Lutherans ship container of hope to Nicaragua

WINNIPEG — Nearly 12,000 blankets, baby bundles, care kits and toys are on their way to Nicaragua thanks to Lutheran volunteers across Canada.

Patrick Stewart, a donations coordinator with Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR), an inter-Lutheran development agency, said his organization packed a 12-metre container with 3,386 quilts and blankets, 1,084 baby bundles, 5,830 care kits and 1,350 toys at its Winnipeg warehouse March 26. The shipment is destined for Iglesia Luterana Sínodo de Nicaragua and Lutheran Church–Canada’s mission centre in Chinandega.

“Our shipment also included many useful pieces of medical and dental equipment, including hospital beds, x-ray machines, wheelchairs, bandages, pneumonia vests and a dentist’s chair. In total we were able to ship 27,505 lbs. of goods,” he added. The equipment will help the ongoing work of the mission’s medical and dental clinic.

The container is now in Halifax and is expected to arrive in Nicaragua in May.

Stewart thanked International HOPE Canada Inc. – a non-profit group that redistributes surplus medical supplies – for the equipment, and CLWR’s transportation partners for bringing the goods to Winnipeg.

He also thanked volunteers for making quits, assembling kits, raising money and awareness and donating time.

The donation shouldn’t be surprising.

LCC has been conducting mission work in the Central American country since 1997 and CLWR’s executive director, Robert Granke visited Nicaragua last November and saw first-hand the scope of the work and need.

In 2009, LCC established an official partnership with Iglesia Luterana Sínodo de Nicaragua (ILSN) the church body which grew out of the Canadian church body’s work in the Central American country.

Read more about the Nicaraguan mission at www.lutheranchurch-canada.ca/missions.php?s=nicaragua or www.lccontheroad.ca