Easter Project Wrap-Up: In the spirit of 1 Peter 4:10, many thanks to New Journey friends for $465 to support farm animals, water filters, cooking stoves, and mosquito netting through ELCA World Hunger ministries around the world. And, likewise, much gratitude for $760 in designated and undesignated gifts, plus a 20-pound bag of rice, for "Casa M" asylum shelter in Nogales.

New Journey Lutheran Church in Fountain Hills recently wrapped up two Easter season projects, raising funds for two programs that provide shelter and sustenance for those in need.

A total of $760 raised will go to Casa de la Misericordia y de Todas las Naciones, a shelter for asylum seekers in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, that supports mainly women and children while their asylum claims are processed.

A donation of $465 will go to the ELCA Good Gifts program which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year to support sustenance needs worldwide including farm animals, environment-friendly water filters and cookstoves and family mosquito netting.

Have you hatched your eggs? Or, gotten your goat? New Journey’s Spring 2024 donor choice projects are underway! There are many useful items of impact that you can contribute to ELCA Good Gifts and/or Casa de la Misericordia y de Todas las Naciones asylum shelter by Sunday, May 5. Place your envelopes in the collection plate or contribute to New Journey on-line, clearly designating the project and item(s) of your choice. Thank you.

Thank you to New Journey members and friends who participated in the April 7 “Fifth Sunday” letter-writing. While our numbers were small, every voice of faith in the public square makes a difference in support of the omnibus hunger provisions of the U.S. Farm Bill and the funding of free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch for Arizona students.

We invite you to contribute to one or both of these excellent actions to support people in need, during the period of April 7 to May 5, 2024. Options are available from $5 to $100. Please put your name on donor envelopes and clearly indicate (whether on-line, cash, or check) whether your gift is for Casa or for Good Gifts.

A. Easter Season Basket of Gifts for Casa de la Misericordia y de Todas las Naciones: You will be able to select an egg or two and commit your gifts to help support asylum seekers at Casa M. This shelter, built and maintained on an ongoing basis by about 120 residents who stay temporarily while their asylum paperwork is processed, has ongoing needs for beans, rice, flour, diapers, women’s hygiene products, and funds for utility bills.

You may contribute actual items (place them in the bin, available April 7, labeled “CASA”) or dollars (donor envelopes will be available with the basket of eggs). We welcome either choice: physical items can become more difficult to transport and may be “taxed” at the border; dollars spent in Nogales to purchase items there can strengthen the local economy.

B. Easter Season Good Gifts for ELCA World Hunger: “Clear the Lines” by choosing from the following items: chicks $5, fruit tree seedling $10, rooster $15, mosquito netting for a family $20, honeybees $20, piglet $30, ceramic water filter $30, goat $50, seeds and gardening tools $50. Environmentally friendly cookstove $105. This is the 50th anniversary of ELCA World Hunger. Additional choices, if you wish, are at https://goodgifts.elca.org/all-gifts; just mark your contribution envelop with your choice whether you choose from “clear the lines” or from the catalog.