7.5.2007 LCMS News
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH Missouri Synod
July 5, 2007 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 38
LWML adopts $1.7 million mission goal
By Paula Schlueter Ross
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Relying on the "rock-solid" foundation of their faith in Jesus Christ, delegates to the 32nd Biennial Convention of the Lutheran Women's Missionary League adopted a record-setting mission goal of $1.7 million for the 2007-09 biennium.
More than 5,000 people attended the 65th anniversary convention, held here June 21-24 under the theme "ROCK! Rest On Christ the King," from Psalm 31:1-3: "Secure in Jesus, my rock and fortress, I step out in faith to declare His praise and serve others."
Sioux Falls -- known for its pink quartzite rock, second only to diamonds in strength -- was mentioned by several speakers as being an apt location for the convention, with its "ROCK" theme.
The record mission goal is $75,000 more than the LWML's previous goal for 2005-07. Contributions given by the organization's 250,000 members nationwide over the next two years will be used to cover organizational expenses and to support 18 mission grants to:
* train deaf-ministry leaders ($50,000).
* provide portable medical clinics in Sudan, East Africa ($70,000).
* build 10 Lutheran churches in India ($100,000).
* support a female missionary to Muslim people in Guinea, Africa ($100,000).
* help Lutheran Bible Translators, Aurora, Ill., provide transportation for missionaries ($60,000).
* open eight Lutheran Blind Mission Outreach Centers nationwide ($40,000).
* provide education to Muslims in Bangladesh ($75,000).
* support a "circuit rider" pastor in rural northwest South Dakota ($65,000).
* support an inner-city children's ministry in Minneapolis-St. Paul ($50,000).
* send a female human-care missionary to Africa ($100,000).
* support a Christian family counseling center in St. Petersburg, Russia ($36,000).
* expand mission work in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, and Ethiopia, Africa ($104,500).
* begin a Lutheran campus ministry at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan. ($95,000).
* expand Internet streaming capabilities at KFUO-AM Radio in St. Louis ($50,000).
* support Concordia University Texas, Austin, students preparing for child-welfare careers ($80,000).
* assist Lutheran City Ministries in its outreach to homeless and addicted people in Detroit ($49,000).
* support a soup kitchen at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Chicago ($33,000).
* support a cross-cultural urban ministry in Ohio ($32,500).
The 600-plus delegates also elected a new president to lead the organization over the next four years -- Janice (Jan) Wendorf of Grafton, Wis.
Addressing the convention during the closing service, Wendorf, 56, said she attended her first LWML convention in 1983, in Detroit, and accepted an invitation to begin serving as a local officer shortly afterward. She encouraged convention-goers to "be open to [LWML] service. If you feel that nudge of the Holy Spirit ... be open to that call."
She also asked attendees to consider how they will use what they "have heard, seen, and experienced" at the convention to support God's mission in their own communities.
Also elected to four-year terms were:
* Sylvia Johnson of New Berlin, Wis., vice president of Human Care.
* Eloise Kuhlmann of Amarillo, Texas, vice president of Servant Resources.
* Helen Miller of Lake in the Hills, Ill., treasurer.
* Rev. Michael J. Mattil of Sherman, Texas, junior pastoral counselor.
Newly elected members of the LWML Nominating Committee are Linda Arnold of Woodridge, Ill., who will serve as chairman; Martha Burke of Clemmons, N.C.; Claire Carlson of Hamburg, N.Y.; Judy Lessmann of Scottsboro, Ala.; and Marilyn McClure of Tucson, Ariz.
Delegates also chose Des Moines, Iowa, as the site of the 2015 LWML convention. Other upcoming conventions are planned for Portland, Ore., in 2009; Peoria, Ill., in 2011; and Pittsburgh in 2013.
In her "president's report," outgoing LWML President Linda Reiser of Grand Island, Neb., applauded the "Christ-focused service" of LWML members, who have successfully met mission goals and showed an "unending willingness to help others," not because they seek glory for themselves but "simply and faithfully because there is a need."
