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Joy to the World

The new year is upon us! We returned from Pasadena and Los Angeles last night. We worked as Lutheran Hour Ministries Petal Pushers on the Rose Parade floats and then visited our son, John, in Los Angeles.

We met so many wonderful people and renewed acquaintances with many others. It’s so great to do some “hands-on” work with people you usually just have meetings with or talk with on the phone. The floats were on display for two days following the parade. During that time Lutheran Hour Ministries has people at the float talking to people as they stop to admire the workmanship. They also have literature available for people to take and are invited to address a postcard to someone which has a picture of the float on it.

Lutheran Hour float

Here’s an update from Lou Marting.

We started with a supply of 9,000 2019 Ministry Booth post cards for our Joy to the World the Lord is Come! float. Before the end of the second post-parade day, we ran out.

Along with hundreds of face-to-face witnessing conversations during decorating, on the parade route, staging area, and post parade, over 1700 of the post cards were addressed and sent to destinations all around the country, even to many international locations. This significantly exceeded previous year’s efforts and provided a way to spread the message of the float to many individuals.

Stamps were placed on the post cards as a volunteer effort by those of a local churches’ men’s group.

It was a very good experience – all part of the mission of Bringing Christ to the Nations – and the Nations to the Church.

To God be the glory!

Maybe we should think about having postcards to mail from our convention in Mobile, Alabama this June 20-23, 2019!

Joy to the World the Lord is Come! Joy as we “Serve the Lord With Gladness” in the coming new year of our Lord!

Happy New Year!

Patti

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New Year Greetings from Pasadena!

Hello everyone and Happy New Year 2019! We are out in Pasadena working as Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) Petal Pushers on the LHM float that will be in the Rose Parade on New Year’s morning! What a fun experience this is! This is our third year to take part in the decorating of the floats. The LHM float is the only Christian float in the parade. It always includes Jesus. This year the theme of the parade is “The Melody of Life”. There are a lot of floats that have to do with music. The LHM float is called, “Joy to the World, the Lord is Come” and consists of a manger scene, with doves, bells, trumpets, and a group of people seated on the front as the choir. It’s all situated on a music scroll which unrolls the length of the float.

Watch the parade if you can. It starts at 10 a.m. Central time. The LHM float is about 2/3 of the way through the parade. If you watch on HGTV they don’t have commercials and the float is sure to be covered. We will be going to the parade around 6 a.m. and we are planning to go the football game that is between the Washington Huskies and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

There are quite a few LWML women here working on floats with the Petal Pushers. I talked with women from North Dakota, California, Iowa, and Michigan. Another fun thing the LWML Family does together!

Happy New Year!

Love, Patti

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August travels

Oh boy, did this summer go fast! Our Oklahoma schools open again in a week! It’s been a summer of traveling!  

Traveling last weekend took us to the Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) SENT event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Members of the Lutheran Layman’s League, LHM staff, donors, and guests kicked off a five year special program to spread the Gospel. They have taken the scripture from John 20:21 to heart and made it their theme verse, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you”, spoken by Jesus to His disciples.

President and CEO of Lutheran Hour Ministries, Kurt Buchholz, led a gathering that interacted with LHM Ministry leaders who traveled from Liberia, Jamaica, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, and Paraguay. LHM staff presented information about media offerings that sound really exciting. For instance, go to www.lhm.org and check out THRED, LHM Learn, Sentido Latino, Digging Deeper, Action in Ministry, and of course, The Lutheran Hour. And before you ask, no, they did not announce the new Lutheran Hour Speaker yet.

LWML Presidents

Ran into fellow LWML travelers there. LWML Presidents #14, 15, 16, and 18 were there. Also Karen Soeken, past LWML Planner, Past Convention Manager and Chesapeake DP, Jan Reuter, Past LWML Texas President, Dorothy Hunger and current LWML Oregon DP, Carmen Nagel were enjoying the event. If you have worked on the LHM Rose Parade float, you will recognize the names Dick and Lynn Gast and Lou Marting who were there. Rev. Ingo Dutzmann and Rev. John Nunes led us in devotions and worship. It was an inspiring, uplifting and educational event.

