A Word from Council

It’s hard to sit at the computer today, Sunday, March 15. It’s time for church and the doors are closed. What a strange feeling. At the council meeting on Saturday, surrounded by council members and staff, making that decision to close the doors of Ascension through March 29. It was a decision not easily made. None of us have been through this or experienced this before. The best is to look for opportunities in the midst of obstacles.

The closing maybe hard, but also gives us an opportunity to dig deeper in our faith, trust in the love of God. Set aside time – talk to God, pray, read your Bible or devotions. Rest. Turn off the TV for a while. Stay in touch with family – including your church family. Finish that long forgotten project. Take a walk. Yes, and even get your spring cleaning done early. We can do this.

One last note, Ascension is a living and viable influence on us and in our community. It needs your support financially, so it can make a real living impact to our community and our love of God. Please continue to give to Ascension. I am available by email. Please let me know if you have a concern or question or just want me to call you and talk. Looking forward to seeing all of you soon. I know in my heart that great things will be happening at Ascension this year because all of you make a difference.

With God’s love and our faith, we can do anything.

Karen Simington
Council President

(Reprinted from the April 2020 newsletter.)

Latino Ministries Update

Our Spanish-speaking families are being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic just as our English-speaking families have been.

Most of the families have at least one family member that works in landscaping, so they just returned back to work after many months of unemployment. Most of the other employed members work in fast food, so they appreciate you continuing to visit drive-throughs since they have had their hours reduced. At the same time, they are worried about still working when much of the world is isolated for safety. Several of the families have six to eight people living in a two bedroom apartment, so they are very much looking forward to social isolation programs coming to an end.

Our Latino families are missing the feeling community at church and are especially saddened at the cancellation of Holy Week (Semana Santa) activities. In Spanish-speaking countries, this is the biggest holiday week of the year.

Edwin has been in frequent contact with the families, with regular phone calls. He has also been holding Sunday services and nearly daily devotions on Facebook. The primary goal has been to provide a moment of reflection, comfort, and worship for the Spanish-speaking members of Ascension. Pastors in many Spanish-speaking countries are not comfortable with social media, so these videos have filled a gap in many other countries as well.

(Reprinted from the April 2020 newsletter.)

Ascension’s Mission Partners & Coronavirus

El Salvador
El Salvador began to prepare for the coronavirus by closing schools, limiting large gatherings, and closing the borders to non-citizens on March 11. In the days that followed, there began to be laws limiting travel within the country. The first cases of the virus arrived from Spain on March 18. As of the writing of this article, there are 13 confirmed cases. There have been lots of photos on social media of our friends wearing facemasks. With the airport closed by the government, many American citizens and residents that were visiting El Salvador are now stuck there indefinitely. Included in that number are Benecio and Marta Liliana Aparicio who winter in El Salvador and were planning to return to Waukesha at the beginning of April. Church in San Jorge and Usulután is on hold until the virus has passed. For now, Pastor Julio and Pastora Blanca are calling members by phone to keep in touch. The agroferreterias have been forced to close and they are not able to pay their employees during this time. Pastor Julio has asked Ascension for help with this. All of the churches in the Greater Milwaukee have received a request from Bishop Gomez about packages of emergency food supplies for pastors throughout the country that are not receiving pay during this time. If you are interested in making an offering to support either of these needs, please contact Sarah Aparicio.

Tanzania
Pastor Makenge sent us a message on March 16 the moment it made the news that the first case of coronavirus was identified in Tanzania. The first case was in Arusha, which is in the same part of the country where our sister parish, Samaria parish, is located. As of the writing of this article, there are 13 confirmed cases, with most of them in the area around Mount Meru. Pastor Makenge, like many Tanzanians, has taken to wearing a facemask much of the time. Schools and large gatherings have been cancelled, but the president has stated he wants religious worship services to go forward as normal. The preaching points of the Samaria parish now have hand sanitizer and buckets of water for people to wash their hands when they arrive at church. They are planning to discontinue Sunday School and confirmation classes, but at the moment, they plan to continue worship as normal. The people are staying home more often than normal, but there is no social distancing at this point. There is great fear of their ability to recover from a pandemic related recession.

