Volunteers from Holy Comforter Lutheran Church in Kingwood are once again helping Jesus get His hands and feet out into the community and the world.  Volunteers from the group Martha Circle are sending over 100 quilts to Lutheran World Relief, who will send them around the world to those in need.  In preparation for their send-off, Holy Comforter Lutheran Church pastor Barb Bartling blessed the quilts in a special ceremony during the February 1^st, 2009 services at the church.  These quilts will join thousands of others collected from Lutheran churches both in the Evangelical Lutheran Church Association and the Missouri Synod to be sent around the world by Lutheran World Relief.

Martha Circle has been making quilts for Lutheran World Relief for over 15 years.  The fabric and money for supplies are donated by church members.  The group meets twice a month, on the first and third Tuesdays.  There they assemble the quilts using the tops, bottoms, and bindings that were put together by the members at their homes.  The first year Martha Circle began making quilts for Lutheran World Relief, they created a dozen wonderful blankets for those in need.  Now that number is over 100 per year.   It is a daunting task, one that takes much time and planning.  And fabric.  Lots of fabric.  In fact, there have been times when the ladies of Martha Circle wondered if they would have enough to make all of the quilts.  “Sometimes when our supply of fabric gets very low and we wonder how we can make more quilts, it seems God always provides us with someone who brings another box of fabric for us to use,” said Joan Dekan, leader of Martha Circle at Holy Comforter.   “We have never run out of fabric – God always provides.”

The quilts sent by Martha Circle and Lutheran World Relief are sent to those in need all around the Globe.  From Africa to Southeast Asia, people who have almost nothing are being helped kept warm with these hand-crafted quilts made with love and God’s hand.  These quilts sometimes are the only blanket someone may have, or the only roof over their head. It becomes a person’s bed, backpack, room divider, or at times even a home.  Lutheran World Relief quilts were first made by recycling old clothes, blankets or other items.  Many quilts are still made this way, but, as is the case with quilts made at Holy Comforter Lutheran Church, new pieces of fabric are used.  Every blanket made is one of a kind, and is made as a “gift of hope” by Lutherans both at Holy Comforter and Lutheran churches around the United States.