Mission & Outreach

And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”        Isaiah 58:10

2022 Mission & Outreach Projects

Operation Christmas Child

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church members, family, friends and neighbors are once again invited to fill an Operation Christmas Child shoebox with gifts for children around the globe. Beginning October 17th shoeboxes will be available in the Narthex. Please consider taking a box (or more) home and filling it with gifts, school supplies and personal care items, and return to church by November 15th. 

Operation Christmas Child is so much more than delighting a child in need with a gift, it is a powerful tool for evangelism and discipleship. After receiving shoebox gifts, the children are invited to enroll in Samaritan’s Purses’ The Greatest Journey discipleship program where they learn the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Members raise funds for the Green Bay MobilePack by collecting coins in jars. Our church has done a tremendous job in the past and we continue along this same path for 2022.

We do a jar collection and blessing on Sunday September 11th. A quarter pays for more than a meal for a hungry child. $88 feeds a hungry child for an entire year.

During the week of October 3, 2022, Green Bay MobilePack will be packing meals to feed God's children.

Annual Soup Sunday Sale
January 29, 2022.
Proceeds benefit Salvation Army.

Thanks to everyone for being a part of FMSC 2021! Over 1,700 volunteers  packed 326,592 meals, enough to feed 894 kids for an entire year! Please continue to donate to FMSC this month. Two generous families will match dollar for dollar up to $30,000 to anyone who donates before October 31. These funds will be used to pack and provide meals by machines. Remember our 2021 goal is to pack and provide ONE MILLION MEALS! Thanks!
Tammy Rusch, FMSC church board member

Wish List for our ministry partner, Ecumenical Partnership for Housing (EPH):

Across the nation more people have been turning to food pantries for food during the pandemic, and the same is true in our community. Our Veggie Share ministry helped meet some of that need. From July through September $800 in donations was received by the Veggie Share ‘Farmers Market’. Those funds have been given to the Giving Tree, the food pantry for Howard and Suamico, to provide food for families in our community. And during that same time period hundreds of pounds of fresh produce – grown and donated by members – was given to the Salvation Army, some of which was used in meals they served to the hungry and the rest was distributed through their food pantry.

Thanks for the generosity of all who donated produce or cash to the Veggie Share ministry. We echo the thanks that Jesus spoke on behalf of those who were fed: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat”, Matthew 25:35.

On “God’s Work, Our Hands” Sunday, September 12, we worked on these projects:

1. Assembling Lutheran World Relief Care Kits

2. Braiding T-shirt jump ropes for Operation Christmas  Child. 

3. Baking healthy dog treats for the Happily Ever After shelter

4. Tying fleece blankets for Project Linus. 

5. Packing meals for the Giving Tree.

6. Packing bags for Days for Girls.


Hygiene Drive 2021
February 14 - March 7

Thank you very much to all who donated hygiene items for the local hygiene drive. The drive ended March 7th and our boxes at church were overflowing! We collected so many products that about 6 boxes were filled!  You have made a difference in the lives of those who need our care and compassion. 

“Never stop doing little things for others. Sometimes those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts.” 

2022 Mission and Outreach Team Annual Report


Our congregation has a heartfelt understanding of ministry beyond our church walls.  We support a variety of local and global ministries.  Good Shepherd members realize that our brothers and sisters are not just the people we meet every day, but also people we may never meet.

 

                  - Following is a review of our ministries in 2022 -


Feed My Starving Children (FMSC)This was GSLC’s ninth year participating in FMSC, an organization that feeds God’s hungry children around the world. The 2022 MobilePack was held the first week in October. Over 2,836 volunteers from the Green Bay area packed 614,520 meals at the Community Church in Howard. This was enough to feed 1,683 children for an entire year. The meals were sent to Liberia and Ghana, both in West Africa. Our church collected $3,636.84 to donate toward the meals. Tammy Rusch is on the FMSC Board, representing GSLC as one of the eleven partner churches in the Green Bay area.

