The Lutheran Layman

THE

LUTHERAN L AYMAN Your Partner in HIS Mission!

March - April 2014

Outreach in a Former

Communist Land

by David Mahsman Wittenberg, Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

M

any Americans—even those with ancestors (like mine) who emigrated from Germany to the United States—have some misconceptions about the Fatherland and the people who live there. It’s just not true, for example: • that German trains always run on time.

Believe me, they don’t.

• that Germans wear Lederhosen or Dirndl dresses and drink beer from steins that take two hands to hold. That’s mainly true only during Oktoberfest, and then primarily in Bavaria.

• that Germany is a Christian country. It’s not.

Far from it.

True, the country can look Christian on the surface. Not even in the United States are Good Friday, Ascension Day, and Pentecost Monday national holidays, as they are in Germany. The see page 3

Break out the Tackle Box page 6

Int’l LLL Board 2014 Candidates pages 8-9

SENT Outreach Conference pages 10-12

Hoffmann’s 100th pages 23-24

Lutheran Hour Ministries 660 Mason Ridge Center Drive St. Louis, Missouri 63141-8557

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speakingup

Building Bridges To Share The Gospel –

Living Lives of Witness

by Rev. Gregory Seltz Speaker of The Lutheran Hour

I

n looking back at 2013 and looking forward in 2014, would you say that witnessing your faith is getting easier or harder? Now that’s a loaded question, isn’t it? Hopefully, as you grow in your understanding of “bridge building,” as we continue to learn together about this, things should get a little easier, right? Now, if you really want to let LHM help, just share our Lutheran Hour app with a friend and let them listen in to the program for a few weeks.

Then, have a cup a coffee with them to see what they think about “the Jesus we proclaim for our life and salvation”!

Sorry about the Gospel plug, but at least it’s a shameless one by grace! And it’s one way to make witnessing easier in this new year!

In this article, though, I do want to acknowledge the growing public reality that the Biblical, Christian way of life is generally attacked in our public institutions, our media, etc. There are many reasons for that, but let’s hold that off for now. The point is: How can we be Christ’s witnesses in the culture we live in today? And there is plenty of help for us again in the Bible. Just look at Jeremiah 29:11 where God tells the “People of the Promise,” namely Israel, that He has plans for them. There they are in captivity with a hopeless future in so many ways, and yet God says, “I have plans to bless you, to prosper you, to give you REAL HOPE AND A FUTURE.”

L AYMAN

Then God tells them to settle down, to have families, to get to work, to even seek the peace of the city of their captivity! Wow! And look what God accomplished IN CHRIST through them for us!

Their promise is our promise and more! For we’ve seen the manger; we’ve seen the cross; we’ve seen the resurrection of the One who fulfills all God’s promises to Israel, to us, to all. Let the challenge of 2014 be one where we focus on how we live as God’s people; how we worship, how we study, how we love our families and our neighbors, how we work, how we enjoy our leisure—all this as a response to God’s Word, God’s grace, and God’s abundant care!

Throughout history, the cultures where Christ’s message has been proclaimed have rarely, if ever, been places of unqualified acceptance. Before joyous faith, the first response is usually benign neglect or worse, punitive rejection. But, the witness lives of forgiven sinners who live eternal lives with a Savior who can always be counted on, well, that “Way of life” is an out-of-thisworld way to REALLY LIVE LIFE IN THIS WORLD, a life that blesses others, too!

That’s a foundation for witnessing no matter what this world sends your way. Remember, the key to that way of life is not some false piety or look-at-me moralism, it’s living in the forgiveness and grace of Jesus, and following His Word in your life for others. Trust me. That works!

God’s peace as He continues to bless your witness! n

The Lutheran

Vol. 85, No. 2 March-April 2014

Gerald Perschbacher (LL.D.), Editor • Denis Kloppenburg, Layout Subscription: $5. Printed bi-monthly. 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, By Kids...For Kids, JCPlayZone, Life...revised, Living for Tomorrow, This is the Life, On Main Street, Ayer, Hoy y Siempre, Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones, Esta Es La Vida, Para el Camino, Woman to Woman, Family Time, Teacher to Teacher, Reaching Out and The Hoffmann Society are registered marks, or SM service marks. The Puzzle Club is a service mark and trademark of Int’l LLL. Copyright 2014, Int’l LLL

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

2 The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014

Special Cards Support the Mission

There’s no doubt about it, life is filled with times of joy and pain. Yet we can be encouraged in our faith with the words of Lamentations 3:2223: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

For life’s moments of joy and loss, Lutheran Hour Ministries offers tributes/memorial donation cards. These cards can be used at events for well-wishers to make a gift of witness to Christ in honor of a special event or a life welllived. To order a free supply of cards, please contact Lutheran Hour Ministries at 1-800-876-9880 or lh_min@lhm.org. n

Winner on New Year’s Day

The Princess Award was given to this year’s Lutheran Hour Ministries Float in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif. This was the 64th year that the Lutheran Laymen’s League’s Southern California District entered the televised parade. The Princess Award is for the Most Beautiful Float measuring 35 or less feet long. This year’s winner carried the theme “Jesus Welcomes All.” Riders on the float included Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison, president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and wife Kathy; Gunya Na Thalang, LHM regional director for Asia; and Berhanu Moges, LHM—Ethiopia director. n

Photo by Jeremy Mehrle

Outreach in a Former Communist Land (from page 1) political party with the most seats in the national parliament is called the Christian Democratic Union. Its leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel, is even the daughter of a Lutheran pastor.

