A Refugee Story

Earlier this year I was matched by Lutheran Social Services with Rebecca, a refugee from Sudan who has been in the United States for about a year and a half. Rebecca wants to improve her English so she can take courses to receive her caregiving license. The license would give her more job opportunities and increase her pay to $17 an hour from her current $15 an hour as an unlicensed care giver. She does not receive food stamps or AHCCCS. She can only get food stamps once she has a green card, which she has been waiting for since April.

While Rebecca was born in Sudan, her mother fled with her to Uganda when she was a child to escape the fighting in Sudan. Since then she has lived in a refugee camp in Uganda. She completed the 8th grade, but had to pay to attend high school, which her family could not afford. Rebecca speaks four languages: English, Swahili, Arabic, and her local native language from Sudan.

Rebecca works seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., with no days off. That is the only way she can afford to feed and care for her family. Her husband was not able to emigrate to the US, so she is here with her 5 children and 2 children from her husband’s prior marriage. The three  oldest children are young adults, so they work at night, go to school, and care for the youngest in the family, four year old Gift, while Rebecca is at work.

Rebecca’s husband, mother, and brother had to leave the refugee camp in Uganda and return to Sudan when our country cut off funding for USAID, which fed the residents of the refugee camp. Sudan is not a safe place for them, but since they have a home there where they can grow a garden for food, they had no choice but to return.

Rebecca’s faith in God is an amazing thing to see. One of her daughters had a serious heart issue while in Uganda. It has since been resolved and seeing the before and after pictures of this child you would not realize they are the same person. With all that Rebecca and her family have been through her response to this is inspiring. She praises God and declares God does not forget his people! Another time at one of our tutoring sessions she was very tired. I told her I hope you can go home now and rest. She said she couldn’t because she needed to visit someone in the hospital just as Jesus wants us to do.

Please keep Rebecca and her family in your prayers, and thank you for your generosity which provided food boxes at Thanksgiving for Rebecca and her children.

Submitted by Patty Clymer

 

Outreach January Newsletter

Outreach Team – January 2026

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, Sandy Mitchel, Janette Carollo, Ruth Gross, Carlene Alegria, Darlene Wager and Gail Nicewander. We’d like to welcome Darlene Wager as the newest member of Outreach! Welcome Darlene!

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you have any questions about any of our activities, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

The Mission and Purpose of Outreach is: “…to make Christ known through Christian outreach to nurture our community, family, and personal relationship with God through living examples. Specifically, we strive to provide support and aid to those within and beyond our community, working to involve the church membership at large.”

Marana Food Bank

Outreach will be changing how we help the Marana Food Bank. Instead of including monthly appeals, we will instead be holding four concentrated drives during the year. Two will be focused on hygiene supplies and two will be concentrated on what food they are most in need of at the Marana Food Bank. The hygiene drives will benefit both the Marana Food Bank and Butler’s Pantry and will be held in February and August. The food drives for Marana Food Bank will be held in May and September.

 As before, if you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC.

You can also donate online at mfb-crc.org.

 Your monetary gift goes a long way. 

 Past Events

Adopt a Child – Roadrunner Elementary

I wanted to thank everyone and provide an update on the Adopt a Family drive that was just completed. Everyone at Lord of Grace is amazing – for a relatively small congregation, with God’s blessings, we were able to show families at Roadrunner Elementary how much God loves them by providing them with some needed clothing and shoes and a gift (some examples include: toys, games, sport equipment, science kits, art supplies, books, skate boards, and bikes) for the Christmas season.

We were able to bless 10 families – 20 children ranging in ages from 2 to 16 that would not be able to afford these gifts on their own. We were also able to provide gift cards for all 10 parents and cash for the families – both worth a total of about $860.

The Outreach team came together on Dec. 7th after the Community lunch to go over all the gifts, gift cards and cash we received to make sure we had everything and to organize the gifts by family. To give some context on the scale of Roadrunner’s Adopt a Family drive, our church and other groups together were able to provide gifts for 200 children of Roadrunner Elementary families.

In addition, the Outreach team provided clothing and gifts for a Sudanese refugee family for the mother and her 7 children ranging in ages from 4 to 21. Patty Clymer works with the mother as a mentor through Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest.

Outreach delivered all of the gifts to Roadrunner on December 8th, the staff at Roadrunner were very appreciative and thanked Lord of Grace for being able to provide Christmas gifts for the families. Patty delivered the clothing and gifts to the refugee family from Sudan on December 17th and they were very thankful.

