Holyoke’s Zion Lutheran Church crew at the recent LCMS Youth Gathering is pictured from left, front row, Emma Roll, Jacky Mosqueda, Jessy Mosqueda, Ashley Rahe and Josie Schlachter; and back row, pastor Gary Rahe, Brenna Sullivan, Daniela Fierro, sponsor Margarita Fierro, Haley Van Overbeke, Kristin Vieselmeyer, Rachel Krueger, pastor Kurt Hatteberg and sponsor Diane Rahe.
Lutheran churches take 10 youth to gathering
Just as they have every three years since 1980, youth recently attended the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Youth Gathering. From Holyoke’s Zion Lutheran Church and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Amherst, 10 students and three sponsors joined over 21,000 others from across the United States and even some other countries July 11-15 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the gathering.
As Zion pastor Gary Rahe put it, “the spiritual energy was just over the top.”
Daytime events were held at the convention center, where there were Bible studies, special interest centers and special activities. In the evenings, everyone met at the U.S. Bank Stadium for music and speakers, including I Am They, Skit Guys and Toby Mac.
Service was a big part of the trip, and Rahe estimated the youth put in some 45,000 volunteer hours. The local crew was in a group of about 60 that spent three and a half hours weeding gardens owned by the City’s recreation department. Other groups served in such places as shelters, churches and nursing homes, completing a variety of tasks.
By the end of the gathering, the youth had packaged over one million meals, donated 800 units of blood and 1,000 inches of hair, assembled 1,000 kits for a homeless shelter and helped build a Habitat For Humanity house.
Minneapolis as a whole was incredibly welcoming and friendly, Rahe said. “It felt more like a hometown than it did a city.”
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