The Lutheran Layman

THE

LUTHERAN L AYMAN Winter 2020

Do You Have a

Spiritually Vibrant Home?

see page 3

Lenten Devotions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Nurturing Your Faith . . . . . . . . 9-10 Ministry Impact Report . . . . . . 11-14 Board Nominees . . . . . . . . . . . 16-17 New LHM Learn Courses. . . . . . 19 Changing Lives Globally. . . . 20-21 LHM Equip 2020. . . . . . . . . . . . 22

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Extended Household We are sent to expand the household of God.

BY REV. DR. MICHAEL ZEIGLER, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour

W

e have a family friend—I’ll call her Beth. She lives in our neighborhood, is a single woman, has a demanding profession, and a dog named Lucy. Lucy the dog is significant because she has become a bridge between our households. Since Beth’s job keeps her away from home for long stretches of time, my children have volunteered to be Lucy’s regular pet sitters.

The dog has become a member of our extended household, and with her, Beth, too.

Last fall, my wife Amy and I were driving home from an event. I asked her, “Whose name did you write down?”

“Beth,” she said. “Me too,” I replied. The event was an outreach workshop hosted

by Lutheran Hour Ministries.

The presenter challenged us to write the name of one person.

He asked us, “Who is someone you see regularly, with whom you’re already having face-toface conversations, but doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus?”

Our friend Beth was raised in the church but doesn’t presently gather with the church to share Life in Jesus.

She knows of Jesus, but isn’t seeking to know Him, to follow Him, entrusting her entire life to Him. Why should this bother

L AYMAN

us? Beth is overly generous in paying our kids to play with her dog. She bakes us treats to show her gratitude.

You couldn’t ask for a better neighbor. Why should we be concerned about how she relates to a Jewish man born twenty centuries ago? Because we are convinced that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is not just a ticket to get a happy after-life. To know Him—trusting and following Him—that’s True Life, starting now. Everything else is a hellish half-life terminating in death. Without Jesus, that death will be eternal hell. To seek Life without Jesus would be like wanting a marriage without a spouse, an adoption without a child, a household without people in it. Yes, it matters to us how Beth relates to Jesus. We care about her.

What could be more important for her well-being?

We do this, practicing hospitality—inviting others to become members of our extended household.

The person presenting at that LHM outreach workshop wasn’t trying to get us to “sell” Jesus. He wasn’t sending us

to push Jesus as an insurance policy—buy it and forget it, the “cost” being only a restatement of fact: “He died to save me from my sins.” We aren’t on a Jesus-marketing campaign. We are sent to expand the household of God. LHM’s Households of Faith resources have challenged me to think more holistically about my personal outreach efforts.

God is using me, not simply as an individual, but as a member of a household located in a neighborhood. Within our household, I am responsible for helping my family see Jesus everywhere. And that He’s for everyone. We do this by devoting time to tell Bible stories, sing hymns, and pray.

We do this by having spiritual conversations about the joys and pains of life. We do this, practicing hospitality—inviting others to become members of our extended household.

Shortly after our conversation in the car, Amy and I were chatting with Beth in our living room, like we often do. Beth brought over cookies to thank us for taking care of Lucy. It was nearly bedtime for the kids, so Amy invited Beth to join our nightly devotions.

Beth stayed. And I think she even remembered most of the words to the Lord’s Prayer. =

AVA I L A B L E O N

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The Lutheran

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Vol. 91, No. 1 Winter 2020

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Subscription: $5. Printed quarterly. Send color photos for use. Photos sent to the paper may not be returned. Lutheran Hour Ministries, The Lutheran Hour, Bringing Christ to the Nations, BCTN, This is the Life, Ayer, Hoy y Siempre, Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones, Esta Es La Vida, Para el Camino, THRED, and The Hoffmann Society are ® registered marks, or SM service marks. The Puzzle Club is a service mark and trademark of Int’l LLL. All rights reserved, 2020 Int’l LLL.

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2 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

Bringing Christ to the Nations—and the Nations to the Church

L U T H ER A N H O U R .O RG

WHAT MAKES FOR A VIBRANT HOUSEHOLD? Spends fun, quality time together

Welcomes others

A spiritual coach is present

Members have a personal spirituality

Asks for help

32% 68% 59% 55% 48% 76

Do You Have a Spiritually Vibrant Home?

T

hree years ago Lutheran Hour Ministries began a partnership with Barna Group to better understand how faith is impacting people in America during the 21st century. In our first study, Spiritual Conversations in the Digital Age, we learned about how individuals are interacting with faith through conversation. When LHM embarked on the second year of its three-year partnership, we delved into Households of Faith to learn how households practiced their faith together, and not just as individuals by themselves.

The research surveyed 2,347 practicing Christian adults and teens to “learn from households that appear to be exceptionally engaged in communal and consistent faith expression in the home.” In its monograph, Households of Faith: The rituals and relationships that turn a home into a sacred space, Barna developed a custom metric that sorts households by reports of collective, frequent engagement in key behaviors: •

•

SPIRITUAL PRACTICES—

defined as praying every day or two and reading the Bible weekly all together

SPIRITUAL CONVERSATIONS

— defined as talking about God and faith at least weekly all together

HOSPITALITY

— • defined as welcoming non-family guests regularly, or at least several times a month1 1

73

Barna, Households of Faith: The rituals and relationships that turn a home into a sacred space, 2019. Page 18

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We have household meetings We share how we’re feeling with each other daily We go on walks monthly

We go to the park monthly

A household member talks with me about God’s % forgiveness A household member teaches me about the % Bible

BY CHAD FIX

Households that frequently participated in all these activities are what Barna refers to as spiritually vibrant. Only a quarter of respondents in this study (25%) described a household environment that is spiritually vibrant.

Others described homes that are devotional (only participate in spiritual practices and spiritual conversations), hospitable (only practice hospitality), or dormant (do not participate in any of these practices on a frequent basis).

While it may be tempting to dwell on the dormant households in America, for LHM President and CEO Kurt Buchholz the findings on spiritually vibrant households were much more encouraging.

“Spiritually vibrant households share traits that can be nurtured within any household. It’s this finding that has me particularly excited,” he says.

“The qualities of these vibrant households where faith is nurtured in a beautiful, lasting way, are obtainable for any household—no matter the size or make up—which is good news for the cause of the Gospel. Any spiritually dormant household can become, over time and with intention, a spiritually vibrant household of faith.”

While the research offered some timely, highlevel insights, it also only scratched the surface about fostering a vibrant home. In his soon-tobe released book titled The Spiritually Vibrant Home, LHM Content Development Manager Don Everts shares that the research findings sparked a profound curiosity: What do spiritually vibrant

We play games daily

69

A household member teaches me % about traditions

71% 73% 56% 55%

A household member encourages me to go to church A household member sets an example A close friend visits on a regular basis I have deep conversations with close friends

I personally prayed to God in the past week I personally attended a religious small group or Bible study in the past week I personally read from the Bible in the past week I borrow household items from close friends

I ask close friends for help We get outside help with childcare

We get outside help with finances I have close friends in my life who feel like family I have close friends over for dinner I go on vacation with close friends I pray with friends who visit

80% 51% 76% 27% 37% 13% 30% 91% 44% 32% 58%

The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020 | 3

Spiritually Vibrant Home … continued from previous page households look like? And can households armed with that knowledge strive to become more spiritually vibrant? Check out Everts’ personal story in the following excerpt from his book.

A Homelife Assessment that Applies to Everyone This curiosity was so strong I decided to start a year-long class starting not with clarity but with curiosity. I gave the class a vague title, ‘Households of Faith,’ and watched as 40 people made their way into classroom 3205 on that first Sunday.

These 40 people included physically tired parents of young kids, emotionally tired parents of teenagers, battle-tested grandparents, and a few single people who were wondering if the class would be relevant to them at all.

The first week of class I stood up front and confessed that I wasn’t starting with much clarity but with strong curiosity. I told them not to think of it as a class but rather as a learning lab, and I invited everyone there to join me in holding the Bible in one hand, the Barna research in the other, and exploring together what exactly a spiritually vibrant home looks like and how we could put that knowledge to use in our own homes.

That’s exactly what we did. We met on 21 different Sundays over the next nine months. We studied 83 passages from the Bible and dozens of graphs and infographics from Barna. We asked lots of questions. Not just questions about the Bible and Barna, but honest questions about our

“Any spiritually dormant household can become, over time and with intention, a spiritually vibrant household of faith.”

own households—those we grew up in and those we were now a part of shaping.

That’s when the tears started to come. And it wasn’t just one person. Lilly felt a mixture of hope and disappointment as she honestly assessed the spiritual health of her own young household: “I just don’t feel like we’re spiritually vibrant at all … more like spiritually dormant.”

But she wasn’t alone. Martha, a mother of

AT A GLANCE Practicing Christians occupy many kinds of households, primarily as nuclear families or in roommate contexts.

For the most part, Christians also live with people of the same ethnic background and religious identity.

Faith formation is connected to and increases with hospitality.

Households that regularly host non-family guests are more likely to talk about faith, pray or read the Bible together.

4 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

Overall, spouses are the primary relationship that Christians interact with and confide in.

Unmarried adults have a more diverse mix of people on whom they depend, though mothers top their list.

A majority of practicing Christians participates in spiritual conversations, prayer and Bible-reading with their household.

Beyond the home, church attendance is also a common group activity, behind only eating out in frequency.

two and grandmother of three, felt a mixture of regret and empowerment as she honestly assessed her own parenting back in the day and the opportunities she has now as a grandparent.

Mark felt a mixture of sadness and hope as he considered how dads in general are doing in Christian homes across the country (not that great) and how he could do more as a spiritual coach in his own home.

Kids become a catalyst for any interaction, including faith-related ones.

Homes with minors have broader communities, busier schedules and more spiritual conversations.

Spiritually vibrant households are characterized by fun and quality time.

Games, singing, reading and sports are common group activities among households that Barna defines as Vibrant.