The LWML has been successful, Reiser said, only because of God's help. She encouraged attendees to return home and make a difference by faithfully sharing "what Jesus has put in our hearts."
In his sermon during the convention's opening worship service, LCMS Third Vice President Dean Nadasdy reminded worshipers of their "safe place" in the "strong and tender" hands of Christ. Nadasdy cautioned them not to "play it safe" with their faith, but to become bold and "dangerous" in their service to God.
In her keynote, Terry Kieschnick, wife of LCMS President Gerald B. Kieschnick, invited convention attendees to "realize how important you are to this church." Kieschnick compared women to diamonds, which share imperfections, unique cuts, and colors. She called the women "God's diamonds" and encouraged them to use their gifts in mission and to "leave a legacy."
President Kieschnick briefly addressed the convention, explaining the Synod's Ablaze! and Fan Into Flame initiatives and his hopes and dreams for the church body, which included "communicating the grace of Jesus Christ to all"; "restoring health and vitality" to LCMS congregations; and recruiting, training, and retaining professional church workers.
Sporting the new purple-striped LWML tie, Kieschnick referred to a resolution commending the LWML that will be before the Synod's national convention July 14-19 in Houston.
"Now, if that one doesn't get 100 percent [approval], I'm going to go looking for the folks who pressed the wrong button," he joked.
Besides exceeding their 2005-07 mission goal by more than $55,000 and adopting the LWML's most ambitious mission goal ever for 2007-09, convention-goers gave daily offerings:
* $52,381.81, contributed during Thursday's opening worship service, will go toward the 2007-09 mission goal.
* $57,268.50, given on Friday, will be divided 30 percent for the LWML Endowment Fund and 70 percent for LCMS World Mission for educating missionary children. Added to that figure are offerings sent prior to the convention in recognition of the 65th Anniversary Celebration from local LWML groups and individuals of $24,906.91, for a total of $82,175.41.
* $47,831.54, contributed on Saturday, will support seminary-student education. It will be divided equally between the two LCMS seminaries.
* $39,796.51 from Sunday's closing service will be used to continue funding for the LWML's "Heart to Heart Sisters" program, which serves women of different ethnic groups.
"Heart to Heart," which began in 2003, has involved some 80 African American, Hispanic, African immigrant, Hmong, Muslim, and Native American women to date. Nineteen new participants -- plus many former ones -- attended the convention.
"We've been intentional about inviting these women and giving them a special place in the LWML," said Marilyn McClure, who has coordinated the program from the start.
During an impromptu visit with the group, former LWML President Betty Duda said, "You have a different look, but I like that look."
"I am glad that you are with us," Duda told them. "You are a part of us. You are us."
"Heart to Heart Sister" Nooria Popal, a former Muslim born in Afghanistan who was attending her first LWML convention, shared her experience of becoming Christian, which included death threats.
Popal, who was baptized in the United States in 2002 and now serves as a missionary with People of the Book Lutheran Outreach in Lansing, Mich., has brought 32 of her relatives -- now living in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and India -- to Christ, she said.
Her dream is to one day return to Afghanistan to "go and show the life and love of God." She won't be afraid, she said: "If God wants, I go. [Because] I go with God -- I don't go by myself."
Also attending the convention were 70 "Young Women Representatives" (YWRs), ages 22 to 35, and more than 90 teenagers ages 11 to 17.
Wendie Teeple, a YWR from San Jose, Calif., said she enjoyed the convention. "It's just wonderful to see our important work and what our mites do," Teeple said. "Our little pennies do make a difference."
The LWML has been reaching out to teenagers for the past two years, inviting them to start their own LWML groups -- called "Friends Into Serving Him" -- at their congregations and inviting them to attend the national LWML convention.
