The past few months we have been highlighting the different LWML Rocky Mountain District grant recipients. This month we are learning about the Concordia Theological Seminary Ft. Wayne Food and Clothing Co-op.

Concordia Theological Seminary Ft. Wayne Food and Clothing Co-op

The motto of the Ft. Wayne Seminary’s Food and Clothing Co-op is “Feeding Future Pastors and Deaconesses.” Currently, the co-op is serving 312 students and their family members. The co-op is vital to the students, often providing as much as 85% of a family’s needs. The $10,000 grant is being used to purchase eggs, milk, ground beef, fresh fruits, vegetables and other perishable items for the co-op. The food purchased by our grant goes entirely to the students to offset their financial burden.

Jerry Smith is a second-career, second-year student seeking a Master of Divinity degree so he can become a pastor. He left his 25-year career at the Journal Star newspaper in Peoria, Illinois, and moved to Ft. Wayne with his family to answer God’s call. In a thank you letter to LWML he writes, “Thank you very much for the gift you gave to help us at the Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. Your gift is making a huge difference in the lives of my family. I am not sure how I could possibly attend seminary without your support. … It takes a huge weight off all of us knowing that you have helped us in so many ways.”

Thanks to generous Mite offerings, $3,000 of the $10,000 grant to the co-op has been paid. May the Lord bless our Mite gathering so we can pay the balance of this and the other grants in a timely manner. Please continue to remember the students, faculty and staff of the Seminary in your prayers.

Mission Grant Recipients	Granted	Paid
University Chapel, Boulder, Colorado	$8,000	$4,000
Concordia Theological Seminary Ft. Wayne Food Co-op	$10,000	$3,000
Pastor Debt Assistance/LCMS RMD	$10,000	$3,000
Operation Barnabas/Comfort Care Congregations	$2,000	$2,000
Sewing Mission Society - India	$2,500	$2,500
Casting Burdens for Burdened Campers/LVR	$5,600	$2,800
The Table at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lakewood, CO	$5,000	$2,500
Biblical Orthodox Lutheran Mission	$10,100	$2,000
Siberian Lutheran Mission Society	$10,000	$5,000
Trinity/HOPE	$5,000	$2,500
Project Pastoral Education, West Africa	$10,000	$5,000
Lifting Up the Fallen/Mariachi San Pablo YSELTA (partial)	$1,250	$1,250
Training Vicar Tim Norton/Navajo, NM (partial)	$1,250	$1,250

The Mission Guild is Saint John’s branch of the national Lutheran Women’s Missionary League organization that participates in mission projects both at home and abroad.