Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church
525 Main Street, Berlin, PA 15530
(814) 267-5014

In under two months our mission team, now 18 members strong, will be heading for our first-ever mission trip as a congregation. Their goal as it has been previously described in this newsletter and in church announcements, is to bring the Gospel, God’s words, in the flesh to children without one or both parents in the Dominican Republic. These young people, to all accounts, do not know God’s words and therefore, like so many in this world, need a  chance to respond to it.

On the mission trip our team won’t just be preaching God’s word, they’ll be living it. They will help to build a new dining hall for the new Christian camp called Summer’s Best Two Weeks, which will also be turned into a school where the Bible will be taught and good morals lifted up. By their work, their words and their presence they will bring the Word in the flesh. As part of that trip they will also meet several young children living in the Dominican Republic who are sponsored by members of Sunday school classes at Holy Trinity. Members and friends of the congregation going are Wayne and Nancy Schrock, Jim and Carol Burcaw, Charlotte Chonko, Lorrie Shaw, Courtney Custer, Lindsey Leydig, Brianna Leydig, Keith Leydig, Jeff Moore, Pam Moore, Katharine Harmon, Susan Long, John Yeager, Shaina Stern. Devin Stern and Tonya Froehlich. At our first worship service on Jan. 4 we will commission them.

To further support the vitality of this mission trip we will receive special offerings at our second worship service on Dec. 14. If you will be unable to attend that service, you may send your gift for the trip to the Church Office.

This mission trip reminds us all that words about Jesus Christ are never enough without the deeds which back it up. But the Word must still be announced. As we move into the new church season of Advent, God announced through his messengers his entrance into our lives. We are invited to join him in the building of his kingdom. And to show that his kingdom begins here in our lives, we are reminded again that Jesus became flesh and blood. He was human. And though now enthroned in Glory, he invites us to join him in his Glory. The Manger is a sign drawing us to its foot that we may go inside and see God. Come and worship!

© 2008 Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. All rights reserved.