Global Missions
The people of St. Andrew’s travel far and wide to bring our mission to life. Learn more about incredible ministries happening miles from home.
Mission Jamaica – Vacation With a Purpose
Mission Jamaica 2023 teams are now being added to the calendar for January through March 2023!
We have Saturday-Saturday one-week trips planned that include Ja’Bode home builds, WestHaven Childrens Home, and Clifton Boys’ Home in the Montego Bay area. We also have one-week trips planned for Kingston sites including Calalloo Mews Basic School, Hope Valley Experimental School and Ja’Bode home builds. We plan to offer mobile medical clinics in 2024.
Team leads, small groups, and individuals—Let us know the week(s) you would like to be added so we can provide more specific air and hotel pricing.
Trip A – Jan. 7-14, 2023
Trip B – Jan. 14-21, 2023
Trip C – Jan. 21-28, 2023
Trip D – Jan. 28-Feb. 4, 2023 – Kingston
Trip E – Feb. 4-11, 2023 – with Deacon Stephanie Anderson
Trip F – Feb. 11-18, 2023
Trip G – Feb. 18-25, 2023
Trip I – March 4-11, 2023 – Kingston – with Pastor Brian Norsman
Trip J – March 11-18, 2023
Trip K – March 18-25, 2023
About Mission Jamaica
Mission Jamaica (MJ) is a short-term “vacation with a purpose” mission experience which began at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi in 1989. Since that time, over 35 other Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations and several colleges from Minnesota as well as North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, and Illinois have partnered with St. Andrew’s in this mission field. Mission Jamaica also works with J’Abode, a program similar to Habitat for Humanity, at various sites throughout Jamaica.
A Mission Jamaica trip combines a service project with time for reflection and spiritual rest. It allows a person to experience an international mission field that is close to home, yet far enough away to immerse into another culture for a week. Mission Jamaica provides a way for us to love and serve our neighbor as Jesus taught us through his love and service to others. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:30-31
Costs:
$150 deposit (transferable, but not refundable) is due now to hold your spot. Final payment and due date will be provided once your reservation is complete. Typical final payment for teams leaving in January is Oct. 1, 2022. Final payment for February teams is Oct 15, 2022. Final payment for March teams is Nov. 1, 2022.
To register you will need information from the following documents: Passport, health insurance, and COVID vaccination dates.
Approximate one week trip cost is $2300 to $2500 including air, hotel, in-country transportation and Mission Jamaica fees. Trip cancellation insurance recommended and available.
Contact Jeff or Paige Peterson for more information: ppeterson@saintandrews.org
Vision Slovakia News
Help Build a Lasting Center for Christian Education
Since opening in 1998, the Center for Christian Education (CCE) has grown from a small weekend Bible school into a preschool through high school, including a higher education program and outreach facility. We are gradually transitioning towards self-sufficiency, from being 100% dependent on foreign aid two decades ago, to 15% now. Visit their website: http://www.cce.sk
The people of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church have a warm relationship with the people of Martin, Slovakia. St. Andrew’s first became involved in Martin by helping build a church in nearby Prievidza that was dedicated in 1995. Pastor Roger Eigenfeld and Bohdan Hrobon met about that time while Bohdan was beginning plans for the Bible School in Martin. Since then, St. Andrew’s choirs, youth and adult groups have traveled to Slovakia, and the congregation here has helped both financially and by donating time for renovations.
This is a partnership. St. Andrew’s is helping them spread the word of Christ, and they are coming here to share with us. It is about working together to spread Christ’s word.
Bega Kwa Bega – Kipanga Parish, Tanzania
At St. Andrew’s Annual Meeting in November 2022, we announced that St. Andrew’s has voted to move forward with our Lutheran partners in Tanzania. We are officially partnering with the people of the Kipanga Parish, our new congregational partner in Iringa, Tanzania. We will walk shoulder to shoulder (“Bega Kwa Bega” in Swahili) together. Bega Kwa Bega is the name of the St. Paul Area Synod’s companion synod program with the Iringa Diocese in Tanzania.
This partnership commits us to three things:
- Prayer – SALC and the people of the Kipanga Parish promise to prayer for one another, as sisters and brothers in Christ.
- Presence – We commit to visiting one another; being present with one another. We are thrilled for the ways that can happen and we’ll have more news eventually about what it will look like for us to travel to Tanzania.
- Projects – Intentionally third, we are first rooted in prayer/presence, but this partnership commits us to supporting projects alongside the congregation to support their life and ministry in that place.
This has been a long journey for St. Andrew’s, and we are pleased to take this next step. Many in the St. Andrew’s congregation have been advocates for this partnership for years, and it’s a blessing to bring it to fruition. An exploratory ambassador trip with a small group from St. Andrew’s to Kipanga Parish will occur in July 2023.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BegaKwaBega/
St. Paul Area Synod: https://spas-elca.org/mission/global-mission/tanzania
Lutheran World Relief