From the train window between Berlin and Wittenberg, the two places where I spend most of my time, church spires still stand tall over villages we pass along the way. But in most cases, these are little more than relics of days gone by.

Declining Christianity The spiritual picture for today’s united Germany is not good, even though on the basis of church membership, most of the country’s 80 million people still profess to be Christian. Census numbers claim that some 49 million Germans—about 61 percent of the population—are Christian, divided almost evenly between Roman Catholics and Protestants.

But check the churches on any given Sunday and you will likely find less (some estimates have it far less) than 10 percent of Germans in attendance. That’s compared with about 20-40 percent of Americans in church each week.

“Dwindling church attendance and dire financial straits are forcing the Catholic and Protestant Churches in Germany to sell church buildings en masse,” said a report published last year in Der Spiegel, Germany’s largest news magazine. “Some are demolished, others are turned into restaurants or indoor rock climbing centers.”

Thomas Begrich, director of finance for the Evangelical Church in Germany (known by its German acronym, EKD), the umbrella organization for the country’s 22 Protestant territorial churches, told Der Spiegel that 340 EKD-related church buildings were closed between 1990 and 2010. He added, “It may be necessary to give up an additional 1,000 buildings.”

The situation may be even worse than that. “The publication Spirit estimates that out of about 45,000 churches in Germany, 15,000 soon will no longer be needed,” reports Der Spiegel. “These buildings are simply too opulent, too empty and too expensive to maintain, something akin to an aging grandmother still living in a mansion when just one room would do.”

Not only church attendance but the

Church plaza in Wittenberg: Town Church (Stadtkirche) at right; in the background is the Old Latin School being made into a ministry center.

number of Christians is falling rapidly as well. A report published in September 2013 in Die Welt, one of Germany’s national daily newspapers, said that Christians will be in the minority in Germany within the next 20 years.

“We already see a development in our church district that is likely to come to all of Protestantism in Germany soon,” Pastor Rüdiger Höcker, a district church superintendent (similar to a district president in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod), told Die Welt for an April 2012 story. “We are already on the way to becoming a minority, a fate that Protestants in most regions [of Germany] will not be spared.”

Höcker also noted that “we bury more members of our congregations than we are able to baptize children.”

The church body to which Höcker belongs, the Evangelical (i.e., Protestant) Church of Westphalia, is in the West. The spiritual situation is even worse in the East, where I work.

Christianity in East Germany Germany has been one country politically since reunification more than 20 years ago, but in the hearts and minds of the people, it still remains in many respects two countries—West and East. This is certainly true in matters of faith.

According to figures reported in 2011 by the Prot-

Rev. David L. Mahsman is director, special assignments, Eurasia, for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s Office of International Mission and is managing director of the International Lutheran Society of Wittenberg, Germany. He is a former editor of The Lutheran Witness.

photos courtesy of David Mahsman

estant EKD, 72 percent of West Germans are members of a Christian church. But in the former East Germany, only 25 percent of the population belong to a Christian church.

Those percentages are conservative, if not optimistic. Church leaders with whom I’ve talked, both inside and outside the EKD, generally put the number of professed Christians at between 15 and 20 percent of the East German population.

Just think about it: In the very place where Martin Luther sparked the Reformation nearly 500 years ago—Wittenberg, Germany, which is in the East—only 15 to 20 percent of the people today even profess to be Christian!

A far greater number profess to be atheists.

In 2012, an independent research organization, NORC at the University of Chicago (National Opinion Research Center), released a study titled “Beliefs about God across Time and Countries.” NORC found that 52.1 percent of all those responding to a survey in the former East Germany agreed with the statement, “I don’t believe in God”—this is more than any other country in the world. (The second-highest percentage of atheists is in the Czech Republic, with 39.9 percent making that claim there.)

The percentage of atheists is even higher for some age groups in eastern Germany: 71.6 percent for those under age 28; 63.6 percent for 28 to 37 year olds; and 72.6 percent for 38 to 47 year olds.

By contrast, only 10.3 percent of West Germans said they don’t believe in God. And for the sake of further comparison, consider Russia, the United States, and the Philippines (the see next page The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014 3

own rites for such church rites as baptism, confirmation, and Christian burial.

“Education and lifetime support were taken away from the church, and people were weaned from Christianity generation by generation,” Herbst wrote. “In addition, there were pressure, discrimination, and social disadvantages. It became expensive to remain a Christian….

