FROM THE DESK OF . . .
Sunday, June 1 and Monday, June 2, 2025
From the desk of Linda Gerlach:
TRIP TO GREECE Following the Footsteps of St. Paul – in 2023, I was able to travel to Israel with my college friend Marge Bruning along with some people from her church in Richmond VA. This trip was put together by Good Shepherd Travel. She invited me to go on another trip with her this year with her church group. We will tour Greece and stop in Turkey, following the footsteps of St. Paul.
Wed. June 4 – I will fly into DC early in the day. Depart from Washington DC, Dulles Airport.
Thurs. June 5 – Arrive in Athens, after a stop at Istanbul Airport and stay at Zafolia Hotel.
Fri. June 6 – Embark on a 3 night cruise to Greek Islands and Turkey. Visit Mykonos.
Sat. June 7 – Visit Kudasi and ruins in Ephesus; then the Island of Patmos where St. John was exiled and wrote the book of Revelations.
Sun. June 8 – Visit the islands of Crete and hopefully Santorini. Paul stopped in Crete on his way to Rome.
Mon. June 9 – Return to Athens and tour the city including Mars Hill where Paul preached. Next, we will visit Corinth where Paul established a thriving church. We will see many sites from his ministry there. Before returning to Athens we will stop in Cenchrea (Acts 18:18) and spend the night at Zafolia Hotel again.
Tues. June 10 – We depart for Delphi and visit an archaeological site and museum, continuing on to Itea where we will stay at Nafsiki Palace Hotel.
Wed. June 11 – We will visit Meteora where we will see hundred year old Byzantine monasteries on top of huge rock structures (I suggest looking at pictures of this that can be found on the internet). These monasteries were first built in the 14th century by monks seeking isolation. This promises to be an amazing sight! We will stay at Kosta Famissi Hotel.
Thurs. June 12 – Travel to Veria (Berea) where Paul evangelized many. We will stay in Thessaloniki at Capsis Hotel.
Fri. June 13 – Visit Philippi where Paul delivered his first sermon in Europe, where Lydia was baptized, Paul was imprisoned and the jailer was converted.
Sat. June 14 – Visit Thessalonica where Paul preached the Gospel on his second and third missionary journey. Note: Thessaloniki and Thessalonica seem to be one and the same.
Sun. June 15 – Fly home from Thessaloniki via Istanbul airport, arrive in the evening and then hopefully a very late flight home from Washington Dulles.
Please keep this trip, all the travelers and those who are guiding us in your prayers. There are copies of this itinerary with more details along with a map of our trip that I made, on The Information Center for anyone to take.
I hope to share a presentation about this trip in the fall here at St. Paul, just as I did with my trip to Israel.
+Thank you for your prayers! Linda Gerlach+
All are welcome at St. Paul Lutheran – Please allow God’s love to work in and through you to brighten the lives of members and visitors alike.
+ PRAYER CONCERNS for our St. Paul Family +
HEALING: Bill Baessler, Paul Baessler, Lorraine Carroll, Karen Cowell, Zachary Dawson, Bev Deer, Elijah Desouza, Miguel Diaz, Joyce Dolpp, Dean Durow, Mildred Enney, Ryan Essenburg, Maureen Finch and her sister Colleen, Amy and David Fleischman, Bob Fritz, Pastor Green, Anne Gross, Margie Hadsell, Bonnie Haskell, Amanda Hughey, Loraine Jensen, Steve Keller, Pastor Dennis Krueger, MaryBeth Lee, Sue & Jeff Licht, Connie Maerten, Jackie Malinowski, Eunice & Jim Manth, Jason McNair, Mel Miller, Mike Mueller, Kathy Nagel, McKenna O’Neil, Gloria & Bill Pittler, Doris Rae, Joy Rohring, Wayne Reichert, Jane Ruppert, Joe Sarzyniak, Leni Schofield, Randy Scott, Chris Thomas, Audrey Truax, Deb Tyler, Kathy Warriner, Frank Wendt, Gail Wolf, Shirley Wurl and Barbara Yate’s son, Ron.
AT HOME: Marlyn Gross under Hospice Care HEALTHCARE FACILITIES: Mary Jo Bishop and Marilyn Rumbold.
MILITARY: Matthew Daugherty, Eric Davis, Aaron Fix, Zachary Kijowski, Joe Kloc, Joshua Lindsley, Christopher Manth, and Kyle Rae.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LUTHERAN WOMEN IN MISSION (LWML) NEWS
The Planet Green Recycle Fundraiser accepts ALL brands of ink cartridges. You can drop off ALL your empty cartridges in the labeled bin in the Gathering Place.
See the bulletin board in the Gathering Place for the most current Mite and Mission Grant Reports or go to the national web site lwml.org and the district web site east-distrlwml.org. Your continued prayers and support is greatly appreciated.
- For questions on any Lutheran Women in Mission news, you may contact either Bea Hapeman (716 -327-2400) or Marge Stoelting (716-693-7555).
***Mite boxes, Eastern District Newsletter, The LINK etc. can all be found on The Information Center in The Gathering Place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Confirmation Class Assignments – God bless our Confirmands!
Next year’s classes, we’ll see you in September! Continue to join us on Sunday and Monday. Nothing ended just because Confirmation classes are finished for the Summer.