 Upcoming Events

Feed My Starving Children

This is a reminder to anyone interested, to sign up for Feed My Starving Children packing event. Our day and time is February 7th from 8-10am. Sign up is online, use the following QR Code or http://ovcn.church/fmsc and select packing event. Or you can go directly to https://myovcn.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2931977. You will need to select Shift 18, then select Lord of Grace. We will need to sign up by January 12th, when they open up registration.  

Lutheran World Relief – Baby Care Packs

We plan on holding a drive in March for baby care packs to send to Lutheran World Relief. In 2025, they provided baby care packs to Angola, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, United States, and Zimbabwe in 2025. More information to come in the February newsletter.

Upcoming Outreach events for the next 6 months:  January (sign-up), for Feed My Starving Children February – Feed My Starving Children; Hygiene Drive March - LWR Baby Care Kits
April – Habitat Day (potential activity)
May – Sister Jose supper; Food Drive for Marana Food Bank
June – Backpacks and school supplies drive for Roadru

Council News January 2026

Dear Lord of Grace Family,

Our church council met on December 16th.  Important highlights are as follows:

Mark Your Calendars

·        Reminder:  the annual budget meeting will be held at 9:30 am on February 1, 2026.  All members are encouraged to attend this important meeting.  You will learn more about our church finances and cast your vote to approve the 2026 budget. 

·        February 15, 2026:  There will be a special organ dedication ceremony at 11:30 am, followed by our Fellowship Sunday potluck.

Council Actions/Information

·        Our church mortgage was paid in full with the December 2025 payment.

·        Stewardship Campaign Update:  Our final commitment for 2026 is $251,558.

·        We selected a new cleaning company with better service and lower rates -Jan-Pro of Tucson.

·        At our January council meeting, the date for our May 2026 congregation meeting and the council nominating committee will be chosen.

The next council meeting will be on January 20th at 6:30 pm.  Anyone interested in attending council meetings is welcome.  Attending a meeting may pique your interest in running for a council vacancy in May 2026.    

Blessings,

Linda Merritt, Council Secretary

Stewardship January

Stewardship January 2026

 We say goodbye to 2025 and welcome 2026. What are your New Year's resolutions? May I suggest a few?

 

  1. Re-examine and/or renew your life as a Christian. What does that mean for me? Read the Bible more frequently? Pray more? Obviously, this response will be different for everyone, but it's something to consider.

  2. How can I better support Lord of Grace? Is there a ministry I want to more actively support? Should I really consider a leadership position in the congregation?

  3. Where and how do I spend my money? Money is one of the topics Jesus speaks most frequently about in the Bible. That should tell me something.

 

The Stewardship Team sends out our best wishes to each and every one of you for a very blessed New Year. We'll see you in the pews on Sunday!

 The Stewardship Team,

Betsy and Rod Boorse, Carolyn Bernheim, Dorothy Green, Ruth and Joe Gross, Gail Nicewander

Pastor Hammar Scholarship application 2025

                           PASTOR HAMMAR SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION - 2025

                                                  Lord of Grace Lutheran Church

                                 APPLICATION DEADLINE DATE: October 31, 2025

Applicant’s name (first, middle, last):____________________________________

Applicant’s home address:_____________________________________________ Phone:______________________ Email:________________________________

Parents’ names: Father:_______________________________________________ Mother:______________________________________________

Grade point average in: High School:___________________________________

                                                 College: _______________________________________

Name of College (attending/applied to):________________________

Class Standing (please check)                           Enrolment Status (please check)

Entering first year __________                               Part-time_________

Sophmore              ___________                                Full-time_________

Junior                       ____________

Senior                      ____________

 On an attached sheet, provide a statement of your faith, your relationship with the church, and your perspective on God’s involvement in your life.

 

Signature of Applicant:_________________________________ Date:___________

 

Signature of Parent/Guardian:___________________________ Date:__________

Prayer Team January Newsletter

Prayer Connection

 “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-30)

 As we put away the trappings of the old year, with its hustle and bustle, may we heed the Lord’s call to find rest for our souls and come to Him in prayer.

 God invites us to see past all the busyness of life, the weariness and burdens we may bear – and see our Lord Jesus who walks with us, gentle and humble of heart, Who gives us rest for our souls!

