Month: November 2017

Missions for God

Blessed to be a Blessing

“Blessed to be a blessing” is something I have always reminded myself during my lifetime. I have so many blessings from God, the best blessing being called to faith in Jesus Christ and living my life as a Christian woman. I am blessed that God led me to work in the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League.

This Tuesday, LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission across the United States have the opportunity to share their blessings during our participation in “Giving Tuesday”. www.lwml.org/givingtuesday I know you’ve been reading our posts about Giving Tuesday and how to participate. One thing that is very exciting and makes you feel so good about it is that two donors who wish to remain anonymous have provided matching funds of a total of $20,000. What that means is that anything you give up to $20,000 will be tripled. If I give $10 dollars, LWML mission grants will receive $30!

These donors trust the LWML to use their hard-earned dollars, their blessings from God, to bless the recipients of our mission grants. They are saying, “I want to support these grants and I want all the other LWML women to contribute what they can, as well.” We should jump on board with them. If two people can give $20,000 shouldn’t the rest of us be able to pull together and contribute that much?

If we raise $40,000 we can fully fund a grant like the Tanzanian Sewing Center for $25,000. Or, we could fund Nursing Students Serving with Mercy Medical Teams for $25,000. We could also fund Prison and Jail Ministry Synod-wide Conference in 2018 (August) for $36,500!

Giving Tuesday income can fund a complete mission grant!

Our delegates in Albuquerque said they wanted to fund all these grants by March of 2019. Let’s get out there and tell our friends and family about Giving Tuesday. If you can’t donate on Tuesday or don’t have computer access, you can mail a contribution and mark it for Giving Tuesday until November 30.

Let’s show our faithful matching fund donors and our mission grant recipients that we stand behind our vote and our promise and that we consider ourselves,

Blessed to be a blessing!

Excited to serve!

Patti

Our mailing address is:
LWML
3558 S Jefferson Ave
St. Louis, MO 63118

Lutheran Reflection

Thankfulness

For all the faithful women who served in days of old. So starts hymn number 855 in our Lutheran Service Book.

As we near the end of our Lutheran Women’s Missionary League’s 75th Anniversary year of 2017 (http://www.lwml.org/75) and as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this week and take time out to thank God for his abundant blessings, I was thinking of specific things our organization was thankful for. I thought of the women who worked hard for years prior to our founding convention who struggled for recognition, put up with all kinds of criticism, derision, and still kept on until they were able to organize a national women’s organization within the synod. They are in my prayers of thanksgiving this week and in my heart.

Today we are thankful for all Lutheran women and their dedication to work that shows God’s love and forgiveness to believers and nonbelievers through our LWML. Groups in the local church, the zones and districts and the national organization put in countless hours of work and prayer as we go about our business to enable women to use their God-given abilities to serve others. (http://www.lwml.org/get-involved)

I’ll share the rest of Hymn 855, For All the Faithful Women with you and let you know that I am thanking God for each of you this week that you continue to Serve the Lord With Gladness!

For all the faithful women Who served in days of old,

To You shall thanks be given; To all, their story told.

They served with strength and gladness In tasks Your wisdom gave.

To you their lives bore witness, Proclaimed Your power to save.

 

O God, for saints and servants, Those named and those unknown

In whom through all the ages Your light of glory shone,

We offer glad thanksgiving And fervent prayer we raise

That, faithful in Your service, Our lives may sing Your praise.

 

All praise to God the Father! All praise to Christ the Son!

All praise the Holy Spirit, Who binds the Church in one!

With saints who went before us, With saints who witness still,

We sing glad Alleluias And strive to do Your will.

 

 

 

 

Patti

Lutheran Women in Mission

Thanksgiving

Making friends with so many other women in the world is one of the great things about being active in LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission. I am so thankful for LWML and the friends I have made through it.
I would never expect that feeling overwhelmed I would tearfully call a woman in Oregon and pour out my anxieties. Nor would I have believed that I had a special friend in Phoenix who sends me gifts who I’ve only met once. I wouldn’t have thought I’d learn first-hand about dog-showing and breeding. Or connect with a friend of my dear Aunt Irene in California. The list could fill this page.

