Madagascar Gifts & Their Stories
Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Evans City
Lauren Wolcott
Communications Director
lauren.wolcott@swpasynod.org | 412-367-8222
Most days, the work of managing the backend of our website and payment processor is not the stuff of great stories; more routine than rousing. Yet, one otherwise typical Monday, I logged in and muttered, “Um, guys, you’re not going to believe this... .”
The synod had launched its Madagascar Relief Fund appeal less than a week prior, and I was looking at donations that surpassed our entire $5,000 goal in the span of just a few days. The donations continued to arrive day by day as the total doubled, tripled, quadrupled, eventually reaching nearly $80,000 and surpassing our goal by more than 1,200 percent! I had a front row seat to witness the outpouring of generosity from our synod as it happened in real time.
It made me wonder about the stories behind this deluge of love and support. The motivation is clear enough, our companion synod in Madagascar has been struggling through catastrophic events: drought, famine, fire, and on top of it all, covid. But I wanted to know more about exactly how these donations came to be. From gifts of $20 to $10,000, sometimes multiple gifts from the same giver, what was happening behind every check signature and every click of the donate-now button? My suspicion was that there had been much creativity and long-term cultivation of generosity afoot, and with just a few emails, the stories began to come to light. These are just a few:
“Emmanuel has members who have experienced hunger, storm damage, and flooding. This is emotional and personal. Every week during the collection period, we included a story from information provided by the synod and a reminder to give. A few people gave a lot, and many gave something. Marsha Kennedy, president of church council, says, ‘Pastor Linda went to Madagascar and we feel connected. She had been to the seminary in Bezaha and told us how the students depend on the growing rice to feed their families. Losing that harvest is devastating.’ Councilmember Judy Mayhood says, ‘Everybody needs help when there is a natural disaster. And we knew that not many people in the world knew about this disaster.’”
Pastor Linda Theophilus, Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Eastmont
“Having personally traveled to Madagascar and spoken about our connection definitely prepared the hearts of our council and congregation to want to respond. One of the council members asked if our youth group could organize a fundraiser dinner; that’s when the help started pouring in. Our church secretary and her son, now in college, had planned a similar dinner for his senior project, so they were able to provide vital information for planning. Another member acquired seed money to purchase groceries using Thrivent Action Teams. To help our money stretch even further, a couple from the congregation volunteered to supply all of the sauce. Not only did they supply it, but they made it homemade from tomatoes picked from the church garden and another member’s garden.
Youth and adults turned out to make food, some stood by the road with signs; they were passionate and inspiring. When the night was done, we had passed out 150 meals. At the same time, someone felt so moved by the difficulties in Madagascar and the efforts of our youth that they wrote a matching donation check. Together that added up to the amount our congregation was blessed to be able to share in support of our brothers and sisters in Madagascar.”
Pastor Brandon Johns, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Evans City
“St. John’s congregation council followed the synod’s example and set up our own matching fund appeal by taking a sum from our endowment fund and challenged the members of the congregation, through a personal letter and a sermon, to match that gift with individual contributions. The congregation not only matched the initial gift, but also surpassed it!
Two people come to mind who were very instrumental in fostering support for global missions. The late Pastor Len Schulz and his wife, the late Peg Schulz. Their passion for global missions came partly from their experiences as missionaries in India during the ‘60s and ‘70s. Both recruited members of St. John’s to participate in a mission trip to Madagascar in the ‘90s which was organized by our synod. I believe that the connections made by these participants, along with the passion for global mission from Pastor Schulz and Peg, have an impact on the membership of St. John’s that continues today.”
Pastor Mike Robinson, St John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Perrysville
“At Our Redeemer, McMurray, synodical and ELCA opportunities to support ministries with both money and service are regularly shared with the whole congregation. While the council chooses to respond to some appeals with a congregational commitment, it’s our joyful experience the other requests often evoke a response from individuals with a passion for that specific need and ministry. The Madagascar Relief Fund spoke to one member who was looking for a way to faithfully use his resources to make a difference in the lives of others.”
Pastor Ann Schmid, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, McMurray
“First Greensburg has a history of giving generously, so it comes as no surprise that members exercised that generosity to help our neighbors in Madagascar. Members utilized First’s matching funds program to help their generosity go further. That program sets aside a portion of annual trust fund distributions to match gifts made by members, and has since 2002. It is intended to invite our members into generous giving.”
Pastor Chris Combs, First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Greensburg
One final story I’d like to offer is about those who worked behind the scenes of this appeal. A small, committed group planned and refined how to bring this campaign to the larger synod. This team has also been in direct conversation with the Tulear Synod and Bezaha Seminary in Madagascar (sometimes at late hours and through translated Zoom calls) along with the ELCA Companion Synod Relationships staff to determine the best means of distributing the relief funds. The team was Bob David, Pastor Brandon Johns, Bishop Kurt Kusserow, Pastor Ed Sheehan, Pastor Melissa Stoller, and myself. Soon, our synod will be looking for additional people with a heart for our companion synod to continue nurturing this relationship and create new stories to tell of our mutual love and care.