Redeemer Lutheran Church, DeRidder, LA

+ God is working a miracle with our LWML mite collections atRedeemer in DeRidder, Louisiana. Through Him, we have collected $540.59 during the last 4 months. Compare this to the $387.57 over 2 years that was reported for us at the District convention in Baton Rouge.
+ How did we do this? It's so simple that we want to challenge each of you to do the same. Involve the Lord and He will make it happen!
+ Redeemer, DeRidder is a small church. We have 10 to 15 women at our monthly LWML metings. It was easy to excuse our tiny mites. Then we saw our $387.57 compared to Trinity, Leesville's $1604.25 over the same period. These sisters have about the same size membership and we share our pastor with them. We were still ready to excuse ourselves with "Their members have more money than ours." Fortunately, our LWML president, Joyce Singletary, asked them to send someone to tell us their secret. Linda Westeen and June Thomas came to our meeting. Here is the simple way that they and now we collect mites:
1. Get God involved! Bring your mites to the altar and pray about them.
2. Pick a monthly Sunday (we do the 4th Sunday) and have everyone bring their mites. Keep using the same Sunday to avoid confusion.
3. At a set time during the service, everyone walks up to the front, dumps their mites into a basket, and stands there as a group. Then, the pastor carries the basket to the altar and we ask the Lord to bless the mites.
4. The amounts collected are posted in the next Sunday bulletin. We also have a chart showing each collection on the central bulletin board.
5. Hand out mite boxes to all the women and children in your church. Be sure to give boxes to any new families. Keep extra boxes available in a visible place.

The prsence of the Lord at our mite collection has made all the difference. During the prayer, His blessings on it and everyone there can truly be felt by all.
Sue Fahr