Volume 32 Number 03

The Monthly Newsletter of Pilgrim

Lutheran Church 3901 First Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55409 (612) 825-5375

From the Desk of Pastor Pete

“The stones will cry out.”

On the Sunday before his death Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. A crowd welcomed him

with palm branches, and so we‘ve called that day ―Palm Sunday‖ ever since.

According to the custom of the day, palm branches meant the crowd was welcoming a king.

Many of the people who lined the streets of Jerusalem that day had probably seen some of

Jesus‘ miracles, or they had been in the audience when he taught. No doubt all of them had

heard the name of Jesus, and his entry into Jerusalem filled them with hope for the future. They

waved their palm branches and quoted Psalm 118: ―Blessed is the king who comes in the name

of the Lord!‖

In a different twist on the tradition, Jesus made his entry on a donkey, an animal that

symbolized peace and humility. The palm branches and the donkey tell the tale: King Jesus

comes in peace and wins the victory through humble service.

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Ministry Staff

Pastor Rev. Peter J. Leyrer (612) 827-2723 mailto:pastor@pilgrimonline.net Director Dr. Scott Gostchock (763) 205-4405 Mailto:scott@pilgrimonline.net Dean of Students Ms Michele Cambrice, (612) 825-5375 michelle@pilgrimonline.net Pilgrim Website http://www.pilgrimonline.net

March 2010

The crowd didn‘t understand the ―humble service‖ part of that equation. By Friday they would

call for his crucifixion. When Jesus didn‘t look like the kind of king they expected they turned on

him. On Palm Sunday when things looked good Jesus had plenty of ―fans.‖ No one would

follow him into humble service.

Will we? Jesus humble service means that we have been set free of the burden of sin and guilt,

free to be inheritors of heaven. And we‘ve been set free. . . to follow in the footsteps of our

humble servant. Our brother or sister‘s need becomes our call to put Christ‘s love into action.

When we see injustice or abuse, the Spirit of Christ in us moves us to speak out. Immorality in

the world around us provides us with an opportunity to set a new standard with our words and

actions as we live to glorify our humble servant. The needs of our congregation give us

opportunity to use our God given time, talent and treasure in service to him and one another.

The Pharisees tried to silence those who sang on Palm Sunday. Jesus answered, ―If they keep

quiet the stones will cry out.‖ It‘s easy to sing praises when things are going well. But Jesus

calls us as disciples—people who follow him. When we follow, we‘re not going anywhere that

he hasn‘t gone first.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider

equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

--Philippians 2:5-7

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CONFIRMATION: A CHANGE OF DATE

Every year, one of the high points on the church calendar is confirmation, the day when we hear our

young people confess their faith in Christ and promise to be faithful to him.

For some time, Pilgrim‘s traditional confirmation day has been Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter.

This year Palm Sunday is March 28.

This year we will change the date of confirmation to May 23. There are a number of reasons for the

change:

It eliminates a scheduling conflict for some of the families involved.

It gives the young people more time to prepare for the big day. With a Palm Sunday confirmation,

a significant amount of the catechism still needs to be taught and learned after confirmation day

and before the end of the school year.

This year, May 23 is Pentecost Sunday. This celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit is a very

appropriate day for confirmation.

The later date works better with the school calendar.

If you have questions or concerns about this change, please contact Pastor Leyrer

Jesus of Nazareth is Passing By

As usual, during Lent we‘ll gather for worship at 1:00 and 7:00 p.m. every Wednesday. Soup

suppers will be served from 5:00 to 6:30.

Our theme for Lenten worship will be ―Jesus of Nazareth is Passing By.‖ We‘ll be

looking at the events leading up to Jesus death from the perspective of some of the people who

saw him in those last days. Those people had opportunities as Jesus passed by—how did they

use them? Or did they lose them? We pray that their stories will give us opportunities as well—

to repent, to reflect, to worship.