  As we walk forward with the Lord into the new year, each day full of possibility and promise, let us open our hearts and minds to learn from Him. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

 A Prayer for Love (Wigger 2025)

O God of steadfast love, trusting you, we devote our hearts to learning and our lives to walking.

Teach us truth, that we may walk with courage.

Teach us mercy, that we may walk with humility.

Teach us forgiveness, that we may walk with compassion.

Teach us grace, that we may walk with strength.

Teach us wonder, that we may walk with praise.

Teach us goodness, that we may walk with those in need.

O God of steadfast love, learning from you, may we walk well.

Amen.

 Wigger, J. Bradley. 2025. “A Prayer for Love.” In “25 Best New Year Prayers for God's Guidance in the Year Ahead.” https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/holidays-celebrations/g45619248/new-year-prayers/

May our Lord be with you as we enter 2026,

Dianna Repp

 The Lord of Grace Prayer Team is always here to help you with any prayer requests you may have!  The Prayer Team continues to pray over all prayer petitions sent our way, including the requests entered in the prayer journal in the narthex. The Team will also continue to offer individual prayer times after each worship service on the 4th Sunday of each month.

Mortgage Reduction Challenge Status

We met and exceeded the $10,000 Mortgage Reduction Challenge in August. A heartfelt thanks to the congregational donor who made the $10,000 donation to challenge the Lord of Grace congregation. Also, a thank you to all of you who have made donations to make the challenge a success. We also wish to thank Patty Clymer, our Treasurer, and Linda Lyth, our Financial Secretary, for their effort in orchestrating the financial gymnastics involved in the challenge effort.

The amount of $21,685.56 was submitted to the ELCA Mission Investment Fund, the mortgage lender, on September 5th and was posted on September 9th to pay down the mortgage principal. As of September 22nd there has been an additional donation of $1,000 received.

Please note that the mortgage has not been paid off completely, only the principal portion of the mortgage was reduced which lowers the number of monthly payments required to pay off the mortgage in early 2026.

During the challenge I was approached by a member of the congregation who asked “When does the challenge end?” My answer was “the goal is to pay off the mortgage before the new pastor is called.” That still remains the Lord of Grace goal.

Therefore, there still is the opportunity to make donations to the Mortgage Reduction Challenge. There is a convenient method using the Lord of Grace website- Click on the “Contribute” tab followed by the “Mortgage Reduction Donate” tab and follow the instructions or using the specially marked “Mortgage Reduction” envelopes located in the Narthex.

After the mortgage is paid, looking forward, Lord of Grace has a unique opportunity to evaluate how the retired mortgage payments income can be invested, channeled to a special ministry/mission or used to launch a new ministry/mission. If you have ideas please forward them to the Church Council and/or Transition Team.

 

Submitted by Rod Boorse, Finance Committee 

 

Church Office Changes

Three months into the Pastoral role at LOG has provided some familiarity with the practices, habits, and traditions of the congregation, though I have much to learn across the span of an entire year’s cycle.  From administration to individual ministries, each have their own ‘characteristics’ and I give God thanks for your faithfulness.

            Karen is experiencing a similar transition in her office role.  She has yet to live through a full year’s cycle in the life of LOG, meaning she continues to learn her role and expectations. During the transition, we have initiated a few tweaks to help the process move along more smoothly.  One of the necessary tweaks that I am implementing immediately is meant to provide Karen more opportunity to focus on her responsibilities. 

            Beginning today, outside of counters and regularly scheduled meetings, I ask that if you have need to visit with Karen, please schedule a mutually agreeable time in advance. It may take some time to adapt, but I think the change can occur quickly. I believe that walk-ins have good intentions in their visits.  However, they require a shift in attention from the important work she has to complete during specific timelines.

            Thank you for understanding and respecting this important change.  My hope is that Karen will benefit with more time to focus on details and the congregation will benefit with improved communications across our ministries.

Peace,

Pastor Randy

Pastor's Pen

Crossing the Threshold

          The incarnation of Jesus (Divine yet human) was the crossing of a threshold.  The passing from one reality into another.  Changing chapters.  New beginnings, if you will.  Just as you and I cross thresholds through transitions into new beginnings, Jesus’ entrance into human life changed the world in ways that much of humanity has not recognized.

