One of teens helping with our summer program asked if we are going to have an after-school program this fall. He needs help with math. DJ came to us from SER - Jobs for Progress, through a program for teens who must meet financial criteria and prove need. He can't afford to pay a tutor and he wants to get into a good college.

There are many DJ's in our community. When a teen has the courage to ask for the help he or she needs to meet goals they have set, we want to be able to provide it! LINC is looking for committed volunteer adults and teens to help launch our after-school enrichment program in the Aldine-Greenspoint area.

Our goal is to provide homework help, remedial and enrichment tutoring, reading, art, dance, theatre, cooking and nutrition, financial literacy, work readiness and sports skills classes. We are also open to suggestions for other programs. We have the space and the kids who need you. All we need is YOU!

Contact Gwen at 281-961-3224 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information or to volunteer.

LINC Community Center

Summer Program

This summer will be busy at LINC! Through partnerships with the Houston Food Bank, LoneStar College, The Women's Resource of Greater Houston, Centro Familiar Cristiano, LifeBridge and Beautiful Savior churches, Camp Lone Star and many more, children and adults will enjoy afternoons filled with activities, classes, games, VBS, Day Camp etc.  Lots of craft items will be used and are needed, as well as sports equipment. Please see the list below and let us know what you will be able to donate. We appreciate any items in any amount; partial packages and leftovers are very welcome!

• Paper Plates *
• Construction Paper *
• Newsprint
• Kraft Paper
• Crayons
• Glue Sticks
• Liquid Glue
• Brown Paper Lunch Sacks
• Popsicle/Craft Sticks
• Dry Beans
• Plastic Wrap
• String/Twine/Yarn/Jute
• Googly/Whiggly Eyes
• Pipe Cleaner (Chenille Stems)
• Washable Markers
• Tissue Paper *
• Coffee Filters *
• Drinking Straws
• Scissors (Safe for Children)
• Old Magazines
• Old Newspaper (for cleanup)
• Hot  glue guns
• Sports equipment:
  • Basketballs
  • Kickballs
  • Soccer Balls
  • Air pump
  • Orange Cones 
• Children's Books

Optional:           Foam Sheets and sticky foam shapes, numbers, letters, etc.

                        Clothes Pins (either spring ones or clips - wood, please)

                        Water Color Brushes

                        Pony Beads

                        Feathers

                        Water Colors

                        Stencils

* need larger amount of supplies

Contact Gwen at 281-598-3224 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information. We will gladly pick up your contribution!

March 26, 2010

Service:

LINC Construction is in need of volunteers for home painting. As contractors complete repairs on clients' homes, volunteers are giving the work finishing touches with new paint. This could be either exterior or interior painting or both. Put on an old pair of jeans and come help brighten someone's world!

Vacation Bible School time is just around the corner. We are looking for churches to partner with our ministries and halp facilitate Vacation Bible School in the communities they serve. You may not speak the same language, but we serve the same God. Help show the children Jesus' love for them!

Donation:

The Lutheran Campus Ministry at UH (a ministry of LINC) is in need of a van. Pastor Vijay Gurrala has a real and vibrant ministry among the students at U of H. They continually have more students than they have room for - many of them are Muslim and Hindu. If you have a passenger van and are considering donating it, please give us a call. We will show you why LINC is a wonderful opportunity for your gift! Pastor Vijay has also expressed a need for Hindi Bibles. More and more, they are getting requests for these from U of H students.

LINC Food Pantry is constantly in need of non-perishable food and baby items. Daily, more and more people throughout our community are coming to us for help. Many of our ministries are experiencing the same need. We thank Emmanuel Lutheran Church for your regular donations and Lutheran High North for your food drive a few weeks ago.  Our desire is to provide these items for our community and for other LINC ministries. If your church is able to commit to holding a LINC Food Pantry Sunday periodically (monthly would be wonderful!), please let us know. We will work with you to get everything going!

Centro de Fey y Esperanza, one of LINC's ministries, has adopted a homeless shelter. Every Monday, the members of CDFE visit the shelter with hot meals for the men who don't make it inside. They need food to prepare these meals and PANTS. The men and women at the shelter ask repeatedly if any pants are available. Please contact LINC if you have pants to donate as well as food.

Prayer:

Please continue to cover all LINC Ministries in prayer. God is using our leaders and congregations to reach more and more people. Pastor Vijay's ministry to the U of H as well as to his Asian Indian community has students and others asking questions about our God. What an opportunity! Pastor Luciano Vega-Aralya and CDFE's ministry to the homeless shelter is providing food to those who have none at least once a week. Another wonderful opportunity for His message to be proclaimed to all the nations!

Please pray that God will touch hearts so that other LINC needs will be met. He continues to show us that He knows exactly what we need and He continues to provide. Volunteering changes lives. We pray that God will send many volunteers with servant hearts and hands to do His work here in Houston.

Our Prayer is one of thanks to our Lord and Savior for all He provides - daily, weekly, monthly and more. For the people He sends our way; clients, volunteers, staff, leaders, fellow Christians and the lost. We are blessed!