The people and themes include:

Judas in Upper Room - He Knows Your Heart, John 13:18-30

Disciples in Gethsemane - What Prophets & Kings Longed to See, Luke 22:39-47

Arrest & Denial - Facing the Enemy, John 18:1-18, 25-27

He is Your King, Matthew 27:27-31

Simon of Cyrene - Why Me? Luke 23:26-31

Pilate & Barabbas - We Go Free, Mark 15:1-15

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Lent Service worship themes

Lenten Dinner March 3rd

Time: 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (Lunchroom) Cost is $5.00 for Adults $3.00 for Children (Grade school age)

Wild Rice, Roll, Salad, Dessert, and Drink

Lenten Dinner March 10th

Time: 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (Lunchroom) Cost is $5.00 for Adults $3.00 for Children (Grade school age)

Spaghetti W/meatballs, Salad, Roll, Dessert, and Drink

Lenten Dinner March 17th

Time: 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (Lunchroom) Cost is $5.00 for Adults $3.00 for Children (Grade school age)

Chili, Grilled Cheese, Salad, Dessert, and Drink

Lenten Dinner March 24th

Time: 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (Lunchroom) Cost is $5.00 for Adults $3.00 for Children (Grade school age)

Meatballs w/gravy, Mashed potatoes, Veggie, Roll, Dessert,

and Drink

Free will offering on Easter Sunday

We will be taking a free will offering on Easter Sunday at the breakfast in between services for

Amina Bushey (please see the following story). Amina Bushey, is a second grader at our school

and needs our prayers, help, and support. Please join us on Easter Sunday to celebrate the

ressurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and help support Amina - this precious lamb

of God through a generous free will offering at the breakfast served between services. Thanks

and praise be to God for he is the God of healing and of ressurection!

The Amina Bushey story: How we found out she had cancer!

Shared by Mom (Nicole Bushey) and Family

Amina was a healthy little girl until the age of about four and a half when my family and

I noticed that she had a lazy eye. I took her to a regular optometrist to have the issue looked at.

The doctor said that it was just a lazy eye and to put an eye patch over the good eye to

strengthen the muscles in the bad eye. The optometrist also told us to bring her back in six

months to check up on her condition!

So we followed the doc‘s prescription and went about our business and just kept an eye

on her to make sure things were going well for Amina. About two months into the six month

wait, Amina started to exhibit symptoms of another sort. She was having headaches. Not just

any headaches, they were migraines. I found this to be really unusual for a young girl of Amina‘s age.

She was having so much pain from these migraines that my family and I took her to see

the specialists at the University of Minnesota. When we arrived, we met the head pediatric optometrist. His name was Dr. Christianson.

He sat Amina down at his station and used all kinds of gadgets to look into her eyes. It

didn‘t take long for Dr. Christianson to diagnose her. He said that he was pretty positive that Amina had a form of cancer called Optic Glioma.

When we heard the news of her cancer, our hearts dropped. It was a really bleak feeling

at the time! So with the doctor‘s advice, Amina had an MRI to make sure that this was the right

diagnosis. When the results came back, it only confirmed what the doctor had said; it was for

sure Optic Glioma!

Everything went so fast. It was really overwhelming to the whole family. We were

uneducated about Amina‘s condition, and it was really scary. Amina was going to have to go

through chemotherapy intravenously, and in order to do that treatment, Amina had to have a

port placed into her chest. A port is like a plug that stays in her chest throughout the duration of

her chemotherapy. The port is then taken out when she is finished with chemo. So now Amina was having surgery on top of everything else.

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It was all so crazy. Amina had a hard time. She lost her hair and her fingers and toes

would burn and hurt so much when she would get up from a chemo session she would just collapse wherever she was. It was really hard to watch!

Amina also developed a form of neuropathy. She had to wear leg braces and go through

physical therapy once a week in the beginning. As it got worse, she had to go three times a

week! So she was at the doctor‘s office four days a week getting her blood drawn and all the

poison that went into her veins was just overwhelming for her!

