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Following Mother Teresa’s Example


Dear Friends,

Mother Teresa spent much of her later life afflicted with toes that were gnarled and deformed. But it wasn’t a birth defect, accident or disease that caused them to be pressed and bent in all directions.

MotherTeresa FeetWhenever the Sisters of Charity in Calcutta would receive a shipment of used shoes for the poor, Mother Teresa would dig through the box and take the very worst pair for herself – so that nobody else would be burdened by wearing them.

In doing so, Mother Teresa sacrificed her own well-being in order to show love and compassion for the poor.

Her service always involved sacrifice. Enriching the lives of others always came at the expense of her own comfort. Just like the widow who in Mark’s Gospel contributed out of her own scarcity, Mother Teresa also taught us that service, charity and faith in God are inextricably linked.


It is in this same spirit that I am writing to ask you to consider a generous Lenten Season gift to the children and families served by the Lafayette Urban Ministry.

The Lafayette Urban Ministry is an organization of 42 Greater Lafayette area churches. We serve as a social safety net for at-risk children and low-income working families. Last year, LUM served 5,363 households.

  • We helped to narrow the academic achievement gap separating low-income children from their more affluent peers. Through LUM’s Enhanced After School Program, 5th Quarter Summer Learning Retention Program and through countless educational enrichment activities at LUM Camp, our students excelled. They became better readers, more critical thinkers and were better prepared to learn in school. More than 200 children were served.
  • We helped to ease the income inequality gap for working families by providing free tax preparation services, emergency financial assistance for housing, utility and transportation services, supplemental food and nutrition aid, and significant family support during the holidays through Jubilee Christmas and LUM’s Community Thanksgiving Celebration. More than 5,000 households were served.
  • We provided overnight shelter to 691 homeless individuals, a winter warming station for 69 more and helped each of them with the support and direction they needed to leave the streets for a home of their own.
  • LUM’s ID Clinic helped 157 individuals regain their lost or stolen photo identification cards. Our Immigration Clinic helped 24 individuals to navigate the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service bureaucracy enabling them to retain legal status and to remain with their families. And LUM’s Social Justice Ministry was active in communicating with elected officials about issues affecting those we serve.

Your past support of the Lafayette Urban Ministry has been so important to those we serve here. Together, we have strengthened families, nurtured children and made our community a better place for everyone.


MotherTeresa (2)Won’t you continue to support LUM, by making a gift generous Lenten Season gift of $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000, or more, today?

Mother Teresa once said that in order for a gift to be real it must have a cost and that cost must involve emptying of oneself on behalf of another.

I hope that you will join me in making a generous gift to the children and families served by the Lafayette Urban Ministry. I can think of nowhere else that your charitable dollars will have greater impact, or no better way to express our Lenten call to share sacrificially with those who are in need.



PS: You may also give online and find out more about the Lafayette Urban Ministry’s programs by visiting our website at www.lumserve.org or mail in your donation to
Lafayette Urban Ministry, 420 N 4th Street, Lafayette, IN 47901


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