Posted: Wednesday, Jan 25th, 2017 in the Huron Plainsman
BY: CRYSTAL PUGSLEY
HURON — The first Connecting Cultures ministry support event was held Saturday night at the Huron Campus Center, with a table heaped with Karen, Hispanic and American fare, games and laughter.
Throughout the evening different singing groups from the various churches sang popular Christian songs in their native languages.
“It exceeded my imagination,” said Kim Rieger, who is with American Lutheran Church. “It was more people than I expected and way more willingness to connect.
A group reacts as the final puzzle piece is dropped in place during a Connecting Cultures event Saturday night sponsored by local congregations. Next, a group of Karen youth sing. And next, a young girl contemplates cookies while in line for food. Cuisine included American, Karen and Hispanic dishes. PHOTOS BY CRYSTAL PUGSLEY/PLAINSMAN
“It was amazing to listen to all the different languages,” she added. “It was an awesome night.”
Pastor Bill Tesch of Sioux Falls, who is assistant to the Bishop for Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, is credited with organizing the local ministry support group.
“We spearheaded this, but the churches in the area did all the work,” Tesch said. “We started with the listening process — listening to God, each other and the community.”
Tesch said one of the goals is to pull people together from different denominations and cultures “to see what we can do as God’s people.”
“We believe God is up to something in the Huron area in making it more diverse and bringing in new cultures,” Tesch added. “We wanted to celebrate that and help people get connected to each other. Discover what we can learn from each other and the good things we can offer each other.”
Congregations represented at the event included Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Lutheran.
Pastor Dwayne T. Williams of First Baptist Church in Huron said he was pleased with the turnout, especially the young people attending.
“We’re going to try to do something quarterly,” Williams said. “Once more people hear about it, I think we will be expanding on it.
“There’s no reason why we can’t be an outstanding model right here in Huron. We’re perfectly designed for that. We can embrace one another’s cultures and set the stage for everyone else to follow.”
Williams said the Connecting Cultures events help build a sense of community, regardless of denomination or culture. “Love and kindness is what you’ll find in these gatherings. It is loving and embracing of all new cultures.”
Lah May, who is affiliated with the Karen Baptist Church located in the former VFW building, said the main focus in all outreach is to help people living in Huron.
“It’s not just American, Karen or Hispanic, everyone needs help,” May said. “We can see what we need to do in the future to help everybody.
Rieger was among the early members of the interdenominational group organizing Connecting Culture events.
“We started with just people from the Lutheran churches in the area, and it just grew,” she said. “We started with three tables, then six. The whole room was full.
“We’re all the same,” Rieger added. “If we as churches could lead the effort in connecting people, then maybe others would feel like they wanted to do the same.”
This first Connecting Cultures event was funded in part by grants through Thrivent Financial, and a gift from the South Dakota Synod.
For the complete article see the 01-24-2017 issue in the Huron Plainsman.