She began to get depressed and really bummed out! She would ask questions like ―Why is

God putting me through this Mom? Does he hate me?‖ which was the worst. It was really hard

to answer those kinds of questions, but we managed to keep her mind off those bad thoughts most of the time.

Amina ended up going through chemotherapy for approximately fourteen months! She

worked hard and all the while managing to be a top student even though she missed over two

thirds of kindergarten! She would just amaze me! Amina was doing things that a grownup couldn‘t do, let alone a child!

She continued to have MRI tests to check on her progress, and soon she was deemed in remission! She was in remission for about a year or so.

Amina went through the first grade pretty much like any normal child. Besides the

occasional check up and common cold, Amina was fine! However, in the second quarter of

the second grade, Amina went in to see the specialists at the U of M and received some bad

news. She was no longer in remission.

Amina‘s tumor has grown, and it is right now in danger of blinding her! The tumor sits

on the optic nerve in between the brain and the eye killing the optic nerve on the right side. She

no longer can see with the right eye and now that the tumor is growing there is a possibility that she will go blind and not be able to see at all!

Amina is now on a pill form of chemotherapy, and there are some side effects like before,

but we are doing everything to stop the tumor from growing any larger. All we can do is pray for her eyesight to stay the same and for the tumor to just disappear!

I – we - thank you all for your prayers and especially for your help and support! God is in charge. God is at work. Jesus is our strength. We thank you all for everything!

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PRAY FOR OUR TROOPS

Please pray for the United States military and the following enlisted and/or deployed service

men:Paul Bandelin, Jacob and Errol Belanger, Thomas Bonde, Samuel Hass, Brent Hassler,

Andrew Leyrer, John Manthe, and Andrew Rolston

The flower calendar will be posted in the narthex with requests already made for 2010,the dates

of March 14th, and 21st are still available. please give me a call - 952-544-1072 - or put a note

in my mailbox in the office. Thank you for your continued interest in adding floral beauty to the

altar. God Bless ,Lila Aske

CARDS, CARDS, CARDS

Did you Know?

Greeting cards: Birthday, Sympathy, Get Well, Baby Congratulations, etc. are available from

the Ladies Guild on Sundays during Coffee Hour for 50 cents each (that‘s also 2 for $1.00 .)

Many of the cards from Day Spring contain Christian messages. Also available are the

handcrafted cards for all occasions for the same bargain price. Valentines will be available as

long as the supply lasts – get them while they are hot. Look for the display near the coffee

serving table.

PLEASE HELP RESTOCK FOOD SHELF

The food shelf is in need of cereal, fruit, meat, and soup. Any other food items that are useful to

families are greatly appreciated! Thank you for your kindness and generosity! A generous

man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. Proverbs 22:9

CAN YOU HELP?

A family is in need of the following items: tennis shoes (size 13-14); men‘s jeans (size 38W

32L); ladies pants (size 9); and ladies boots (size 8). If you can help, please drop off your items

in the church office. Thank you!

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Announcements!

Networking/Job Transition Group

Are you in a job transition and looking for a way to step-up your job search efforts? A

networking group can help and offer support during your search. Join us at the St. Michael's

Networking Group. Our meetings are held at St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Bloomington

(address: 9201 Normandale Blvd; 952-831-5276). We normally meet twice a month from 6 to

7:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month, however, we

recommend that you check our group site on Linkedin (as shown below) for specific meeting

dates and times. The group is open to anyone seeking job seach help, you do not have to be a

member of St. Michael's Church to join this networking group. The group is listed on

www.Linkedin.com under St. Michael's Networking Group. Paul Dahl is listed as the owner of

the group. The Co-Managers of the group are Ruth Arves (St. Michael's member) and Geri

Geiselhart (Pilgrim Lutheran member). For more information, contact Ruth Arves at 612-869-

0393 / ranna630@gmail.com or Geri at 612-822-2318 / geiselhart27@msn.com . Also, if you

are currently employed and your company has job openings, please let us know and we can

post them on the LinkedIn group site.