Seven of 11 active members of the LWML teen group at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Laurel, Neb., attended this year's convention. The group, started last October, meets for devotions and to plan upcoming activities, which include making birthday cards for the congregation's older-adult members, delivering "Meals on Wheels" and visiting with the home-bound recipients, and holding fundraisers.
"I think it's really cool to get involved in church and your community," said Emma Engebretsen, 14. "It's a good way to grow in your faith and learn more about Christ."
They've been having so much fun that some of the congregation's boys "are feeling a little left out" and have suggested forming a group of their own called "Dudes Into Serving Him," laughed Patty Sherman, mother of teen LWML member Dalyce Sherman.
Janet Hurta of Waco, Texas, said the younger women and "Heart to Heart" participants represent "a new cloth being woven for LWML," one with "shiny, new, strong threads of young women and a rich, varied texture of ethnicity."
Also attending the convention were thousands of older women, a few in wheelchairs and walkers. Marion Demmin, 79, of Niagara Falls, N.Y., earned cheers from fellow walkers at one of two "Mission Pledge Walks" as she reportedly covered more than a mile in her walker to raise money for missions!
Esther Herther, an 85-year-old from Sioux Falls who was attending her second LWML convention, said she "loves ... the fellowship and also learning of the mission work -- what we are doing. What the women are accomplishing is amazing."
Jennifer Mustard, a placement counselor for LCMS World Mission, said that 90 women signed up at her convention booth -- either to serve on short-term mission teams or to find out more about the missionary program. Mustard considers that "an outstanding response" and said it shows that LWML members who have been supporting mission work for 65 years with prayers, gifts, and service now want to take the opportunity to work side by side with the Christians they have been supporting.
The convention included daily Bible studies led by author and speaker Dr. Mary Manz Simon; processions with banners from all 40 LWML districts and the flags of 38 of the 50 countries that have received LWML mission grants; a "camp" for about 150 children; a performance by jazz artist Erin Bode; and presentations by Lutheran missionaries.
A talent show celebrating LWML's 65th anniversary and hosted by LCMS comedian Jan Struck featured several LWML acts, including a popular one featuring members of the auxiliary's Rocky Mountain District who performed their own version of the song "Y-M-C-A" with the chorus "It's fun to serve in the L-W-M-L!"
Struck, too, was a big hit, as she provided "comic relief" throughout the convention as "Aunt Jane," making humorous cell-phone calls to her niece that included observations such as "lutefisk -- the piece of cod that passes all understanding."
Convention-goers also made their own fun, doing "the wave" in the auditorium during a break because of a technical problem -- and again, as a lighthearted tribute to outgoing LWML President Linda Reiser -- and benefited the Sioux Falls area by:
* donating 18,376 personal-care and clothing items for local shelters;
* sorting and packing 897 boxes of used clothing for Orphan Grain Train;
* giving 124 pints of blood;
* assembling 183 quilts for Orphan Grain Train;
* putting together 180 "cough pillows" for area heart-surgery patients;
* writing 376 letters to missionaries;
* building six storage sheds for area families through Habitat for Humanity/Thrivent Builds; and
* making 60 baptismal banners for Native Americans.
Addressing the convention, Dr. Robert Roegner, executive director of LCMS World Mission, described several LWML grants the mission board has received since the 1940s and their positive impact on world mission, and thanked the women's auxiliary for its partnership.
"The Lutheran Women's Missionary League, Lutheran Women in Mission, has been crucial to the expansion of mission work and has made it possible for us to move in new directions in mission during every decade -- including the one we're in -- since your founding in 1942," Roegner said. "I can't thank you enough for all you have done as women in mission to spread the Gospel, expand the kingdom of God, and see more people in heaven."
For more information about the convention, or about the LWML, visit the auxiliary's Web site at http://www.lwml.org.
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If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release, contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org <mailto:joe.isenhower@lcms.org> or (314) 996-1231, or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org <mailto:paula.ross@lcms.org> or (314) 996-1230.
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