          God sent Jesus into our world to meet people where they were, and he continues to come to you and me.  He meets us where we are.  Through the good and bad, Immanuel (God with us) does not leave.  Consider how that impacts our perceptions of the world.  A God figure who is with us rather than separated in some far-off space called heaven. A Presence that transforms the here and now rather than simply being a ticket to a future place after we die.

If he is meeting you and me where we are, then he must be meeting every other person on earth where they are too.  Let’s stop and consider some of those whom he visits (though not always obvious)…the person on the street corner, the addict, the immigrant, the prisoner, the poor, and so many more whom we may think God has abandoned.  Or worse, people whom we are quick to abandon.

Pastor Sharon H. Miller said, “Who you are is more important than what you do.” As we prepare to step over the threshold of a new year, I encourage you to take Pastor Miller’s quote personally.  Jesus came to forgive our sins and restore us to right relationship with God.  He didn’t come to promise vocational success, national glory, or even a faithful life without pain.  Where are you looking for Jesus’ presence?

New Year’s blessings,

Pastor Randy

Pastoral Transition Update

Lord of Grace Family and Friends

 As the year comes to close, so does the transition process

 First off, a big thank you for your faithfulness, prayers and participation in the cottage meetings and the all-church survey.  We have a much better picture of who we are, where we want to be, and what we are looking for in a pastor.

 Here’s what’s left for us to complete -

 Transition Report – We will be summarizing the data in the survey and the cottage meetings to determine the top themes about who we are, what’s going well, where we struggle, where we want to be, and what we are most looking for in a pastor.  This information will be used to create a Transition Report to the Council, and once approved, to the congregation.  In addition, we will be including information about Church finances, time and talent, strategic vision, church and Marana demographics.  This should be completed by end of January

 Updating Policies, Procedures, and Job Descriptions – as part of completing the transition, we need to update our policies, procedures and job descriptions.  I want to thank Rod Boorse, Carol Buuck, Candy Borstad, Carolyn Bernheim, Erica Yngve, Cindy Stein, Sam Lyth and Joy Folkvord for stepping up to help us complete this work.  Hopefully we can complete these updates by the end of January.

 Ministry Site Profile – The approved transition report will be used to generate a Ministry Site Profile (MSP).  This is the final step in the transition process.  The MSP is submitted to the Synod and is used by the Synod to post our position for potential pastoral candidates.  It is similar to the transition report and tells the story of who we have been, who are now, and who we want to be.  Once this is submitted to Synod, the work of the transition is complete, and the process of calling a new pastor begins.  This should be completed in February

 1st Call to evaluate – Once the MSP is complete, if Pastor Randy is feeling called to apply to the position, he will be our first candidate to evaluate.  Fortunately, we have a lot more feedback with Pastor Randy than we would get for most pastoral candidates, so it should make the process of evaluating him much faster and easier.  To help pave the way for this, ensure you are providing feedback to the church leaders on how you have been impacted by Pastor Randy, both positively and negatively.  Church leaders include Council members, Committee/Ministry Leaders, or members of the transition team (myself, Cindy Stein, Laura Tanem-Hernandez, Sam Lyth, Sue Justis, Joy Folkvord, or Richard Green)

 Thanks for your continued prayer and support –

 William Willcoxson

wwillcoxson@comcast.net

Via de Cristo October Newsletter

Lord of Grace is a part of the three-day spiritual renewal movement known as Via de Cristo. Also known as Cursillo, Via de Cristo is a movement for training church lay leaders through three-day weekend retreats and ongoing group connections. Via de Cristo weekends are open to both men and women who want to learn more about Lutheran theology.

The Three-day weekend will be held at Tanque Verde Lutheran Church on Oct. 10-13, 2025.  If you would be interested in attending this 3 day retreat talk to Tim Murphy, Parish Rep at  Lord of Grace for Via de Cristo, or other members who have been through the Week-end – Mary Murphy, Cindy Stein, Lori & Kevin Brown, Darlene Wager, Janette Carollo, Sam & Linda Lyth.

The three-days involves faith formation, music and singing, learning Lutheran theology, good food at every meal, and is FREE to participants.

Lord of Grace Via de Cristo Rep. – Tim Murphy – 520.780.2214

For tickets to the Gaslight Theater show contact:

LOG Parish Rep

Tim Murphy 520-780-2214

Or in the Narthex after each service.

Presidents Message January Newsletter

President's Message

As we say goodbye to 2025 and welcome 2026, I have a few housekeeping items for your consideration.