Help Wanted

Herzig Cleaning is still looking for a person or persons who could be their back up in the event

of an emergency and occasionally due to other appointments they have after work. If interested

in applying please contact Zoe Herzig @ 763-360-6150 to set up a time to meet and go over the

training.

PILGRIM FAMILY IN NEED OF HOUSE TO RENT

The Jackson Jallah family is in need of a five-bedroom single family home to rent for $1,300 to

$1,350 per month. Please contact Williametta at 612-432-2297 or 432-414-8607 if you can be

of any help. Thank you!

2003 CONFIRMATION CLASS PICTURE

The display in the fireside room needs a 2003 confirmation class picture. The confirmands are

as follows: Jasmin Brown, Caitlin Bandelin, Ross Edwardson, Allen Geiselhart, and Vinesha

Taylor. If you have this picture and would be willing to donate it to the church (or know of

someone who has one), please contact the church office. Thank you!

Mark your calendar

Camp croix weekend IS August 20-22, 2010

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Announcements!

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Barbara Laux 1

Erwin Paulson 1

Thomas Nordby 3

Jimmiee Gaulden 5

Verne Voss 7

Olivia Robinson 8

Andrienne Bruess 12

Nathan Gerdes 12

Rozetta Norman 15

Calvin Huggar, Jr. 16

Robert Nordby 16

Andrew Bandelin 18

Thomas Bonde 20

Quincy Ndekwe 20

Michael DeYoung 22

Jonathan Honerbrink 22

Debra Ndekwe 22

Dawn Johnson 23

Emily Leyrer 23

Austin Fischer 25

Burnadean Johnson 25

Malinda Seibert 26

Roland Warnke 27

Gertrude Zuhlsdorf 27

Jacob Knutson 28

Arthur Robinson 29

Joseph Sorensen 29

Lila Aske 30

Dene Zimmermann 30

Richard Kjornes 31

March Birthdays March Wedding Anniversaries

Robert & Betty Helmen 5

Michael & Carol Anderson 20

Pilgrim is truly blessed

Submitted by Bill and Sondra Brust

There are times when you hear about someone living a very frugal life, yet upon their death a

large sum of money is found hidden some place in their house, which usually ends up in probate and is

used up in lawyers‘ fees. Then there are those that had a plan for what and how their money is going to be

used. ―Why do people live like that?‖ ―If I had that kind of money I sure wouldn‘t be saving it only to give

it away when I die‖ are just a few comments that you would get.

We here at Pilgrim have been blessed to have two brothers that had a plan for their money and put

that plan into action when they left a very large amount of money to our church and school, most of it

going for tuition assistance. The total amount hasn‘t been made known yet.

Some of us remember Abner Neeley, he died on December 29th

2000. More of us knew his brother

Patrick, who went to celebrate Christmas with Jesus on December 23rd

2008. These brothers lived like

paupers but had the resources to live like kings. Why? Only God knows but they had such a great drive to

use that money for Gods kingdom thru the lives of children whom they both loved and wanted them to

have a Christ centered education.

Patrick had been in hospice care only one week when he said he was worried that the longer he

lived the less money there would be for the kids at school. We know it wasn‘t their intent to have a great

memorial made, their name on a brass plate placed somewhere or to have some other type of recognition

for the gift they left us but we hope they won‘t be forgotten before all that money is spent, which should be

for a very long time.

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Basket Ball

Thank you to all the fans for coming out and supporting the teams!

Congratulations for a job well done:

Girls A-Team girls for taking 1st at the New Ulm tournament

Boys A-Team for taking 3rd

place at the New Ulm tournament

B team girls and B team boys for being undefeated in the league and winning Championship at

the West Lutheran tournament!

Mark Your Calendar

March 21-

Roller Skating at Roller Gardens 1-4 p.m.