The two mission grants that you have funded from the last two conventions for LHM are pretty amazing outreach efforts in the Middle East. Reporting on the outreach to Syrian refugees in Lebanon –four women shared what it meant to them to now be Christians. Common denominator? A God who loves and forgives them. Really, really beautiful! They and many others will be reached by the broadcasts from the Christian TV station in Cairo that our second grant supports! You are helping make the Word of God travel through the Middle East!

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” Mark 16:15.

Our travels are not over!

Patti

Dick Gast, Bill, Patti
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LWML History

On my blog this week I’m sharing the article I wrote for the Lutheran Layman. I was asked to write about the relation of women of the Reformation to current LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission. I learned some history while doing this and plan to dig deeper into the lives of these women of the time of the Reformation. I got the history information from our LWML history books by Marlys Taege Moberg and Ruth Fritz Meyer.

Throughout the 75 year history of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML), the Reformation has been revealed in the work of women in this organization. In 1929 a committee of seven women, working with the encouragement of the International Lutheran Laymen’s League (LLL), began to organize district women’s groups under a national umbrella for better coordination of mission support efforts. One of the names they considered for the organization was, “Lutheran Women of the Reformation.” Continuing efforts to organize and be recognized were supported by the LLL and came to a conclusion when LWML was officially organized in 1942. In 1962 LWML became one of the official auxiliaries of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS); the other auxiliary being the International Lutheran Layman’s League/Lutheran Hour Ministries (Int’l LLL/LHM).

Women of today rejoice in the full salvation by grace through faith that Christ won for them and the reality of being a part of the priesthood of all believers. These components of the Reformation encourage women to share their God-given gifts and talents in representing the church in mission. This inclusive mission of serving all people through sharing of the Gospel and practical application of that Gospel, is key to the LWML as they declare the praises of Jesus.

Early women reformers influenced by Luther’s teachings exhibited gifts of service that continue in Lutheran women today. The most well-known, Katie Luther, is known for her hospitality, hard work in the garden and on the farm, and hymn writing. Argula von Grumbach wrote in support of the Reformation. She is remembered for her emphasis on Scripture and her support of the priesthood of all believers, including women. Katherine Zell, a gracious hostess, offered food and lodging to the Protestant travelers and floods of refugees who came through Strasbourg. She wrote hymns, campaigned for better run hospitals and visited troops in the field during the Peasants’ War. Working with other reformers, Elizabeth von Muenden developed guidelines and orders of service for Protestant worship. This faithfulness in every vocation in life continues in women of the church today. “How can I help?” is a familiar phrase.

In LWML we engage with and equip women to support mission work, write devotions and Bible studies, search for opportunities to serve, learn how to be leaders in their women’s groups, and look outward with Christ’s love.
Just as the Reformation brought major changes for women in the church, and necessitated a look into the future, so today we are faced with many changes. The new realities in communication, family life, and education have brought changes in human relations. These changes call for a new kind of commitment and focus on God’s mission in His world: new understanding of differing needs, new plans for effective programs, and new support for all Christian woman. LWML — Lutheran Women in Mission — continues to bring gifted women together to recognize, identify, and then address these pressing issues.

Equipping women to serve has fostered new family resources in the form of the “Balance” Bible study series on family issues, the “Dear Mother” devotionals for new mothers, and the “Together is Better” marriage devotion book; all written to address their specific needs. Service opportunities for families and women’s groups are evaluated and posted online. Flexible meeting and activity plans are suggested to involve working women and families in the mission outreach of the church while considering the best use of their time.

Equipping missionaries and missions and educating congregations about them is the work of the national and district LWMLs. These are funded through mission offerings and the familiar LWML Mite Box. Through these grants missions have been equipped to improve the physical and spiritual lives of families. One recent grant was to Lutheran Hour Ministries for outreach in refugee camps in Lebanon. In the same way that women of the Reformation worked to improve the physical and spiritual lives of God’s people, so we today continue that work in LWML.

Engaging, equipping, and encouraging women in the church continues from Reformation to the present and will go on into the future. The LWML — Lutheran Women in Mission — looks back on 75 years in 2017, but just as importantly, looks ahead to a future as women of the Reformation even now. We are embracing change while enjoying the delight of being a child of God and serving Him with gladness!