If there are any big changes with either partnership, we will keep you posted on the Mission Outreach Facebook page, facebook.com/Ascension.ELCA.MO/.

(Reprinted from the April 2020 newsletter.)

The Value of the Lenten Journey

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?” —Isaiah 58:6-7

The words of the prophet Isaiah are particularly fitting for our journey into the season of Lent. A couple of years ago I wrote a newsletter article on the season of Lent. I revisited those words in preparation for this coming Lent. Even the word “Lent” has become foreign to much of the world. And should you desire to deepen your relationship with God or sacrifice some aspect of your life in reverence and obedience to following God, you will no doubt be met with strange looks and questioning glances from those you might choose to share the faith journey you travel.

And yet, I am here to tell you that there is value in the journey of Lent. A season of 40 days of wilderness wanderings where, even in our presumed loneliness or suffering, God is present. As we are reminded of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, our own Lenten journeys can be opportunities for us to learn new directions; discern God’s will for our lives; and experience deeper moments in our worship and in our relationships with others. Regardless of the road you choose to travel in these days of Lent, God is with you. I believe, God has a deep desire to know you more deeply so that you can learn your value and worth through God’s eyes. And in learning your own value and worth, we can begin to understand that value and worth of those around us. Where each person is both a treasured creation of God and a beloved child of God.

It sounds good on paper; in reality we must find ways to let go of who we think we are in order to learn who we are in the eyes of God. The same is true for our brothers and sisters who sit next to us in worship; live across the street; gather at our borders and learn the story of God’s love for their own lives in the far corners of this world. What will this world look like when all God’s people walk together towards one Kingdom where all are welcome, and all are valued as beloved children of God. My friends, we have a long way to travel this season. My hope is that you will consider stepping into the wilderness of your life to find where God is leading you. Until everyone is given honor, freedom, and love…to the glory of God.

See you in the wilderness.

Pastor Chris
(Reprinted from the March 2020 newsletter)

Latino Ministry at Ascension

Who are the Latinos of Waukesha? Many people believe that nearly all Latinos in Waukesha are Mexican, except for the Salvadorans in the Latino ministry at Ascension. The Latino community in Waukesha is a diverse community with Spanish speakers from all over the Western hemisphere, with a wide variety of cultures and dialects. In the month of February alone, I have accompanied a family from Venezuela at their immigration hearing, met with a family from Ecuador that has begun to attend our tutoring program, and had a pastoral visit at the home of a young Puerto Rican woman suffering from cancer. In some of these situations, the people I have ministered to are fluent in English, but there is special comfort in praying in their first language in times of uncertainty, stress, and failing health.

I am receiving more calls and texts from Latino families in Waukesha that want to learn more about prayers, baptisms, and weddings at Ascension. Slowly the word is getting into the community that you can have your infant baptized without paying the $200 that some churches in Waukesha charge for baptism. Prayers are also free, not $50 a prayer. This year, we will have an Ash Wednesday service in Spanish and our first quinceañera service. It is a blessing for many Latino families to know they can have the same religious celebrations they remember from their Catholic youth without paying the high prices. They are grateful to have a new faith home.

Edwin Aparicio
(Reprinted from the March 2020 newsletter)

 

Mission Trip Planning

One of the questions I frequently get is “When is the next trip?”

As we have settled into our partnerships, it is our hope to have a set schedule for our big trips. In odd number years, we are planning to travel to El Salvador. On our even numbered years, we will alternate between hosting delegations and visiting Tanzania. 2020 is a hosting year. We had a practice run when we hosted Pastor Makenge from Tanzania who traveled with the Diocese delegation this past October. We are planning to host a larger delegation this summer with delegates from our sister parishes in both El Salvador and Tanzania. We ask for your prayers for delegates going through the visa process in this time of travel bans.

