Next month, 15 people from Bethlehem Lutheran Church will donate their time to children in need by participating in a service trip to Nicaragua. But to make the trip possible, donations are still needed from members of the community.
On Saturday, July 14, an ice cream social and concert will be held to help the church raise the remainder of the money needed to send volunteers on their mission trip and purchase supplies to be given to locals in need. The event is free to the public, but donations are requested.
This is the third year Bethlehem Lutheran has organized service trips for its members.
“The church had never done an overseas trip and three years ago I became head of mission committee,” said congregation member Sally Jo Gieser. “I asked both of the pastors what they would like to see happen with the groups. They said they would like to get people to go on trips so people could get out of Delmar and see what it’s like for other people in different parts of the world.”
The first two trips were to Poland. Now, the group of 11 adults and four teenagers will be going to a third-world country, which will be a different experience. Trip participants will go to Centro Escolor Life Link Christian School in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua to help teach the students, share Bible stories and work in the kitchen. They will also help build a new bathroom for the school with working plumbing.
“We will be there for the opening and the first flush,” said Gieser.
Nicaragua was selected as this year’s mission destination because a congregant at the church has a close family member who is the lead missionary at the school. At Christmastime, representatives from the school visited Delmar to share more information with the church and give them a list of needed supplies.
Trip participants will bring dozens of suitcases on the trip filled with supplies collected from church members throughout the year. Gieser said the 15 trips participants are labeled “goers” by the church, while the rest of the congregation is thought of as “senders.”
“So we all make up the same team, but help in different ways,” she said.
The group will be there for about a week. The “goers” will spend time with the students and as a fun activity, one member who majored in theater will teach them how to make puppets and put on a puppet show. During down time, they hope to visit local congregations and meet with the people and pastors there so see how else they can help the area.
The fundraiser event will include a presentation of the puppet show to be taught by the group, a concert by the church’s Praise Band and other musically inclined members of the church and of course, ice cream.
Event organizer Ann Brands said the hope is the event will raise the rest of the money needed for the trip as well as money to send the supplies church members collected overseas. The church is also collecting funds for equipment to build the bathroom, which will need to be paid for once they arrive.
The cost for each mission participant to go on the trip is $1,723 including room and board.
“We won’t know until the day of the event if we have enough money and where we stand, so we’re praying,” said Gieser.
The ice cream social and concert will start at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 14, at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church on Elm Avenue in Bethlehem.