"But Jesus looked at them and said, 'For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.'" Matthew 19:26 NRSVue

On the evening of July 15, Lutheran Partners in Global Ministry (LPGM) staff members Bethany Krepela and Shannon Mahedy loaded up their rental car with lip balms, bookmarks, stickers, and stacks of printed materials about LPGM, and started the three and a half hour journey from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Des Moines, Iowa.

They were on their way to represent LPGM at the Women of the ELCA (WELCA) Triennial Gathering from July 16 to July 18. LPGM was one of 50 exhibitors in the Exhibit Hall, and many of the event's 1,078 attendees visited their booth over the next three days. The Gathering's theme was "I am Worthy". 

Day One: Making New Friends and Reuniting with Old Friends

On the morning of July 16, Shannon and Bethany set up their booth in the Exhibit Hall. 

Throughout the day, women from around the world stopped by LPGM booth #437 to learn about LPGM, spin the prize wheel, share their stories, enter our drawing for an Eripoto bag (won by the lovely Marilyn G.), grab packets for their congregations, and share laughs with Shannon and Bethany.

After exhibiting from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, Bethany and Shannon drove to Spice Rasta, a local Indian restaurant, to enjoy a meal with Pastor Jane Anita and Dora Hemalatha from the Arcot Lutheran Church (ALC). LPGM has partnered with the ALC for the past 30 years — bringing education to Dalit children at the margins, especially girls.

They were also joined by Pastor Jane and Dora's hosts, Sandie Weckerly and Debra Quinn from the Northern Illinois Synod.

After finishing a satisfying meal, Shannon and Bethany were gifted with beautiful bags and garlands handmade at Saron Boarding Home. When reflecting on the dinner, Shannon remarked, "It's always a pleasure to join together with powerful women making a difference in the world."

Day Two: Connecting with the Rev. Martha Ambarangu

Day two started bright and early at 8:00 am, and a steady stream of women visited the LPGM booth until 5:00 pm.While Shannon and Bethany connected with dozens of interesting folks, one of the highlights was meeting the Rev. Martha Ambarangu. 

When Martha stopped by the LPGM booth, they quickly realized that many ties existed between them.

Martha is currently completely the final year of her PhD program at Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, and she is a Mwanamke/Womanist biblical critic. 

While she currently lives in Chicago, she is originally from Tanzania and is familiar with LPGM's partner, Mwangaza Education for Partnership. In fact, she was one of the beneficiaries of Mwangaza's past mother/daughter program, Binti/Mama. The program sought to strengthen teams of intergenerational women to be advocates for healthy lifestyles in school and community settings.

Martha knows Salome, one of Mwangaza's senior program coordinators, so we snapped a photo and sent it to Salome in Tanzania. Salome passed her warm greetings to Martha via WhatsApp. 

This sort of connection is only possible at gatherings such as this. 

Day Three: Listening to Powerful Women  

The third day of the Gathering was filled with more fellowship, inspiration, and connection. Yet again, Shannon and Bethany exhibited from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, but they took a break from their booth to attend the morning plenary session, since they had learned that Pastor Jane and Dora would be speaking in front of all attendees. 

The session began with a congo line, in which women of all walks of life joined hands in dance. 

After a wonderful Bible study led by the Rev. Sara Olson Smith, and an insightful Biblical analysis by Pastor Martha, Pastor Jane and Dora took the stage to share about the challenges facing Indian women and to affirm the worth and dignity of their fellow Indian women. They led the room in the chant, "We are worthy!" Click the videos above to watch two inspirational clips from their speech.

Naomi Mbise was one of the other international plenary speakers. Currently a Master of Divinity student at Harvard University, Naomi's educational path hasn't been easy. She spoke about her mother's resolve to provide access to education for her four daughters, and she shared about meeting a woman named Ruth who helped sponsor her educational goals. 

While Lutheran Partners in Global Ministry wasn't involved in Naomi's journey, her story reminded Bethany and Shannon of so many impact stories from LPGM's long-term partners in India, Tanzania, Guatemala, and the Central African Republic — who are providing access to quality education for girls and young women like Naomi.

Listening to Naomi filled them with hope and reenergized them, and they can't wait to witness all that she continues to achieve in the future. She's a bright light in this world.

Final Thoughts

When Shannon and Bethay drove back to Minneapolis on Saturday night, their cups were overflowing with hope, inspiration, and connection.

Many women brought informational packets back to their churches, and they are excited to watch these new relationships blossom.

LPGM couldn’t do this work without the partnership of passionate congregations, and they look forward to many new - and refreshed - reciprocal relationships to spring up with this event.