April 24th

The Touché Flemings Banquet at 5 p.m. It will be

located at:

Zahtar by Fhima (inside the Grand Hotel)

615 2nd

Avenue South, 2nd

Floor

Minneapolis, MN 55402

Watch your mailbox for an invite, or call Pilgrim

(612-825-5375) and ask for Sandy to reserve your

spot.

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Pilgrim Lutheran School News

COMPUTER LAB DONATIONS

Dear fellow members and friends of Pilgrim:

You can help by donating your old Laptop and

Desktop computers (please remember to include the

power chord). I accept them in any condition or age,

whether they work or not. The keyboard, mouse, and

LCD monitors are accepted but not necessary (only

LCD monitors are accepted at this time). Please

attach your name and address to your donations. Just

leave the laptops or desktops in the church office and

I will pick them up. Thanks for your help. Joe

Sorensen

April 9th

Parent Night out @ Pilgrim – 5:30pm-9:00 pm

- fundraiser to help fund the Foreign Language Program at Pilgrim

- Drop off your child(ren) for 3 1/2 hours of daycare as you enjoy the night to do something enjoyable

for yourselves $15.00 (1-2 children); $20 (3 children or more) Will include a dinner and small snack.

Watch for more information in April‘s News Letter.

Share Spring break with an international student

During Spring break (March 13-March 20), the St. Croix Lutheran High School dorms close

down. This means that a number of the international students will need host families to open

their homes to them. If you are interested in opening your hearts and homes to one or more

international students during the week of Saturday, March 13, to Saturday, March 20, please

contact International Advisor Sue Galler at sgaller@stcroixschools.org or 651-455-1521 x118.

A stipend is provided to host families. For more information on what it means to host an

international student, go to our web-site at www.stcroixschools.org and click on the Student

Life & Activities tab, international, student hosting.

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St. Croix Lutheran High School News

Give the Gift of Music

The St. Croix Lutheran High school Croixaliers Will record in February 2010

Our Gift: Songs and Praise

How To Order:

1. Order from any member of the Croixaliers. Please have money ready upon ordering.

2. Order online www.legacyfundraiser.com/2009.htm

Click on St. Croix Lutheran High School under ‗Coming in 2010.‘ Fill out the

order form . CD‘s will be mailed to you in mid-March

Cost per CD is $20.00

CD will contain selections from concerts, Sunday Worship services, and other

favorites.

Please contact the school office for more information

Deadline is March 8th

St. Croix Lutheran High School 651-455-1521 Info@StcroixSchools.org

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St. Croix Lutheran High School News

You are formally invited

On Monday, March 8th

the WLHS Student Council will be hosting a ―Hoops for Haiti ‖ event in

association with the boys‘ basketball games vs. St. Croix LHS. This night is being planned to

generate awareness that even though it has been 6 weeks since the earthquake, our prayers and

physical support are still needed for the people of Haiti . T-Shirts and bracelets will be sold at

the door and baked goods may be purchased. These proceeds and the proceeds from admission

to the game will all be donated. There will also be activities between games and at halftime of

the varsity game to raise money. In addition, Solo‘s Pizza just to the west of 494 on Hwy 55,

has agreed to donate a portion of all sales to WLHS families from 4-7 on that day to the

earthquake relief effort. All proceeds from the event will be given to the WELS Committee on relief designated for earthquake relief.

If you are moved to do so and are able, we would gladly accept donations of prizes (gift cards

in $5 to $10 amount preferably) for the activities or monetary donations to help offset costs of

the evening so we can raise as much money as possible for this cause. Donations may be turned in to Zoe Herzig on or before Friday, March 5

th (place in mailbox bin in the copy room)

Thank-you for your consideration and we hope to see you here on the 8th!

Sincerely,

WLHS Student Council

3350 Harbor Lane North

Plymouth, M, 55447

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West Lutheran High school News

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CHILDRENS FUN TIME

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