 1. If you are in a leadership position, please be sure to let Karen, our office administrator, know what your committee, team or group is planning. That way, the appropriate information can be updated on the Website.

2. Lord of Grace does have a presence on social media. Needless to say, we need someone who is willing and able to keep that information current. Leif did a wonderful job updating the website and Liz posts items on our FaceBook page. Please thank them when you see them.

3. We have so many volunteers who give countless hours to beautify the sanctuary for worship, have communion elements available and ready, lead Kid's Chat, provide music for the traditional and contemporary services, and to the property team who works tirelessly to keep our campus in working order. A huge thank you is in order to all our volunteers.

 I hope and pray that you make a resolution to more fully and intentionally commit to your membership at Lord of Grace in 2026. Let us take full advantage of the opportunities God sets before us this New Year as we experience growth and change.

 Peace and blessings,

Betsy Boorse,

LOG President -

Pre School November Newsletter

This month, our hearts are overflowing with gratitude from the outpouring of love, support, and generosity from our church family. Your prayers, encouragement, and donations have not only sustained our preschool but have truly enriched the lives of our children and teachers.

        Because of your generosity, we were able to purchase much-needed classroom supplies — from science materials and learning manipulatives to everyday essentials like paper towels and Clorox wipes that help keep our preschool clean and safe. Your gifts also reminded our teachers and staff how deeply they are valued, uplifting their spirits and supporting the meaningful work they do each day with our preschoolers. And above all, your faithful prayers continue to strengthen our teachers and families, filling our school with peace, patience, and purpose.

        We are continually reminded that this ministry is not just ours, but a beautiful part of our entire church community. Through your generosity, prayers, and support, you are helping plant seeds of faith and learning that will continue to grow for years to come. Thank you for being such an important part of our preschool’s story. We are truly blessed by your partnership and grateful for the many ways you help our children experience God’s love in action each day.

 With grateful hearts,

The LOG Preschool Staff and LOG Preschool Advisory Board

Outreach October Newsletter

Outreach Team – October 2025 Newsletter Article

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, Carlene Allegier, Gail Nicewander, Sandy Mitchel, Ruth Gross and Janette Carollo.

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

Continuing Events

Marana Food Bank

The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we collect instant rice, mac and cheese, canned tuna or chicken, pancake mix, syrup, tomato sauce, ready-to-eat meals, and cereal or oatmeal.

 1 in 7 people (and 1 in 5 children) are currently facing hunger.  Let’s remember that God calls on us to help others every day.  We can do that by helping make sure our neighbors’ cupboards aren’t bare when mealtime arrives.  Let’s celebrate God’s goodness, every day.

 Donated items can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the hallway outside the Fellowship Hall.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that have been opened/used or expired.  Also, please, no glass containers.

If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

o/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC.

You can also donate online at mfb-crc.org.

 Your monetary gift goes a long way. 

 Upcoming Events

 Thanksgiving Boxes – Roadrunner Elementary

We will start collecting food for Thanksgiving Food boxes from October 26th to November 16th for families with students attending Roadrunner Elementary. On Sunday, November 16th, we’ll have a fun day organizing the food and decorating the boxes. We’ll organize the food collected after 1st service, then pack the boxes after 2nd service. The boxes will be delivered to Roadrunner the week of November 17th. We will give out handouts of what to collect on Oct. 26th, there will be additional handouts in the Narthex. Please let us know of any additional families that need help.

 Adopt a Child – Roadrunner Elementary

We are having Adopt a Child again this year, partnering with Roadrunner Elementary School. We are waiting to hear from Roadrunner the names of the students and their needs and wants for Christmas and when they will need to be delivered to the school. There will be more information in the November newsletter.

 The sandwiches were delivered to Sister Jose Women’s Center the following day and the hygiene items were taken to Butler’s Pantry at Roadrunner.

 We made our goal for toothpaste for the drive-the kids were so excited!!  Here are the totals: 

135 tubes of toothpaste

75 toothbrushes

82 bars of soap

40 bottles of shampoo and conditioner

40 razors

39 deodorant

8 dish soaps

4 laundry soaps

2 hand soaps 

Kleenex

 

Thanks to everyone for your support.

Outreach January 2026

Outreach Team – January 2026

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, Sandy Mitchel, Janette Carollo, Ruth Gross, Carlene Alegria, Darlene Wager and Gail Nicewander. We’d like to welcome Darlene Wager as the newest member of Outreach! Welcome Darlene!

