Four reflections from the Vida Eterna–Iglesia Luterana (VEIL) youth who went to Houston, this summer, for the ELCA National Youth Gathering.

By Meirielys Castaneda Ceballos

While we were at the University of Houston for MYLE, we met many new people from all over the world. “The Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE) empowers young people of color and those whose primary language is other than English to claim their story as a part of God's story” (elca.org/myle).

It was great to be present with so many different cultures and to learn from them. One of my favorite parts was the worship service at Synod Day, because there were many songs in different languages. I also liked the Affinity (ethnic) Group time where we talked about our Hispanic culture and what we can do to help in our community as Latinos.

Another great experience for me was donating blood… Although I was very nervous, I knew I could help someone and “This changes everything!”

By Jennifer Menéz

One reflection we did all three days was ask, “Where did you find God?”… We had a Service Day that was a challenge for our group, working in the sun and humidity. By mulching, we saved the trees in one of the community parks of Houston. We did this as the amazing, strong, and powerful VEIL youth!

We served as Communion Assistants on Synod Day, serving the bread and wine that is Christ. We had a great time and even spent time with the LOL Youth. The experience was amazing because we shared the experiences together and helped each other.

By Jessica Menéz

At MYLE, we had so many fun experiences… We learned so much about each other, as Latinos working together as one to help each other… We had a service day where we assisted at a Community Center. We danced, played, read and ate lunch with the kids. I had the best time with them and I know our presence made a big impact on them. The kids wanted us to return to play with them.

By Valeria Arroyo-Venegas

At MYLE, our Service Learning Day was spent at a Community Center located in an apartment complex for low income families. Many of the children we tutored or played with had only one parent or no parents. I worked with a beautiful, little girl who at the start of our time wouldn’t speak to me, nor would she look at me. Little by little, via short questions, she began to speak… Not knowing how to respond, I asked if she wanted me to hug her in return, and with a large smile she said “YES!” She seemed comfortable with me and returned several times for a hug. She became sad when she realized I would not be returning to the Center. I learned that sometimes all a person needs is someone to make them feel important and loved.

At the ELCA Youth Gathering, we were able to meet many new people, as well as create an even stronger bond with the Lord of Life youth. Almost every night, we sat together for worship, and though we were two different churches, when we were together, we were ONE.

I can’t help but stare at professional lawnmowers while they work. The smooth glide of their machine over freshly mown grass is mesmerizing to watch, as they flow back and forth with the expertise of a skilled painter with a brush on canvas. 

I’m not referring to the walk behind push mowers that many of us have used throughout our lives, but the stand behind machines where the person is perched on a floating platform. I wonder how difficult it must be to find the sweet spot of equilibrium and also navigate the variety of bumps and dips in the varied yards on your daily assignment. How often do they have to adapt their stance in the moment? Are there times when they anticipate being thrown off-kilter by what they see coming? Every cutting assignment is different, but each one employs the full set of geometric skills necessary to create straight lines and pull off the zero turn radius.

Many days, our lives can mirror this kind of balancing act. We are zipping from place to place and encounter a whole variety of bumps and dips, as we seek the sweet spot in our work and rest and play. We try to anticipate what is coming next, but are often surprised by the hard situations and conversations which come our way. We attempt to keep calm and steady, but the imbalance throws us off center. 

We try not to fall down. We hope that we don’t “crash and burn.” We work diligently to balance the full spectrum of our lives – where we’ve been, where we find ourselves now, and where we’re heading – but can’t do it. Failing over and over, it is easy for us to become overwhelmed. Like the bubble in between the lines on a level, we believe that we have to have to be in a certain place to be right and true. No wonder anxiety, stress, and worry can begin to dominate the landscape of our lives.

Jesus spoke about this tension in his Sermon on the Mount as he launched into his public ministry. He saw people who were juggling home and family, public and private life, and all the other details of first century living. In offering a word of hope, he said, ^“Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:31-34 NIV).