Generally active households are spiritually active households, and vice versa.

Shared meals, work and play are common in households that also carve out time for faith interactions.

Faith heritage impacts Christians’ beliefs and practices for the long term.

Christians need influences outside their family of origin or household to grow in both theology and tradition.

Charts on page 3-5 are adapted from Barna, Households of Faith: The rituals and relationships that turn a home into a sacred space.

We all found there’s something inherently emotional about considering the home. While the research findings were seemingly benign and the Scripture passages were somewhat familiar to us, there’s something unavoidably nontheoretical about considering the home.

Here, I’ll show you what I mean. Spend a few moments looking at some of the at-a-glance findings from the research that we looked at during our first month together (check out the graphic below).

Perhaps, like some of the men in our learning lab, you are a father and reading about the “small role” fathers tend to play in the home makes you angry. Or sad. Or disappointed. Whether or not you are a father, perhaps reading about fathers’ small role stirs up regrets (or latent gratitude) about your own father’s role in your household growing up. We felt those emotions too.

Or perhaps reading about “faith heritage” stirred up emotions about how the Christian faith was (or wasn’t) handed on to you when you were growing up. We had lots of thoughts and feelings and reflections about our families of origin.

If you are a parent, reading about faith heritage might make you wonder how good a job you are doing at handing on the Christian faith to your own children. All of us parents in the room wondered those same things.

If you are single, reading a few findings about

Couple households, primarily made up of Boomers and Elders, are fairly isolated.

The routines of these older Christians tend to orbit their spouse, and half do not regularly welcome guests.

spouses and households may make you feel left out of the conversation once again, wondering why every Christian book or sermon or devotion seems to be centered on couples or families. The single folks in our learning lab wondered the same.

Or perhaps you are an empty nester and, like our faithful table of grandparents, you want to leave more of an imprint on your grandchildren but aren’t sure if that is possible or how you would even begin to do that. Maybe reading about how isolated empty nesters can be makes you wonder if your chance at influence is over.

Perhaps these initial emotions make you wonder whether you should keep reading. That’s basically what I was feeling after Lilly shared her heart with all of us and everyone turned back to look at me. Is the home just too personal to assess? Is it too convicting to study the shape of spiritually vibrant homes? Is there any hope we can help our own imperfect households become more spiritually vibrant over time?

Rather than shuttering the class that warm Sunday morning last fall and resigning ourselves to the status quo in our homes, we pressed on.

We looked carefully at what the research reveals about the shape and habits of spiritually vibrant homes. We studied what the Bible reveals about God’s design for our households and how helpful Jesus is in growing the spiritual vibrancy of households. And we held the Bible and Barna up like a mirror, getting honest about our own households.

Our consensus after nine months? There is real hope and healing power for all of us. We learned more about ourselves and our homelife

Fathers play a smaller role than mothers in terms of both presence and influence in their households.

Teenagers’ siblings are equally as involved as their fathers in meeting emotional and spiritual needs.

… the truth is God made you to be a part of a spiritually vibrant household that grows more spiritually vibrant all the time.

than we thought we would. We were surprised and humbled and convicted and encouraged by what we saw in our homes and in God’s Word.

We created homework and tried new things in our homes. We shared the results with each other and laughed and cried. In the end, we saw God change our homes in ways small and big.

I’m glad we pressed on. And I encourage you to do the same. No matter what kind of home you grew up in, no matter what your home looks like right now, the truth is God made you to be a part of a spiritually vibrant household that grows more spiritually vibrant all the time.2

Messy Prayers, Loud Tables, and Open Doors One of the fruits of this learning lab was the creation of The Spiritually Vibrant Home. In this book, Everts invites us to contemplate what the Bible says about households and consider what this research project has revealed by pulling back the curtains on everyday households of faith. The research shows that some of the healthiest, most vibrant homes extend beyond the nuclear family and include people that may not be biologically related but feel like family. These households have vital practices of spirituality, hospitality, and community that make them delightful places for living and thriving.

The journey begins by exploring the spiritual significance of everyday, mundane happenings at home and then addresses the somewhat surprising way the Bible talks about homes.

The book then takes a deep dive into the three elements that spiritually vibrant homes have in common by offering a twist on the definitions and several examples of application: • Messy Prayers • Loud Tables • Open Doors “This book provides Christians with a roadmap to developing intentional rhythms that nurture their spirit, honor their heavenly Father, and pass on their faith to the next generation,” says Brooke Hempell, senior vice president of research for Barna Group.

“This whole process has given me hope for my own household and steps to take toward spiritual vibrancy,” says Everts. “That gives me the courage to invite you along for this journey to see what God’s Word proclaims and the latest research confirms about we humans and our homes.

“In the end you might just be surprised by how God wants to work in and through your household,” he continues. “And you’ll have practical steps for nurturing a vibrant household of faith, no matter what stage of life you are in.”

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² Excerpt from the introduction of The Spiritually Vibrant Home: The Power of Messy Prayers, Loud Tables, and Open Doors, 2020, InterVarsity Press/LHM.

The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020 | 5

Spiritually Vibrant Home … continued from previous page

Toolkit of Resources to Build a Spiritually Vibrant Home Lutheran Hour Ministries is developing an extensive library of resources for the home that will be included in the Households of Faith Kit beginning in March. The contents of the kit are valued at $65 but will be available for

$37 at lhm.org/households. In addition to The Spiritually Vibrant Home book, several additional resources will be included in the kit. Check out the materials below (each item will also be sold separately):

HOUSEHOLDS OF FAITH KIT Households of Faith Monograph

Households of Faith The Vibrant Conversations Small Group Study DVD Deck

How Christians order their days and connect with relatives and housemates is a critical aspect of spiritual growth.

Households of Faith presents a vivid portrait of the domestic lives of U.S. practicing Christians.

In addition to all-new research and data visualizations, Households of Faith provides vital principles to strengthen followers of Christ, their homes and, ultimately, the family of God.

Booklets for PARENTS:

This foursession video study explores the research in the Households of Faith monograph and helps you apply it to your household. It details three habits that LHM’s Barnabased research found were active in spiritually vibrant households. These households 1) apply spiritual disciplines; 2) extend hospitality; and 3) engage in spiritual conversations.

Not only can these cards be used to play your favorite card games, but The Vibrant Conversations Deck contains 52 great questions in four categories: applying spiritual disciplines, extending hospitality, engaging in spiritual conversations, and food and fun. You can use these cards to spark spiritual conversations around your own table, in the car, or wherever your household is gathered together.

Helping Your Child Have a Relationship with God, Helping Your Child Grow Through Faith Conversations, Helping Your Child Welcome Others

The Household Magnet This notepad magnet says, “As for me and my household we will …” followed by plenty of space for your household members to identify and record areas of focus. (For example, “In February we will invite 10 people over for a meal.”) This magnet can live on your refrigerator as a reminder of your household’s vibrant next step as you work together to nurture faith within your home.

Booklets for CHILDREN:

Parents have high hopes for their children’s faith, but don’t always know how to get them there. These booklets help parents

• develop strategies to encourage their children to be hospitable toward others. Supporting Bible passages and vast experience from the author working with children give parents numerous tools and resources to utilize.

This booklet contains 30 different devotions written by Dr. Kari Vo, LHM’s theological writer. They can be used consecutively as a month of devotions or occasionally per time and topic. An introduction gives tips on doing devotions in your home and additional information is provided on accessing devotions online.

Learning to Pray, Welcome, The Bible Tells Me So These booklets are geared towards pre-school to third-grade children. The booklets will encourage children to

• nurture their child’s relationship with God by exploring how to partner with God using two practical rhythms that will help their child learn how to pray to God and understand His Word; • grow their child’s faith through spiritual conversations by discovering how to use Jesus’ methods and cover Jesus’ topics in conversations in their everyday lives; and

30 Days of Household Devotions Booklet

• spend time with God in prayer;

The BibleMe So Tells

PROJECT CONNECT PROJECT CONNECT

• learn, through words and pictures, how important it is to be welcoming to others—just as God has invited and received us into His kingdom “home”; and • read several key Bible verses that speak to God’s love, His mercy, His forgiveness, and His words of guidance as a reminder to look to the Bible for learning how to live their lives for God.

PROJECT CONNECT

Get Started Today by Taking an LHM Learn Course!

LHM Learn offers three FREE courses based on the Households of Faith research: Me and My Household: Explore the concept of households in the Bible and in our culture today.

This course will equip you to map your whole household and consider just how vibrant it is.

Building a Vibrant Household: Explore spiritually vibrant households and the three characteristics revealed by research that any household can nurture. It will equip you to evaluate your own household’s vibrancy and to take the next steps in building a more vibrant household.

6 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

Open Doors: The Art of Hospitality: Take a deeper dive into the vibrancy characteristic of Christian hospitality. Learn what the Bible says about welcoming the stranger and join us in the Open Door Challenge.

Check out lhm.org/learn today to get started on one of these FREE courses. They each offer self-paced learning, time for self-reflection and journaling, easy access on any digital device, and so much more! = Chad Fix oversees the corporate communications of LHM.

Change?

Why Change?

T

BY PHIL JOHNSON, Chairman, Int’l LLL Board of Directors

his past summer was a time of change for my wife and me. After 18 years in our most recent home, we decided it was time to make a move. It’s important to understand that all the reasons for making this change were good and reasonable. The location of the new home placed me better for work and closer to family. The configuration of the home fit our stage in life. Most everything about the move made good sense—but it was hard to change! We couldn’t bring our beloved neighbors or church family with us to our new location. We had to adjust to new stores and restaurants. I didn’t even know where to go to get a haircut!

Change can be like that. We can be convinced of all the great reasons for change, but “reasonableness” is just our head talking. It often takes longer for our heart to catch up. Mark Twain is credited with the statement “the

only one who truly appreciates change is a wet baby!” I guess that was us. Even though the change was reasonable and, in some ways, necessary, we didn’t really appreciate the change right away.

It will take a while for our hearts to catch up to our heads!