“A new pattern of family emerged: the grandfather who had still been confirmed but then withdrew, the father who was never baptized, and the child for whom it is now normal not to belong to any church. The loss of the language of faith should not be underestimated. The grandfather still knew the Christian ABCs, but did not pass them on to the father. However, some subversive grandmothers did it anyway. But most of the fathers did not have anything left to pass on.”

Outreach in a Former Communist Land (from page 3)

Witnessing among Germans often is a one-on-one venture.

country with the lowest percentage of professed atheists). The NORC report set the percentage of atheists in those three countries at 6.8 percent, 3 percent, and 0.7 percent, respectively.

‘Forgotten they’ve forgotten’ Rev. Christian Beuchel, the Wittenberg-area district superintendent for the territorial church there, once told me about showing a video for Easter at a local school. The video was about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When it was over, one of the kids remarked, “That was really interesting. But what does it have to do with Easter?”

“In the former East Germany, these people ‘have forgotten that they have forgotten God,’” says Rev. Dr. Gottfried Martens, sharing a quote—original source unknown—that I hear often when I talk to German pastors and mission leaders about the spiritual condition in the East. East Germans are so many generations removed from Christianity and the church that the faith is as foreign to them as the moon.

Martens is pastor of St. Mary’s Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (known by its German acronym, SELK) in the Zehlendorf district of Berlin. The SELK is the Missouri Synod’s German sister church.

Martens is no stranger to mission work. His congregation has grown from 200 to 1,200 since 1999, in large part due to his work first among ethnic Germans from Russia, and now among former Muslims from Iran and Afghanistan. But he sees East Germany as a particularly difficult mission field.

“They [East Germans] have no sense at all that religion might have any importance for 4 The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014

their lives,” he says.

The spiritual decline of Germany began with the “Age of Enlightenment” 200-plus years ago and the liberal theology that followed in the 19th century, Martens says. Both elevated human reason over other sources of authority, including Biblical revelation. Germans were already alienated from the church by the turn of the 20th century. Then came the Nazis and, for the East, the communists.

“The combination was fatal,” Martens says. By the time the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, East Germans no longer had any relationship to or even memory of Christianity.

The GDR, East Germany, was not the only communist state during the Cold War decades, of course. But the communist bloc was not a monolith. The NORC study, for example, found that only 3.3 percent of people in Poland claim to be atheists.

And, as already noted, the percentage for Russia itself is only 6.8 percent.

In a paper written for the 2010 Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa, Dr. Michael Herbst provided a picture of what happened in East Germany. “The success of the propaganda of the GDR fell on ground that was well prepared by religious indifference and abstinence from church life. However, what was new was that atheism was now anchored above the level of the individual: Not only individual people are unchurched, but most parts of public culture, the educational system and civil places are unchurched as well.”

Herbst continued that the communist leaders of East Germany attacked the church “where it hurt most: in education and lifetime support.” The government not only fought against religious education and youth work, but it taught an atheistic worldview posing as science in the schools and substituted its

How can we reach them?

Herbst, just quoted, is director of the Institute for the Study of Evangelism and Church Development at the University of Greifswald, which is in eastern Germany. I visited the institute and met with Dr. Johannes Zimmermann, then the research director, and Dr. Thomas Schlegel, one of his researchers. I wanted to get a handle on how to reach East Germans with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Zimmermann said that Christians often go right to Gospel proclamation—by opening a church, for example, or by witnessing to the faith—in their mission efforts. “But if someone has no idea of the Gospel, there must be something else first—the witness of life,” he said. “The old mission model did not just build a church, but a hospital and a school also.”

The idea is to build a bridge between the Gospel and the totally secularized East German. How do you reach those who not only do not know the Gospel but who have no concept of a world other than the physical?

“The normal East German has no interest in religion,” Schlegel said. “He is not asking spiritual questions. He is self satisfied. Communism replaced religion, and now they don’t miss it.”

“You have to live there and do diaconal and educational work,” Zimmermann said. He and Schlegel brainstormed ideas for reaching people in Wittenberg—offering computer courses, teaching English, or presenting music and theater programs that end with a prayer and a blessing, for example. “This is all witness of life.”

Another point made by Zimmermann and Schlegel: Don’t be in a hurry. Reaching East Germans will take time—lots and lots of time. Years.

SELK’s Pastor Martens agrees. “You have to think in long periods of time,” he said, citing as an example the SELK’s mission work in the Mar-

zahn section of the former East Berlin.

Marzahn is in the far northeast of Berlin and is marked by vast East German “plattenbau” (pre-fabricated concrete) housing projects and high unemployment. Through its mission arm, the Lutheran Church Mission (LKM), SELK sent missionary Hartwig Neigenfind to Marzahn in 1999. Neigenfind planted a mission congregation that is tied to a food bank and other social services.

“LKM told Neigenfind they would give him 10 years,” Martens said. “Neigenfind was even an East German, so he succeeded in getting in touch with people there.

“About 15 years it’s been going on,” Martens continued. “Perhaps they have won 20 to 30 new people. There’s been not more than 10 or 15 pagan baptisms from East Germany. It’s still a very hard work. They come to ‘Laib und Seele,’ but not to church….”

