Lutheran Women in Mission

LWML Interdepartmental 2017

What do you do at an Interdepartmental Meeting? Just ask an LWML committee member. Enjoy this article written by Public Relations Team member, Beth Weber, from the Rocky Mountain District! -Patti

We came from far and wide to St. Louis where we were Engaged, Encouraged, Equipped, and definitely Enjoyed our time together.

Meeting Manager, Leslie Jaseph made sure that we all had transportation, worked with an awesome hotel staff securing comfortable rooms, and fed delicious food.

As Lutheran women in mission, we brought Gifts From the Heart, mites, and purchased many LWML products and devotional materials from the LWML Store hosted by Bev England of the Public Relations Team and Karen Andersen.

We sang songs led by Carrie Brumbaugh, Chairman of the Committee on Young Women.

We met as committees, planning the activity of the LWML for the 2017-2019 biennium, focused on nurturing faith in Christ; making our faith meaningful; and sharing encouragement. To learn more about the LWML Committees’ and Teams’ Purpose Statements, visit lwml.org and click on the About tab.

LWML President Patti Ross, our very capable Captain and Navigator, led us on an exploration to discover the opportunities that God has chartered for us during the next two years. The committees and teams mapped out these possibilities by writing and presenting informative and entertaining sketches which brought much laughter to all.

The Interdepartmental Meeting closed as we gathered in worship. Rev. Robert Mundahl officiated and Rev. Mitchel Schuessler assisted with the closing service where the Word and Sacrament were offered and received. After many hugs, we departed St. Louis to return to our homes far and wide; energized, enthused, and enabled to use our unique God-given gifts in gladsome service to our Lord.

God’s Blessings,

Beth Weber, Public Relations Team 2017-2019

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

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).

Lutheran Women in Mission

Learning How to Let Go

Sometimes you have to let go! We’ve all faced time of letting go. Letting go of our children as they go to school, from grade school to college and beyond. We have to let go of our family traditions as our families move far away geographically—think of Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have to let go of the idea that our children will want our china and crystal someday! You can add your own.

What does this have to do with my thinking about LWML this week? I have to tell you, if a woman in my congregation came up to me and said she wanted to start an additional LWML group in my church, after I picked myself up off the floor, I would be so excited! If they wanted to meet once a quarter, or have Bible study and collect mites only, or do activities with their small children, I would be so excited! If they wanted to have an LWML as a service group alongside a women’s ministry group already in existence in their church, I would be so excited!

Yet I received two inquiries from women interested in starting LWML groups who met opposition because they are proposing an alternative look for an LWML group. Isn’t that sad. When we “mentor” women in LWML that doesn’t mean we make them do exactly what we have been doing in our LWML group over the years. If we are comfortable in our group and how it operates and when it meets, and don’t want to change, why not encourage formation of another LWML group? They, too, want a group that they are “comfortable” in. Why not try letting go?

I hope you will take it as a mentoring opportunity should some women in your church want something different in their LWML group and are proposing to start one with a different look. Teaching with love and encouragement can be a great example of “serving the Lord with gladness.”

Believing that God has molded each of us individually with love should help us let go. Individual molds means no two are exactly alike. Can’t we let go and let God guide the women to celebrate LWML as it meets their needs? Be a positive mentor. Just think how exciting it would be to have more than one LWML group in all our congregations!

I [Paul] therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift (Ephesians 4:1-7).

Love to you!
Patti

Me and the LWML office staff at a session on, “Effective Mentor-ship”.

Lutheran Women in Mission

Celebrating LWML Sunday

LWML Sunday is traditionally held in October of every year to draw attention to the work of the LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission. Mission grant information is shared, congregations and pastors are thanked for their help, and usually there is a meal or refreshments involved.

Today, at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Tulsa, OK, we finished our Braille workshop (20 copies of Leviticus in Braille) and then we got to admire the LWML Sunday display they had for church Sunday. Every grant had photographs, information sheets and the center “stairway” on the display also had photos of the grants. It was very colorful and attention-getting. They also had a brunch and displayed the Lutheran World Relief contributions of the congregation. Mission Grant bookmarks were handed out. All of this was accessed through the www.lwml.org website! One of the important things that Lutheran Women in Mission do is bring mission awareness to their congregations. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is part of so many wonderful ministries out there that meet the spiritual and physical needs of God’s people! Often, our congregations have not heard of them. Knowledge about them can even inspire new mission outreach plans in some congregations.