As we cross the threshold of mid-summer, Jesus reminds us that God knows the desires of our hearts. Whatever we need today and tomorrow, God will care for us. We might feel unsteady as we wait for the future, but Jesus reminds us not worry. In Christ, we are given the capacity to respond to whatever comes our way.

Looking ahead, 

Pastor Lowell

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. - Jeremiah 29:11

The Lord definitely has plans for us, and sometimes, when we trust in those plans, things work out in amazing ways. When I was a kid, I was a church nerd. I was baptized as an infant at Faith Lutheran Church in Oxford (OH), was confirmed in that congregation, and eventually met and married my wife, Megan, there. My childhood pastor, John Mittermaier, saw my excitement for church and plugged me into worship life at an early age. He encouraged me to read the Bible passages in worship as an adolescent, I cantored the liturgy, and I sung in the choir. I was sure that one day I wanted to be pastor. The Lord had put a calling into my heart, but the plan to get that point was a long and winding.

In high school I got into theatre and found a creative outlet that allowed me to express myself in ways I never before imagined. I decided to pursue a degree in theatrical performance, but after a year of classes, I realized I didn’t want to travel to New York to try to “make it big.” I began working as a camp director at Camp Luther, a family camp on Lake Erie, and immediately loved the job. I ended up working there for ten years before I burned out and wanted a job closer to my family. I thought that working in the non-profit sector as a training specialist would be my new career and that I could eventually work my way up the corporate ladder in order to provide for my family. This is where that mysterious, winding road took a sharp turn left!

After a year of working in the non-profit realm, I still wasn’t happy with my vocation. I dreaded getting up and going to work each day. It was at a “Web It Up Wednesday” event at Lord of Life where Pastor Lowell looked at my defeated face and asked, “have you ever thought about going to seminary?” I had thought about it. A lot! Ever since I was a little church nerd. But I never thought that God could use a broken guy like me, who barely knew the Bible, worked in nightclubs and bars as a DJ, and definitely had no interest in learning Hebrew or Greek. That word of encouragement that the Holy Spirit spoke to me through Lowell was the water that opened up the seed within my heart. The seed of a vocational call to ordained ministry that was planted in me at a very young age.

We are all called to live out our vocation in faith, knowing that God has a plan for our welfare and provides a future of hope (Jer. 29:11), even if we can’t see it immediately before us. Listen to the call deep in your heart, find what brings you joy, and do it for the glory of God. Along the way, don’t underestimate how God might be using you to plant seeds of encouragement, worth, and love in the hearts of those around you.

Excited for our journey,

Corey Wagonfield

Pastoral Intern

A few years ago I took over as director of a choir, stepped into my first rehearsal with them, and after some introductions, got to work. We learned notes, rhythms, and words; and I took extra time to work on technique and help them understand my particular quirks and how I like to direct. By the end of the evening we were making beautiful music and felt pretty good about what we could do together.

When we were finished, someone raised their hand and said, “we haven’t sounded this good in years, and you didn’t really tell us anything we didn’t already know – what did you do that brought our sound together?”

The answer was fairly simple. There are certain things in music that are spelled out – notes and rhythms are marked clearly on the page and leave very little room for interpretation. The words are there, too, but this is where it gets muddy. In most adult choirs there are people from all over the country, and they pronounce words differently. The difference I had made in rehearsal was getting people to work toward pronouncing their vowels the same way.

What if all of our interactions could be as simple as agreeing on a vowel? What if there were just one thing we could agree on to make everything in the world a little more beautiful? 

When we look at our social media or the news it is easy to get discouraged. There is so much bad news and it is hard to believe we have friends or family members who think and feel so differently from us. We might feel like we’ve lost people who were close to us.

In John 6:37-40, Jesus says, “anyone who comes to me, I will never drive away” and “I should lose nothing of all [God] has given me.” Jesus has been given all the world to care for, and he will not be separated from anyone. 

What is the one thing Jesus brought us that keeps us from being separated God? 

Love. 

