For the past two summers, Lord of Life Lutheran in Holland, MI has been in the pretzel business. Well, “business” might be the wrong term: the congregation’s pretzel sales at a local farmers’ market are to benefit orphanages in India.
Pastor Nicholas Proksch was in seminary with Pradeep Lingala and Kalyan Gollapalli, both from India. Pastor Proksch came up with the idea of supporting orphanages of the Lutheran Mission of Salvation, India, through pretzel sales, and getting a little publicity for Lord of Life at the same time. He bakes the pretzels in his kitchen, and he and congregation members man a booth each week.
“The shape of the pretzels is supposed to symbolize arms in prayer,” says Pastor Proksch. “We’re not just concerned about the charity aspect but the message of the gospel that we share.” A card of explanation about the pretzels accompanies each sale.
Response to this charitable effort has been positive. This past summer about $1130 was raised for the orphanages. (Part of the funds was matched by Thrivent.)
