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	July 9, 2003 ....................... LCMSNews -- No. 72

	LWML picks new leader,
	adopts mission goal

	By Paula Schlueter Ross

	OKLAHOMA CITY  Delegates to the 30th Biennial Convention of the
Lutheran Womens Missionary League, meeting here June 19-22, elected a
new president, approved a new mission goal and chose 14 mission projects
to fund with their mites, or contributions.

	Linda Reiser of Grand Island, Neb., was elected LWML president.
Reiser, the auxiliarys vice president of servant resources, succeeds
Virginia Von Seggern, LWML president since 1999. Reiser will serve a
four-year term.

	Also elected were Marguerite Christman, Midwest City, Okla.,
vice president of servant resources; Louise Rickey, Turlock, Calif.,
treasurer; and Rev. Larry A. Miller, East Helena, Mont., pastoral
counselor.

	Delegates also elected Janis McDaniels of Greensboro, N.C., as
chairman of the nominating committee for the next convention in 2005,
and committee members Nancy Graf Peters, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Faith
Richardson, Steeleville, Ill.; Jane Kaestner, Idaho Falls, Idaho; and
Marlys Taege Moberg, Milwaukee.

	Under the theme Lord of My Heart ... Our Hope, delegates
adopted a mission goal for the 2003-05 biennium of $1,575,000 and chose
projects to fund. The new goal  less than the 2001-03 goal of
$1,650,000  was suggested by the LWML board of directors as a more
realistic goal, since the previous mission goal was not met.

	Still, LWML members contributed more money during 2001-03 than
in any previous biennium  a total of $1,478,056  a worthy endeavor
even in the light of depression, and war brewing, and layoffs, and poor
economy, and drought, and war really happening, and conflict in the
church, according to Von Seggern. We literally shot for the
impossible, and did we lose? No, we did not  absolutely not, she said.

	The goal for the 2003-05 biennium is nearly $100,000 more than
that landmark figure, noted Von Seggern, and she challenged members to
do more. For the first time, she said, LWML members spent more on
LWML-labeled products than they gave to mites.

	You gave [about] $1.5 million, but bought products ... that
totaled $1.8 million, she said, and posed the question, If the money
is there to purchase products  and thats not wrong  why isnt the
mite goal being reached? Have our priorities changed?

	The shortfall of $171,944 for 2001-03 will be paid from 2003-05
contributions, and the $34,360.82 received from worshipers at the
conventions opening service will be applied to the new goal.

	Delegates chose 14 mission projects to fund with their 2003-05
mites:

	 $75,000 to the Lutheran Adoption Network for arranging
international adoptions.

	 $100,000 to continue ministries in remote areas in Alaska.

	 $60,000 to support women and children in Latvia.

	 $100,000 to help impoverished families in Guatemala City.

	 $75,000 to Lutheran Special Education to provide resources.

	 $50,000 to provide scholarships for ethnic women to attend
the 2005 LWML convention in Tampa, Fla.

	 $100,000 for outreach in Afghanistan.

	 $60,000 to assist the People of God Seminary in Kazakhstan.

	 $70,000 to train pastors serving in high-risk areas in the
Philippines.

	 $71,000 to reach out to Afghan immigrants in Lansing and Grand
Rapids, Mich.

	 $54,000 to support the evangelistic and social ministry of the
Concordia Day Care Center in Bangkok, Thailand.

	 $47,000 to help MOST Ministries equip and send short-term
missionaries.

	 $100,000 to fund 10 programs for children in Minneapolis.

	 $20,139.11 to help rent a storefront for Beth El Messianic
Congregation in Queens, N.Y.

	Delegates chose Peoria, Ill., over St. Louis as the site for
their 2011 convention. Other conventions are planned for Tampa, Fla., in
2005, Sioux Falls, S.D., in 2007 and Portland, Ore., in 2009.

	Keynote speaker Kay Orr, who served as governor of Nebraska from
1987 to 1991, focused on the mission field in the United States.

	Orr described a project she is involved in that encourages
teenage girls to dress modestly. She challenged LWML members to ask
themselves, Am I pleasing God by conforming to His standard with
everything I say or do, or am I living in such a way that I fit into the
world?

	Gao Zhan, the American scholar and LCMS congregation member who
spent five months as a prisoner in China in 2001, made a surprise
appearance. Gao said she is convinced that Gods kingdom will
eventually come to China and that she will play a role.

	*********************************

	PLEASE NOTE --

	The link to the Synods online Giving Catalog Web site may not
work as it appears at the end of LCMSNews release No. 71, which was sent
out July 8. The correct link is catalog.lcms.org
<http://catalog.lcms.org>  (without the comma). The rest of the
information for donating to tornado and fire relief is correct. Go to
the Web site, click on Begin Search, then on KEYWORD, and type in
Tornado.

	*********************************

	LCMSNews is published by the News and Information Division,
Board for Communication Services, of The Lutheran Church--Missouri
Synod. If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

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