In Philippians 2:3-4, the Apostle Paul turns us toward others when he writes “Don’t act out of selfish ambition or be conceited, instead, humbly think of others as being better than yourselves. Don’t be concerned only about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others.” This is often the root of why we choose meaningful change in the church— not for our sake but for the sake of people we have never met but for whom Jesus Christ has died!

Change isn’t easy, but it is often necessary if we are going to reach out with the Good News.

How is it with you? How do you adjust to change in your

New Project Connect App NOW AVAILABLE BY MEGAN MCDANIEL

L

utheran Hour Ministries has created a new mobile app for users that makes finding our Project Connect booklets in PDF and audio formats convenient for you. You can have access to a wide variety of Project Connect booklets wherever you are through your mobile device!

The new Project Connect Booklets app is available on the Apple app store, Google Play, and Amazon for your Kindle Fire. Within this new app, you can search for booklets by topic, browse our collection of booklets for adults and children, and easily share the booklets via email, social media, and text messages. Some of the booklets even have the option to listen to an audio version of the booklet—all within one app!

To find the all-new Project Connect Booklet app, as well as other LHM apps such as The Lutheran Hour, Daily Devotions, and LHM Video Bible Studies, visit lhm.org/apps. ==

Megan McDaniel reports on the impact of LHM’s ministry work around the world.

personal life … your work … or your church? Change in the church is often made on behalf of people we have never met—people in our community who live day-today without knowing the Savior Jesus. These people may work odd shifts that don’t allow for regular Sunday worship attendance. Maybe health concerns have limited their mobility. Perhaps they don’t read well, or English isn’t their first language. Maybe they have simply never been asked to participate because their life-stage or interests just don’t seem to fit what we are doing or the way we choose to do it. Why should we change? That would be uncomfortable or risky.

If they really wanted to hear, wouldn’t they be here already?

We face the same questions and challenges at Lutheran Hour Ministries. Why change what we are currently doing when everything seems to be going so well? Why would we risk

“Don’t be concerned only about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others.”

Philippians 2:4

something new when the way we are currently serving seems so proven? The answers are easy. Any changes we make are for the sake of the millions of people who have never heard of or come to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Are changes in the wind for Lutheran Hour Ministries? You can be sure of that! But you can also be sure that as we choose to change what we do or how we do it, our why will never change. Bringing Christ to the Nations—and the Nations to the Church will continue until every person on the face of the earth is given an opportunity to hear about God’s love in Jesus Christ. That will not change. =

Can you Support Ministry and Provide for your Family at the Same Time?

YES! A Charitable Gift Annuity to LHM allows you to make a gift that shares the Gospel with souls in need while receiving fixed payments for life—and the life of a loved one if you choose.

Contact LHM’s gift planning staff at lhm-gift@lhm.org or 877-333-1963.

The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020 | 7

2020 LENTEN JESUS DEVOTIONS

Mobile, audio, and Spanish also available!

Deliver Us:

BY CHAD FIX

S

Sets Us Free

Find Inspiration in Israel’s Exodus

DEVOTIONS Lent 2020

BY PAUL SCHREIBER

D

uring Lent, we’re reminded of God’s love for us shown through His Son. In Deliver Us: Jesus Sets Us Free, LHM’s 2020 Lenten devotions, we view Jesus’ victory over darkness at Golgotha in the light of Israel’s freedom from Egyptian bondage. Through Moses, God delivered His people to the Promised Land; through Jesus, God redeems them for eternity. In both events, God saves; through Jesus, God saves completely.

This idea of seeing how Israel’s exodus fits in with Christ’s Passion began with Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, The Lutheran Hour Speaker. He then shared it with LHM’s Theological Writer Dr. Kari Vo. Together they looked at how the book of Exodus foreshadowed the ordeal of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection in the Gospels.

They found there were intriguing tie-ins between the two events and—for Vo—a real challenge to capture as much

of the connection as possible, with the limited words she had at her disposal.

“It was a bit tricky, because there’s so much great material, and you have only a few words to share it in! All through Exodus, we get echoes of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection— things like blood, the Passover lamb, the crossing of the Red Sea/Baptism, and so forth. I could wish for three times as much space just to talk about the Passover lamb and how that is a picture of Jesus’ sacrifice,” Vo says.

“It was a bit tricky, because there’s so much great material, and you have only a few words to share it in!”

Be sure to make Deliver Us: Jesus Sets Us Free part of your Lenten meditations. Reflection questions help springboard to other ideas, and they’re ideal as discussion starters for small groups. And don’t forget LHM devos can be shared with others

with just the touch of a button.

Throughout Lent, you can receive these devotions as a daily email, beginning Ash Wednesday, February 26. You can also download and print these devotions, including an option for large print, listen to them online or subscribe to our podcast, or read and listen on LHM’s Daily Devotions app.

Audio begins on February 26 with Dr. Zeigler reading the devotions. Go to lhm.org/lent for more information.

Por sus heridas fuimos sanados, the Spanish-language version, will be available to read online or can be received as a daily email during the Lenten season, beginning on February 26. Audio availability begins that day as well with Rev. Héctor Hoppe reading the messages. LHM offers a print version for download, too. Visit paraelcamino.com/cuaresma for the details. = Paul Schreiber reports on the impact of LHM’s ministry work in the United States.

Don’t Let Your Thrivent Choice Dollars Expire!

Eligible Thrivent Financial members have until March 31, 2020 to direct any remaining 2019 Choice Dollars. Help us share the Gospel around the world by directing your available Choice Dollars to LHM today!

Learn more at lhm.org/choice.

8 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

The Lasting Gift of a Charitable Gift Annuity everal years ago, Bill and his wife Connie invested money in a bank CD but weren’t happy with the declining rates. The couple had listened to The Lutheran Hour regularly since the early years of their marriage, so when the CD matured shortly after his wife passed away, Bill decided he wanted to honor Connie with a gift to LHM. But he also needed money to live on in retirement and feared he wouldn’t be able to make as large of a gift as he hoped.

The solution? A charitable gift annuity (CGA).

A charitable gift annuity is an irrevocable financial agreement that provides regular payments to you for the rest of your life. Here’s how it works when you establish a CGA through Lutheran Hour Ministries: 1. You make a gift with assets such as cash, appreciated stock, or appreciated mutual finds.

2. Based on the terms of your charitable gift annuity, LHM will guarantee a stream of income for the duration of up to two lives. You may also be eligible for a tax deduction for your gift today.

3. Once the terms of the CGA come to an end, the remainder of the funds can go to support Gospel outreach through LHM. This future gift is where the charitable aspect comes into play. Your forward-looking will make a lasting impact on the Lord’s work, even after you have gone to heaven be with Him. If this sounds simple, that’s the whole idea!

Charitable gift annuities are simpler than many other types of planned gifts and often require only a simple contract to execute the agreement between you and LHM. You can set up a charitable gift annuity with as little as $5,000!

If you aspire to support Gospel ministry into the future, but need to provide for yourself or loved ones today, LHM would be glad to talk with you about whether a charitable gift annuity is the right option. We can even provide you with a personalized illustration at no cost or obligation.

As you pray over this opportunity, feel free to contact our gift planning staff to learn more at 1-877-333-1963 or go online to lhm.org/giftplan. =

NURTURING YO U R FA I T H : PA R T F O U R

Called to Share S

Watch video introduction with Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler at lhm.org/studies

o far in Nurturing Your Faith: Called, we have considered the nature of God’s call and its impact on our day-to-day lives as believers. God calls us to Himself (session 1); redeems and sanctifies us in His call to faith (session 2); calls us for service to others (session 3); and as we shall see in this session, calls us to share. With the letter to the Ephesians to guide us, Paul plainly states our role as Christ-followers: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). For Paul, part of being God’s “workmanship” meant telling His story.

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).

Everyone’s Mission Ephesians—one of Paul’s “captivity letters” written likely while he was imprisoned in Rome (along with Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon)—reveals again Paul’s great heart for proclamation. He knew that while God calls us out of the world, He, in effect, sends us right back into it—armed with the Good News of Jesus to share it boldly no matter what our circumstances, even imprisonment (see Ephesians 3:1; 6:19-20). When we think of Paul and his heated debates; his hair-raising, near-death misses; his out-and-out beatings; and the like, we may be tempted to view outreach as “the other guy’s” calling. But through it all, God empowers. He takes our deepseated fears and cold sweats and comforts us; He knows our insecurities; He’s seen every failure, and He gives us something in their place: newness of life (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).

While Paul understood his new and right standing before God, he knew talking about Jesus wouldn’t be easy. He knew the opposition—he’d been there. At one time, he loathed the same message and Messiah he now declared (see Acts 9:1-2), working feverishly to stomp out the first glowing embers of Christianity. But Paul’s calling—the same one you and I hear today—changed him from the inside out. How else does a person go from persecutor to persecuted unless the truth of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection scrubs clean the dark corners in his or her heart? Paul was saved—by the grace of God (see Romans 3:21-26), and he was going to take every breath he had to breathe out that message of love and forgiveness to others.

Questions: 1. Have you seen God work a radical change in your life? If you became a Christian as an adult, how comfortable are you in sharing this with those who knew you before you received Christ? Is it easier to talk to strangers about Jesus?

2. How does Paul’s ministry while in prison (see Philippians 1:12-14) show God at work, drawing people to Himself, regardless of their circumstances?

3. How important is it to be receptive to opportunities to share the Gospel? Do you look for chances to have spiritual conversations?

