Stewards for Ragbrai Opens Doors

Immanuel isn’t new to this either, five years ago, the church found a need for some desperate and expensive repairs to its roof, parking lot, pews and in general building maintenance. A charter group Pork Belly Ventures offered an opportunity to Immanuel; we open our church to host the riders and they pay the church a base fee. The experience proved not only a success for everyone but turned into a sharing moment for a number of the members. Many members expressed the exhaustion, effort, and hugely spiritual moments. So when Pork Belly found out the route for Ragbrai was going through Harlan again, it was evident to everyone, Immanuel was going to host once again, with glee.
Pastor Steve Chellew was asked, “What does the stewardship of Immanuel have to do with Ragbrai?” “When I think about a Certified Electrician working for free with the roasters on a flatbed, farmers offering hogs, personalize for a welcome center, leadership skills to elicit the help, the cooks in the kitchen, the Sunday school selling pies, women raffling a personalized quilt, there were so many displays of member’s stewardship. There is no other way to accomplish such a feat without everyone’s skill set.” Why should other churches attempt at what Immanuel just did? “Well, it’s not about the money. To me it is a great example of washing others feet, but in modern terminology. Church’s have a bad representation in our culture due to the sex scandals, politics, hypocrisy and so forth. So Ragbrai is simply about being Jesus to weary, tired, hungry travelers.”
The outcome was the stories of sharing. John Davis lead coordinator for outside grounds was introduced to one lost rider. In the midst of the confusion, a “50ish dear sweet woman” rider became separated from her group, the cell towers were overwhelmed making communications impossible, her only solitude was the church. Frazzled and desperate she found her way to Immanuel and was introduced to John. Through her remembering certain land marks and recognizing familiar neighborhoods they were able to reunite with her support team. Yet, John didn’t just drop the lost off and return; he spent some time with her and her support team visiting. It is this outreach Immanuel members have experienced throughout the 24 hour stay of our guest.
In an effort for the members of Immanuel to be visible to our guest t-shirts were designed and then ordered for the youth organization, LYO. The LYO met one evening and were instructed for a recognizable t-shirt. The finished product had bold letters, “And on the 8th Day… God Rode His Bike… to Harlan Iowa Immanuel Lutheran 2013” onto electric green shirts, Immanuel stood out. It’s one of these t-shirts one rider sought out and found, insisting to meet the organizer, to express his sincerest appreciation for our hospitality.
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