Laib und Seele (Loaf and Soul) is the name of the SELK food bank in Marzahn. Martens’ comment reminded me of something Zimmermann had said about the “witness of life”: “Many will take your soup, but only some will take the next step,” namely, to listen to the Gospel.

“There’s something you have to know in East Germany—it’s very, very hard work,” Martens said. “I have no recipe to change that, no simple ideas for how to reach people.”

Still, says Zimmermann, “Mission is possible.

People can come to faith as adults.” Even in East Germany.

Lutherstadt Wittenberg Lying virtually in the center of this most difficult of mission fields is Lutherstadt (Luther town) Wittenberg, the birthplace of the Reformation nearly 500 years ago.

Wittenberg’s Town Church (Stadtkirche in German) is St. Mary’s. It is called the “Mother Church of the Reformation.” Martin Luther preached more than 2,000 sermons in this church. And it was in this church that the very first Lutheran worship was held, with liturgy and hymns in the language of the people and the Lord’s Supper offered in both kinds, the wine and blood of the Lord given along with the bread and His body to the laity.

Today, the Town Church congregation has some 3,800 members in this town of 50,000 people. But as one active member told me recently, only about 200, not counting tourists, gather for worship on a typical Sunday.

“I am accompanying pastors and people in a spiritual desert,” Rev. Dr. Johann Schneider told me last year. He is regional bishop with the Evangelical Church in Central Germany (German acronym EKM) for an area that includes Wittenberg.

We want to help share the Gospel with the resIt is in this place that the LCMS, SELK, and Concordia Publishing House are developing a coop- idents of Wittenberg and the surrounding area, erative ministry known simply as “The Wittenberg too. Evangelistic outreach there will be a direct Project.” Those of us involved in it want to establish outgrowth of our Christian-education program.

We will build those bridges between the Gosa ministry that serves Wittenberg-area residents as well as Lutherans and other Christians from around pel and those who do not know Christ. One way will be through programs about Martin Luther, the world.

Our ministry plan puts it this way: “The goal of The who remains a popular historic figure for the Wittenberg Project is to honor our Lutheran heritage German people. They know, for example, that as we approach the 500th anniversary of the Refor- he standardized the German language (with his mation by nurturing and strengthening the faith of translation of the Bible) and that he stood up to Christians and introducing the Christian faith to foreign powers (pope and emperor). What they non-Christians. Through development of a Christian don’t know, and what we want to tell them, is education and outreach center in the very birthplace what motivated Luther—and that means exof the Reformation, we will attract students and vis- plaining Luther’s rediscovery in Scripture that itors, promote confessional-Lutheran theology, and we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith open doors to Gospel outreach and works of mercy.” alone in Jesus Christ alone, and doing so in ways We will have a place, a ministry center, in the to which they can relate.

We are under no illusion that it will be easy heart of Wittenberg’s old town. Thanks to the generosity of the Central Illinois District Church Extension or that the number of those brought to Christ Fund, the German non-profit corporation (known necessarily will be great, although by the grace as the International Lutheran Society of Wittenberg) of God, it could be. God Himself promises in Isaestablished by the ministry partners owns the his- iah 55, “For as the rain and the snow come down toric 450-year-old Old Latin School building on the from heaven and do not return there but water church square, just steps from the Town Church. The the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving building currently is being renovated to serve as an seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall education and outreach facility.

But more important than the building is what will not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish happen there. A panel of LCMS and SELK educa- that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the tors and I are working on programs that range from thing for which I sent it.”

Wittenberg is seeing a great deal of activity study-abroad opportunities for Lutheran university and seminary students to youth and elder-hostel re- these days in preparation for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. Programs are treats and pilgrimages.

The LCMS is accepting donations for the building being planned, historic buildings are being renrenovation and program costs, which are not coming ovated, and a great deal of money is being spent.

At one meeting related to the anniversary, all from its unrestricted budget.

“If we manage to create an atmosphere in [the the activity leading up to the climax of the celeOld Latin School] that enables those who study there bration on Oct. 31, 2017, led one of the civic planto have a keener understanding of their mission ners to quip, “What will we do on Nov. 1?”

We won’t be gone on Nov. 1, 2017. By God’s and to help them do mission, that part is a success,” says Rev. Roger Zieger, director of SELK’s Lutheran grace, we intend to be in it for the long haul. n Church Mission and a member of the ILSW board. “It should be a place where the participants get a state of mind, a habit, that furthers the mission of God in the world.”

Strengthening the faith and witness of Christians from around the world in a way that helps them to share their Christian hope with others is a mission endeavor. Speaking from his perspective as regional bishop in the EKM, Schneider commented, “The best missionaries are not the pastors but the lay people.”

“Once, 500 years ago, the Gospel went into all the world from Wittenberg,” Zieger observed. “Now we are “The Door” of the Castle Church in Wittenberg— restarting the process.” site of the nailing of Luther’s 95 theses.