Do you recognize them when they occur? continued on next page

ST A IEL A N B LDE VAI TD EL O HM / L. E D O W N L OFAUDL LS T UU DD Y YG A UVI D A .TO LRHGM OA RR GN /STUDIES The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020 | 9

continued from previous page

Reading the Landscape Paul seems like a guy who could spot an outreach opportunity a mile away—and not miss the one at his elbow either. Whether he was in a synagogue (see Acts 9:20-22) or on a sinking ship (see Acts 27), he was quick to testify to his faith and the reality of God’s salvation to all through Jesus (see Acts 17:22-31). This is a special quality: a top-of-mind awareness that any and all encounters are potential faith-sharing occasions. So how does one become that sensitive to circumstances? Paul may have summed it up best when he said: “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

Classic Paul here: for all the education and eloquence he possessed, his demeanor was one of humility, vulnerability, weakness. He did not want the person of Paul to be what the Corinthians remembered; rather, “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” With that as his sole message, their faith would rest solidly on God’s power to redeem and renew. Likewise, he wrote to the churches in Asia Minor: “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:1-2).

Is there a person(s) in your life with whom you’d like to have a spiritual conversation? Maybe it’s a son or daughter whose life is unstable, and they’re resistant to the things of God. It might be a close friend with whom you’ve shared many things, but never those kinds of things. It could even be a spouse who for all his or her Christian-like qualities is still hazy on Jesus’ role in salvation (see John 3:16), despite years of church involvement together. These are difficult situations because they’re close to home, and that makes us doubly befuddled. You may feel you’ve already missed the chance to say something and that doing so now would be clumsy and presumptuous. You may fear causing a rift or a break in the status quo of your relationship if you say something. We all have our reasons for not sharing our faith.

One thing’s for certain though, no matter how well prepared we are, or how much we end up muddling through the conversation, it’s the Holy Spirit who calls the person to faith. There’s great relief in that, too. Naturally, we want to be prepared for spiritual conversations (see 2 Timothy 2:15), as the Lord surely has more to work with when we’ve “done our homework,” but as the song says, “T’was grace that brought us safe thus far, And grace will lead us home.”

God does it all. It’s His grace at work, as we tell others about Jesus, as we reach out to them in love and concern. Our aim is to be more like Jesus in all we do. Our role, as Paul says, is to “be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2).

Heavenly Father, stir within us a heartfelt desire to be Christ-like for others, speaking to them of Jesus, loving them as You love us.

Amen.

1. Have you ever found yourself talking about God and faith with someone in a way that surprised you? That surprised them?

2. What are some personal pitfalls you have to be wary of when sharing your faith? Have you addressed those things? Do you pray about them? Have others given you feedback in this regard?

3. How can God’s Word help us address personal issues (i.e. shyness, reticence, awkwardness, sounding “preachy,” etc.) before we’re in a spiritual conversation? Are there things we can do to ready ourselves to share the Gospel as we begin our day?

Questions:

Going Forth

Pray

Questions:

B

1. Who do you know is in need of God’s love and forgiveness right now? Would you like to talk to them? Do you feel like you can without being stifled, rejected, or having them view you as non-credible?

2. Do you read/watch/listen to spiritual resources that are developed specifically to help people share Jesus more effectively?

What are your favorites?

3. If you received Christ through someone’s personal witness, can you summarize your coming to faith in words? Would it be good to get down on paper the kind of conversations you had, the questions you asked, the way they were handled, what caused you to keep listening, and the overall character of your interactions with that person(s)?

eing called to share Jesus with others is an awesome responsibility. Reading God’s Word, spending time in prayer, and taking advantage of outreach resources all help us become more effective witnesses. To this end, Lutheran Hour Ministries has a growing catalog of Christ-centered outreach tools that you can use to empower your spiritual conversations and keep them more Jesus-focused. Texts like The Reluctant Witness: Discovering the Delight of Spiritual Conversations and How to Talk About Your Faith: An Introduction to the Spiritual Conversation Curve are lively reads that show how sharing Jesus is something we can all do—and do well. Similarly, LHM Learn’s online courses (five faith-strengthening categories, many topics, all FREE!) can empower your outreach to others with greater knowledge and confidence.

In closing, we do well to remember Paul’s words, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

10 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

2019 Annual Ministry Impact Report

MILLIONS HEARD THE GOSPEL Because of You!

BY CHAD FIX

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

For the past 102 years, God has continually used Lutheran Hour Ministries to bring messages of hope to the downtrodden, the lonely, and the lost. Decade by decade, we have risen to the pressing challenges of the times to proclaim the Savior. Each milestone required a bold step of faith to share Jesus on a global scale. And now, more than ever, this mission is critical.

Today, with billions of souls in danger of entering eternity apart from Christ, the need to go out into the world and grow, nurture, and expand the Body of Christ has never been greater. LHM will not rest until we proclaim the Gospel to as many of these souls as possible, in ways they can understand.

A YE AR IN R EVIE W How Your Gifts Helped LHM Share the Gospel in 2019 Lutheran Hour Ministries witnessed exciting progress in 2019 for each of the four strategic ministry priorities outlined in our comprehensive five-year strategic plan.

Following are some of the ways in which LHM was abundantly blessed by God during the last year thanks to your generous support.

While the world has changed over the last century, the power of the laity remains strong today. Thanks to the sustained, generous support of faithful individuals like you, LHM reaches increasingly disengaged audiences as well as people who have never even heard about the love of Christ.

On behalf of our entire staff, I’d like to thank you for your partnership in ministry, your prayers, and your financial support during the past year. Without you, we would not be able to share the Gospel with more than 135 million people around the world each week through a variety of culturally relevant outreach programs and resources. Your gifts, prayers, and volunteer involvement allow hurting people to find answers and relief in the Gospel.

Please explore this year’s ministry impact

report to see just a few of the ways God is working through you. I hope you are humbled to see how God uses our talents and treasures to make His Gospel known.

With your continued partnership, we can make an even greater difference in the lives of the lost and the hurting. I hope you will continue to join us in mission and ministry as we advance our efforts of Bringing Christ to the Nations— and the Nations to the Church.

Thank you so much for your faithful support. I look forward to being with you in the mission field.

Your Partner in HIS Mission, KURT BUCHHOLZ PRESIDENT & CEO, LUTHERAN HOUR MINISTRIES

ENERGIZE, EQUIP, AND ENGAGE Laity for Outreach Our Spiritual Conversations Starter Kit provided thousands of individual Christians, groups, and congregations a one-stop solution for learning about our Spiritual Conversations in the Digital Age offerings produced from research conducted in partnership with Barna Group.

The monograph published from this research was named the Resource of the Year for Evangelism by Outreach Magazine in its March/April 2019 issue. The acknowledgement by this widely respected Christian publication is a testimony to the timeliness of the research as well as its relevance to a wider Christian audience.

After a successful year of resource development, presentations, and conversations around Spiritual Conversations, we released the monograph for our second year of partner research with Barna Group under the theme of Households of Faith. This research looked at Christian households in America and how the ever-changing household (the nuclear

family is not the norm anymore) interacts with the people under that roof and how faith is talked about and shared between household members.

Our LHM Learn platform (lhm.org/learn) added several new outreach resources to its learning library to help individuals reach out with the love of Jesus Christ in their everyday lives. At any given time, around 2,000 active users are participating in the dozens of courses available under five categories: Christian Foundations, Cultural Concepts, Everyday Insights, Outreach Essentials, and Spiritual Reflections.

Our successful Online Mission Trip transitioned to a new program called Gospel Adventures. The first year’s theme, Passport to Peru, offered an interactive website with videos, daily curriculum, theme music, and optional game and snack activities, all under an overarching biblical theme.

Nearly 850 teachers, parents, and other educators registered for this year’s adventure—which means more than 35,000 elementary and middle school students saw firsthand how the Gospel is shared in another part of the world.

continued

The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020 | 11

GROW GOD’S KINGDOM Through Expanded Media Outreach

BRING THE GOSPEL to the Unreached Around the World

In addition to airing on more than 1,800 traditional radio stations throughout North America, The Lutheran Hour is also being heard today on new media platforms such as a mobile app, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Sirius XM satellite radio. As The Lutheran Hour entered its 87th broadcast season this past fall, we launched a sister podcast titled Speaking of Jesus.

Each weekly podcast includes people from different walks of life, different stages of life, and different family backgrounds having real conversations about life, Jesus, and what He means to them. Hosted by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour, and Director of Christian Education Jessica Bordeleau, the podcast serves as an encouragement for listeners to invite Jesus into their everyday conversations.

Responding to the needs of a growing Hispanic population in the United States that treasures relationships, community, and spiritual values that often clash with the more individualistic and secular American culture, LHM increased the frequency of our Sentido Latino podcast from biweekly to weekly.

In addition to addressing the challenges Hispanics face when trying to adapt to a new culture, the podcast connects listeners to LHM’s Gospel-based resources.

We also relaunched our Para el Camino Spanish-language sermons as a weekly podcast with archived sermons alternating with new ones preached

by Rev. Hector Hoppe. A companion website includes sermon notes, a downloadable PDF with in-depth thoughts about the Bible text, reflection points, and questions for personal and/or small group study.

Our partnership with SAT-7 PARS in the Persian language group allows a children’s program to be broadcast that is having an impact among families in Central Asia. The live program, Golpand, focuses on children ages 5-13 and teaches morals and values through games, educational videos, and drama.

Outreach efforts in Kenya and Cameroon continue to expand through vocational training programs where LHM educates young women in a practical skill that helps them earn money to provide for their families. In addition to the training, women are introduced to the Gospel and enrolled in Bible Correspondence Courses to learn more about Jesus.

Several ministries throughout Asia are distributing MP3 players as a successful way to share the Gospel. They are given to illiterate people who want to learn about the Gospel as well as people living in rural areas where there are often no churches nearby. In addition to biblical readings and hymns, the devices contain portions of Luther’s Catechism as well as questions that guide listeners to recall what they have heard. The goal is for recipients to not only expand their personal knowledge, but to use the devices for sharing the Gospel with friends and family.

Work has begun to bring our Spiritual Conversations philosophy and approach to several LHM ministry centers around the world. Even though the development of the Spiritual Conversations materials was based off Barna Group’s study done in the United States, we have found that the approach is transferable to cultural contexts outside of North America. This project will provide new educational resources for ministry centers to supplement our evangelism training seminars.

