Angie has been a member of Zion her whole life, and now attends alongside over 70 close family members.
My ancestors were founders of Zion Lutheran Church in 1866. Zion at the time was called Carlslund Lutheran Church. Zion is a great place to grow in faith and now I am seeing the faith growing through my own children here; which is a really cool to see.
Growing up I did not always want to wake up on Sunday mornings to go to church but my parents almost always made me go. Thank you, Mom and Dad! Now I look forward to going to church and listening to the sermon to see how I can connect with the word of God. While at church there were a lot of people around me that inspired me from family, pastors, leaders and everyone in the congregation. Thank you Zion members. The biggest inspiration that everyone at Zion has had on me was being taught how to pray and being taught to have faith in God.
I realized at a very young age that God is real and is always walking alongside us at all times. Don’t get me wrong everyone has hard times in their life; which I have had as well. I have just always looked/prayed for God’s guidance and strength in the hardest times of life.
She fondly remembers her time as a confirmation student at Zion.
It was a way to get together with friends my age and also talk about God which was not always the number one subject outside of church with peers at that age. I believe this was a very important part of my faith journey and where my true faith started to build as an adult in church.
Her favorite hymns are On Eagle’s Wings and Hallelujah.
I have heard On Eagle’s Wings many times at funerals, which is a sad time for everyone, but when I hear this song it is very reassuring that there is a heaven and we will all be comforted by God there and here on earth. I like Hallelujah because of the calm feeling I get when listening to it and it also makes me think of how much we should praise the lord every day for the gifts that have been given to us.
Angie has served as a confirmation small group leader for two groups, a Sunday school teacher, a VBS volunteer, and worked in the nursery.
I tell people that Zion is great, we have a great children’s Sunday school along with a lot of activities for kids and it is an awesome place to be. We also have great pastors that send powerful messages to everyone.
Helping people experience the joy of life in Christ by Living God’s Call in my eyes means to help everyone you see no matter what they may look or act like. Everyone is a child of God and everyone should treat others as God’s children no matter whom they are. I also help people by expressing faith and let it be known it’s okay to open up to God anytime.
She was a member of the 2012 Mission Jamaica team, and is returning this year with the 2018 team.
I went into my first trip to Mission Jamaica not knowing what to expect. I went with a lot of people but my parents (Russ & Terry), sister (Missy) and friend (Laurel) most influenced my decision to go. Once I got to Jamaica it was a beautiful hotel with a nice beach view, the perfect look of a vacation setting.
I had been told that the church service was long. We got to the church on Sunday morning and sang for a while and then it came time to greet everyone around you. At Zion we do greet those who are around us, at their church it means greeting everyone in the church. We spent about 20 minutes greeting everyone and then started the church service. We were at church for more than two hours. It was a great experience with a great sermon. I believe everyone should experience this amazing service at least once in their life.
The next day we went to the clinic site and it was at that point I knew that God was calling each of us to be there. The vacation scene was no longer around and it was a lot of people in need of care from all of us. I am truly blessed to have the experience of helping people in need even though I am not a doctor there was still plenty for me to do to help.
The most fulfilling part of my faith journey was devotion time at the end of the night on my last Mission Jamaica trip. It was an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many people who are connected with God at one time.
I am looking forward to what God has planned for me this year at Mission Jamaica. My top two reasons that I am going to Mission Jamaica again are to help the people in need there and to help myself as well. When helping others it does make me feel good inside. Also the people who are on this mission with me are great people to be around and it does help me grow even more in faith. I am so excited to experience Mission Jamaica again.
Angie currently lives in Buffalo with her husband Darroch, and three children Savannah, Amelia, and Hudson. She is the owner of Hair Haven Salon and also picks up some shifts at Kids Haven when needed.
