Members and friends of Mount Olive work to be and encounter the presence of Christ beyond our neighborhood through our prayers, hands-on work, advocacy, and monetary support. We adopt the philosophy of the ELCA to “walk beside” our partners. We continue to support our partners around the world through this time of COVID-19.
Mount Olive sponsored a partnership trip to south central India in 2019 to learn more about and from the people of Mount Olive’s second longest mission partner, Bethania Kids. We visited three care centers where girls and boys live ful- time, two day care centers for young children, two day centers for disabled children, and two women’s empowerment centers, where women are taught sewing and weaving skills. We were blessed by our interactions with wonderful children and dedicated staff, and we returned to share an even stronger commitment to this partnership.
As part of a larger Lutheran effort to promote fair wages and environmental sustainability, the Missions Committee sells fair-trade chocolate, tea, and coffee every week. We also host a holiday fair-trade craft sale in December.
Once a year we sponsor a Taste of a Nation event, celebrating a particular country’s food, music, and culture. The event raises awareness of global problems and features stories of how Christians in particular countries are working to solve them. In early 2020 the Committee worked to share our experiences in India through our Taste of India.
Other sponsored education events include missionary visits, adult education hour speakers, and regular congregational communication. We invite you to learn more about our mission partners and join in our worldwide partnerships.
Our Connections
Bright Stars of Bethlehem grows hope in Palestine by connecting people in the United States to Diyar Academy for Children and Youth, Dar al-Kalima University, and Ajyal Senior Care Program.
Bread for the World works through political systems to advocate for food security around the world. Each year we participate in the Offering of Letters to our United States representatives and senators.
Action for Health in the Americas (AHA) is the North American counterpart of Educación Popular En Salud (EPES), based in Chile. EPES supports sustainable community-based public health initiatives among the poor in Chile. Mount Olive supports both AHA/EPES and an ELCA missionary in Chile, Karen Anderson.
Common Hope’s mission is to promote hope and opportunity in Guatemala, partnering with children, families, and communities to improve their lives through education, health care, housing, and family development.
Bethania Kids is a Christian mission that brings hope and wholeness to poor, disabled, and abandoned children in South India. Mount Olive has been a significant supporter of the mission since its beginning in 1997.
Through the Lutheran World Federation’s Jerusalem Program, we support Augusta Victoria Hospital and a vocational training program, helping Palestinians get the health care and training they need.
The Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC) is a community of faith uniting people to work for peace with justice. Since 1979 LVC has been placing adults over 21 years of age (“Volunteers”) in full-time service positions at social-justice organizations across the United States. Four LVC houses are in the Twin Cities.
Lutheran World Relief is perhaps the longest-supported organization at Mount Olive. LWF provides help around the world in times of crisis, bringing people food, quilts, school kits, and health kits.
Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light helps us connect to and get more involved in climate justice and care-of-the-earth issues. Our most current climate justice initiative in conjunction with MNIPL and the ELCA was a month long COVID-19-at-home Love Made Visible Challenge. We invite you to take the challenge.
The Minneapolis Area Synod of the ELCA and the are partner synods. We have chosen to partner with Bronnum Seminary in eastern Nigeria. The school educates Lutheran ministers for the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN). A member of our Missions Committee, also a former Nigerian seminary professor, visited Bronnum Seminary in 2019 and returned with new ideas for our partnership.
Mount Olive supports the Rev. Dr. Philip Knutson through the ELCA’s Missionary Sponsorship Program. Philip serves as ELCA Regional Representative for Southern Africa.
