Month: July 2017

Lutheran Women in Mission

All for Jesus – Know him, Confess Him, Serve Him Philippians 3:7-11.

All for Jesus – Know him, Confess Him, Serve Him Philippians 3:7-11.
This was the theme and scripture for the 2017 Black Ministry Family Convocation held in Birmingham, Alabama, July 12-16. LCMS Black Ministry is celebrating their 140th Anniversary this year!

As LWML President I have the opportunity to go to many different events and bring greetings from all Lutheran Women in Mission across our 40 districts. I had the opportunity to give your anniversary congratulations and support to those attending the Friday morning session of the meeting.

LWML Vice President of Special Focus Ministries, Kaye Wolff, presented a breakout session about LWML on two different days. There were many LWML members in attendance, as well as several pastors who had been LWML Pastoral Counselors. LWML Public Relations Director, Michelle Zollinger, attended as did LWML Michigan District Past President and LWML board member, Willie Marie Henry. I also got to talk with several women I met at Louisiana-Mississippi district convention last year.

I was able to meet five pastors from the six New Orleans’ churches who received one of our grants for the coming biennium (Grant #8 NOLA 4H: Hearts for the Hungry, Homeless, and Hurting.) To say they were excited is to put it mildly. You have become part of their ministry to God’s people in New Orleans!

Another grant recipient at the convocation who expressed excitement and thanks to LWML was Rev. Matthew Heise of Lutheran Heritage Foundation (Grant #6 Lutheran Children’s Books for Families Worldwide.) Representatives from Bethesda Lutheran Communities (Grant #15 Sharing Jesus with People with Disabilities) were eager to tell us what they would be able to do now that LWML was supporting their ministry with a grant. And gratitude was expressed by the prison ministries included in the grant for the synod-wide conference in 2018 (Grant #20 Prison and Jail Ministry Synod-wide Conference in 2018.)

We got updates from former grant recipients Rebecca’s Garden of Hope, Rosa Young Academies and the Acts 2 Enterprise in Detroit. Inquiries about starting LWML organizations in Liberia and Kenya were very exciting as possibilities in the future!

Since I share your encouragement at these events, I wanted to share with you how thankful the recipients of our grants are. I am blessed to be in the position to hear their stories and their plans. You are answers to their prayers. God is enabling you to engage, encourage, and equip these dedicated fellow servants of God! Thank you for serving the Lord with Gladness by supporting these mission grants!

Serving with you,
Patti

Lutheran Reflection

There’s No Greater Act of Faith Than Sleep

Are you a lark or an owl? I’m an owl. Definitely don’t function well before 9:30 or 10:00 in the morning. My most productive time of the day is 3:30 pm until midnight. My favorite shift as a nurse was 3-11. I happen to be writing this at 11:55 p.m.

I wore a Holter monitor as part of a science experiment one of my sons was doing in middle school and sure enough, my heart rate was slowest at rest between 6:30-8:00 a.m. when I was deepest asleep. I guess you would call that my biorhythm.

Where am I going with this besides letting you know not to expect much out of me early in the morning? On the subject of sleep, at the LCMS Black Ministry Convocation, Rev. Dr. Leopoldo Sanchez gave one of the keynote addresses. Most of it was way over my head but he said that there was no greater act of faith than sleep. God is solely in control during that time.
My mother always said you slept well if you had a clear conscience. Maybe it’s sort of the same thing?

Speaking of sleep …
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper.
(Psalm 121:1-5a)

Pleasant dreams, sleep well!
Love, Patti

Lutheran Resources

Peter from Fisherman to Fisher of Men

I am very excited about the new Bible study LWML has to offer, “Peter from Fisherman to Fisher of Men” by Donna Pyle. I have invited Donna Pyle to share a snippet of the Bible study with you here:

After Jesus’ Resurrection, imagine the flurry of new activity in the synagogue as men congregated to carefully scan the scrolls. The news on the street? The Messiah had been among them, was put to death, and had actually risen from the dead.

You can almost hear their questions as he re-read the scrolls:
When did God say the Messiah would actually show up?

