11 minute read
LWML Grant
LMWL Grant Supports LHM’s
Work in Mongolia by CHAD FIX New Digital Research Kits!
SPIRITUAL CONVERSATIONS SPIRITUAL CONVERSATIONS IN THE DIGITAL AGE IN THE DIGITAL AGE Thank you for purchasing the Digital Research Kit: Spiritual Conversations in the Digital Age. This digital research kit gives you the opportunity to dig into the research by Lutheran Hour HOUSEHOLDS OF FAITH Ministries and Barna Group. With these resources, you can share the findings with your team or organization and lead your group in conversations about the research and the implications for your ministry. Better Together In this folder, you will find four resources to use with your team: · A digital copy of the monograph, Spiritual Conversations in the Digital Age (can be shared BETTER TOGETHER with up to 10 users) · A presenter’s slide deck for sharing the research in presentation form ISBN-13: 978-1-945269-70-7 · A video presentation about the Spiritual Conversations in the Digital Age 9 781945 269707 research by LHM and Barna staff o To access the webinar, please visit: GIFTED FOR MORE
https://vimeo.com/693297648/056343b77c
· A discussion guide to reflect on the research and video presentation Physical copies of the monograph are available at LHM’s Storefront: https://shoplhm.org/spiritual-conversations-in-the-digital-age/ Take a deep dive into each year of our collaborative research with Barna Group. Each $39 kit includes tools that guide church leaders through the research with ways to strengthen outreach efforts. For internal use only. Please do not share outside of your organization. Download today!
lhm.org/conversations
Releasing Chri ians to Build & Be the Local Church While public opinions about the Church at large are mixed, feelings toward individual Christians are often much warmer. Redeeming the Church’s broader reputation may need to involve recommitting to its personal presence. Barna Group undertook this study to learn more about the types of people who are taking initiative in their communities—who gather, donate, serve, create, teach, mobilize and innovate, alongside other passionate neighbors, to meet needs around them. Better Together, the latest report in an ongoing research partnership with Lutheran Hour Ministries, seeks to understand Christians who love their neighborhoods of their own volition, even outside of professional obligation or the formal structure of ministry programs. Join us in learning from—and following the lead of—an exemplary minority of organized, altruistic individuals who have contributed to outward-focused action in their communities. Alongside new research and data visualizations, Better Together includes: • Profi les of di erent types of people who participate in volunteer groups and what drives them toward compassion and collaboration • Details about how healthy groups form, communicate and grow • Insights about how churches can step up (or step aside) to empower laity and benefi t communities • Interviews with Gabe Lyons, Makoto Fujimura, Becca Stevens and a panel of faith and nonprofi t leaders from across the U.S. This report is intended to help churches understand the impact and inner workings of groups of good neighbors, and to help leaders develop a vision for how these members might complement their ministry goals. 9 0 0 0 0 How Christians Can Be a Welcome barna.com lhm.org Influence in Their Neighborhoods
A Barna Report Produced in Partnership with Lutheran Hour Ministries
BETTER TOGETHER
Thank you for purchasing the Digital Research Kit: Better Together. This digital research kit gives you the opportunity to dig into the research by Lutheran Hour Ministries and Barna Group. With these resources, you can share the findings with your team or organization and lead your group in conversations about the research and the implications for your ministry. In this folder, you will find four resources: · A digital copy of the monograph, Better Together (can be shared with up to 10 users) · A presenter’s slide deck for sharing the research in presentation form · A webinar about the Better Together research by Barna and LHM staff o To access the webinar, please visit:
https://vimeo.com/440830844
· A discussion guide to reflect on the research and video presentation Physical copies of the monograph are available at LHM’s Storefront:
https://shoplhm.org/better-together-barna-monograph/
Lutheran Hour Ministries was honored to receive a $100,000 check from the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) during a special presentation at the LCMS International Center on March 23. The LWML approved LHM’s Mission Grant titled “Gospel Outreach to Women and Children DISCUSSION GUIDE in Mongolia” during its convention last June in HOUSEHOLDS OF FAITH Lexington, Kentucky. LHM was one of 28 recipients to receive a grant for the 2021-2023 biennium.