And yes, it is really hard to love everyone. But just like the vowels in our singing, we can see our interactions through the lens of Jesus’ love and we can work toward asking ourselves, “if I love this person, how should I treat them?” What should a disagreement look like when we know that we love someone as a fellow human being and not just as a faceless avatar on a web site? How do we treat a stranger we pass on the street if we look at them with love instead of fear? What does it look like when people who are different from us, whose culture or language we don't understand and whose motives we can only speculate or imagine, are just fellow children of God?

We might not agree on everything. But we can work toward a way of loving each other so that disagreements, culture, and fear don't have to divide us.

Although I first heard of this ministry twenty years ago when a family friend was visited by a Stephen Minister, I have personal knowledge of this caring ministry as my mother was a care receiver for many months before she passed away. Now, I am honored to be a Stephen Minister at Lord of Life along with 8 other caring ministers. 

Stephen Ministry is a one-to-one care giving ministry, which is a part of a nation-wide ministry made up of over 12,000 congregations and 170 different denominations. Through its ministry, congregations equip and empower caregivers—called Stephen Ministers—to provide high-quality, confidential, Christ-centered care to people who are hurting. They are trained to be a non-anxious, non-judgmental ear to hear whatever is on your heart.

The mission of Stephen Ministries is found in Ephesians 4:12-13, “To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ."

When I first mentioned to my mother that I thought she might benefit from having a Stephen Minister from her church, she was very defensive, thinking that I thought she needed help. Since I worked full time, and lived two and a half hours from her, I was not able to visit her as often as either of us would have liked. When I explained the reasons I thought she might enjoy regular visits from a Stephen Minister, she did allow the Stephen Leader to meet with her to discuss the concept.  

Once her Stephen Minister was assigned, my mother could not wait for her visits, as they allowed her to express her concerns about her failing health, and her anxiety and sadness at having to sell her home of fifty-six years. She was able to pray about her fears and her readiness to join my father in Heaven. These were topics that she could not discuss with me, as I believe she was afraid it would hurt me.  

I will be forever grateful for her Stephen Minister, and hope that I can be a caring minister to others struggling with crises in their lives. I know that God has put people in my life at just the time I needed them, to help me through periods of sadness and grief. I look forward to the intensive training I will take later this year to become a Stephen Leader, helping other lay members with training to be commissioned as I have been. 

Please give prayerful consideration to reaching out to request a Stephen Minister for yourself or a loved one as needed. We are here to walk beside you through those difficult times during your journey through life.  

If you are, or know someone who is experiencing difficult times, such as grief, divorce, job loss, chronic or terminal illness, or some other life crisis, you can be in touch with the Pastor or the Stephen Ministry team by contacting Ava Fiebig at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Wishing you Peace,

Cindy Campbell, Stephen Minister

After three years of planning and countless meetings and logistics, the ELCA National Youth Gathering kicked off in Houston this week.

As more than 30,000 teens and adults converged on the NRG Stadium on Wednesday night, it wasn’t the dazzling lights or enthralling pyrotechnics that excited us - well, maybe a little. And it wasn’t the two hours of speakers and musicians from around the world who shared stories of faith with us, either, although that was powerful, too. Instead, it was the people-to-people connections which were already giving us insight into the beautiful and diverse body of Christ. 

When our bus broke down on the north side of Nashville, the bus drivers took us to the movies to help pass the five hour delay.

When two buses full of sleepy teens invaded the truckstop in a small Texas town, all we experienced were smiles and warm Lone Star state greetings. The hospitality was contagious.

Wearing our matching shirts and trying to understand the map, a life-long Houstonian struck up a conversation with us on the light rail and, after answering some of our questions about mass transit, went on to tell us about her love for this great city.

Presence. Presence is a present. We are gifts to each other. God designed us this way.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Isn’t it a delight, when we head out to serve and love people, and end up being enveloped by the Spirit of God which is loose in the world? We have no idea what is in store this week in Houston, but we know that God was here long before we came, and will meet us in all sorts of amazing places and people. 

Thank you again for making this trip possible. This time is life-changing for each of us. 

Peace.

Pastor Lowell