 

Operation Christmas Child (OCC)This was our eighth year of participating in this ministry which sends gifts to children around the world in December. There were about 20 shoeboxes filled with gifts donated by GSLC members. The OCC organization also includes messages and lessons about Jesus before sending the boxes. The boxes were shipped to Namibia and Zambia in Africa and also Suriname in South America. Our supply of empty OCC shoeboxes in storage has now been used, so it was decided to discontinue this ministry for 2023.

 

Ecumenical Partnership for Housing (EPH)GSLC is responsible for managing and maintaining The Matthew House, purchased through EPH, which provides a home for a family experiencing homelessness. Since September of 2022, a mother and her two year old son have been living there. GSLC has sponsored The Matthew House since 2014 and we have helped 12 families over these past eight years. Shirley and Ron Kocha continue to maintain the home and are appreciative of donations and prayers. Volunteers are often needed to help with ongoing maintenance and cleaning when a family moves out. Tarra Gallagher is our EPH Board member, representing GSLC at monthly meetings and keeping our church informed. This was our eighth year of being involved in EPH.

 

Help for the Homeless Hygiene DriveFor the past seven years, GSLC has participated in this hygiene drive which is sponsored by “The Family” 91.5 FM radio station during February and March. By March of 2022 the donation boxes in church were overflowing! All donations were given to local crisis agencies, including the area shelters.

 

Days for GirlsThis nonprofit organization sews feminine hygiene kits for young girls in countries who would otherwise miss school during their monthly periods. GSLC has been involved in the local chapter for five years. Since its beginning in NE Wisconsin, Titletown Days For Girls reached a milestone this year with 10,000 kits completed. The kits are sent to girls and young women all over the world. Some of the latest destinations for the kits include Tanzania, Pakistan, and Madagascar. Lois Appel leads this ministry.

 

Christmas Gifting Tree:  During November to early December, a Christmas tree in the Narthex was decorated with ornaments that labeled gift ideas needed by families for their children in the area. These donated gifts were given to The Giving Tree in Howard. Good Shepherd had many gifts donated which were part of The Giving Tree's Annual Holiday Store. These gifts, along with others donated in our area, helped to spread Christmas cheer to more than 600 children in our community. Sadie Johnsen is our liaison with The Giving Tree and organizes this ministry. 

 

Salvation ArmyDuring 2022 volunteering to serve a meal as a group at The Salvation Army on Union Court was put “on hold” for the second year due to continued concerns with the pandemic. Participation by individuals was an option and opportunities to volunteer were regularly included in the weekly Chronicles.

 

Neighborhood FestMission and Outreach was instrumental  in planning the Neighborhood Fest on September 11th as an outreach ministry to celebrate GSLC’s 50th Anniversary. About 2,500 postcards were mailed to nearby neighbors inviting them to the event and a large banner was posted in front of the church opening up our worship service, lunch and activities to the community. A brat fry was organized by the Scout Troops and a food truck was available, as well. Activities included a bounce house, balloon art, face painting, games, and God’s Work-Our Hands service projects.

 

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Thank you to all who have helped make these Mission & Outreach ministries possible by volunteering your time, donating, and praying.  Your efforts have helped GSLC make a difference in the lives of many—young & old, near & far, all of God’s children.

 

 

If you are interested in helping with any of these ministries during 2023 and/or would like to join our team and/or have ideas for future ministries that you would like to discuss, please contact one of us on this team. We welcome new faces and new ideas!

 

 

The 2022 Mission & Outreach Team – Lois Appel, Sara Fielder, Tarra Gallagher, Sadie Johnsen, Shirley Kocha, Diane Lenz, Sue Riemer, Tammy Rusch


Our congregation has a heartfelt understanding of ministry beyond our church walls.  We support a variety of local and global ministries.  Good Shepherd members realize that our brothers and sisters are not just the people we meet everyday, but also people we may never meet.

Operation Christmas Child 2019

FMSC MobilePack 2019

 Through the following ministries, we connect people with opportunities to serve just as Christ has called us to do.

For more information:  Diane Lenz, dianeandstevelenz@gmail.com