Mongolia is a country that is less than one percent Christian, and the people there traditionally come from extremely poor nomadic populations where they Thank you for purchasing the Digital Research Kit: Households of Faith. have little opportunity to hear the Gospel. This grant This digital research kit gives you the opportunity to dig into the research by Lutheran Hour will help LHM focus on three areas: Ministries and Barna Group. With these resources, you can share the findings with your team or organization and lead your group in conversations about the research and the implications for • your ministry.Sharing the Gospel with women and their children who participate in monthly Women’s Listener groups after hearing our Christian radio In this folder, you will find four resources to use with your team: programs. The women study the Bible, pray, do handicrafts, and share their faith. LHM staff also help them build their identities as women in GIFTED FOR MORE · A digital copy of the monograph, the modern world, assisting with vocation, child-rearing, communication Households of Faith (can be shared with up to 10 users) skills, and self-identity. The women receive Christian booklets, Bible · A presenter’s slide deck for sharing the research in presentation form studies, radios, and MP3 players with the Bible and Gospel messages, and · A panel discussion about the the children receive a special Bible story and activity booklets about Jesus. Households of Faith research by Barna staff • o To access the webinar, please visit: https://vimeo.com/362175100/33345231a4 Thank you for purchasing the Digital Research Kit: Gifted for More. This digital research kit gives you the opportunity to dig into the research by Lutheran Hour Reaching and engaging families and youth through youth activities and social media presence. Some of the youth activities include a camp with · A discussion guide to reflect on the research and video presentation Ministries and Barna Group. With these resources, you can share the findings with your team or Bible studies, games, crafts, and athletic events where participants are • Physical copies of the monograph are available at LHM’s Storefront: https://shoplhm.org/households-of-faith/ organization and lead your group in conversations about the research and the implications for your ministry. In this folder, you will find four resources to use with your team: encouraged in the faith. Through religious radio broadcasts, family members and relatives are impacted by the Gospel in their homes. LHM has the media expertise to · ensure the Gospel message is brought to a region where the population has not heard the Gospel. Family-oriented Christian programming is A digital copy of the monograph, Gifted for More (can be shared with up to 10 users) ·produced and broadcast by LHM and Christian resources such as Bible A presenter’s slide deck for sharing the research in presentation form studies and booklets are distributed. · A video presentation about the Gifted for More research by Barna staff
“We are extremely grateful for LWML’s ongoing partnership in helping us o To access the presentation, please visit: · carry out the life-changing work of sharing the Gospel,” says LHM Grants Manager Lois Engfehr. “It is a true blessing to come together in mission to https://vimeo.com/632216419/d243d538c9 A discussion guide to reflect on the research and video presentation SHOPLHM.ORG share God’s Word with those who have not heard it.” =
(l-r) LHM Vice President of Global Ministries Rev. Dr. Tony Cook; LHM Senior Vice President/Chief Strategy Officer Jeff Craig-Meyer; LWML President Debbie Larson; LHM Grants Manager Lois Engfehr; LWML Vice President of Christian Life Susan Brunkow; and LWML Senior Pastoral Counselor Rev . Brian Noack . *Photo by Nicole Heerlein “It is a true blessing to come together in mission to share God’s Word with those who have not heard it.”
In-Person Activities Resume Across Africa
by CHAD FIX
While only an estimated 14 percent of the population in Africa has received a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, recorded cases of the virus and deaths across the continent are among the lowest rates globally. Recent research by the World Health Organization also shows 65 percent of Africans have acquired antibodies to COVID-19. There are numerous theories—the population is young, people spend more time outdoors in rural areas, the climate is hotter, and more. No matter the reason, the results have led governments to lift restrictions, which has allowed many of LHM’s in-person programs in Africa to return to normal.
LHM staff and volunteers have regained access to visit prisons in Cameroon, Kenya, and Madagascar. The people there have been cut off from the outside world even more than normal during the pandemic and they thirst for visitors and being able to hear God’s Word.
In Cameroon, we recently held a prisonministry training seminar with more than 40 prison chaplains attending. The four-day workshop taught attendees how to form smallgroup Bible studies in prisons. Staff also offered LHM’s Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC) and three newly translated booklets in the Fulani (Fulfulde) language spoken in the north for use in these Bible studies.
In Kenya, we held a graduation ceremony for 100 students in the Kwale prison who had completed the BCC. Prisoners are grateful for our programs and are uplifted hearing about God’s love for them—even while they are incarcerated. In this prison, staff met Hilary, a man serving a 15-year sentence for a crime he said he did not commit. He had been angry and depressed for many years but recently completed our BCC course. He said he was moved by the Holy Spirit through the lessons and now has joined the Christian club in prison. He shared that “it has been painful to be jailed while you are innocent. God has used your lessons to touch me and free me from my misery.”
Other in-person events are also reopening with renewed enthusiasm from staff and volunteers as well as the audiences we meet. In the past quarter we have held multiple Equipping the Saints (ETS) seminars, film screenings, and open-air rallies in more than three quarters of the ministry centers throughout the region. Holistic programs are also fully reopened in Cameroon, Kenya, Liberia, and Madagascar, with young women receiving regular vocational training while also being introduced to the Gospel. In April, LHM–Madagascar staff traveled to Manakara to conduct a holistic program assisting victims of a recent cyclone who lost their crops and livestock. In Liberia, we have begun offering seminars aimed at educating youth about the dangers of drug abuse, which is a growing problem throughout the country. =
Popularity of Lenten Devotions Grows Around the World by CHAD FIX
LHM’s 2022 Lenten Devotions were a popular resource for congregations, Bible study groups, and individuals throughout North America. Suffering Servant by Dr. Kari Vo and Por ti y por mí (For You and for Me) by Rev. Antonio Schimpf encouraged and edified tens of thousands of individuals during this season of reflection by showing a Savior at work—welcoming, enduring, healing, forgiving, persisting in His push to the cross and the glory that awaited three days later. As with our Daily Devotions offered throughout the year, each Lenten devotion featured three reflection questions to help readers maximize their time in meditation.
In addition to the English and Spanish versions you are accustomed to seeing, the seasonal devotions are increasingly being translated into other languages around the world. One country where these devotions are growing in popularity is Korea.
LHM–Korea translated Child of Promise during Advent 2021 into the Korean language and printed 1,500 copies that quickly sold out. Due to the strong response during Advent, they increased the quantity to 2,500 for Lent. The tremendous interest from members of the Lutheran Church in Korea as well as other church denominations led to the supply being gone within one week. Since many people were still requesting the booklet after it had sold out, LHM–Korea offered a PDF version on its website. More than 300 individuals downloaded the booklet to share with their family, friends, churches, and communities.
We thank God for our faithful Christian staff members and volunteers worldwide who work hard on translating resources like the devotions to share God’s Word with others. =
Purchase with a Purpose!
By naming Lutheran Hour Ministries as your favorite charitable organization at AmazonSmile, every time you make a purchase through Amazon, they will donate 0.5% of eligible purchases to our mission of sharing Jesus with the world. There are no fees and there is no extra cost to you. Just a gift made possible by you. Go to smile.amazon.com today to select us and start shopping with a purpose.