At my church, Christ the Redeemer, also in Tulsa, we took a door offering. People love to work together to help fulfill needs. Letting them know what those needs are is a key activity for us all as women in mission.
If you haven’t had your LWML Sunday yet, please make a big effort to inform, thank, and engage your congregation in our mission outreach and funding of our mission grants. Use the resources available on our website. We won’t all have displays like the women of Our Savior had, but we can have fun and enjoy telling others about our LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission.

Greetings from my friend, Cherry, my husband, Bill, and myself! Love to all of you!

Patti

Cherry, Bill, and I attending LWML Sunday

Lutheran Resources

LBW Servant Connections at the LWML Convention

Many of you work at a Lutheran Braille Workers work center, making materials available to share the Gospel of Jesus with the visually impaired around the world! Some of you may have worked with LBW in the Servant Connections area at the LWML Convention in Albuquerque. I wanted to share these notes from LBW President, Rev. Dennis Stueve and Janis Fisher.

LWML in Albuquerque
The women at the Lutheran Women Missionary League (LWML) Servant Connections in Albuquerque, NM were energized. What a wonderful opportunity this was for us to witness their love for missions and outreach to others.

Lutheran Braille Workers (LBW) had two projects at the Servant Connections. Our Large Print Department brought 2,900 calendars to be collated, punched and bound. All 2,900 were completed. Each month of the calendar has a scripture and a corresponding picture at the bottom of the page sharing the message of salvation. These calendars will be given to people who are visually impaired free of charge.

The Braille Department had two work stations equipped with Braille presses and plates to produce Volumes 1 and 2 of the Book of Jeremiah. By the end of the sessions they had completed 40 volumes to be sent free of charge to people who are blind.

It was good to see so many familiar faces and friends. Our thanks to the LWML for allowing us to share our ministry. Hope to see you all again in two years!

Janis Fisher, LBW Vice President Ministry Operations

Jesus Christ Above All

The primary work of every Christian is to be Christ’s agent of making Him known in a sinful world. There are lots of ways to do that. For Lutheran Braille Workers (LBW) that means reaching out with the Gospel to people who are blind or visually impaired. That mission spirit was very evident at the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League’s biennium convention as they celebrated their 75th anniversary under the theme, “Jesus Christ Above All.” I, along with many other Lutheran Braille Workers, were excited to join in the LWML convention and celebration. As always, LWML conventions are filled with joy, spiritual growth, and reconnecting with other LWMLers!

LBW was privileged to be part of the Servant Connection at the convention where participants produced Jeremiah and Lamentations in Braille and our faith affirming 2018 calendar in Specialized Large Print.

LBW also had an exhibit at the convention where many gathered and shared their stories and their connections with LBW. Almost every person I spoke with had some connection to LBW. Either they are, or were, Lutheran Braille Workers or their parents or grandparents were Lutheran Braille Workers! It was heartwarming to see these individuals share their stories with a smile on their face knowing that people who are visually impaired had been touched eternally with the Gospel!

LBW was also one of the ministries to be included in the LWML Mission Grants. Over the next biennium the LWML has pledged to provide $100,000 for the production of the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible in both Braille and Specialized Large Print. We praise God and give thanks to the women of the LWML for this mission grant that will allow LBW to touch the lives of people who are visually impaired with God’s saving Word!

LBW also hosted a breakfast on Saturday at the convention and I had the opportunity to thank those who attended for their support and commitment to the ministry of LBW. Others learned about the mission of LBW to reach out with the Gospel to people who are visually impaired who are often very marginalized by society. I noted that 95% of people who are visually impaired are unchurched and that we are called into that mission field.

Rev. Dennis Stueve, President LBW

I volunteer at the Tulsa Work Center and it is a lot of fun! Thank you for being involved in some way with LBW. An offering in your Mite Box will help a blind or visually impaired child of God receive the blessings of His Word.

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth … (John 9:1-41).

Patti