ENGAGE COMMUNITIES in the Digital Mission Field In today’s digital age, people increasingly go online to learn, connect, and even build relationships. The online community of THRED continues to deepen relationships with nonChristians through digital means by offering open and honest conversations with people of different backgrounds about life, faith, and Jesus. A revamped website focusing more on videos than blog-centric content functions more like media websites that nonChristians frequently visit and is sparking conversations with receptive and

12 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

seeking people. THRED video views on Facebook increased more than 120,000 from last year and the program now has now surpassed 10,000 followers.

People from more than 40 countries are coming to our Spanish/Portuguese digital platform, Vivenciar.net, seeking spiritual help and direction while dealing with stress, anxiety, fear, loneliness, and many other life issues. The platform allows people to connect from anywhere at any time for interactions on pertinent topics. Nearly 325,000 people visited the site for the first time this past year.

Our staff in Kazakhstan has taken content from THRED and launched THRED.asia to connect with people in Central Asia who are looking for guidance on topical issues such as marriage, family, loneliness, relationships, and more.

Although this site mirrors much of North America’s content, the information has been translated into

Russian through local authors so it is culturally relevant to the areas where it is being accessed.

Social media outreach in the Middle East and North Africa continues to grow by leaps and bounds.

In the past year, millions of messages have reached tens of millions of people, and nearly 500,000 people from more than 15 countries in the region now follow one of our prominent outreach pages.

BY THE NUMBERS

75,000

1,800 North American Stations Airing The Lutheran Hour®

LCMS/LCC Churches Using LHM Resources

ist t o t h e r h C Na g in

B ri

h

®

rc

t

he

hu

d

Annual Referrals to Churches and Christian Communities

Countries Reached by Ministry

ns

an

57,996

50+

ti o

ng

316 Staff Members Worldwide

4,500+

Supporters

Na

tio n s t o

C e th

94,614 People Trained in Evangelism Last Year

807,303

136 million

Annual Responses to Outreach Efforts

People Reached with the Gospel Globally Every Week The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020 | 13

9% - ADMINISTRATION

17% - FUND DEVELOPMENT

5% - TENANT RENT

LHM Board of Directors (As of Dec. 2019)

Chairman

Secretary

Vice Chairman

Treasurer

Phillip Johnson Lonsdale, Minnesota

Consolidated Operating

Consolidated Operating

Expenses

S

U 95

% - DONO

R

International Lutheran Laymen’s League and Subsidiaries Consolidating Statement of Activities (in thousands) Year ended May 31, 2019, with comparative totals for 2018 OPERATING SUPPORT AND REVENUE

INT’L LUTHERAN LAYMEN’S LEAGUE

LHM FOUNDATION

2019 CONSOLIDATED TOTALS

2018 CONSOLIDATED TOTALS

$27,994 1,427 232 29,653

$1,575 (280) 1,295

$29,569 1,427 (48) 30,948

$31,038 1,369 2,247 34,654

Donor support Building tenant rent Other income, net Operating income

OPERATING EXPENSES Ministries 23,842 Building tenant services 975 Administration and Fundraising 8,852 Operating Expenses 33,669

81 81

23,842 975 8,933 33,750

24,021 877 7,559 32,457

(4,016)

1,214

(2,802)

2,197

Endowment and other fund distributions

1,510

(1,510)

-

-

Change in Net Assets

(2,506)

(296)

(2,802)

2,197

Net Assets, Beginning of Year 30,121 Net Assets, End of Year $27,615

18,584 $18,288

48,705 $45,903

46,508 $48,705

Operating Income in Excess of Expenses

Lutheran Hour Ministries is the registered d/b/a name for the International Lutheran Laymen’s League.

A copy of the full audit report is available online at lhm.org/report.

The LHM Board of Directors and The Lutheran Hour Ministries Foundation want to thank you for being part of the LHM family in 2019. The work that we are blessed to do is only possible because of God’s grace and the tens of thousands of passionate lay members and volunteers who partner with this ministry every day. Please continue to remember us in your prayers as we work to discern and follow the Lord’s guidance for LHM. 14 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

Jack Ficken Fairview, Tennessee

T OR

I 71 % - M

Directors

PP

RY

S NI

T

3% TENANT SERVICES

Income

Gene Partlow Williamsburg, Virginia

Janice Wendorf Neenah, Wisconsin

Richard "Dick" Gast Canyon Lake, California

Robert “Bob” Rauscher Scottsdale, Arizona

Gretchen Jameson Muskego, Wisconsin

Edith Schoepp Onoway, Alberta, Canada

Jonathan Laabs Roselle, Illinois

Kurt Senske Austin, Texas

Michael “Mick” Onnen Stanton, Nebraska

Karen Soeken Ellicott City, Maryland

Leonard Pranschke St. Louis, Missouri

Douglas Werth Arrington, Tennessee

The Lutheran Hour Ministries Foundation (As of Dec. 2019)

Officers

Phil Daniels Chairman Chesterfield, Missouri

Loren Podoll Secretary Riverton, Wyoming

Brian Mitchell Vice Chairman Lee’s Summit, Missouri

David Lanius Treasurer St. Louis, Missouri

Jeffrey Craig-Meyer President St. Louis, Missouri

Lois Engfehr Assistant Secretary Collinsville, Illinois

Rev. Jay DeBeir Vice President St. Louis, Missouri

Trustees

Kurt Buchholz LHM President & CEO Grant, Minnesota Glenn Gerber Katy, Texas Mercedes Hendricks Laguna Hills, California

John “Jack” Kidwell Bay City, Michigan Lee Kucker Oakdale, California David Leege Alexandria, Virginia Lloyd Probasco Lincoln, Nebraska

Scott Homan St. Louis, Missouri

Lynn Scudieri Naples, Florida

Phillip Johnson Int’l LLL Chairman of the Board Lonsdale, Minnesota

Jane Wittlinger Longboat Key, Florida

Kelly Keithly Yuma, Arizona

Douglas Werth Board of Directors Representative Arrington, Tennessee

Men’s NetWork GIVES BACK Complete, WORK DAY Up Next

“What a nice surprise to receive this unexpected blessing!”

BY PAUL SCHREIBER

T

he Sons of Encouragement, a men’s group from Huntington Woods Lutheran Church, Michigan, took the most community-oriented award in the Men’s NetWork’s 2019 GIVES BACK service event. It was held between November 29 and January 1. The group, along with others from the church, went caroling on Sunday, December 22, at area senior care centers.

On receiving the $150 gift card award, men’s group member Mark Phillips told us, “What a nice surprise to receive this unexpected blessing! The Sons of Encouragement at Huntington Woods Lutheran Church will prayerfully consider how to best apply this new cash resource for God’s kingdom! Soli Deo Gloria!”

Kudos and congrats to men’s group members and others who took a few hours from their

day during this hectic time of the year to pay it forward and brighten the lives of others.

And speaking of service—the Men’s NetWork WORK DAY will soon be here. Saturday, April 25, is the day we’re looking for men’s groups to step out and give their brothers and sisters a hand. It might be a scrub job on a building that needs a little love or sprucing up a nature trail. In the past, groups have served communities and neighborhoods by building and fixing things, hauling trash, landscaping, painting, pruning, chopping, digging, and doing whatever a group can do in a few hours to make a difference.

The tasks don’t have to be huge and complicated. In fact, many groups tackle a few items during their WORK DAY. Your group might tidy up the backyard for an elderly neighbor in the morning and then serve lunch at a local soup

kitchen. Possibilities abound.

You know your area and the particular needs it has.

Don’t forget asking guys outside your church to help, too.

This can get them involved in a hands-on project and could lead to additional interest in your church’s worship services, Bible study groups, or your men’s group.

Be checking in the days ahead for WORK DAY details like registration and project suggestions at the Men’s NetWork website: lhm.org/men.

Another place to be checking for WORK DAY news is the biweekly Men’s NetWork newsletter, which can be received as an email subscription. To receive this newsletter—which features all sorts of ongoing information as to what’s going on at LHM and a thought-provoking blog at the end—go to lhm.org/ newsroom and subscribe. =

T

Anchored in Jesus

BY MEGAN MCDANIEL

“It was life changing.”

his year marked the 70th year Lutheran Hour Ministries has had a float in the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. The LHM float, this year under the theme “Anchored in Jesus,” is the only Christian float in the parade, which gives us the opportunity to provide a Gospel witness to viewers everywhere.

The hosts of LHM’s Sentido Latino podcast, Deaconess Noemi Guerra and her father, Rev. Luciano Vega-Ayala, were riders on the float this year. The Tournament of Roses Parade is viewed live on television by 40 million Americans and by millions more people in 150 countries.

Guerra shared, “The 2020 Rose Parade was truly a spiritual experience. We felt the Holy Spirit the whole time. People were singing along, pointing to God, a few even cried when they saw Jesus. One lady asked ‘Jesus’ to pray for her in tears! It was life changing. We praised God and proclaimed Jesus as Lord for two and a half hours. We told it on the mountain!”

To learn more about the float and volunteer opportunities available through the Petal Pushers, visit petalpushers.org. =

REGISTER TODAY! IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020 | 15

2020 Candidates for the INTERNATIONAL LUTHERAN LAYMEN’S LEAGUE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

T

he following individuals are this year’s candidates for open positions on the Int’l LLL Board of Directors in compliance with Article III of the current bylaws. Contributing members of the ministry who are registered with Lutheran Hour Ministries’ headquarters

by March 15 will be able to vote in the 2020 election, as long as they are also members of a

congregation of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod or Lutheran Church–Canada.

Eligible members can register at lhm.org/voter by entering the unique ID and PIN found on the postcard received in February. If you are not able to go online, you may place this postcard in an envelope and mail it back to LHM at 660 Mason Ridge Center Dr., St. Louis MO 63141.