Another question is why do we visit El Salvador more often? A trip to El Salvador is typically costs an individual about $900 and lasts about eight days. Our 2018 trip to Tanzania was $4000 and we were gone for 16 days. With this plan, we will essentially be spending the same number of days with each partner, just distributed in different ways. When we visit our sister parishes, our hosts tend to take several days off of work, often unpaid, in order to shower us with hospitality. We want to be sure we don’t overstay our welcome. Our visits will be scheduled when there is not school in Waukesha and when it is a good time for our hosts to have visitors.
On occasion, we may take some shorter trips for a specific purpose that will most likely be taken by people actively working with the partnerships.

If you are interested in more information, feel free to contact Sarah Aparicio or visit our next meeting on April 28.

Sarah Aparicio
(Reprinted from the March 2020 newsletter)

 

Pastor’s Reflection

In early January, I received a card from a friend with the following quote on the cover: “And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” The words were written by poet and novelist Rainer Maria Rilke. The quote has stayed with me in these first weeks of this new year.

Always – there is expectation, anticipation, hope at the ending of one year and the beginning of another. It is also an opportunity to evaluate and celebrate the journey that has unfolded during the past year. There are moments when I would rather ignore, dismiss, even deny challenges that have taken their toll on me in the past year. It is far easier to imagine the days ahead anticipating happier and easier days. Yet, I am reminded that in reflecting on the past, I will often find the moments of peace and even joy in remembering where God came near to my suffering or brokenness. It turns out that our reflection on days gone by is as important as the excitement of what may come in this new year.

Many of you know, I have learned to walk a new road over the past couple of years, with an unwelcome companion, in dealing with Acute Idiopathic Recurrent Pancreatitis. More simply stated – it is pancreatitis without cause or trigger that shows up whenever the pancreas decides it needs a break. At its best, this companion is a frustration and a nuisance in my life. At its worst, it is a “take your breath away” kind of pain and an “upset your life routine” kind of schedule. Though, I like to believe I am superhuman and can tackle anything. The last couple of years have been humbling to be forced to put your life on hold to deal with a body that has an internal organ that misfires on occasion. When you are the person who so often tends the needs and suffering of others, it can turn your world upside down to be faced with the prospect of needing tending yourself.

I share all of this with you because many of you have taught me how to walk with this new companion. Many of you have shared your own stories of struggle – the frustration, the anger, the betrayal of your body. I have listened to your stories and I have learned from you. I have done some listening to my own body also – to rest when a flare or episode arrives and to ask for help at the Emergency Department when managing at home is less than ideal.

What all this means, in my life, is that I can fight the episodes and push through the pain and do my best to ignore – and sometimes that is exactly what I do. And other times, I do my best to listen to what others tell me – rest, recover, renew. And in this new year – a fourth “R” is added – reflect.

In the midst of the struggles over the past year, God has been present in some most amazing ways. I have had friends come and sit at the hospital with me. A pastoral assistant or two have found their way to my hospital room. My mom came to visit and after I told her she did not need to visit, she said, “Are you kidding, this is the best way to get you to myself for an entire hour!” It turns out the quote up above speaks to me for a couple of reasons. In welcoming the new year, “full of things that have never been,” I am learning to be more present to myself, to others, and to our God. When I first read the quote, I thought the “things that have never been” would be new adventures, new possibilities and indeed those experiences are always available. However, I have also learned that “things that have never been” may also lead me to moments where I am more present, more available, and more attentive to myself and the world around me.

Yes, I have much to learn in this new year. Perhaps that is why Epiphany, as the season of light, offers so much possibility and anticipation. God comes into the world. The light of God overwhelms the darkness. And in reflecting on some darker days and challenging moments, I am reminded that God promises a year of “things that have never been.”

Bring it on God. Bring it all on. I am ready for the road ahead. I hope you are too. Remembering all the while that God is with us.

Peace my friends. See you in church.

Pastor Chris
(Reprinted from the February 2020 newsletter)

Latino Ministry Update

This fall, we celebrated our first Spanish language baptism in the barn at Green Meadows. In January, we had our first baptisms in the Spanish Sanctuary. It was a special event as I baptized two adults that I have known since they were teenagers in El Salvador.

The members of our Latino ministry have begun to feel that Ascension is their second home. They love the sense of community they feel here at church and are often the last to leave after worship on Sunday. In order to build on that feeling, we are going to start having a potluck lunch the last Sunday of the month. All are welcome to bring a dish to share and join us for fellowship.

