Inwood Lutheran Parish

** All LYO members are asked to come to help prepare for the Easter Sunrise Service and Breakfast. A note will be coming to all LYO members

Easter Sunrise Service - Sunday April 4th 6:30 am

** LYO members will once again be hosting the Easter Sunrise Service. Immediately following the service, LYO members will serve their annual Easter Breakfast**

Gift Cards are available

We are selling gift cards for groceries and retailers. The cards are no extra cost to you but the retailers pay LYO to sell them. This is a great fundraiser for us. We will have the grocery cards in-stock every Sunday, others cards can be ordered. Some retailers include: Cabelas, JC Penney, Bath and Body Works, and Applebee's, many more are available. These make great Christmas gifts - get your order in soon, it takes about a week to get them.

Counselors are: Dan and Barb Pedersen, Rob and Missy Hage and Jim and Rhonda Jensen

Junior High members had planned to Tube at inspiration Hills but were "snowed out". Watch for upcoming events

Junior High is planning a swimming party – details coming soon.

Counselors are: Kim and Tracy Gayer, and Scott Lori Farstead, Brad and Christen Standley

4th-5th-6th grades:

Sledding at the River Feb 21st

Counselors are: Kim and Tracy Gayer, and Scott Lori Farstead, Brad and Christen Standley

4th-5th-6th Grade Counselors: Robbie and Monte Kooistra, and Troy and Lori Bauder, Tom and Janelle Rentschler

Junior High Counselors: Kim and Tracy Gayer, and Scott Lori Farstead, Brad and Christen Standley

LYO High School Counselors: Dan and Barb Pedersen, Rob and Missy Hage and Jim and Rhonda Jensen

Christian educators: Do you receive the Lutheran Association of Christian Educators E-News? The April 2008 issue provides some Christian alternative sites to Facebook and Myspace. Find out more at www.elca.org/lace.

The LYO Gathering in New Orleans is now history. The experience was incredible. Over 37,000 young people gathered to worship, learn, share and serve. Evening sessions at the Superdome included dynamic speakers, music with a message and an opportunity to worship. The Superdome not only provided a venue for the gatherings, but also a reminder of the pain and suffering that occurred in that facility during Katrina.

The highlight of the trip was the opportunity to serve the people of New Orleans. With the theme, "God's Work, Our Hands", we travelled to our assigned project. The White Dove Fellowship is a complex that offers a positive alternative to men that face various life challenges such as addictions. Many of these men had hit "rock bottom" in their lives and this organization offered an opportunity to enter a twelve month religious-based program to turn their lives around. This facility had suffered significant damage from the Katrina and the surges that came with Gustof. Evidence of damage was everywhere. Our group broke into three groups. One group scraped glue from concrete floors so they could be painted. Another group worked to landscape the facility and planted hundreds of plants. The third group worked to take down and dispose of dead trees. We worked side-by-side with LYO members from across the United States. The work was hard, but very rewarding to help a group with such an important mission. The 37,000 attendees of the gathering joined forces to paint 82 schools, 13 churches, 21 community centers and clean up 7 public parks. Health fairs offered free immunizations to kids. The LYO also worked with 11 organizations building and restoring homes.

Our group was also able to attend workshops focused on "compassionate justice". These focused on environment, social issues and the challenges faced by young people in our society. At the end of each day, our group would meet for a chance to discuss the day's events, talk about speakers we heard and the people we met.

As a group, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to our congregations and our communities for the support of this trip. Our responsibility now, is to bring the spirit and experiences of this gathering back home. If you have a chance, please visit with the young people who attended the gathering. Ask them about their experiences and what they learned. They have an incredible story to tell.

Visit the Youth Gathering Web site to view pictures and video of the Gathering. Read about the various service projects on the ELCA News Service site. Ask the youth from your congregation who attended the Gathering what they saw, did and learned! What a great example of servant leadership for us all!

Looking for ways to help the kids in your congregation become more comfortable and familiar with the Bible? "Lutheran Partners" is a magazine published six times a year for Lutheran leaders, both clergy and lay, which seeks to publish "the voices of real people doing real ministry in the real world." "Lutheran Partners" in online at www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Vocation/Lutheran-Partners.aspx.

Are you looking for something fun and different for Sunday school? Would you like to educate kids and youth about mission? Maybe you are just looking for fun summer activities for kids! Here are some possibilities:

ELCA Global Mission Web site – Learning about the world can be fun!

- Stories for kids from various countries.

- A Q&A feature about real missionaries in Tanzania (including pictures).

- Fun information about difference countries, including arts and crafts and recipes.

- Build a Village interactive learning resource from Church World Service.

ELCA World Hunger Web site– Open a world of possibilities!

- Interactive features about Nicaragua, Haiti, Bangladesh, the continent of Africa, and Tanzania.

- Information about resources like “God’s Global Barnyard.”