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you have any questions about any of our activities, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

The Mission and Purpose of Outreach is: “…to make Christ known through Christian outreach to nurture our community, family, and personal relationship with God through living examples. Specifically, we strive to provide support and aid to those within and beyond our community, working to involve the church membership at large.”

Marana Food Bank

Outreach will be changing how we help the Marana Food Bank. Instead of including monthly appeals, we will instead be holding four concentrated drives during the year. Two will be focused on hygiene supplies and two will be concentrated on what food they are most in need of at the Marana Food Bank. The hygiene drives will benefit both the Marana Food Bank and Butler’s Pantry and will be held in February and August. The food drives for Marana Food Bank will be held in May and September.

 As before, if you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC.

You can also donate online at mfb-crc.org.

Your monetary gift goes a long way. 

 Past Events

Adopt a Child – Roadrunner Elementary

I wanted to thank everyone and provide an update on the Adopt a Family drive that was just completed. Everyone at Lord of Grace is amazing – for a relatively small congregation, with God’s blessings, we were able to show families at Roadrunner Elementary how much God loves them by providing them with some needed clothing and shoes and a gift (some examples include: toys, games, sport equipment, science kits, art supplies, books, skate boards, and bikes) for the Christmas season.

We were able to bless 10 families – 20 children ranging in ages from 2 to 16 that would not be able to afford these gifts on their own. We were also able to provide gift cards for all 10 parents and cash for the families – both worth a total of about $860.

The Outreach team came together on Dec. 7th after the Community lunch to go over all the gifts, gift cards and cash we received to make sure we had everything and to organize the gifts by family. To give some context on the scale of Roadrunner’s Adopt a Family drive, our church and other groups together were able to provide gifts for 200 children of Roadrunner Elementary families.

In addition, the Outreach team provided clothing and gifts for a Sudanese refugee family for the mother and her 7 children ranging in ages from 4 to 21. Patty Clymer works with the mother as a mentor through Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest.

Outreach delivered all of the gifts to Roadrunner on December 8th, the staff at Roadrunner were very appreciative and thanked Lord of Grace for being able to provide Christmas gifts for the families. Patty delivered the clothing and gifts to the refugee family from Sudan on December 17th and they were very thankful.

 Upcoming Events

Feed My Starving Children

This is a reminder to anyone interested, to sign up for Feed My Starving Children packing event. Our day and time is February 7th from 8-10am. Sign up is online, use the following QR Code or http://ovcn.church/fmsc and select packing event. Or you can go directly to https://myovcn.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2931977. You will need to select Shift 18, then select Lord of Grace. We will need to sign up by January 12th, when they open up registration.  

Lutheran World Relief – Baby Care Packs

We plan on holding a drive in March for baby care packs to send to Lutheran World Relief. In 2025, they provided baby care packs to Angola, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, United States, and Zimbabwe in 2025. More information to come in the February newsletter.

Upcoming Outreach events for the next 6 months

January (sign-up), for Feed My Starving Children

February – Feed My Starving Children; Hygiene Drive

March - LWR Baby Care Kits
April – Habitat Day (potential activity)
May – Sister Jose supper; Food Drive for Marana Food Bank
June – Backpacks and school supplies drive for Roadrunner Elementary

Lord of Grace will be collecting personal hygiene items for Butler’s Pantry, to support our friends at Roadrunner Elementary throughout the month of April.

Items Needed:

●     Bar soap

●     Deodorant

●     Shampoo

●     Body wash

●     Feminine hygiene products

●     Toothpaste and Toothbrushes

Help us reach our goal of 100 bottles of Shampoo!

Thank you so much for supporting this ongoing outreach in our community! 🙂 

Hiring: AV Coordinator for Sunday Services

Lord of Grace Church is looking for someone to operate the audio and visual for Sunday services. Duties include:

  • Running the audio

  • Running the visual software and slides

  • Operating the three PTZ cameras for the livestream

Skills preferred: knowledge of audio and video livestreaming.

  • Propresenter

  • Resi

  • Soundboards

  • PTZ cameras

 

Pay: $100/Sunday and $50/special service

Hours: 8am-12noon Sundays

Contact Pastor Lars Hammar if interested.