Will God save even the uncircumcised Gentiles outside of the Law?

Are we still required to offer traditional sacrifices and offerings to God?

What does all of this mean for our gatherings and worship?

If we missed it, is it too late for us?

The teachings of Jesus caused holy turmoil in the synagogues. His disciples were preaching about salvation only through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. They rightfully turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6).
Even though Peter denied Jesus at the most crucial time in history and tried to return to what was familiar, Jesus redeemed Peter and placed a life-changing mantle of leadership on Peter’s shoulders: “Feed my sheep” (John 21).

No longer scared and running, we see a very different Peter in the book of Acts. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter has been transformed from fearful denier to brave proclaimer.
The vital importance of Peter’s Pentecost sermon cannot be emphasized enough. God, through the Holy Spirit, set the stage and made all the preparations for this first sermon with a Gospel dispensation.
God had gathered precisely those who He wanted to receive the message that day. He grabbed their attention by enabling the disciples to tell of His mighty acts in their own languages.
The Spirit had been released.

Peter stood up.

Immediately, Peter reassured those gathered that those who were speaking in tongues were not drunk — it was only 9:00 a.m. Peter quoted from the prophet Joel to remind those devout Jews that God foretold the day of Pentecost. Those learned men would have immediately recognized the text that Peter recited and connected their present situation.

Peter did not mince words. Are we surprised? He gets straight to the heart of the matter and reminds these men that they themselves were the ones who crucified and killed the Messiah (Acts 2:23).
Peter reminds them that the heart of the matter is Jesus, because we only come to know God as He is through Christ.

Remember, Peter was not preaching about an incident that happened years or even decades before. Pentecost occurred only seven weeks after Jesus was crucified, so it is very likely that some of the people in Peter’s audience had actually been present.

The young carpenter who claimed to be God’s Son would certainly have been the talk of the town. These men would have known exactly who Peter was talking about. Perhaps they had even heard Jesus preach.

Peter was not just being intentionally mean by reminding the people that they had crucified and killed Jesus. God was using Peter to convict the people of their sin. Because when God convicts us of our sin, we realize just how much we need a Savior.

Peter continued his first Gospel sermon to let them know that all was not lost – that they are not lost. He quoted David from Psalm 16:8-11, that God made known to me the path of life.

And just like those men on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit convicts us of our desperate state, God invites us to confess our sins and be cleansed by the blood of Jesus through the waters of Baptism. And three thousand were baptized on that very day.

Can you imagine three thousand baptisms at your church on one day? What a glorious, beautiful day!

When Pentecost concluded, all of those newly-baptized, devout Jews traveled back to their home towns with the saving message of Christ on their lips.

Is it any wonder that God’s message has survived the millennia?

What is the significance of Pentecost for us today? We who have been baptized are beneficiaries of God’s goodness, grace, and mercy.

We are to be His witnesses and tell people what we have seen, heard, and touched.

Just like Peter did.

Donna Pyle posing with her new Bible study!

To learn how you can order this Bible study visit here http://www.lwml.org/bible-studies

LWML Convention

Young Woman Representatives

2017 Convention LogoWe were privileged to welcome 81 Young Woman Representatives to the Albuquerque Convention. I’d like to share a message written by one of those young women following her return from convention. Lisa Rhonemus attended her second LWML convention (her first was when she was 12 in Tampa, Florida). She cites the joy her grandmother had working in LWML and attending conventions as motivation for attending.
Enjoy!
Patti

My sisters in Christ, I was extremely blessed to be able to represent our district as one of the Young Woman Representatives (YWRs) at the National LWML Convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was there that I got to serve the Lord with gladness alongside other young women from across the country as we collected and sorted the plethora of ingathering items. I got to hear the testimonies of former and current LWML grant recipients and hear how our “Mighty Mites” have helped build schools, provide tutoring to at-risk kids, provide for the physical and spiritual needs of refugees in Lebanon, train pastors, and oh so much more. More importantly, I got to watch as we voted to fund 22 national mission grants which will impact so many lives during the next biennium.

