Sadly, the Congo Mission fundraising effort for this summer’s mission trip did not go well. Pastor Kalonji and I fell well short of our budgeted goal. The mission, however, does continue. We raised enough funds to send Pastor Kalonji to Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi for a three and one half week mission trip. While in country, Pastor Kalonji will carry on the mission work of preaching, teaching, feeding orphaned children and freeing mothers and their babies from detention in clinics. He will also inspect the progress on the construction of the first ever Lutheran Church building in the Kasai-Oriental province. Pastor Kalonji and I worked with Pastor Mozart of Mbuji-Mayi to secure land and construct this building. The new parish has been dedicated as New Jerusalem Lutheran Parish.
While I have not been able to travel to Congo recently, I go with him in spirit. The work that we do in Congo is a very important ministry for the sake of the Lutheran community there, and I deeply miss the friends I have made and serving a people who are so welcoming of the messengers of God’s Word. While saddened that I cannot visit Congo this summer, I am pleased that God continues to provide for our Congo Mission efforts.
I am committed to making the trip next summer. As the ambassador for Congo Mission International, I have already begun efforts to encourage our mission partners within the NALC to support this ongoing mission. Unlike other global mission entities, Pastor Kalonji and I do not have support from large sponsoring charitable organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse, Thrivent, or Habitat for Humanity. We depend on the generosity of congregations and individuals to continue to do the mission we have engaged in since 2014. Anyone who feels called to lend a hand may help with a small monetary gift to our mission using the St. Jacob’s Vanco online giving app.
Please join me in keeping Pastor Stéphane Kalonji and his family in prayer as he is away from home making this annual mission trip. He will depart the U.S. on Monday, July 6th and return on Friday, July 31st.
Fellowship Archive
Congo Mission Update
Posted July 15, 2026 By adminWomen’s Bible Study: Summer Social
Posted July 12, 2026 By adminALL women are invited to join the Women’s Bible Study for a casual summer social and devotion at the home of Susan Shealy on Monday, July 20th beginning at 7:00 PM. If you can, bring a snack to share. Soft drinks and tea will be provided. Make plans to join us – and bring a friend! Please RSVP to Susan if you are able to attend.
VBS in July
Posted July 10, 2026 By adminMark your calendars for VBS 2026. Join us for Illumination Station Monday, July 13th through Thursday, July 16th. Experience what it means for Jesus to be the Light of the World. There will be classes for all ages including adults. Children will rotate classes for lessons, games, music, and crafts. Our meal will be served starting at 5:45 PM and VBS will start at 6:30 PM and end at 8:00 PM.
Thank you to all of our volunteers for VBS!
Babies – Donna, Ann, and Olivia
Kindergarten – Julie and Amber
1 st and 2nd – Patricia and Denise
3rd and 4th – Julie and Joanie
5th and 6th – Kayla and Lynn
Youth – Susan, AJ and David
Adults – Pastor
Crafts – Karla and Tracy
Music – Angela
Games – Isabelle, Eddie, Tyler, and Sherrie
Meal Team – Davis, Sandra, Gerald, and Billy.
Come and experience God’s promised, perfect, powerful, and proven son – Jesus Christ. Come and experience Illumination Station!
Youth Through the Years Celebration
Posted June 29, 2026 By adminWe celebrated our youth through the years on Sunday, June 7th as part of our 250th Anniversary Celebration. We recognized our youth and advisors and shared many fun memories. It was a great time of fellowship with youth of all ages!
Up and Going
Posted June 29, 2026 By adminTwelve members and guests gathered at the Doza Rizen Restaurant in Chapin on June 11th for the Up and Going meeting. The hostess seated us at a private table in the Palmetto Gallery Room.
We ordered drinks and menu items and seated ourselves at the designated spot. While we waited, we enjoyed admiring the artwork on display in the Palmetto Gallery. Our selected food items were delivered. We each chose our favorite items and enjoyed the delicious food while laughing and talking with each other.
Helen gave the blessing before our meal. It is so nice to enjoy each other’s company in a casual setting. After lunch Helen gave the devotions. The Bible reading was Proverbs 11:25, “Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” The reading concluded with this important advice “love breeds more love, grace multiplies into more grace, and blessings expand as they ripple out on their journey.”
Helen encouraged all to pray for The SC Oncology Center doctors, nurses, workers and all patients as well as all Up and Going members and guests, as many are dealing with health issues.
The July meeting will be held at the new Chapin Ale House on Chapin Road (the old JR Peters). Please meet there at 11:00 AM on Thursday, July 9th.
Helen
Team Leader
Up and Going
VBS in July
Posted June 10, 2026 By adminMark your calendars for VBS 2026. Join us for Illumination Station Monday, July 13th through Thursday, July 16th. Experience what it means for Jesus to be the Light of the World. There will be classes for all ages including adults. Children will rotate classes for lessons, games, music, and crafts. Our meal will be served starting at 5:45 PM and VBS will start at 6:30 PM and end at 8:00 PM. Come and experience God’s promised, perfect, powerful, and proven son – Jesus Christ. Come and experience Illumination Station!
Youth Through the Years Celebration
Posted June 5, 2026 By adminWere you in the youth during Pastor Wessinger’s call? Were you in the Luther League? Were you in the youth during Pastor Eargle’s call? Were you in the LCY? Are you in the youth today? Have you served as a youth advisor? Have you supported our youth through the years? If you answered yes to any of those questions, mark your calendars for Sunday, June 7th.
