It's About "Being Missional" | a Church's Perspective on Water Sunday
February 3, 2015
Immanuel Lutheran Church in LaVernia, Texas
Two years ago, Sherrie Palan, a leader at Immanuel Lutheran Church in LaVernia, TX, was introduced to Water Missions at her denomination's national convocation. Due to the drought conditions in Texas, she understood the need for safe water and was drawn to how “instantly” Water Missions’ systems bring safe water to communities. After sharing about the project with her church council, they decided to get involved in Water Sunday 2014.
Every year our congregation chooses a ministry to support with our Lenten offerings. I had received an email from WMI introducing Water Sunday and what was involved in this. It just so happens that parts of Texas have been experiencing drought conditions for several years – the area I live in too – and this email, again, caught my eye and attention. I talked with the Council representative for Social Concerns, and my husband, who happens to be the pastor of Immanuel, and proposed using WMI and Water Sunday as our choice for support through our Lenten offerings. The council gave their approval and we began our project.
On what we call 'Purple Sunday,' the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, we have special activities during Sunday school that highlight Lent. It was here that we began our publicity of WMI and Water Sunday. I had ordered the water bottle wrappers to place on bottles of water to be handed out. We took some of the bottles, opened them and filled them with dirt, leaves, anything we could find on the ground. This was to highlight, as was suggested, what the water some people have to drink looks like. We handed those out randomly – they were taped shut to discourage actually drinking the water. We encouraged those who had received “good water” to drink it, then cut off the top of the bottle and collect money during Lent. We challenged members to drink only water during Lent and collect the money that they would normally use to buy their special coffees, teas, sodas. We handed out bottles of water at any activity that was going on that first week of Lent.
Palm Sunday was our day to bring the water bottle offerings. We wanted to be able to count the donations and announce the total on Easter Sunday. Members brought their donations forward after the offering plates passed, and we collected the bottles in baskets near the altar. It was amazing to see all the water bottles! We had a special blessing of these offerings and prayed for the ministry of WMI.
After counting we had collected $4,876.18. On Easter Sunday, we made our announcement, with resounding applause following. After our late service ended, one member came up to me and said that they were going to donate the remaining $123.82 to make our total donation $5,000.00.
Many commented how in just 6 weeks, amazing things can happen through our dedication and commitment to sharing from our abundance. And that's what it's all about - sharing with others from what we have in abundance. More important than the money raised though, was the influence Water Sunday had in the hearts of Immanuel's church members. "The biggest impact for me was that our members got it!! They are opening their hearts and minds to sharing - to being missional!"
We continue to experience drought conditions here in Texas, despite our recent rainfalls. With that clearly on the minds of the people in our area, we're planning on doing a "Walk for Water" event through our Ministerial Alliance – a group of nine churches in our area. We think this is something that can bring our community together for something that we take for granted – clean drinking water. We can't wait to see what happens!
Sherrie Palan
Immanuel Lutheran Church
LaVernia, Texas
Will your church respond to the call to action this Water Sunday? The beverage fast is one of the many creative ways that churches are participating in our Water Sunday initiative. Your church can transform lives on April 26th. Visit www.watermissions.org/watersunday to take your next step and access our free resources!
Related Impact Stories