We have had more Latino families with young children join our church, so we are exploring opportunities to add an adult education time to Sunday mornings while the children are at Sunday school.

Edwin Aparicio
Spanish Language Minister
(Reprinted from the February 2020 newsletter)

Merry Christmas!

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. ~ John 1:9

Still in these first days of this new year we hear the words, “Merry Christmas” as the church celebrates the season of Christmas through January 6th with the feast of Epiphany celebrating the arrival of the Magi to greet the newborn king. It is an awfully full schedule for Mary and Joseph, for the Magi, for all of us. I wonder, “Have you had time to catch your breath?”

I am always hungry for the season of Advent to arrive. I enjoy the darkness, the candlelight, the quiet – when I can find it. Advent does not always cooperate. Even this year as Ileen and I completed much of our shopping earlier than usual, we still found ourselves engaged in the rhythms of preparation and celebration bringing us much joy and, well, pulling us in multiple directions.

As much as I commit to a “meeting-less” Advent, there are still more pieces to the church puzzle and the family puzzle and the life puzzle than usual. I think my heart and mind kind of expect Advent to be more intense – but still I try to carve out moments to light the candles of the Advent wreath and breathe prayers of hope, peace, joy, love into the lives of those I know are struggling in these long days of Advent – where the shadows can overwhelm. And before we know it, Christmas has come.

Even as I have counted down the days to Christmas, somehow, Christmas Eve arrives as if I have not been preparing at all. Still I try – to capture the moments of starlight in the night sky and angel song off in the distance. Even as I feel unprepared for Christmas Eve, or more to the point, pray for the night and the feeling to linger longer than it will – there will be a silent night that comes whether I am ready or not and it will last only as long as a night should last. And in the sunrise of Christmas Day, I will already find myself pondering what a year from now will bring when we gather, once again, to light candles to chase away the darkness. And with the arrival of the new year, we are greeted with the light of the season of Epiphany.

As much as Advent is the season of waiting, Epiphany is the season of light. From the shadows of Advent, we welcome the overwhelming light of God in the presence of a Savior sent to save the world. Epiphany provides each of us an opportunity to revel in the joy and presence of our God, come to be present with us.

What joy these words might offer to us. God comes to us. No longer a whispered prophecy. No longer a promised future. Now God comes to us – to live, to love, to laugh, to suffer, and to die. But for a season in this life, we dwell in the light of Christ. So enjoy the light dear friends. Christ is born. Emmanuel – God with us. And maybe, just maybe, each of us can find a moment to sit quietly awash in the light of Epiphany and rest, knowing that God is present with each of us – tending, healing, caring for us in ways we cannot imagine. Peace be with you.

See you in church.

Pastor Chris

Reprinted from the January 2020 newsletter.

Tutoring Update 2020

Tutors Needed
Do you like to work with preschool children? Are you a good team member? We are looking for several more tutors to work with our youngest English language learners. Guidance is provided. Contact Shirley Wehmeier if you can help.

We have recently had new families join our tutoring program with several young children who have limited English experience. We are looking to have more tutors in order to address the children’s specific needs.

Christmas Party
Our fall tutoring program culminated with an entire group event where students of all ages, tutors, and volunteers from the congregation met to make bird feeders, wreaths, aprons, bird houses, fleece hats and scarves, and Christmas ornaments. Our lunch of sloppy joes, fruit salad, and cookies was made by our middle school boys and elementary school children.

The boys made the sloppy joes from scratch – no canned sauce for them. They also cut up strawberries, bananas, grapes, and oranges for the salad. The elementary school students decorated cookies for dessert. This year, the youngest children made snowmen from empty milk jugs and made ornaments to take home. Led by Ron Marien, men made bird houses and bird feeders. They learned to use both power and hand tools. The women had a variety of options including aprons, and fleece wreaths, hats, and scarves. Enjoy the pictures as they tell the wonderful story of people of different ethnicities, ages, and backgrounds working together and having fun! Thanks to everyone who made this such a fun event!

Reprinted from the January 2020 newsletter.