The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014 5

Break out the Tackle Box On midnight, April 7, the Sixth Annual Men’s NetWork North American Fishing Tournament will be underway. Whether plying clear, blue mountain streams for grayling or walleye in British Columbia or wading some swampy Georgian backwater down south for monster bass, the task remains the same: catch fish, weigh fish, take fish picture, and then submit your hard-fought results to the Men’s NetWork at www.lhmmen.com to see if you’re a weekly winner. If you are, there’s a T-shirt and $10 gift card from Bass Pro Shops in it for you. Win big at the end of the year—i.e. become our Grand Prize winner through our random drawing—and you’ll sail away with a $500 MasterCard/Visa gift card.

All this potential fun in the sun is yours for the paltry cost of a few dozen nightcrawlers, some beef jerky, and a six pack of your favorite soda. That’s right, $15 puts you in the running with anglers who pursue their passion with fervor and finesse, and have a great time while they’re at it. For your entry fee you’ll get a Men’s NetWork cap and a specially designed keychain that looks like a lure.

Some of the best stories we’ve heard have been from dads and granddads taking kids out fishing. That’s right. Kids can sign up, too, and are encouraged to do so. All it takes is five minutes to enter. Last year nearly 300 fishermen, both adults and young ‘uns, scoured this continent’s freshwaters in search of prize-winning fish. This year you could be one of them. While you’re at it, grab a friend or co-worker, get them signed up, and double your fun! n

Lenten Devotions Trace Christ’s Passion and Journey Based on the searching words of King David in Psalm 22, Lutheran Hour Min- with Spanish citizens. For print or online viewing El camino de istries’ 2014 daily Lenten Devotions in English explore the heartrending suffer- Cuaresma is available at www.paraelcamino.com/cuaresma. n ing of the Savior. “My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?” is a poignant series from Rev. Wayne Palmer, LHM’s theological editor and writer. Gleaning insights from numerous Psalms and Gospel texts, he turns the spotlight on Jesus’ humanity, detailing the immeasurable challenges He faced, as He pushed forward to save the people He loved.

“I wanted to base the printed devotions on Psalm 22, which fleshes out Jesus’ fourth saying from the cross,” Palmer said.

“From there, I included each of the seven sayings, put in the Based on the words of Jesus context of the Roman trial, condemnation, crucifixion, death, from the cross and supported burial, and resurrection. So it starts at a wide angle, if you will, then zooms in to that fourth saying to go verse by verse through

by Psalm 22, these FREE Psalm 22, then zooms back out to the burial and resurrection.” devotions are available for “My God, My God” is available as a PDF download, as a podyour church as PDF download, cast, and can be received as an email subscription throughout podcast, or via email. There’s the Lenten season. Churches can download, personalize, and a Spanish version, too! print these seasonal devotions to give to their members or use as an outreach tool. These devotions are readily available at www.lhm.org/lent.

In Spanish, El camino de Cuaresma (The Lenten Journey), is written by Rev. Vern Gundermann. Here he employs the theme of journeying to communicate the message of God’s long-delivered promise of salvation, a promise which found fulfillment in the mission and ministry of His only begotten Son. Gundermann points out how Jesus’ treks throughout the countryside, entering towns and villages along the way, all led to one place: Golgotha.

Your Lenten journey begins LHM’s seasonal devotions are highly effective as an outtoday at www.lhm.org/lent reach tool. These devotions also help congregations connect

Jesus’ humanity revealed

through Lenten Devotions

6 The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014

onthemove

by Phil Krauss ll Chairman, Int’l LLL Board of Directors

Vote, Attend, Be SENT The first time I voted in a national election was 1980. I was 20, a college student, and I was excited. That was the election that brought Ronald Reagan to the presidency; saw the rare defeat of an incumbent candidate for president (Jimmy Carter); and Independent John Anderson garnered 6.6% of the popular vote but didn’t even carry his home state (bet you haven’t thought about Anderson in a while).

I had actually worked on a state referendum that year, too. But I was also excited because I felt I was doing my civic duty as I walked into my old elementary school, into that voters’ booth, and pulled the levers – I had finally come of age as a citizen of the United States.

Why this walk down the memory lane of my first national election? Because in this issue of The Lutheran Layman is information on the candidates and process of voting for the Board of Directors of the International Lutheran Layman’s League. I want to emphasize the importance – and yes, the excitement – of voting for the men and women who will help guide this ministry over the next few years. We have been blessed with outstanding servant leaders on the board so far, but this is your chance to have a say in the direction of Lutheran Hour Ministries. However, VOTE. It is your duty to the LLL. In this issue read about the SENT! Outreach Conference in Detroit, July 24-27, 2014. The Regional Outreach Conference (ROC) last year in Omaha, Neb., was packed full of energy, helpful sessions, and overall was spiritually uplifting. I am told the SENT! Conference in Detroit is going to make the ROCs seem sedate! The SENT! theme is from John 20:21 where the resurrected Jesus tells His disciples (and us) to go into the world, filled with the Holy Spirit, and share the Good News. This conference will be a great opportunity to network with other LCMS church workers and laity, grow in your evangelism skills, and learn how to reach out to your community and the world with Christ’s saving message.

