do whatever needs done."

Your generosity enables our Northeastern Ohio Synod to support organizations such as WELCA -which encourages women to serve in mission, the Kaufman Resource Center – which aids musicians and other workers in the church; and Hopewood Outdoors/LOMO -which provides the place and means to "be still" and hear God, so that like Anita, we all might "do whatever needs done" as we walk with Jesus. Thank you for your generous gifts!

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Urban Farm

4/12/2023

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Stu Smith is a life-long Lutheran who spent most of his time in congregations that were small town and rural. His wife, Julianne, is a Lutheran pastor and he was always actively involved in each congregation in which she served. However, he felt something was lacking in what he was able to do. The parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25 made him realize the importance of hands-on service with those in need.

When Pastor Julianne took a call to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church near Youngstown, Ohio, Stu became reacquainted with a former pastor serving in an inner-city congregation, Martin Luther Lutheran Church. At first, the contact was fairly superficial, but Stu learned about the community outreach that Martin Luther Lutheran did, and it piqued his interest. “I really liked how the congregation was working with the south side neighborhood which is changing and poorer than what it used to be. It’s very service-oriented and hands-on.”

Then several things happened to fulfill Stu’s desire to do more. The congregation purchased some land across the street from the church to create a community garden. An invitation was sent out to members at Prince of Peace to help prepare the garden. Stu was eager to participate not only in the gardening itself, but also in the distribution of the produce. Additionally, he became involved with their neighborhood outreach “Bondage Busters.”

The other event that took place was his wife taking a call as Director of Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop in the Northeastern Ohio Synod. This meant finding a new church home, and Martin Luther Lutheran became the obvious choice. Now, he serves as the director of the garden which has grown into an urban farm with several plots and an orchard. Along with his work in the garden, Stu joined the choir and was elected to their congregation council as secretary. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he participated in food distribution in the neighborhood as well.

Funding for the garden/farm came from members of Martin Luther Lutheran Church, and a grant from the Northeastern Ohio Synod as well as The Wean Foundation in Warren and Youngstown. A new partner is OASIS Inc., a foundation connected to OASIS Synod Authorized Worship Community that serves at-risk youth and young adults. They have provided funding to hire local youth to work in the urban farm. Thank you for your mission support to Martin Luther Lutheran, our synod, and to OASIS to allow these important ministries to grow.

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