St. Michael Lutheran Church

Four years ago, Associate Pastor David Moore wanted the adults at St. Michael Lutheran Church to become more involved with missions. He invited a retired Lutheran Pastor to speak to our congregation about Food for the Poor (FFP), which is the third-largest international relief organization in the United States, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The organization serves the poorest of the poor in 16 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. They operate their own hospitals, orphanages and elderly care homes; provide food, medicine and housing for missionary groups; and assist The Salvation Army feed the homeless at least one meal a day. In Kingston, Jamaica, FFP boxes and distributes approximately 500 meals a day to the homeless. In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 15,000 are fed daily.

Over the past four years, St. Michael has sent 35 people on a one-week Pilgrimage to Jamaica. The ages of our pilgrims range from 17 to 83, but the majority have been over 35 years old on their first mission trip. Our church has started and supported many projects in the Kingston area. One project, the Promise Library, was built with funds raised by students from a local high school and stocked with over 20,000 donated books from the Fort Wayne area. Another project, the construction of 25 homes with inside plumbing, was the first of its kind in the area.

The decision to journey to a third world country takes a leap of faith—emotions bounce from nervousness to excitement to fearful to anxious. St. Michael went on the mission trip expecting to share Christ with the people of Jamaica, and not really sure how to do that—what would we say, how would we communicate? However, after serving the poorest of the poor, it was clear that it was our lives that had been forever changed. Even though the people of Jamaica are considered poor because they have very few material possessions, they are considered rich in God’s eyes because of their strong faith. Thirty-five men and women from the land of wealth were given the opportunity to see the love of Christ through the eyes of the poor, the disabled, the elderly, the homeless, and the young—what a privilege and blessing they are to us!