Thank you in advance for your support! To learn more about LINC and our needs (AND wants), please contact Gwen at 281-598-3224 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Opportunities are Waiting for You

• Serve
  • Volunteer for one of our programs
  • Feed students in one of our seminary programs
  • Bring a team of volunteers to help restore the City of Houston
  • Partner with a ministry to bring Vacation Bible School to children in the community
  • Make quilts and blankets for clients and homeless friends
• Donate
  • Household items as we discover particular needs
  • Vehicles
  • Non-perishable food
  • Bibles in many languages
  • Money
• Pray
  • Ongoing and constant prayer for LINC ministries
  • Specific prayer requests

This page will be updated regularly. Please watch for specific needs. Thank you so much for your support of the work God has planned for us here in Houston.

• Date: Oct 22-23 (Fri-Sat), 2010
• Time: Check in: Friday 4:00 pm – Check out: Saturday 4:00 pm
• Location: Carolina Creek Christian Camp (84 Wimberly Ln 
Huntsville, TX 77320)
• Attendants: 30 Coupon sponsored and reserved by LWML of the St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, (Diane Bahn) only for 30 LINC Pastor’s wives and Female Leaders.
• Cost: Free including lodging, food and materials

September 13, 2009 will mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane IKE. The storm hit our coastline and blew through Houston, leaving behind destruction and devastation of many homes. Many of these were in older neighborhoods where low income families and the elderly live.

LINC Houston is committed to staying involved in the long term restoration process and beyond, hopefully not only making homes safe, secure, and sanitary but also bringing hope by sharing the love of Jesus with the families who live in them. This will be done by staying connected to the families, helping them meet basic needs, introducing them to other community resources, showing them someone really cares about them. Sometimes it means just listening.

You too can participate in this opportunity God is giving us to impact lives.

Interested?

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call her at 281-598-3224.

Raising Money For Missions

LINC Houston held its first annual fundraising gala on October 3, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Downtown. Among the 200+ in attendance were local pastors, non-profit leaders, local church members and LINC Missionary leaders. Thanks to them, this event raised funds through ticket and auction sales, and a raffle that will help LINC continue to make a difference in the lives of so many people in our community.

Next year’s event is scheduled for October 2, 2010.  Mark your calendars!

Disaster Case Management
Helping Individuals Fully Recover

The first time Pauline came to LINC she asked for help with her electric bill. Her husband had been picked up in an immigration sweep and was being held for deportation. Pauline has five children, the youngest only 7 months old. We couldn’t pay her electric bill, but we could give her food and diapers. A week or so later, several bags of clothing were donated to LINC. The case manager who who had met with Pauline called her to come get clothes for the children. In addition she suggested she hold a yard sale to help generate income, which she did. Periodically the case manager continues to check up on her. She learned that Pauline makes popsicles in her home and sells them to families as they leave school. With that income and a occasional yard sale, she is managing to minimally provide for her family.

Francesca came to Houston from San Antonio with the assistance of her only friend in the United States to escape an abusive husband. The friend had promised her a place to stay until she found work. However, the friend’s landlord made her leave. She slept behind a grocery store a couple of nights and then was allowed to stay in the back room of a tire shop. After a couple of nights, the owner told her she would have to leave there, and he dropped her off at the LINC office. She was given something to eat and assured that she would be safe.  Then the phone calls to shelters began. None had room for her and all had a waiting list.

But God had a partnership plan for Pauline, Francesca, and LINC.  In a last frantic attempt to find a place for Francesca, the case manager called Pauline. She said, “I have a huge favor to ask.” Then she told her Francesca’s story. Without a moment’s hesitation Pauline’s response was, “I’ll be right there. She can come home with me and stay as long as she needs.” In less than 15 minutes, Pauline arrived to pick her up. The ladies were reminded to come to the food pantry that was distributing food the next day. On Sunday, Francesco attended church where she met a lady who offered her a job as a housekeeper so she was able to move into her own place.

Pauline was blessed by being able to serve instead of being served. Francesca was blessed with the knowledge that someone cared. And LINC staff was blessed once again with the assurance of God.

Through our case management program, individuals can be empowered to improve their quality of life and build a brighter future for themselves and their families. And sometimes they have a chance to move from being served to being the servant - and that’s what really makes a difference.

God Speaks Korean Too!

LINC’s newest ministry, Hilltop Church, is the second LINC congregation to become chartered by the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod.  Members are mostly Korean and services are held at St. Andrew Lutheran Church.  In late summer St. Andrew and Hilltop held a combined worship service in both English and Korean. Now the two congregations plan to continue the practice of a combined worship every 5th Sunday of the month, followed by a fellowship lunch.

In September Hilltop celebrated their congregation’s 1st anniversary.

Bringing Comfort in Jesus' Name

Since 2006, through the Lutheran Chaplaincy Ministry, Rev. Walt Dube has served out of town Lutherans who are away from their home church family. In this capacity, he not only is able to bring hope and comfort to patients, but to their family members as well.  And he has the opportunity to share God’s Good News faithfully with other folks who observe his ministry and who ask for his prayers for their loved ones and for themselves.

Since November 2007, Nuevo Oasis has been the LINC Mission Center in the Spring Branch community near west Houston. Ana Maria Jimenez is manager of the Hispanic bookstore. Nuevo Oasis serves as a resource for Christian literature, gift items, and religious books.  But the bookstore is much more.  Four nights a week volunteers serve as mentors to men and women who want to learn English through the English as a Second Language (ESL) program.  The facility has also become a place where food is distributed to those in need.  Ana’s husband, Dimas, who leads a Hispanic church in Katy, is on site during ESL classes for those who desire spiritual support.