Principe de paz houston texas

Food insecurity was critical even before the storm. A federal judge has ruled that a statewide moratorium on evictions is unconstitutional. James funded. Amid all this, the church has stepped up.

James Lutheran, a small congregation on the north side of Houston, was fielding dozens of requests a day for assistance with food, rent and utilities prior to the storm. Now the number is higher than ever. James is no stranger to serving its neighbors. With community wellness events, immigration forums, citizenship classes, food distributions and more, members have been serving the neighborhood in critical ways.

The need, however, has exploded with the pandemic and the storm. James has been able to help many. We are church together. James has sustained damage from burst pipes. Every time members think they have the pipes fixed, another gives out—and finding a plumber in Houston is a huge problem now. Thankfully, one of the members of a citizenship class being sponsored at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Houston is a plumber and has been helping out. What goes around comes around!

I was amazed when Kinsmen Lutheran Church in Houston, despite extensive damage to its two-story family life center, hosted a community-wide food distribution in partnership with the Houston Food Bank. Members were mucking, gutting and repairing burst pipes in the building, and yet, ministry to a hurting community continued.

The food distribution program served 1, people. Beth Warpmaeker and Mark England, pastors of Kinsmen, have committed to continuing the distribution twice a month for the foreseeable future as food insecurity, fueled by the pandemic and now the winter storm, rises. They also hold free community meals every Wednesday; these usually feed around people, although as many as have attended.

Kinsmen has managed to launch a Latinx ministry in the middle of the pandemic. When water started pouring through the ceiling into the sanctuary of Iglesia Luterana Principe de Paz in Houston, the congregation turned off the water. Members found and repaired the leaky pipe , but the damage had been done. Then they found another leak.

When I arrived on Sunday morning that week, there was water in the sanctuary. A third leak. Again they turned off the water. Principe de Paz and its pastor, Adriana Johnson-Rivas, have a had a hard year. As the pandemic has disproportionately affected the Latinx community, they have mourned five COVID-related deaths in the parish. Many in the community and the congregation have lost work and experienced food insecurity.

Johnson-Rivas also weathered a personal tragedy: her sister died as she was being taken to the hospital. Her illness was not COVID-related, but overcrowding at the hospital had forced her discharge days earlier.

Despite all this, Principe de Paz serves as a community of spiritual healing and hope. Humanitarian needs and congregational needs go hand in hand. Every time members think they have the pipes fixed, another gives out—and finding a plumber in Houston is a huge problem now.

Thankfully, one of the members of a citizenship class being sponsored at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Houston is a plumber and has been helping out.

What goes around comes around! I was amazed when Kinsmen Lutheran Church in Houston, despite extensive damage to its two-story family life center, hosted a community-wide food distribution in partnership with the Houston Food Bank. Members were mucking, gutting and repairing burst pipes in the building, and yet, ministry to a hurting community continued.

The food distribution program served 1, people. Beth Warpmaeker and Mark England, pastors of Kinsmen, have committed to continuing the distribution twice a month for the foreseeable future as food insecurity, fueled by the pandemic and now the winter storm, rises. They also hold free community meals every Wednesday; these usually feed around people, although as many as have attended. Kinsmen has managed to launch a Latinx ministry in the middle of the pandemic.

When water started pouring through the ceiling into the sanctuary of Iglesia Luterana Principe de Paz in Houston, the congregation turned off the water. Members found and repaired the leaky pipe , but the damage had been done. Then they found another leak. When I arrived on Sunday morning that week, there was water in the sanctuary. A third leak. Again they turned off the water. Principe de Paz and its pastor, Adriana Johnson-Rivas, have a had a hard year.

As the pandemic has disproportionately affected the Latinx community, they have mourned five COVID-related deaths in the parish. Many in the community and the congregation have lost work and experienced food insecurity. Johnson-Rivas also weathered a personal tragedy: her sister died as she was being taken to the hospital. Her illness was not COVID-related, but overcrowding at the hospital had forced her discharge days earlier. Despite all this, Principe de Paz serves as a community of spiritual healing and hope.

Humanitarian needs and congregational needs go hand in hand. Congregations with an outward focus become beacons of hope in their communities. Ministry continues even as congregations face the realities of reconstructing.

Pastors of Kinsmen have committed to continuing the distribution program twice a month for the foreseeable future as food insecurity rises. On Feb. John Lutheran in Angleton and St. After warming up and recharging their devices, they returned home, only to find a burst pipe.

Furniture was drenched, ceiling tiles had fallen down and floor tiles were coming up. The house, which had witnessed family meals, movie nights, tears and laughter, was now a mess.

Pete and Elida scrambled for a place to stay, landing at the parsonage at St. Peter, then rooming with friends and finally lodging at a hotel. The Lopezes had the resources to find shelter and repair their home. Many in the area covered by the synod do not; they continue to live in uncertainty with destroyed homes and prohibitive deductibles.