As we approach Thanksgiving my thoughts turn to people I am thankful to have in my life now and in the past. Not things—people. I’m sure as Christian women that is what most of us recall at Thanksgiving. That is why we go to the trouble of getting the family and friends together around the meal and the football games. It’s not always about the food, although that’s one of my favorite parts, but about the time set aside to catch up with family, meet that new baby in the family, and renew relationships.

Last week in the store the Thanksgiving items were already 50% off as Christmas items bulged from boxes waiting to be shelved. I know you all feel like I do that the Thanksgiving holiday, largely passed over, should be promoted as much as we promote Christmas. Our church has a Faith Friends group that meets Wednesday nights. It includes the kids from Kindergarten through 5th grade. Our LWML, working with our DCE intern during November, are doing three Wednesdays on thankfulness. The first Wednesday we did kits and tied quilts for Lutheran World Relief and talked about what we were thankful for. You might be interested that most of the kids mentioned people over things. The second week we skyped with a couple who are missionaries in Slovakia and the kids got to ask many questions. Then we did bookmarks and notes for the teachers and students to send over. Our third evening will be looking at thank you videos about the Lutheran World Relief kits and quilts from two groups of recipients. Then we are going to put together trail mixes and write a thank you for someone who normally doesn’t get much “thanks” for doing their job. It will be interesting to see where these will go.

I hope you have an opportunity to have a “people” Thanksgiving. I know you all will be thanking God for friends made in LWML because I’ve seen you all in action!
I’ll end this as my dad always ended our meals.

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever (Psalm 106:1 KJV).

Patti

Happy Thanksgiving

Lutheran Reflection

Honor the Veterans

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Psalm 46:10-11

Christ for Veterans

This week our country takes time to honor the veterans of our Armed Forces. Most of us have some connection to someone in the service currently or in the past. There are a trio of us at my congregation, Christ the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that share that “veteran” connection as women who have served in the Armed Forces. We also share our service in LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission.
Carol, Debbie and I all entered the service during the Viet Nam conflict. Carol served 4 years in the Army. Debbie served in the Air Force for 33 years and added Desert Storm service. I served for 3 years in the Navy doing active duty at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Virginia.
There are many more of us LWML veterans around the country. I’ve met some at the Rocky Mountain district convention held in Colorado Springs last year. I served with another LWML district president from South Dakota who was a veteran and I know there are more out there. I’m hoping to make contact with many of you veterans next summer for the fall issue of the Lutheran Woman’s Quarterly which will feature LWML veterans and active duty women.

I’d also like to recognize you who are wives and mothers of servicemen. You may be interested in reading more about our mission grant, “Christ for Veterans and Their Families”. This grant is for the LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces to host a national three-day training event empowering Operation Barnabas districts, congregations and chapter members to bring the Good News of God in Christ to veterans and their families.
Maybe you should consider what your LWML group can do to reach out to our military chaplains, active-duty and veterans, and their families as they stand ready to defend and protect each of us on a daily basis. You can start by praying for their safety and personal encouragement (think Barnabas). Then you can help fund the “Christ for Veterans and Their Families” mission grant through your Mite Box offerings.

Happy Veteran’s Day to all of you veterans and your family members!

Patti

http://www.lwml.org/2017-2019-mission-grant-3

https://www.lcms.org/ministry-to-the-armed-forces

Pictured is Debbie, Carol, and Me

Lutheran Women in Mission

Interdepartmental Met in St. Louis Last Week – What exactly is that?

Interdepartmental is a meeting of all the LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission committees that were chosen in August to work on the programs and resources for LWML over the next 2 years. Committee members represented 30 of our 40 districts. Meeting with the entire group for Bible study, then as committees, and later committee with committee, they addressed the goals and objectives from our Strategic Planning meeting held last year.
The women attending this meeting opened their hearts and brought $524 cash and $623 gift cards for the Texas LCMS Disaster Relief efforts. Along with that was $389 for shipping of goods from the LWML store for use in ministry to the flood victims. They also brought mite offerings of $1,313.54 for our mission grants.

Thanks be to God for these women who dedicate their time, talents, and treasure to the mission of LWML and our work to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks, also, to all of you in your districts and congregations who are just as dedicated. May you be blessed as you serve the Lord with gladness!

Serving with Gladness,
Patti

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Chirst and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them … (Romans 12:4-6a).

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