We are celebrating our youth, advisors, and supporters of the past and present with a hamburger meal after service. Come join the fun as we walk down memory lane. And….there are some stories and memories to share!! You don’t want to miss the fun and the opportunity of a great time of fellowship with youth of all ages!
St. Jacob’s 250th Anniversary Year-long Celebration
Posted June 4, 2026 By adminAnother monthly observance of our 250th anniversary celebration was completed as we welcomed our old friend Pastor Marty Ramey back to St. Jacob’s. It was a joy to have her with us as she brought the sermon for our worship and visited with the congregation over the “Old Timey Dinner” sponsored by the women of our congregation.
Next up is a celebration of St. Jacob’s Youth past and present. Everyone who has been a part of the youth ministry over the years is invited to share a time of fellowship and a meal following our worship on Sunday, June 7th. Join your church family as we continue our year-long celebration as we give thanks to God for our congregation’s long history in the service of the Gospel. Please make sure to attend each of these and invite your friends and neighbors to join us. Below is a list of our remaining planned events.
- June 7th – Luther League, LCY, Youth celebration; members of past groups will be invited to attend church service; hamburger meal will be provided after service.
- July 19th – Guest preacher Rev. Randy Drafts (former seminarian and field worker); congregational dinner following worship.
- August 16th – Guest preacher Rev. David Tholstrup (former SCMD Dean), congregational dinner following worship.
- September 20th – Congregational Outreach Event; blankets for residents at Generations.
- October 25th – Homecoming and Anniversary Sunday, guest preacher NALC Presiding Bishop Dan Selbo; special catered congregational dinner following worship.
November TBD – Golden Agers Recognition and Celebration.
Up and Going
Posted June 2, 2026 By adminOn Thursday, May 14th, eleven members and guests gathered at the Golden Bay Seafood Restaurant in Irmo to enjoy a delicious seafood lunch.
Helen Lindler gave the devotions, with the Bible reading from the book of Daniel, the 6th chapter, verses 26 and 27. The devotional reading was entitled “God Rescues and He Saves.” Daniel was a Jew captured from Judah and taken to Babylon. He interpreted King Darius’s dreams. King Darius turned on Daniel and had him thrown into the lion’s den. God saved Daniel and King Darius recognized the power and strength of Daniel’s God.
Gerald gave the prayer and also said grace for our meal. Thank you Gerald. All enjoyed a delicious seafood meal and the table buzzed with conversation and laughter. Everyone enjoyed a great time together.
The June meeting will be Thursday, June 11th at Doza Rizen. Please meet there at 11:00 AM. Doza Rizen is located next to the Food Lion in Chapin.
Helen (O’Neal) Lindler
Team Leader for
Up and Going
From Your Pastor’s Heart
Posted June 1, 2026 By admin“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10
For several weeks during the spring, our confirmands studied and reflected upon the Lord’s Prayer as found in the sixth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. Having listened to our students and their reflections upon what Jesus is teaching us; I would like to offer reflection on three of the petitions contained in the prayer our Lord has taught us.
The introduction and first petition of the prayer is “Our Father, hallowed be your name.” Jesus teaches us to pray in this way, not because God’s name isn’t holy or glorified on its own, but that we would recognize the holiness of God’s name and glorify Him in the way we live our life each day. As we recognize the holiness of God’s name we are most likely to honor and keep the second Commandment, not taking God’s name in vain. Honoring and glorifying God’s name is the precursor to living the Christian life.
The second petition I’d like to discuss is “Your Kingdom come.” God’s kingdom refers to His way of ordering things. Through the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus, we have a clear picture of what God’s kingdom is to look like. Throughout his earthly life and ministry, Jesus exemplified the greatest commandments to love God and love neighbor. Following his example, we strive to live as people belonging to the kingdom of God here on earth. We are to strive for peace, healing broken relationships, and caring for those whom society turns away.
And finally, the third petition I’d offer for reflection is “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This is a most difficult petition to live up to, for we are all sinners in need of God’s grace. Central to the teaching of Jesus is forgiveness. This is important because central to the suffering of our world, in all walks of life, is the reluctance to forgive. We do well to recall the words Jesus speaks following His teaching the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus says, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15 ESV).
Forgiveness and reconciliation are paramount to living as citizens of God’s kingdom. There is no room for sinners to live in the blessed peace of God’s forever kingdom. That is why he sent his Son Jesus into the world. God loved the world so much that all who believe that Jesus is indeed Lord and Savior would have their sins forgiven. Therefore, it is to be our thankful response to demonstrate this same love for our neighbor. For if we do not, God will not forgive us. We can’t pick and choose who we will forgive or not forgive, just as God would not pick and choose one believer over another. After all, any person who has sinned against another is also someone whom Jesus came to die for.
Each week we pray this prayer that Jesus taught us. It is a prayer central to our life together as God’s people. In reflection and study of the Lord’s Prayer, I asked our confirmands, as I always do, to write the Lord’s prayer putting it into their own words. There will be occasion in the future when I will use their prayers as a part of our liturgy. Until such time, let us strive to earnestly contemplate the words Jesus taught us, and focus on living as kingdom people saved by the grace of our loving and merciful God.
Heavenly Father, help us bring you glory by keeping your name holy in all we say and do. Lead us to do the work of your kingdom, and to forgive others as you have forgiven us. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.
Grace to you and peace,
Pastor David Nuottila