Board Nominees

(listed in alphabetical order; vote for five; per the organization’s Bylaws, at least one elected member must be from Canada)

Jim Dankenbring of St. Louis, Missouri Dankenbring is a partner in the law firm Spencer Fane LLP, representing businesses in mergers and acquisitions, securities matters, contract negotiations, and executive compensation. He was previously a certified public accountant with Ernst & Young. He has served on, and chaired, numerous non-profit boards such as Lutheran Senior Services, Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis, The Foundation for Called Workers, and Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation. A long-time LHM supporter, he and his wife have co-chaired LHM’s SENT Initiative since 2015. His many distinctions include The Best Lawyers in America® (2012-2020) and Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year in Corporate Compliance Law (2017).

Jack Geurkink of Thorndale, Ontario Geurkink (married, two daughters and nine grandchildren) has served as president of J-Tech Design since 1988 and J-Tech Laser Scan since 2001. He has expertise in sales, marketing, product development, engineering, and hiring.

He previously was a draft-person who rose to become head of production before starting his own business. A graduate of Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, he serves as LHM Ambassador at Faith Lutheran Church, where he has also been elder, Sunday school teacher, and men’s breakfast founder. He has been on mission trips to Haiti and Nicaragua and was named Ingersoll Industry Person of the Year (2003).

16 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

Individuals returning the postcard in an envelope postmarked by March 15 will receive a paper ballot.

The election runs from April 15 through May 15.

To be counted, online votes must be received or paper ballots must be postmarked by May 15.

Results will be reported this summer in The Lutheran Layman.

Amanda Herr of New Baltimore, Michigan Herr is the founding partner and co-owner of SocialFuel Media, a company of digital marketing, social media marketing, and branding experts that partners with small, midsize, and large businesses on overall digital strategy. A Certified Professional Coach (IPEC), she was previously vice president of Midwest advertising sales for CNN/HLN (Turner Broadcasting) and was responsible for a $44 million advertising budget. She is a marketing consultant at her home congregation, Immanuel Lutheran Church in Macomb, Michigan, after serving as a small group leader. A single mother, Herr adopted her 12-year-old daughter at birth. She is a board member for Compassion Pregnancy.

Virginia Miller of Rochester, Minnesota Miller is director of the Women’s Health Research Center and professor of physiology/surgery at the Mayo Clinic. Her research focuses on conditions specific to women and has been published more than 250 times. Her congregational service includes stewardship and chair of mission outreach. She recently completed her second term as board chair for Bethesda Lutheran Communities, has served numerous other boards/councils, and received several honors for visionary leadership and research.

Miller earned a B.S. in education from Slippery Rock University, a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri, and an MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson Executive School of Management.

Gene Partlow

of Williamsburg, Virginia Partlow has been a management consultant, and vice president at Boeing, AT&T, and Lucent Technologies. He is currently vice chair for the Int’l LLL Board and member of LHM’s SENT National Leadership Council, serves on his church’s council, and is on the Mid-Atlantic Lutherans in Mission (MALIM) board. He was president of two previous congregations, served as pastoral coach/board member of Lutheran Social Ministries of NJ, and was honored as Volunteer of the Year by NJ Citizens for Life. Married (father of six/grandfather of 16), Partlow earned a B.S. degree from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Northwestern University.

Patricia Ross

of Tulsa, Oklahoma Ross (married, two children) is retired from a nursing career. After earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma, she served as a LTJG in the nurse corps for the U.S. Navy Reserve. She completed her four-year term as president of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League in 2019 after several other district/national leadership positions with LWML. She is chair of lay ministry for outreach at Christ the Redeemer Lutheran Church. Ross has worked on LHM’s Rose Parade float four times as a Petal Pusher and served on the board for Lutheran Braille Workers after they moved to policy-based governance.

Edith Schoepp

of Onoway, Alberta Schoepp is retired following a long career in finance. She most recently served as director of finance in a municipal office for 13 years and worked with many levels of government managing budgets, maintaining general accounting programs, preparing financials, overseeing administrative staff, working with council members, and handling payroll and benefits insurance. An Int’l LLL Board member, she also serves on the board of outreach in her home congregation and is past president of her local Lutheran Women’s Missionary League–Canada group. Schoepp is secretary and past treasurer at the zone level for the Canadian LLL ABC District.

HAVE A SAY IN WHO REPRESENTS YOU!

Celebrating 20 Years of Ministry

S

in Paraguay and Myanmar BY MEGAN MCDANIEL

eptember 2019 was a busy time for LHM–Paraguay as they celebrated 20 years dedicated to serving the community. The anniversary was celebrated with two special worship services.

The Saturday evening service was held in the local Lutheran Church on the border of Brazil where LHM–Paraguay was founded, before the ministry later relocated to CPTLN 20th Anniversary worship services the capital city of in Hernandarias and Naranjal Asunción on the opposite side of the country.

The Sunday celebration was held in a different Lutheran church in Naranjal.

Attendees came from surrounding congregations, some traveling more than 100 miles to attend the events. Rev. Nilo Figur, LHM’s regional director for Latin America, led the sermon at both worship services. In addition, after both services there was a meal of Brazilian BBQ where meal tickets were sold to raise money for LHM’s ministry in Paraguay. Representatives from the Lutheran Church attended the events, as well as the vice president from the national church and presidents from the men’s league, women’s league, and youth league. LHM–Paraguay staff and volunteers also celebrated its sister church that has more than 4,000 members, 13 pastors, and is self-sustaining in its support of three missions in the country. We look forward to seeing the work LHM– Paraguay does in the future.

LHM–Myanmar also celebrated its 20-year anniversary with a thanksgiving worship service held in November and attended by 130 people. It was a blessing to see the leaders from many local churches and Christian organizations, as well as donors, volunteers, friends, radio listeners, and staff, participating in the program. The program included an opening speech by the general secretary of the Myanmar Council of Churches, an opening prayer by an advocacy board member, a special message from a bishop who serves on the local board, a special speech by LHM’s regional director for Asia, LHM–Myanmar’s 20th Anniversary greetings from the Lutheran worship service and celebration Heritage Foundation, and the benediction from the pastor of a local church. We rejoice for the radio programs, live events, youth ministry, holistic events, and much more that have shared the Word of God with tens of thousands of people in this Christian-minority country. = The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020 | 17

Equipping Our Hearts for Outreach “It is important to let the joy in your heart show on your face.”

Photos of Lois Schaefer witnessing abroad.

BY MEGAN MCDANIEL

L

utheran Hour Ministries has a long history of equipping laypeople for personal outreach. Lois Schaefer, of Central Florida, has a heart for sharing the Gospel and over her years of traveling domestically and abroad, she has encountered people from all walks of life who desperately want and need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. Lois has been a devoted supporter of LHM for many years and even remembers her parents listening to The Lutheran Hour on the radio when she was growing up. Recently, Lois allowed us to ask her about her outreach experiences and tips she has for reaching out to people with the Gospel.

In England

How do you incorporate outreach into your daily activities?

I seek ways to help when help is needed and thereby build a relationship. Once there is this connection, permission is established to go into deeper levels of communication including discovering what may be missing in their life, such as: peace, hope, joy, love … Then there is an open door to bridge to a time when I experienced such a deficit as well and, again, with their permission, delve deeper into how this situation was resolved in my life through the loving guidance and provision of my Father.

How do you share the Gospel with others?

In USA

In your words, what is the importance of outreach?

Our purpose in life is to demonstrate the love that God showed us, and to share His message of grace (the unmerited gift of unconditional love), redemption, forgiveness, salvation. Without this knowledge, there is no hope. When I see how the message of grace changes a person’s heart from hopeless to joyful, it just is transformational for me as well to see the Holy Spirit in action.

18 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

I pray daily that God will show me someone who needs to hear about His love. This drives me to move out of my normal lifestyle and into the lives of others in my community. My door opener is asking them if they want to select a card with a promise on it, a piece of Good News. One technique I use is to fan out several Bible verse cards face down and they choose one of these cards. Then, I tell them that I will pray for them, and give them a business-card size prayer card so they can also pray for their own needs. While I have done this with many people both in the United States and abroad, everyone has had the same reaction: a smile.

Quite often a conversation starts based on what they are experiencing and why they needed this particular Good News at the moment.

Can you share an example of a time when you have shared the Gospel with someone? What steps did you take to build rapport with those individuals and how did they react?

Just recently I was at a fast-food restaurant at about 8:30 p.m.

It wasn’t busy so there was an opportunity to get to know the employees. One in particular, 19-year-old Amber, noticed my multi-colored rubber wristband and asked what it meant. I told her I would explain it, but she needed to listen very carefully so when I gifted it to her, she could share the message with someone else. She was overjoyed at this “Good News” message and asked me to text it to her so she could memorize it and tell others. I let her select a Bible message card, and then asked her if she had anything I could pray for. She did—and then I gave her a prayer card so she could learn how to pray for herself. Since this happened while I was out of town, I couldn’t connect her with a church, but if ever I know of a church nearby, I will share that information in the conversation.

In the Dominican Republic

What is an important characteristic to have?

It is important to let the joy in your heart show on your face. Whether you are an introvert or extrovert, it is okay to exchange niceties with someone else—it might be the only friendly voice that comes to them that day. It is also valuable to have a listening ear and a humble heart.

Also, if they are not receptive or become negative, be aware that this is the time to pull back.

In India

What are some tips for people who want to be more proactive in sharing the Gospel?

First of all, listen. It is very important to develop a relationship before delving into deep spiritual conversation. And, it may take some time before this meaningful, life-changing conversation occurs.

But the benefit that comes from the fruit of the Holy Spirit meets the core of every one of our needs with the greatest gift: love!

Starting a spiritual conversation with a stranger isn’t always easy, but with practice and the right tools, it can be a fruitful experience both for you and the other person. Lois has started using the Spiritual Conversations Curve Card developed by LHM in response to its research in partnership with Barna Group to guide her conversations and determine where the other person is in their spiritual journey. For more information on the Spiritual Conversation Curve and how you can use the cards with friends and family, visit lhm.org/curve. =

Timely Resources for You … and Your Household!

