IN OUR COMMUNITIES
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North Dakota Moravian women “raise the roof”
wo years ago, a group of women from all four Moravian churches in North Dakota—Bethel, Canaan, Goshen and Shepherd of the Prairie— gathered in a home in Fargo. Rather than gather for a traditional Bible study and collect monies to send off for missions, we sensed it was time for a change. It was time to see some action in our own neighborhood. What could we do locally that would fulfill both our need to serve God, and represent Jesus in the flesh to others? How could we be the fruit of the vine? For the second year in a row, North Dakota Moravian women have “raised the roof” for an area family. As a group, we have raised $3,000 each year for the Fargo-based charity Down Home. The non-profit provides furnishings and décor for families that are transitioning from homelessness into permanent housing. Down
Home works closely with community agencies to identify candidates and it helps each client family develop a “Pay It Forward” plan to foster connections to communities, schools and churches. After we completed our fundraising, Down Home paired us with a single mom, Alexandra and her son, Gabriel. Alex had graduated from the Jeremiah Project, a faith-based program that provided her and her son a place to live and childcare as long as she was enrolled full time in a school. Now employed full time as a technician in a hospital, Alex had found and rented a small condo. Down Home was on tap to provide furnishings to make the condo a true home. At a scheduled time, a group of Moravians helped move furniture, towels, beds, linens, dressers and decorative items into the condo.
Madison Heuer (Bethel) hangs a shower curtain. All furnishings and linens were funded by the ND Moravian Women.
Maureen Hahn (Shepherd) and Carolyn Jendro (Goshen) work to hang pictures.
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The Moravian