I hear it is going to be FUN – great music, great activities, great speakers, and presenters. The conference will be family friendly; everybody should come away recharged and ready to be SENT! If you haven’t seen downtown Detroit in the last decade, you are in for a pleasant surprise. The conference is in the Renaissance Center right on the Detroit River with a beautiful new Riverwalk that will lead you to interesting sites, activities and FOOD, all a short, scenic stroll from the Ren Cen (that’s Detroit speak for the Renaissance Center). The hosting hotel is right in the middle of the Ren Cen, beautifully renovated, and very affordable. If you haven’t signed up for the 2014 Detroit Outreach Conference, do it today. You will not regret it. Oh, and metro-Detroit is my home town; I’m looking forward to seeing you all there and hearing about how much you enjoyed our city.

So remember to VOTE for the Board of Directors; ATTEND the 2014 Detroit Outreach Conference; and be SENT! in partnership with LHM. n

Trinity Marks its 150th and Has LHM Connections Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansing, Ill., marks its 150th Anniversary May 31 to June 1. But this is only one example of the church’s milestones of success with the spread of the Gospel, thanks to the Lord.

Trinity has a track record of LHM connections. The congregation has been involved in LHM’s New Neighbor Outreach, Parish Media Teams, Equipping to Share, MISSION U, the Men’s NetWork, Project Connect, and LHM Sunday.

When Trinity was founded in 1864, it was an expression of faith amid the Civil War. Lutheran German immigrants were not alone after the founding. Their descendants and others also

sought to worship the Lord over the succeeding century-and-a-half. For many years the congregation has benefitted from the outreach tools of LHM. Speaking at the anniversary service on June 1 will be Dr. Dale Meyer, president of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and former speaker of The Lutheran Hour. For information on the event, contact the congregation at (708) 474-7997.

For details how your congregation may also benefit from LHM materials, respond to the special notices spaced throughout this issue of The Lutheran Layman. n

NEWLY RE-DESIGNED MISSION U WORKSHOP MU-201: Answering Tough Questions, a witnessing training

workshop for your church from Lutheran Hour Ministries, has undergone a full reconstruction. In this half-day workshop, we explore four key teachings that will transform the way you think and respond to tough questions about the faith.

Register your church today at

www.whatsmissionu.com or call 314-317-4144

The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014 7

2014 Candidates for the International Lutheran Laymen’s League Board of Directors The following are candidates for open positions on the Int’l LLL Board of Directors in compliance with Article III of the current Bylaws. Additional information will be mailed to all contributing members (those who gave a gift to Lutheran Hour Ministries between Oct. 1, 2012, and March 31, 2014, and are members of a congregation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod or Lutheran Church—Canada) in April along with instructions for voting. To be counted, ballots or online votes must be received by the Int’l LLL’s chosen tabulation firm between April 20 and May 30. Results will be reported in the August-September issue of The Lutheran Layman.

For Chair: (listed in alphabetical order; vote for one) Phillip Johnson of Maplewood, Minnesota

* Philip Krauss II of Westland, Michigan

Johnson graduated as a Director of Christian Outreach from Concordia, St. Paul, and later earned his M.A. in Nonprofit Management and Ph.D. in Leadership. He served congregations in Nebraska and Colorado as a DCO, then returned to Concordia to teach outreach and coordinate the DCO program. He recently joined the staff of the Minnesota South District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod as Assistant to the President for Mission Formation. Married and the father of four, Johnson is vice chair for the Int’l LLL Board.

Married and the father of two, Krauss earned degrees from Adrian College (Adrian, Mich.) and Marygrove College (Detroit). He is manager of the student services center at Marygrove College and responsible for enrollment services such as financial aid, registration, and continuing education. He has previous administrative and marketing experience with Charter One Bank, Eastern Michigan University, and Adrian College. Krauss is currently an LHM Ambassador and previously was an LLL regional governor and committee chair. His local LLL posts include district chair and board secretary.

For Director, Canada: (listed in alphabetical order; vote for one) Ian Adnams of Richmond, British Columbia

* Andreas Schwabe of Edmonton, Alberta

Married and father of two, Adnams majored in radio-television arts at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, and has an honorary D. Litt. from Concordia Lutheran Seminary, Edmonton (2008). He is owner/principal consultant of Adnams Group and deals with strategic direction, media production, and event planning. Adnams was Lutheran Church—Canada’s liaison to the Int’l LLL for 15 years. He was editor of The Canadian Lutheran and director of communications for LCC (1994-2011). He served on the international public relations committee for The Salvation Army, 1989-1991.

Schwabe attended Concordia University College of Alberta and Northern Alberta Institute of Technology with a major in English. Since 2008 he has been aide to the president of Concordia College of Alberta with a special emphasis on public relations. Married, and a former reporter, instructor, and radio producer, Schwabe is active in his congregation as an elder and communion assistant. He has produced radio albums, done freelance productions, and is a frequent commentator and guest on local and regional radio programs.

