Grand Canyon Synod Global Engagement Team Annual Report: 2024
View reports for our 2024 assembly on our assembly mission and ministry stories page or in this collection of blog posts.
The congregations of the Grand Canyon Synod actively engage with and support many programs globally. Whether it be a direct congregational relationship or project outside the US or programs and partnerships attached to the synod, the ELCA or the Lutheran World Federation!
The Global Engagement team works to support these efforts and our ongoing companion synod relationships; we also support the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program and other ELCA Global Mission programs.
The Grand Canyon Synod has companion relationships the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Senegal (ILS) and the Mexican Lutheran Church (ILM).
Our shared companion relationship with ILM and the NW Ohio synod has grown. There are 11 churches and over 1,500 members spread over Mexico. There is no concentration of churches in a given area. ILM headquarters is located in Guadalajara. This year we were able to send funding to support Ricardo Flores a seminarian, who has been a lay pastor at Grace Church, leading worship after their pastor died. He is attending the Augsburg Seminary in Mexico City. This assistance has been shared with NW Ohio, Ricardo has one more year to graduation and we will look to additionally assist funding in 2025.
Our continued relationship with Senegal is strong! A planned delegation visit in March was postponed due to the Senegal presidential election. Elections are not on a given day (like the first Tuesday in November) but can be called anytime by the governing body, the 2024 election took place during the delegations planned dates and Pres. Diouf of the ILS asked us to postpone the trip so there would be no interference and our meetings could be productive. One of the purposes for this trip is the Covenant agreement between the ILS and Grand Canyon Synod needs to be renewed and signed, this should happen every few years and due to Covid it’s overdue! Our thanks to Pres. Diouf for his leadership and flexibility, the delegation is now scheduled to travel in late November.
Many congregations support the ELCA YAGM program either by directly supporting an individual YAGM or the program in a specific country. The YAGM’s we support and the in country coordinators really appreciate the funding and prayers! This is a great opportunity to support these young adults who give a year of service in their assigned countries. Many go on to seminary after their YAGM year, we have some in the Grand Canyon Synod!
The GCS has received a Holy Innovation grant for the multi-synod Sembrando en los márgenes project. This is a two-year project in which we want to learn how to:
Partner with ministries in communities that are ethnically, linguistically, and economically diverse
Expand the network of ELCA ministries that provide direct service to migrants
Establish ongoing collaboration between synods around migration
Develop learning experiences about the borderlands that center community voices
The final Scholarships for International Travel have been awarded. Pastors newly ordained (10 years or less) have had the opportunity to apply for a grant to strengthen their continuing education and understanding of the work of the church through international travel. This grant was established for three years and awarded to two applicants each year. The 2024 recipients are Luis Ochoa and Veronica Alvarez. Our thanks to the anonymous benefactor of this gift!
As you can see, the Global Engagement Team is hard at work promoting God’s love throughout the world. We are an energetic group and cannot wait to see what is next for the Grand Canyon Synod and the ELCA!
God Bless and many thanks!