BY KURT BUCHHOLZ, President & CEO, Lutheran Hour Ministries

I

was in church one Sunday morning and was surprised and delighted by what I saw up on the screens in the front of the church. They were displaying data and findings from Spiritual Conversations in the Digital Age, LHM’s initial study in a three-year partnership with Barna Group, which looked at how Christians’ approach to sharing their faith has changed in the last 25 years.

This research in cooperation with Barna is already filling a great need in our churches, and we are excited to share it with you!

LHM invested in careful research about the state of spiritual conversations because we are curious about how people talk about their faith and want to equip and inspire Christians to have

more fruitful discussions about these topics. Barna helped us to do just that, and now we continue our partnership with the development of resources based on the second round of cutting-edge research, Households of Faith.

The data pulls back the curtain and discovers powerful insights about how faith is being handled in the homes of practicing Christians.

The qualities of these vibrant households where faith is cultivated in a beautiful, lasting way are attainable for any household—no matter the size or makeup—which is good news for the cause of the Gospel. Any household can become, over time and with intention, a spiritually vibrant household of faith.

Having seen how careful thinking and strategic leadership in the area of spiritual conversations has already blessed local churches, I am confident that, by God’s grace, Households of Faith will lead to real-life change for countless households. The reality is the size, shape, and complexity of households is shifting, but the role of the household in instilling and nurturing the Christian faith remains the same.

Every church is filled with parents longing to raise their children in the faith, grandparents

Any household can become, over time and with intention, a spiritually vibrant household of faith.

who want to leave a spiritual legacy, singles and empty-nesters who want to grow in their faith— and help others grow as well! Our Households of Faith resources will provide you with powerful insights to help all these groups establish the rituals and relationships that turn a home into a sacred space.

I pray that church leaders, pastors, and household members of every age and stage of life are as encouraged, challenged, and enlightened as we have been.

At LHM, we are committed to seeing the Christian faith instilled and nurtured within vibrant households of faith. I invite you to use our resources (see page 6) to reflect on this research and look for ways to adapt your home into a household of faith. ==

Outreach, Reflection, Foundation—all New from LHM Learn BY PAUL SCHREIBER

T

o get you rolling with your online learning for 2020, LHM Learn has added three new courses to its roster. Love Came Down, a Spiritual Reflections course, speaks to the Father’s love for us in that He spared not the life of His Son to redeem us from our sins. Nurturing Your Faith: Prayer, a Christian Foundations course, examines four types of prayers and how they figure in the daily life of a Christian. Open Doors: The Art of Hospitality, an Outreach Essentials course, explores Christian hospitality and how we can become more open and inviting to others.

Online courses from LHM are ideal for digging into a particular topic, exploring it, and gaining insights to use in your everyday life.

Courses fall into five different categories, giving learners an ever-expanding list of topics to explore.

Takeaways include a renewed appreciation and comprehension of Scripture, ideas to incorporate into your own life, and an empowered enthusiasm for sharing your faith with others.

Love Came Down is a five-day course exploring Gospel texts from Matthew and

Luke. Its overall message is taken from Advent devotions written by Dr. Kari Vo, LHM’s theological writer. Each day begins and ends with prayer. Bible passages are given in print and audio, while commentary and questions help learners make real-life applications of the material. A printable journal created by Minneapolis-based artist Hannah Carlos is included. It has five days of reflection questions as thinking prompts and features Adventthemed illustrations that can be colored.

Nurturing Your Faith: Prayer examines four different types of prayer in the believer’s life.

These are prayers of intercession, gratitude, confession, and praise. Written by Paul Schreiber, senior editor at LHM, and presented

by Don Everts, LHM’s content development manager, each prayer type is viewed in the contexts of the Old Testament, Jesus, and the early church. Conclusions cap the sessions.

A printable journal, discussion guide, video transcript, and tip sheet for use with small groups are included.

Open Doors: The Art of Hospitality is a fivesession course looking at the biblical call to hospitality and how we can cultivate and integrate a more welcoming attitude in our own lives. Utilizing Barna-based research found in the LHM monograph, Households of Faith, this course includes numerous Scripture texts, expert third-party comments, video, graphs and illustrations, and discussion questions to show how hospitality is a crucial element in the Christian’s outreach to the world. Resources include a printable journal, discussion guide, video transcript, and tip sheet for use with small groups. =

For more information on the FREE courses available, visit lhm.org/learn.

The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020 | 19

CHANGING LIVES Around the World with the Gospel

BY MEGAN MCDANIEL

L

utheran Hour Ministries develops culturally-relevant programs and resources to reach people in more than 60 nations who may not be familiar with the Gospel. Below are just a few examples to show how God has been using LHM recently to change lives around the world with His Good News.

Thailand

THAILAND • Surin is 66 years old and is married with four children. His wife is a Christian but Surin always continued practicing his non-Christian religion. A couple years ago, Surin was in an accident that caused him to have trouble walking and lose his job. He started to question the meaning of life and realized that he needed help to get out of the situation he was in.

His wife suggested listening to a Christian radio program, so he began listening to the Because You Are Loved radio program hosted by LHM–Thailand. He shared with LHM staff that now he has the chance to hear about who God is and how He can help. The staff referred Surin to a local church where he is now preparing to be baptized. He understands the Gospel now and is applying it to his daily life. Surin prays that one day his children will learn to trust in Jesus and allow Him into their hearts.

20 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

Madagascar

MADAGASCAR • 63-year-old Lemby is married with eight children. He is one of the Malaso (cattle rustlers) who go to faraway villages in groups of about 10 to ravage other people’s cows so they could bring back food for the women and children at home. While his group usually got what they were hunting for, he believed they were also wasting their time to earn money for worshipping evils. Lemby later became the group leader, but soon got terribly sick and had to stay back at home. Around this time he felt that God was talking to him to surrender his life but he didn’t want to hear God’s voice. LHM–Madagascar staff met Lemby and his family shortly thereafter when they visited his home village. They were sharing God’s love for them when Lemby stood up and announced that he wanted to know more about Jesus the Savior and was willing to trust in Him through the power of God’s Word. “I tried many things and worshipped evils for a long time but never saw any changes in my family’s life. Let me join you and I hope God will help me to change my life,” he said. The next morning Lemby and his family attended a local worship service and were among 143 people baptized on that Sunday, including many of his fellow rustlers and their families.

LATVIA • Sandris is a 33-year-old car mechanic who is married with two daughters. The closest he ever got to religion was as a child hearing his grandmother pray before bedtime. He did not understand the messages but remembered they made him feel safe. A few years ago, Sandris’ mother got sick. She was so weak that he didn’t know how she would heal. He thought about the prayers he had heard as a child but didn’t know how to approach a relationship with God. Around that time, his wife showed him a Facebook post from LHM–Latvia. It was a story about gratitude. Sandris thought it was very heartwarming and unlike what he had envisioned religion to be. He started to eagerly wait for new posts to come out.

Then, he started taking an LHM online Bible course. The course helped answer a lot of the questions that were building up inside him and he started to pray to God for healing for his mother. He continues to take other LHM Bible courses and strengthen his relationship with Jesus.

Latvia

“I tried many things and worshipped evils for a long time but never saw any changes in my family’s life …”

She learned that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Mongolia

MONGOLIA • Ardagul grew up in a nonChristian household and always had questions about God and salvation. A few months ago, she joined an LHM–Mongolia listener meeting and fellowship. A lot of her questions were answered during the meeting and she started to understand who God is and that He loves everyone. She learned that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The messages from the meeting touched Ardagul’s heart and she began to understand that Jesus is her Savior. She decided she would go to church every week and is now listening to the LHM radio program in addition to joining the ministry’s Bible study group.

Laos LAOS • December was a month of love and giving for the staff and volunteers of LHM–Laos. The “Christmas On Tour” project brought a Christmas concert to people living in the southern part of the country. More than 10,000 people heard the Gospel through this week-long project.

A Christmas rally in partnership with local Christian leaders brought in more than 300 people to see a Jesus drama on stage, hear a Christmas-themed sermon, and enjoy song and dance. A new Christmas song was also created and uploaded to Facebook and YouTube. The song was very popular with both local churches and the general public, garnering more than 6,000 views.

MYANMAR • Htay is 29 years old and works as a lawyer and photographer. She grew up practicing a non-Christian religion, but when she was in law school she started to listen to Christian radio programs. One day, she heard an LHM–Myanmar program.

She began listening regularly and would send LHM staff an email to follow up with what she learned. After a couple years of communicating by email, she visited the LHM office. She asked the staff many questions about Christianity and they talked with her about faith. She was brought to faith in Christ by the power of God’s Spirit but did not share that with anyone since her family was not accepting of Christianity.

She began going to church in a town far from where she lived, was baptized in that church, and has now been working on changing the hearts of her family members.

Recently, her family started allowing members of her church into their home. Her father has started to read LHM booklets and Htay prays her family members will one day become Christian.

Argentina

ARGENTINA • Silvina is 37 years old and is married with four children. She was recently hospitalized for a long period of time. A volunteer for LHM–Argentina regularly visits the hospital where she was receiving treatment. During one of her visits, the volunteer met Silvina and began to build a relationship with her. When Silvina was released from the hospital, the volunteer asked to stay in touch and invited her to attend a worship service. She went to the service and later began expressing an interest in becoming a Christian. Now, Silvina is preparing for confirmation and is reading through LHM booklets to help grow her faith.

United States

Myanmar UNITED STATES • Stella came across a Facebook ad from THRED while she was scrolling through her news feed one day. She was interested in the concept of THRED, but did not have a relationship with Jesus, so she commented on the ad asking if Jesus really is who He says He is. A THRED community member communicated with her through private messages and sent her Project Connect booklets to help answer some of her questions about Jesus.

Through reading some LHM booklets, and communicating with a THRED community member, Stella is working toward a relationship with Jesus. = The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020 | 21

Mark Your Calendars for an Energizing LHM

H

ave you had the chance to meet Lutheran Hour Ministries’ global directors and hear the exciting ways they share the Gospel around the world?

