Valerie Mossman-Celestin is the Executive Director of Haitian Artisans for Peace International, in Musac, Haiti. HAPI is a capacity building project funded in part by the United Methodist Committee On Relief. Valerie shared her testimony with me while on a visit to Musac in 2011. It is a spiritual journey that began with the question, “What is help?”

On February 19, 1974, students and faculty at the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s St. Louis Concordia Theological Seminary marched through the campus – out the doors of an institution, church body and well established educational system – and into self-described exile.  
 
This story begins in the 19th Century when a new method of Biblical interpretation known as the “historical-critical method”, tore many Protestant churches apart.
 
Were Adam and Eve real people? Was Jonah actually swallowed by a fish? Or, did ancient authors reflect their own historical situation when addressing the people of their time and place?

For Missouri Synod Lutherans, the full impact of these theological debates and culturally conservative verses more modern world views came to a head decades after other church bodies had divided and drifted apart. 
 
The debate ruptured the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod at a time of vast American cultural and social upheaval: Viet Nam, the Civil Rights movement and Watergate. For many students, faculty, administrators and Lutherans throughout North America, the events in St. Louis took a personal toll. The walkout would divide families, split congregations and have a lasting impact on the future of the church.

John H. Tietjen (1928 -2004) was a Lutheran clergyman, theologian, and church leader best known for his role in the Seminex controversy in the mid-1970s, and for his efforts on behalf of Lutheran unity that resulted in the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

In this clip, Tietjen speaks with a prophetic voice regarding Lutheran identity and the legacy of Martin Luther.

Valerie Mossman-Celestin Executive Director of Haitian Artisans for Peace Internatinal (HAPI) asked me to produce three music videos in Musac, Haiti with the Shalom Singers. HAPI is an UMCOR funded fair trade artisan co-op focused on spirituality and creativity. The Shalom Singers are a group of young adults associated with HAPI. This video was recorded at a local hotel. The group is standing inside the mouth of a tiger. The Shalom Singers leader and HAPI Co-founder, Paul Prevost, thought this would serve as a metaphor illustrating Haitian resolve to trust in Jesus of Nazareth, even when surrounded by danger.

Since 1975, People’s Resource Center has been bringing neighbors together to respond to hunger and poverty in DuPage, County, Illinois.

Services that meet people’s basic needs include food pantries that provide more than 7,000 families with 35,000 grocery carts filled with a week’s worth of food including fresh produce, frozen meats and bread.

Since 1975, People’s Resource Center has been bringing neighbors together to respond to hunger and poverty in DuPage, County, Illinois. PRC offers a variety of services and empowerment programs including an innovative Art program that helps adults and children develop self-esteem and creativity.