In this 2016 photo South East Asia Prayer Center President Matt Geppert gives blankets to two Tibetan children in Chengdu, China. Women from St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Saxonburg have been donating blankets they've made to SEAPC for the past four years.

SAXONBURG — It's a rite of spring: the snow melts, the days get longer and a shipment of blankets made in Butler County gets shipped all the way to the Indian subcontinent.

The women of the Sewing Ministry of St. Luke's Lutheran Church, 310 W. Main St., are doing their part in the South East Asia Prayer Center (SEAPC)'s world missions as they reach out to Kashmir, India and Nepal.

The women have been making blankets, which are collected and hand delivered to places in the Himalayan Mountains, through the efforts of SEAPC for the past four years.

Gayle Gundlach of Clinton Township, a member of the sewing ministry, said, “We just gave them 14 (on March 4) and we've given them 50 all together.”

Recently Kashmir has been subjected to wide spread violence, said Matt Geppert, president of the Oakmont-based SEAPC and needs to see the love of Jesus in action.

“This is the fourth year we have taken blankets from St. Luke's,” said Geppert. “They are so incredible and amazing.”

Gundlach said the sewing ministry learned of SEAPC's mission after Geppert was introduced to St. Luke's pastor, the Rev. Roger Keller.

“He comes and talks about SEAPC's mission. The church gives them so much money every year. Every spring we make them blankets,” said Gundlach.

“They are lap blankets. They are not too hard to make,” said Gundlach. The ministry meets every other Thursday for four hours to make blankets and other items for donation to a variety of charities.

There's something about giving a gift in the name of Jesus that opens the door for ministry,” said Geppert, whose parents, Mark and Ellinore Geppert founded SEAPAC in 1990.

To learn more, read the Butler Eagle. Geppert said anyone wishing to help SEAPC's mission should call 412-826-9063 or visit SEAPC.org.