By: Sue Jensen, Grand Canyon Synod Council Member
The Grand Canyon Synod was awarded $10,000 from the ELCA’s COVID-19 Response Fund to assist Native American and Latino ministries with food, water, and hygiene items. Synod Bishop Deborah Hutterer issued a challenge to synod congregations and individuals to match the grant amount. Within one week $13,700 had been raised. TVLC was one of the donors.
“Miracles abound. In a crisis this church responded generously and quickly. Just as God pours out love with great abandon for us, we get to use the resources given to let that love flow in tangible ways … to our neighbors in need,” said the Bishop.
As a result of this generosity, eight synod ministries received grants including the Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission (NELM) and House of Prayer in Rock Point, Ariz. Founded in 1954, the NELM campus includes a clinic, an elementary school, a café and housing. Pastor Katie Adelman serves as executive director of House of Prayer and she explained that COVID relief money was used to purchase nonperishable food, water, PPE, masks, a large-capacity refrigerator, and sanitizing products.
Mission staff provided 60 to 70 to-go meals and delivered 110 student meals and learning packets for five days per week for three months. They also prepared more than 50 food boxes weekly for older adults and sick neighbors and facilitated food drops by relief agencies.
The pandemic has highlighted for the general public the ways in which the Navajo nation has for many years been disadvantaged. Lacking adequate medical care and easy access to clean water, Native Americans have been disproportionately sickened and killed by COVID-19. Food insecurity continues to exist and grocery stores are far away, expensive, and limited in products. The shelves in some stores have not been restocked for more than three months.
The challenges facing Native communities will not be solved by pandemic response funding, even though those funds have significantly helped during the COVID crisis. The Grand Canyon Synod will continue to seek ways to support NELM and eliminate the disparities that impact Native people in Arizona and elsewhere.
Click here to learn more about NELM.
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