LWMS News & Notes

President’s Message

I wrote the following Foreword for the 2024-2025 Home and World Missions Projects Booklet. 

Opportunity allowed me to journey on a medical/humanitarian mission trip to Thailand through Christians Forward Southeast Asia (CFSA). While there, we were asked to see a teenage boy in a nearby village. Entering the barren earth floor of his hut, we found him to have a severe bed ulcer resulting from paralysis after being shot. Although the family was not Christian, they allowed us to pray. For five days we prayed and treated him with the minimal supplies we had.

As the family was non-Christian, I was greatly troubled when our time came to depart, knowing that without more medical care the ulcer could result in his death. In attempts to comfort me, our native Hmong WELS pastor who served as the interpreter said, “We can only plant the seeds and leave the rest to God.”

Following is the conclusion I did not share in the Foreword. 

A year later, my colleague returned to Thailand with CFSA and saw the teenage boy again. Although he was no better, the family had become Christians and joined the church! All glory to the Almighty!

With the 2024 convention in our rearview mirror, work is already in progress for 2025 convention, with the theme “Sowing the Seeds of Faith,” based on 1 Corinthians 3:6–9 “[Paul] planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”

How blessed is the work of our missionaries, not only in sowing seeds of faith, but also in watching the seeds grow into lifesaving food. May we as women united to serve Jesus, continue to plant seeds in our homes, churches, workplaces, communities and the mission fields he provides.

United to Serve Jesus, 

Jacky Stoll, president

LWMS Board of Directors

Spiritual Growth:

God Plans, Prepares, and Implements 

Here we are…on the other side of the 2024 LWMS Convention. Months of planning, preparing, and finally implementing went into the convention. The same is true for those who attended the convention. It’s also true of LWMS circuit rallies. Right now, planning and preparation is going on for circuit fall rallies and for the 2025 LWMS convention. We’ll be implementing those plans before we know it!  

The Bible has many examples of God, himself, making his own plans. Some examples tell us that he “prepares” in some way before implementing them. Exodus 23:20 states, “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.” In another familiar portion of Scripture Jesus says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). And a powerful and comforting example comes from 1 Corinthians 2:9 where the apostle Paul references Isaiah 64:4,“However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him,’ but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.” Of course, the most important example of God’s plans, preparation, and implementation is his complete plan of salvation through the saving work of his son Jesus.  

We can find direction and comfort in following our Lord’s examples as we do our own planning, preparing, and implementing—of rallies, conventions, and even our everyday personal plans.  

Su Hanson, member

Prince of Peace, Martinez, Georgia 

Thank you to everyone who wrote a note at the convention for Message A Missionary! Some responses from missionaries are below:

• I and my family are tremendously blessed, even more now with these very encouraging notes.

• Hello from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. God bless you in Christ our Lord and Brother.

• It means so much to have this encouragement! We are back safe and sound and back to it. But we have such good memories of the convention. Thank you for all your work, and thanks for having us. God's blessings to you,

• Thank you for passing along these messages. The support we receive from LWMS is so encouraging. We really appreciate all that you do!

• Thank you for sending along the notes of encouragement. My wife and I really appreciate all the work all y’all do for us in the field.

The Home Missionary Conferences project received half of the worship service offerings ($32,761.08) from the 2023 Annual LWMS Convention. Thanks to this financial support from LWMS, Home Missions is able to fund an upcoming “Church Planter Intensive.”

Seven brand new church planters are gathering with experienced home missionaries at Carbon Valley Lutheran Church, a home mission congregation in Firestone, Colorado, on August 21–25, 2024. This extended weekend seminar encourages and equips pastors and their wives who are called to plant new home mission churches. The five-day “boot camp” helps build the confidence of new home missionaries in their unique mission or mission restart call by offering the knowledge and resources needed to execute the tasks that are vital in the first years of a mission setting, and by providing a network of fellow missionaries to encourage and support them and their family in their callings. The Church Planter Intensive culminates with a final presentation on Saturday afternoon where missionaries present their work and receive feedback from the cohort of coaches and new missionaries. Building on what they learned at the Church Planter Intensive, new church planters are then paired with a coach from an established mission church to guide them for their first two years of launching a new church. 

Home missionary and church planter Rev. Joe Lindloff from Anchor Lutheran Church in Marquette, Michigan had this to share about the program: “As much as the Church Planter Intensive was able to ground me, set our ministry on a good path, and send us out with valuable information, the coaching program is now my ongoing lifeline. My coach is the most accessible avenue to bounce ideas off of, get input from, and help me grow as a pastor.” 

Thank you, LWMS, for supporting these valuable Home Missionary Conferences! Learn more about the various ways WELS Home Missions supports home mission churches at wels.net/homemissions.

PAUSE FOR PRAYER

Dear Lord, as a new school year begins, we thank you Lord for your gracious Word and the promises you share with us. Many children, young adults, and even some adults are returning to school. Help us to use the gift of growing in knowledge in whatever field we may serve. May we never forget that every day is another gift to grow closer to you, dear Jesus, and to learn from you. We are your students, Lord. Bless students with another great year, and bless us all as we grow every day in our knowledge and service to you. Amen.