THE WORD AT WORK NEW TEEN BIBLE BOOK NOW AVAILABLE
After years in development, LHF has printed a new Bible storybook specifically for teens. Now available in English, God’s Word For You includes 38 Old Testament and 32 New Testament lessons in its 300 pages, each colorfully illustrated in a style particularly appealing to youth. Each lesson includes:
• Biblical sources at the start of each story
Jesus, The Good Shepherd
• a “Gospel Connection” that finds the Good News and connection to Christ’s redeeming work, whether an Old or New Testament lesson
• “Words of Hope,” a related Bible verse that reminds the reader of Jesus’ love for him or her
55 John 10:1 – 30
• a Bible timeline, illustrating the progression of Biblical events and underscoring the fact that the Bible is about real people and real events
Copies of the English teen Bible book can be requested from LHF for a suggested donation of $10 per book.
Best of all, every copy of God’s Word For You that you order provides a FREE Bible storybook to a Christian teen in another part of the world, written in a language they can read and understand!
“The quality of this book, both in the paper and in the words printed on it, is second to none,” said Rev. Dr. Matthew Heise, LHF executive director. “It’s a wonderful book for home devotions or sharing in youth groups, and what a blessing that through readers’ donations for their English copies, LHF can translate and print for teens around the world!” Translation is now underway in 4 different languages.
One time when Jesus was teaching, He described His love for people in this way. Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd. Any sheep who wants to come into the sheep pen must come through Me.
To order one or more more copies of God’s Word For You, go to www.LHFmissions.org/GodsWord or call LHF at (800)554-0723.
“I open the door for the sheep who are listening for My voice. My sheep know My voice and follow Me. I know all of My sheep by name. I call to them. I walk ahead of My sheep and My sheep follow Me because they know My voice.”
4:
than 46,000 Lutheran books
Jesus continued, “Any sheep that come into My sheep pen will be safe. I will give them life. Robbers try to come into
A milestone in the life of
LHF PUBLISHES NEW
With great joy and excitement, the new Spanish Lutheran Hymnal (Himnario Luterano) has been released in the Dominican Republic. 19,000 copies have been printed and are now on their way to Lutheran churches throughout North, Central and South America.
LHF Executive Director Rev. Dr. Matthew Heise and Assistant Executive Director Jeffrey Rahn attended the celebration in May at Concordia the Reformer Seminary in Palmar Arriba, Santiago. There, each of the pastors received their own copy of Himnario Luterano.
A MOUNTAINTOP EXPERIENCE
“I think that one of the things I noticed is how lovingly pastors cradled this hymnal,” recalled Rev. Heise. “They have heard about this hymnal; they have understood that the production has been underway for a long time, but then to actually get it in their hands... their excitement was palpable! I have never heard
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Castillo Fuerte Es Nuestro Dios) sung more robustly than I did there.”
“For me, being present was a mountaintop experience, to witness this labor of love that has been in production for 14 years,” agreed Rahn. “To see the overwhelming joy the pastors expressed as they waved their first copies in the air will be forever ingrained in my mind. They anxiously await receiving their copies when they return to their particular countries, for use in their churches. We know that this is going to be a resource that is going to be used for a long time, on a daily and weekly basis as they serve their Lutheran members in their own countries.”
At almost 1,100 pages in length, Himnario Luterano contains nearly 670 hymns, 90 Psalms, 5 Orders of Divine Service, 2 Matins services, 2 Vespers services, Luther’s Small Catechism and more.
“This hymnal is going to be the
For a multitude of Himnario
Latino Lutheran churches:
NEW SPANISH HYMNAL
standard hymnal, the go-to hymnal for Spanish-speaking congregations in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, perhaps even Spain,” reflected Rev. Heise. “With settings for guitar, as well as piano and organ of course, this hymnal has a little bit of something for everyone. Not only is it just a hymnal, it’s really a teaching tool, because it has documents from the Lutheran Confessions.”
REACTIONS OF LATINO CHURCH LEADERS
“We have the parts of the Bible and the Book of Concord, which form that base of the proclamation of the Word,” said Rev. Juan Pablo Lanterna, president of the Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile. “This helps to teach the Gospel not only in the Lutheran churches themselves, but in the community. It also helps with evangelism in the lives of members as well. This will help generations to come to have a very strong faith and proclamation of the Gospel.”
“[This hymnal] is an opportunity to bring our people together, for the Church to have a new way to unify around the prayers and hymns,” said Rev. Ignacio Chan, president of Iglesia Luterana en Guatemala (pictured at left, top photo). “This is the spiritual food of the Church here that will also aid in the proclamation of the Word and Sacraments.”
MULTIPLE ORGANIZATIONS, WORKING TOGETHER
Himnario Luterano is the result of several different church bodies and mission organizations working together.
“We at LHF are especially thrilled that we would partner with the LCMS Office of International Mission,” said Rev. Heise, “because this really is a joint venture with LHF and our missionaries in the Caribbean and throughout Latin America. We are working hand-in-glove with our synod to be missionaries of this Gospel message that we love so well, which is proclaimed through the Lutheran Church.”
To request your copy of Himnario Luterano, contact the LHF office at (800)554-0723 or info@LHFmissions.org. Suggested donation is $10 per copy to help LHF continue translating and publishing books like these for churches around the world.
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46,000 BOOKS PRINTED FOR MUSLIM INDONESIA
Thanks to the generous support of American Lutherans - including Sunday school and day school children who adopted “Come and See Jesus!” with their mission offerings - LHF has printed 46,000 Lutheran books for the people of Muslim Indonesia!
“It cannot be expressed in words what children in the United States have done for their friends and relatives in Indonesia, whom they have never once met, separated by distance and time,” said Imelda Aritonang, LHF’s coordinator in Indonesia. “It is amazing how the Holy Spirit works through these children. We are really grateful!”
Titles printed in the Indonesian language include the Small Catechism and accompanying workbooks, Lutheranism 101 for Kids, A Child’s Garden of Bible Stories, The Way of the Cross and the “Jesus Never Fails” devotion booklet. Incredibly, many of these books have been freely handed out in Indonesia’s public school system, where students are allowed to take Christian Religion classes.
“To be honest, people in Indonesia are very poor or lack sources of knowledge about Lutheran teachings,” Imelda said. “It is not easy to find books of Lutheran teachings with such good quality and translation you can rely on.
“Indonesia has pockets of Christianity, yet sadly the faith in those areas has begun to erode, due to the rapid of expansion of Islam. Who can help our children, the future of the Church, if not us?” Imelda asked.
“The
Hearing God’s Word over a cup of tea: THE POWER OF A CHILDREN’S BIBLE STORYBOOK
An LCMS missionary (name and country withheld for the safety of the mission) was visiting a Christian family who had just moved out to the fields for the summer to look after their crops. Their five children were thrilled to have a personal Sunday school lesson from LHF’s translation of A Child’s Garden of Bible Stories as the missionary modeled how they can have devotions together as a family.
As they were finishing the children’s lesson and singing some worship songs, the children’s Muslim uncle - who shepherds his animals nearbystopped in for a cup of tea. He was intrigued by the songs, sung with a twostringed instrument called a dombira, that praised Jesus as the Savior of the world and the hope of the people.
Their uncle stayed to listen to the Bible lesson from the first chapter of John—a message of Jesus, the eternal Word of God who became man to make sinful people into the holy children of God. May the seed sown bear fruit!