For Director: (listed in alphabetical order; vote for three) * Richard Gast of Mission Viejo, California

* Leonard Pranschke of St. Louis, Missouri

Gast is the president of Richard Gast & Associates LTD, Irvine, Calif., and is married (father of three). His degree is in business administration (attended the University of Wisconsin and Madison Business College, Madison). For 24 years he has co-chaired the Petal Pushers associated with the LHM Float Committee of which he is general chair.

Among the honors for Dick and his wife are the 1997 Aquila Award from CPH as volunteer of the year and the Great Commission Award given by Concordia University Irvine.

Pranschke has 38 years of law practice and specializes in legal counsel to a variety of tax-exempt nonprofit organizations. He was honored among the “Best Lawyers in America, nonprofit/charities” the past five years, including “Lawyer of the Year, nonprofit/charities, 2014—St. Louis.”

He holds a B.A. in German from Valparaiso University and a J.D. in Law from Valparaiso’s School of Law. Pranschke is a member of the St. Louis, Mo., and American Bar Associations, as well as several other civic organizations. He has five sons.

8 The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014

For Director: (listed in alphabetical order; continued) Ron Rathe of Tecumseh, Nebraska Rathe retired from the Omaha Public Power District after 34 years, most recently being office manager. He spent 12 years on the Nebraska LCMS District Board (six as chairman) and has also served many LLL positions at all levels, including district president, member-at-large on the Board, and chairman of the 2010 international convention. Involved civic service includes a long tenure as chairman of the city zoning board. Married with four children and nine grandchildren, Rathe is active in his congregation and is currently its chairman.

* Janice Wendorf of Grafton, Wisconsin Wendorf serves the LLL Board as secretary, was LWML president (2007-2011) and served on the board of regents at Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Mich., as advisory member to the LCMS Board for Mission Services. Wendorf currently is on the board of regents for Concordia University Wisconsin. She graduated from Concordia Teacher’s College, River Forest, Ill. (now Concordia University Chicago). Her volunteer service includes the YMCA, American Red Cross, American Cancer Society and Leukemia Society. Wendorf is married and the mother of three, grandmother of five. * Incumbent NOTE: Philip Krauss II currently is filling the unexpired term of Kurt Buchholz, who was named executive director of Lutheran Hour Ministries in August 2013. Leonard Pranschke currently is filling the unexpired term of Phillip Johnson, who was named vice chair when Philip Krauss became chair upon Kurt Buchholz’s selection as LHM’s executive director

“Jesus said to them again,‘Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’”

John 20:21

Be challenged in how you think about evangelism by attending labs and workshops!

Hear from The Lutheran Hour® Speaker Rev. Gregory Seltz, New York Times best-selling author Jon Acuff, founding director of FORGE Mission Training Network Alan Hirsch, and other nationally recognized outreach experts!

Featuring music from the Our Savior Worship Band, The Erin Bode Group, and the Detroitbased Selected of God Choir!

Register today! www.lhm.oRg/confeRence The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014 9

OUTREACH CONFERENCE

Rev Up Your Outreach Skills in the Motor City this July

DETROIT • JULY 24-27, 2014 “Jesus said to them again,‘Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’” John 20:21

Conference Featured Speakers Reflecting Lutheran Hour Ministries’ emphasis on outreach programs and training, the 2014 LHM Outreach Conference takes the place of the International Convention of the International Lutheran Rev. Gregory Seltz The Rev. Gregory P. Seltz Laymen’s League on Lutheran Hour Ministries’ schedule of biennial conventions/conferences. The Regional Outreach Conferences (ROC) are held in odd-numbered years and will return to selected is Speaker of The Lutheran Hour radio program, Lutherlocations throughout North America in 2015.

E

veryone who has been baptized has more about pertinent topics including vocation and joined God in His mission to reach the witness, developing missional leaders, guilt-free lost with the Gospel. We are SENT to share evangelism, releasing an outreach-focused congrethe Good News of Jesus with our families, our gation, cross-cultural witness, attraction vs. mission, neighbors and all people. and more.

In this nation alone, just two in 10 people will attend church on a given Sunday. The need Be equipped and empowered. Be SENT. An early-bird discount of $119 per adult is being is greater than ever for a church that has been SENT with a message of hope for the hopeless offered through March 31. Beginning April 1, the registration fee increases to $149. Walkand healing for the broken. to the conference will be honored Make plans now to attend the “There’s no such ins at a rate of $179. Groups of five or more Lutheran Hour Ministries Outreach thing as an individuals who register together will Conference in Detroit, Mich., July 24-27—and join other Christians unsent Christian. receive a discounted rate of $79 per person. The registration fee includes all labs from across North America who desire to see the Gospel shared in You have already on Thursday, all main-stage sessions on their communities and around the been SENT.” Friday and Saturday, all workshops on Friday and video and audio recordings of world. Through this conference’s – Alan Hirsch all sessions throughout the conference. exciting variety of opportunities Meal/entertainment packages and lodgfor learning, networking and worship, church workers and lay leaders will be ing are additional costs.

