wfn.org | [LCMSNews] 'Ablaze!' program looks to expand

["LCMS e-News" <LCMSENEWS@lcms.org>]

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>10.13.2008		
>	LCMS News	 	
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>THE LUTHERAN CHURCH Missouri Synod  	 	
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	October 13, 2008 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 56

>Ablaze! Ambassadors program looks to expand

>By Paula Schlueter Ross

Two years ago, Ida Mall, who served as president of the Lutheran Women's
Missionary League (LWML) from 1991 to 1995, received a letter from Synod
President Gerald Kieschnick asking her to consider serving as an
"ambassador" for Ablaze!, the wordwide initiative to share the Gospel
with 100 million non-Christians by 2017.

If they chose to accept the challenge, Mall and dozens of others who
received similar letters would become spokespersons for Ablaze!,
agreeing to give presentations about the effort in congregations,
schools, and other venues to encourage their fellow Lutherans to share
their faith with family, friends, co-workers -- even strangers.

Mall says she agreed to serve as an Ablaze! Ambassador because of her
"passion for outreach."  And, it fit well with her personal mission
statement: "To actively seek opportunities to share my faith in Jesus
Christ with others."

Since joining the inaugural ambassadors program two years ago, Mall and
35 other former district and national Synod leaders have touted Ablaze!
in countless LCMS churches and classrooms, sharing the initiative's
vision "slowly but surely," according to Dr. Richard Bimler, past
president of Wheat Ridge Ministries and a member of the Ablaze!
Ambassadors Planning Team.  As team members, Bimler and several others
provide leadership and direction to ambassadors, encouraging their
ongoing participation.

"One great thing about it is that it enables us 'veterans' in the LCMS
to continue to be pumped up to help focus our church body on Jesus
Christ and what He has done for us, and celebrate what He is doing
through us and so many others," Bimler said.  "The Ablaze! Ambassadors
have been significant leaders for many years through the LCMS and it is
exciting to see them continue their influence and speak loudly and
strongly about the Lord at work in their lives!"

Bimler says the Ambassadors program works well with his latest venture
-- serving older adults through Lutheran Life Communities, based in
Arlington Heights, Ill.

"I want to do all that I can to help people 'celebrate God's gift of
aging,'" he says.  "Since we Ablaze! Ambassadors are all 'aging,' this
movement is a great complement to provide exciting ministry
opportunities to older adults who have so much to share and to
celebrate!  It's a great fit!"

Rev. Scott Snow, director of national outreach with LCMS World Mission
who has been involved with the Ambassadors program from the beginning,
said those currently serving are proven LCMS leaders and include former
district presidents, LWML presidents, and LCMS and Lutheran Hour
Ministries executives.  They are, he said, "people of influence" who
have "national vision and national reach."

They are being asked to stay with the program as it grows -- 27 more
Lutheran leaders have been invited to become Ambassadors, beginning next
year.  A meeting planned for Jan. 13-14 in St. Louis will bring current
and future Ambassadors together, along with Ablaze! representatives in
LCMS districts, to learn more about the program and hear how it is
changing.

Among new developments, each Ambassador will be asked to make an annual
presentation to his or her own congregation, as well as to two or three
other groups, with an average of 100 people attending each time.  That
means the program could conceivably reach 20,000 people a year,
according to Snow -- 20,000 more Lutherans who might be encouraged to
share their faith as part of Ablaze!

Past LWML President Linda Reiser, who also serves on the Ambassadors
Planning Team, says the program's volunteers have great potential to
meet, and perhaps even surpass, that goal.

"I think the Ambassadors are a wonderful group of individuals, highly
visible and very significant leaders who bring integrity, leadership,
and encouragement to others about faith-sharing opportunities we all
encounter daily."

Those opportunities can strike anywhere, anytime, according to the
ever-enthusiastic Bimler.  "A few weeks ago, I was at one of my
Starbucks 'offices' (I call it St. Arbucks)," he related via e-mail.
"As I ordered my usual 'tall of the day,' a man saw the Ablaze! shirt I
was wearing and also noticed my 'AH-HA' button.  He simply asked, 'Why
are you so excited so early in the morning?'

"I quickly explained that Ablaze! is a movement that enables people to
share their faith in the Lord and that my 'AH-HA' button was one of the
ways I share my faith through Lutheran Life Communities as the AH-HA
person -- the Ambassador of Health, Hope and Aging!"

Bimler said he plans to meet with the man again "because he wants to
talk more about his life and challenges.  It helped to remind me of a
favorite quote of mine: 'Sharing the Gospel is not our job -- it's our
joy!'"

For more information about Ablaze!, including a number of resources
designed to help Lutherans share their faith, visit www.lcms.org/ablaze
<http://www.lcms.org/ablaze> .

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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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