As I have returned to the real world and reflected on my experience; I was surprised by how long it took me to really adjust and grasp what we have done for 75 years and what we do as an organization. I think there are others who struggle with explaining who we are and what we have done as well. In the same way that the Church is made up of people who have been touched by the love of Jesus, the women of the LWML have been touched as well. As Lutheran Women in Mission we are active in the Mission of the Church in reaching the lost and the erring.

By ourselves we are women who deal with the ups and downs of our various situations and try to make a difference in the world. By ourselves we deal with grief and heartbreak while trying to pull up those who have woes much greater. By ourselves we donate a few dollars each month, maybe just two pennies. By ourselves we can cook a meal, give a hug, teach a child, and make a blanket. By ourselves we might be a hand, or a foot, or an eye, accomplishing one task alone. But together?

Together we are Lutheran Women in Mission. Together we can walk to the ends of the world, seeing the needs of God’s people, and reach out with a loving hand (or hug). Together we can raise $1,582,250 for mission grants and together we can change the world by spreading the love of Christ. Together, by the guiding of the Spirit and with God’s grace, we can serve Jesus Christ above all. Together we are the LWML.

Lisa Rhonemus

Pictured, Young Woman Representatives at the 37th Biennial LWML Convention in Albuquerque

LWML Convention

A shout-out to senior LWML sisters from a convention-goer

I met several women in their 80’s and 90’s at the LWML 37th Biennial Convention last week in Albuquerque. Apparently, they are appreciated by others as much as they are appreciated by me! Serving in many different ways, big and small, they are saluted in this Facebook posting by Liz Russell of Kuna, Idaho. Enjoy!

Little Old Lutheran Ladies: some timid and proper, some out-spoken and opinionated, most of them grandmothers, many of them widows. This is what used to be the extent of what came to mind when I thought of this particular demographic. I ought to be familiar with the subject, as the church I attend has many in its congregation. After attending a bi-annual convention for an organization made up mostly of little old Lutheran women, I’ve been reflecting on the true identity of these exceptional women:
1. The many Sunday school teachers I had as a child that gave me a solid foundation for my faith.
2. The 80-year old woman from my church that sends me a card on every holiday and has remembered my birthday every year I’ve been alive.
3. The various ladies that lean over in the pew just a bit when I go up to communion to see which ridiculous pair of shoes I’m wearing that week. “I was hoping you were wearing my favorite pair – those heels with the polka dots!”
4. The 90 year old woman that really isn’t supposed to be driving, but made a trip from Meridian to the farm almost in New Plymouth by herself to visit my Mom after Dad died. “I wasn’t sure I remembered how to get there, but I passed the old Cloverleaf restaurant and figured I was heading in the right direction, so I just kept driving!” Mom said she opened the door and couldn’t have been more surprised to see her standing there.
5. The ladies in their pant suits or jacket/skirt combinations that love and compliment my crazy outfits instead of expressing disapproval.
6. The many widows of our congregation that make a special effort to check in with my Mom every week, and never shied away from the hard conversations and progressive bad news from her the past years.
7. The committee of women that provided and organized countless funeral dinners for families of the church with my Mom, free of charge.
8. The group of Lutheran women that formed a women’s missionary league during World War II, a time when being charitable and spreading the gospel surely seemed of little importance to many.
9. That same group of Lutheran women who still give millions of dollars every two years to support many mission projects throughout the world.
10. The women who traveled to Albuquerque, NM this past week, despite many of them being poor in health, limited in their mobility, or facing tragedy and heartbreak in their home lives, to give yet more of their time to this group. I attended this convention, largely due to the suggestion of my sister. I was running through all the reasons I should be at home in Idaho instead of where I was when the event was starting. As the days progressed, I got the same lovely compliments and encouragement in my faith, but this time from Little Old Lutheran Ladies from all over the world.
These women are to be admired and respected, not pitied or dismissed. I’ve realized through family discussion that my grandmother on my Mom’s side (that I never met) fit this bill. I am watching as my Mom and her sisters become them. What an honor it would be to be one day included in the Little Old Lutheran Ladies Club.

What a blessing to hear stories like this. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Joyfully serving with you,
Patti

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