Serving Others

Trinity Lutheran takes seriously the words of Jesus in His Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20...

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

And the Great Commandment in Matthew 22:37-39...

“Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

We are sent to serve, locally, regionally, nationally and globally, we love our neighbor and proclaim Jesus’ sacrificial love.

Hearts Ablaze

Hearts Ablaze, a mission ministry at Trinity Lutheran, exists to share the forgiveness and love of the resurrected Christ and makes disciples in Bloomington-Normal and to the ends of the earth. Our Trinity Lutheran team works at gathering and organizing God’s people to be about His ministry. As described in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Luke 24:32 describes the people asking each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
— Acts 1:8

A BRIEF HISTORY

It is believed that the Trinity Hearts Ablaze started around 2007 when Pastor Wirsing and/or Pastor Steinbeck attended an LC–MS conference and learned about a new initiative for missions – it was the Ablaze Movement – and they brought the information back to Trinity. The Hearts Ablaze group was started, and the team was divided into four groups to focus on different missions. The Hearts Ablaze Jerusalem Team was charged to develop and oversee the plan to conduct the “Hearts Ablaze” ministry for Trinity within McLean County. The Hearts Ablaze Judea Team was charged to develop and oversee the plan to conduct the “Hearts Ablaze” ministry for Trinity within the United States outside of McLean County. The Hearts Ablaze Samaria Team was charged to develop and oversee the plan to conduct the “Hearts Ablaze” ministry for Trinity among communities in peril: locally, nationally, and internationally. The Hearts Ablaze Ends of the Earth Team was charged to develop and oversee the plan to conduct the “Hearts Ablaze” ministry for Trinity outside of the United States.

RECENT AND ONGOING EFFORTS

VISION CLINICS & OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

Christa Springer was with a team of ten in 2009 who went with Salem Lutheran from Tomball, Texas, to Kenya. Salem Lutheran had been going to Kenya for years, but this was Trinity’s first time. It was a vision clinic mission. Trinity had teams go with Salem to Kenya in the spring and fall until 2020 when Trinity started planning their own trip.

Christa Springer and Barb Wells have each chaired the Operation Christmas Child event in November. Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, which is an international relief organization. Their mission is to provide local partners around the world with shoeboxes filled with small toys, hygiene items, and school supplies as a means of reaching out to children in their own communities with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Operation Christmas Child can be found in the narthex in late October or early November distributing boxes, answering questions, and accepting returning boxes. The boxes collected with the essential supplies go to Cross Pointe Church in Bloomington and then to an operation center in Aurora before being sent overseas to their final destination with a child. The children receiving the boxes are affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine, and disease.

TRUNK-OR-TREAT

Mary Ann Richard along with many other members of Hearts Ablaze have been involved with Trunk-or-Treat. This is an annual event which continues to be very popular with parents who want to provide a safe environment for their children at Halloween. Instead of going from house to house, the children go from car to car (each car’s trunk is decorated) in the church parking lot. Church members, school parents, and Midwest Food Bank provide candy, and each child is given a Christian Halloween activity book. They have been able to bring joy to and communicate with 300-500 participating children yearly.

SUMMER CAMPS

Hearts Ablaze has also held summer camps on Trinity’s property. Besides hearing about God’s love for them, community children were given the opportunity to participate in sports, sewing, cooking, art, building, and gardening activities. These camps provided another way to get to know community families and share Jesus’ love with them.

THE BIG GIVE

Another collaborative effort of Hearts Ablaze is The Big Give, A joint effort of Home Sweet Home Ministries, Midwest Food Bank, Thrivent, Hy-Vee and several local churches. The goal is to provide everything needed for a Thanksgiving dinner to at least 2,000 families in the Bloomington-Normal area. The role of participating churches is to purchase food items for the meals, help with packing the boxes, and fulfill the distribution of the food to needy families.

NIGHT IN A CAR

NIGHT IN A CAR is a homelessness simulation that spotlights the hidden aspect that many in our community experience living in their cars. NIAC, now in its 9th YEAR, is done “drive in” style at Trinity’s Madison campus. In addition to hosting the event, our Hearts Ablaze team assists with set up, hospitality, food, and clean up. Funds raised directly support the people being served at Home Sweet Home Ministries by providing shelter, food, and case management. 

CURRENT FOCUS AREAS

Pastor David is committed to working with the Hearts Ablaze members and describes five focus areas that guide their efforts:

  1. Seek opportunities to purposely reach out to school families that do not have a church home.

  2. Seek opportunities to partner with and serve our community partners.

  3. Seek to purposely grow our mercy ministry, which seek to walk alongside those in need.

  4. Seek to continue to grow our relationship with Lighthouse Transformational Ministries in Costa Rica, which teaches English to high school students.

  5. Seek to grow our participation in the Lutheran Emergency Response Team (LERT), which helps the victims of disasters. LERT members are trained to enter disaster areas immediately after the disaster occurs to aid in the cleanup.

SUMMARY

For over 15 years, Trinity has sent groups to Poland, Latvia, Guatemala, Kenya, Honduras, Costa Rica, and other communities, both overseas and here at home, that have needed help. We have assisted with the UKANDU Chicago mission trip, Servant Saturday events with Abiding Savior, St. Louis, and day trips to Christ Lutheran Church for the Deaf in Jacksonville, IL. Our Lutheran Early Response Team (LERT) has assisted with clean up after Hurricane Katrina, flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the Haiti earthquake disaster relief event. Locally Hearts Ablaze has assisted Habitat for Humanity housing, Western Avenue Community Center summer programs, the Bloomington Block Party school supply effort, Sidewalk Sunday School at Wood Hill, and the neighborhood Fun Fest Movie Night. Through the mission efforts of Hearts Ablaze, those outside our faith family have been brought to faith in Jesus Christ, encouraged in their own spiritual journey, and equipped to minister to their families and others.