MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- When Carlos Peña reached College Station, Texas, from his home in Galveston, Texas, seeking refuge from Hurricane Ike last September, he started to receive phone calls from family and friends.
The calls were from people from all over the state asking if he was okay and if he and his wife, Diane, had seen pictures of their business on CNN, submerged in nearly four feet of water.
"I cannot describe the feeling of seeing all that I, and my father before me, had worked so hard for, was ruined," Peña said.
Peña, vice president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), spoke about his experiences during his report to the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 17-23 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. About 2,000 people are participating, including 1,405 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "God's work. Our hands."
Despite the devastation caused by the hurricane to his business, Peña knew that everything that he had lost in the Hurricane was "just stuff."
"Stuff can be whisked away by flood waters, or blown away by the wind," Peña said, "Our lives get bogged down by the stuff we have."
Peña said that through his leadership as vice president, he was able to handle the devastation.
"I don't think I could have walked away with as few scars if I hadn't been equipped through my growth as a Christian, the grown this experience in the church has given me," he said. "Somewhere along the way my faith continued to grow and grow."
Peña added that the experience has led him to understand that his future with the church and will allow his name to go forward in the nomination for vice president. The churchwide assembly will elect a vice president during the week.
"I have recognized my future is in God's hands," he said.
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Information about the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.elca.org/assembly.
A full biography on Carlos Peña can be found at http://tinyurl.com/nqq5wj on the ELCA Web site.
* Carrie L. Draeger is a senior communication major with a concentration in journalism at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