Don’t miss the chance to talk with these ministry leaders when we host our LHM Equip 2020 Event October 16-18, 2020, in St. Louis, Missouri. We will be bringing in 35 of our ministry center directors to be a part of our exciting weekend-long training event that is built around celebrating and learning more about caring for our community and neighbors in a global context.

“We have been partnering with Barna to create effective, researchbased resources that help people share their faith with individuals, nurture a spiritually vibrant household, and contribute to the well-being of their neighborhood,” says President and CEO Kurt

Equip 2020 Weekend!

Buchholz. “This event will focus on our giftedness as children of God and how we can use those gifts to benefit the greater world for Christ. We’re especially excited to host our global ministry center directors who already understand the importance of community as they incorporate it into their daily outreach. This event will be a way to learn more from each other, including training, coaching, fellowship, and celebration of what God is doing through all of us at Lutheran Hour Ministries.”

The Equip 2020 event will be held at beautiful and historic Union Station in downtown St. Louis.

Children are encouraged to attend and those ages 5 – 13 will have their own kids club activities, while older kids can attend the training with their parents. In addition to the conference events, during the

weekend participants can enjoy new attractions at Union Station such as the aquarium, Ferris wheel, mini golf, ropes course, and oldfashioned soda fountain. There will be lots of fun for people of all ages.

“This is going to be a really great family weekend!”

The Global Village will be a showcase for all our global ministry center directors where they will be available to talk about their ministry and share stories, photos, and items from their homeland. The Global Village will be open Friday, October 16, from noon to 5 p.m., and again during program breaks the next day.

Saturday will begin with a special breakfast for members of The Hoffmann Society and then will

Together, We Make a Difference through Thrivent Choice BY CHAD FIX

O

ne good act leads to another—and the impact grows. Thanks to eligible members of Thrivent Financial, that’s what LHM has experienced over the past decade through the Thrivent Choice program.

With Thrivent Choice, you support the causes you care about to strengthen communities and change lives by recommending where some of Thrivent Financial’s charitable outreach funds go. Since the program’s inception in 2010, eligible members have used this program to direct more than $414 million to nearly 40,000 churches and nonprofit organizations nationwide. The program has been a great blessing for LHM, bringing in nearly $1.4 million for ministry!

If you still have Choice Dollars available from 2019, the deadline to designate those funds is March 31, 2020. Please consider using

22 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

those blessings to take part in God’s mission to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide through LHM. Thank you for sharing the Gospel through Thrivent Choice!

Supporting LHM through Thrivent Choice is very simple. Go to thrivent.com/thriventchoice and search under “Lutheran Hour Ministries”, “LHM” or “International Lutheran Laymen”.

Or call Thrivent at 1-800-847-4836. Eligibility requirements can also be found at this web site.

Please remember that you must now go through the gift direction process every time you receive notification that Choice Dollars are available.

Thrivent officials eliminated recurring direction of Choice Dollars to organizations in 2012 to ensure that the program continues to be fully funded and allow members to contribute as much as possible to the causes they support. =

BY BECKY PAGEL

roll into training and coaching for our three areas of Barna research.

Saturday evening all attendees will gather to celebrate the successful conclusion of our SENT Initiative and the great work it has enabled us to spread around the world.

“This is going to be a really great family weekend,” says Jeff Craig-Meyer, vice president of constituencies at Lutheran Hour Ministries. “Not only will people be energized, equipped, and engaged for ministry, but there will be plenty of fun opportunities, too. We hope you will join us to celebrate together as the Body of Christ.”

Watch for more details in future issues of The Lutheran Layman and online at lhm.org/equip2020.

Registration opens April 1, 2020. = Becky Pagel is director of constituent advancement for Lutheran Hour Ministries.

New Sermons for Para el Camino; Fresh Look, Enhanced Features for Website

BY PAUL SCHREIBER

S

teady demand for sermons from Para el Camino (For the Journey)—Lutheran Hour Ministries’ Spanish-language broadcast—has led LHM to restart production and offer them now in a podcast format.

Between 2008 and 2014, weekly sermons were regularly produced for Para el Camino. Since then, sermons have been available through website archives.

However, with increasing numbers listening to the Good News online, the demand is there for the accelerated production of new messages.

“Due to the consistently significant number of people— between 2,800 and 3,000—that access these sermons on a monthly basis, we decided to restart production and offer it in a podcast format,” said Beatriz Hoppe, Hispanic coordinator for LHM’s North America region.

The first stage of Para el Camino’s reboot features the podcast alternating between new and archived sermons. Also, to

maximize each message, Notas del sermón (sermon notes) have been added. This downloadable PDF has in-depth thoughts on the Bible text, reflection points to consider, and questions for personal and/or small group study. The sermon text can also be printed and shared.

At Para el Camino’s website (paraelcamino.com), users will find practical, Christ-centered information that helps Hispanics manage their daily lives in the United States. Bible-based teaching, sermons, videos, devotionals, and more benefit Christian and non-Christian alike, providing each with help in navigating U.S. culture.

Sentido Latino (Latin Sense) is a weekly podcast featuring hosts Rev. Luciano Vega-Ayala and Deaconess Noemi Guerra.

The conversation is informed and lively, as they address the cultural, social, and moral challenges Hispanics face as U.S. citizens.

For inspiration, there’s Alimento Diario (Daily Food). This includes Daily Devotions as well as seasonal

LHM Learn ME & MY HOUSEHOLD Learn more about the concept of households in the Bible and in our culture today. Map your whole household, and consider just how vibrant it is.

… users will find practical, Christ-centered information that helps Hispanics manage their daily lives in the United States. devotions for Advent and Lent.

Ayer, Hoy y Siempre (Yesterday, Today and Always) offers a weekly, 15-minute drama of hope and inspiration produced with the concerns of the Spanish-speaking community in mind.

At LHM’s storefront (shoplhm. org), Spanish-language videos can be purchased, and booklets can be bought or downloaded for FREE. Another resource is ¡Dios se revela! (God Connects), a 12-session video exploration of

the Scriptures and the Christian life, complete with accompanying study guides. Also available are LHM video Bible studies—either captioned or with voiceover in Spanish.

You can read about Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones (Christ for All Nations), the Hispanic division of LHM, as well as about the history of the Christian church and the Christian faith under the Conózcanos (Get to Know Us) heading at the top of the page. =

Free Outreach Resources for You and Your Household

BUILDING A VIBRANT HOUSEHOLD

OPEN DOORS: THE ART OF HOSPITALITY

Explore spiritually vibrant households and the three characteristics revealed by research that any household can nurture.

Take a deeper dive into the vibrancy characteristic of Christian hospitality.

Learn what the Bible says about welcoming the stranger and join us in the Open Door Challenge.

Enroll for FREE at lhm.org/learn today!

The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020 | 23

History in the

Making

BY MEGAN MCDANIEL

F

or more than seven decades, LHM–Brazil (Hora Luterana) has been sharing the Gospel with millions of Brazilians. Former ministry center director Paulo Warth has long considered the ministry to be a “family” organization. His father served as long-time speaker on The Lutheran Hour broadcast in Brazil, and Paulo started his own 50-year career helping out in the office before working his way up to ministry center director until his retirement at the end of 2018. As with all family situations, change is inevitable and offers opportunities for growth—and a significant, positive change will soon occur for the Hora Luterana (HL) family.

At a historic HL board meeting last November, LHM President and CEO Kurt Buchholz and Rev. Adelar Munieweg, current director of LHM’s Brazilian ministry center, signed a Memorandum of Understanding whereby Hora Luterana will no longer receive funding from LHM beginning June 1, 2020. Although they will be financially self sustained, HL will continue to partner with LHM in our mission.

HL and LHM will continue working together to strengthen and expand media ministry outreach throughout the world through prayer support and the sharing of resources. They will also work together to

recruit, equip, and empower a global community of Christians committed to carrying on and supporting Gospel media outreach throughout the world.

Munieweg expressed profound thankfulness for the 73 years of support from LHM, which resulted in many mission congregations being started and formed through the ministry of HL and in the expansion of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB) into the north and northeast parts of country.

He assured the commitment of HL in facing the challenges of becoming self-sustaining, under the blessings of the Lord.

“In recent years, Brazil as a country has faced big economic, moral, political, and social crises,” says Munieweg.

“The timing of this move is a challenge, but one that is being faced with the grace of God, the support and prayers of God’s people, and the support of our staff. We are working hard, with much determination and love for Jesus.”

HL Programming

As one of LHM’s longestrunning ministry centers, HL uses a variety of programs to share the love of God with all who want and need to hear it. One of the biggest ministry programs in Brazil is the radio programming. HL airs its daily Five Minutes with Jesus radio program on 130 radio stations across Brazil. In addition to the radio programming, the ministry utilizes social media

24 | The Lutheran Layman Winter 2020

platforms to reach a wide audience of individuals. “We support Vivenciar.net, which is a very important tool through which many people contact us looking for counseling, for help, asking for the extended hand that God offers in those difficult times in life,” says Munieweg.

“Besides the digital media, we also create literature, such as more than 50 titles of booklets and a devotional book that is printed yearly.”

What This Means for LHM

This is a great opportunity for LHM to reach even further with the Gospel. Since Hora Luterana will be raising their own money to keep their ministry center running, LHM will be able to take the funds that were to be designated to Brazil and reinvest them in other areas to allow the Gospel to reach even more people.

“This is an exciting time for the Brazil ministry as they transition into a selfsustaining member of the global LHM ministry family,” says Buchholz. “This is the first time that one of our ministry centers has taken this enormous step. Our work in Brazil is not finished, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with our Brazilian brothers and sisters in Bringing Christ to the Nations—and the Nations to the Church. We pray for God’s blessings on this new and courageous endeavor that the ministry in Brazil has embraced.” =

Deliver Us:

JESUS Sets Us Free

Looking for a Lenten devotional?

Deliver Us: Jesus Sets Us Free, our 2020 collection, views Christ’s act of redemption in the light of Israel’s exodus from Egyptian captivity.

Download now!

LHM.ORG/LENT