A New Home

 

The Lakota Lutheran Center and Chapel (LCC) faced severe space challenges when it lost its fellowship and distribution center areas to the new owner of its current site. Nearby railroad tracks and a busy street also made safety and noise a concern.

Thanks to your generosity, ground has been broken for the new LCC site serving more people in western Nebraska’s Scottsbluff and Gering areas.

The LCC provides congregational based Native American social ministry emphasizing regular worship, youth education, pastoral care, fellowship, health and wellness, young adult sports, and Lakota culture workshops, as well as feeding the hungry, caring for the homeless, assisting with emergency transportation, and distributing donated goods.

Talking over the sound of a passing train, Willard New Sr. said that ministering at LCC has helped him stay sober from alcohol for the last 19 years. New helps out in a number of ways: he coordinates congregational activities, answers phones, serves as a youth camp sponsor, and leads an Alcoholics Anonymous group.

He looks forward to moving to the new and larger LCC facility, which will be located in a quieter area—on former city park land—within walking distance of many of the people it serves.

Working through the ELCA’s Mission Investment Fund, ELCA Nebraska Synod ministry partners, and others, Lutherans raised a little more than $300,000 to fund the project. This special gift is in addition to ongoing support from the synod, ELCA World Hunger Appeal, and ELCA Mission Partners congregations.