Outreach March 2025

Outreach Team – March 2025

Our members include Chris Kollen as lead, Carol Buuck, Phyllis Teager, Patty Clymer, Janette Carollo, and Gail Nicewander. We have a recent addition to Outreach! Sandy Mitchel will be joining us on the Team. She has been providing us with monthly updates for the Marana Food Bank. Welcome Sandy!

We are planning new and exciting projects this coming year. If you’d like more information about becoming a member of Outreach, contact Chris Kollen at lizzykollen@comcast.net or at 520-419-7475.

Continuing Events

Marana Food Bank
The Marana Food Bank would like to request that we collect canned spaghetti sauce, jelly, cereal, oatmeal, tuna/chicken, Spam/ham, mac and cheese, and instant rice.

 What a great way to show God’s love – by providing a nourishing meal to our neighbors in need.  

Donated items can be placed in the wooden cabinet located in the hallway outside the Fellowship Hall.  Please remember that the food bank cannot accept any food items that have been opened/used or expired.  Also, please no glass containers.

If you would like to donate and keep your gift for the needy of Marana, you can send a check to:

MFB-CRC

c/o Sahuarita Food Bank

PO Box 968

Sahuarita, AZ 85629 

Please make checks payable to Marana Food Bank – Community Resource Center or MFB-CRC.  You can also donate online at mfb-crc.org.

Your monetary gift goes a long way. 

Butler’s Pantry – Roadrunner Elementary

We will continue to have a work day each month and to staff the pantry the first Saturday of each month during 2025. We are always looking for volunteers to help with this ministry.  If this is something that you would be interested in getting involved in, please contact Phyllis Teager 520-906-1837.  Thanks to all at Lord of Grace for your support.

Past Events

Feed My Starving Children – A group of 11 members from LOG participated in one of mobile packing event for Feed My Starving Children at Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene. Our group packed 234 meals. It was great to be able to work together with Lutherans! Overall in the span of 5 days, there were 1.55 million meals packed at Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene.

Lotsa Pasta Food Drive – we participated in the Interfaith Community Services Lotsa Pasta Food Drive during the month of February. We delivered 50 boxes of macaroni and cheese, 78 packages of pasta, and 39 cans of pasta sauce. Thank you everyone!

Upcoming Events

Lutheran World Relief Baby Care Kits – The drive ends on March 2nd and we will put together the kits on March 9th, volunteers are welcome! We’ll organize the items between services and put the kits together after the 2nd service. Last year we were able to collect enough items to send 11 baby care kits. Last year they distributed baby care kits to Angola, Lebanon, Peru, Senegal, Turkey, Ukraine, Zambia and the US.

Sister Jose Women’s Center - We plan on cooking an evening meal for the residents on March 12th. There is a signup sheet in the Narthex starting next Sunday. We need 4-5 people to volunteer. We also plan on signing up to cook another evening meal in May. Any questions, contact Chris Kollen.

 

Prayer Connection January 2026

Prayer Connection

  “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-30)

 As we put away the trappings of the old year, with its hustle and bustle, may we heed the Lord’s call to find rest for our souls and come to Him in prayer.

 God invites us to see past all the busyness of life, the weariness and burdens we may bear – and see our Lord Jesus who walks with us, gentle and humble of heart, Who gives us rest for our souls!

 As we walk forward with the Lord into the new year, each day full of possibility and promise, let us open our hearts and minds to learn from Him. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

 

A Prayer for Love (Wigger 2025)

O God of steadfast love, trusting you, we devote our hearts to learning and our lives to walking. Teach us truth, that we may walk with courage.Teach us mercy, that we may walk with humility. Teach us forgiveness, that we may walk with compassion. Teach us grace, that we may walk with strength. Teach us wonder, that we may walk with praise. Teach us goodness, that we may walk with those in need. O God of steadfast love, learning from you, may we walk well.

Amen.

 (Wigger, J. Bradley. 2025. “A Prayer for Love.” In “25 Best New Year Prayers for God's Guidance in the Year Ahead.” https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/holidays-celebrations/g45619248/new-year-prayers/)

May our Lord be with you as we enter 2026,

Dianna Repp

 The Lord of Grace Prayer Team is always here to help you with any prayer requests you may have!  The Prayer Team continues to pray over all prayer petitions sent our way, including the requests entered in the prayer journal in the narthex. The Team will also continue to offer individual prayer times after each worship service on the 4th Sunday of each month.