The nearest airport is Detroit Metropolitan Wayne equipped, energized and SENT out into the world to live lives of dynamic witness in the County Airport (DTW) and shuttle service from the airport to the hotel will be offered at a discounted name of Jesus Christ.

The conference is also meant to challenge group rate. Details on pricing will be publicized in your perspective on mission. You’ll learn the next issue of The Lutheran Layman.

We look forward to seeing you in July! For more valuable insights from outreach experts such as Rev. Gregory Seltz, best-selling author Jon information about the conference, or to register, visit Acuff and renowned missiologist Alan Hirsch www.lhm.org/conference or call 1-800-876-9880. and participate in labs and workshop to learn

10 The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014

an Hour Ministries’ flagship Christian outreach radio program airing on 1,400 stations across North America. Before joining Lutheran Hour Ministries, Seltz was the Director of the Cross-Cultural Ministry Center as well as professor of Theology at Concordia University in Irvine, Calif., and trained students to launch ministries in a variety of cultural settings. He previously was the founding pastor of the first new Lutheran mission start in New York City in more than 40 years (Church For All Nations— LCMS). He has led several seminars on urban ministry, entrepreneurial leadership development, team ministry within the city, and evangelism.

Jon Acuff Jon Acuff is the New York Times best-selling author of four books, including his most recent, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average & Do Work that Matters. For 15 years he has helped some of the biggest brands in the world tell their story, including The Home Depot, Bose, Staples, and The Dave Ramsey Team. He has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people at conferences, colleges, companies, and churches and has appeared on

CNN, Fox News, Good Day LA, and several other key media outlets. In addition, he has become a social media expert with a blog read by four million people and close to 200,000 Twitter followers.

Alan Hirsch Alan Hirsch is a South African-born missiologist, author, sought-after speaker, and leader in the missional church movement.

He is founding director of Forge Mission Training Network and currently co-leads Future Travelers, an innovative learning program helping mega-churches become missional movements.

Known for his innovative approach to mission, Alan is considered to be a thought-leader and key mission strategist for churches across the Western world. He has authored or co-authored nine books, including The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church, The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church, and The Permanent Revolution: Apostolic Imagination and Practice for the 21st Century Church.

Dr. Joel Biermann Joel Biermann graduated from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in 1987 and served as a parish pastor for 11 years, the majority of those at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Holt, Mich. In the parish, Biermann led a ministry focused on evangelism and Christian growth in sanctification and discipleship. In 1998, he returned to Concordia Seminary to pursue a doctoral degree in systematic theology. Since completing that degree, he has served on the faculty of the seminary, now as associate professor of systematic theology. He has participated in the production of many original Bible studies for Lutheran Hour Ministries’ Men’s Network, Concordia Publishing House, and his congregation. In 2011, he authored Courageous Fathers of the Bible, and A Case for Character will be published

by Fortress in May of 2014.

Jon Dansby Jon Dansby has been in ministry for more than 15 years and currently pastors the St. John AM Campus at the Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, Texas. Austin Stone is more

than just a church to attend, but a community centered on the person and mission of Jesus Christ. Jon’s passion in ministry is equipping people to delight in the Gospel so that they are on mission for God, and his hope for the Austin Stone is that we would love Jesus most, hear His Word first, and obey the Spirit to God’s glory and our joy. He has provided blog content for the Verge Network and ChurchLeaders. com.

Rev. John Nunes Rev. John Nunes serves on the faculty at Valparaiso University as The Emil and Elfriede Jochum Chair, a professorship established through a gift from Emil Jochum to support the study of Christian values in public and professional life. Nunes previously served from 2007 until 2013 as president and CEO of Lutheran World Relief (LWR), a $49 million global organization working to end poverty, injustice and human suffering worldwide. He has also been a professor of theology at Concordia University Chicago, a management consultant, and an urban parish pastor and community organizer in Dallas and Detroit. A gifted public speaker, he is a frequent keynote presenter who has also published several works.

Conference Musicians The Selected of God Choir Pastor Larry Callahan and the Detroit-based Selected of God Choir have been together for more than 12 years, bridging the gap of hopelessness, unemployment, and economic downturn with the love of God and song. With some 22 singers, the choir has traveled throughout the United States and Canada ministering the Gospel, the Good News of Christ.

The notoriety gained from their exposure in the 2011 Chrysler 200 commercial with Eminem garnered them countless opportunities in television and film, and now the choir has released their third compact disc, The Evolution II, as the premier artists on Sing2Praise Records. The choir is also a three-time winner in Verizon’s How Sweet the Sound choir competition.

The Erin Bode Group The Erin Bode Group creates music forged from the Americana of its members’ midwestern roots, infused with jazz grooves and made magic by Bode’s bell-like voice. Sophisticated arrangements and attention to phrasing, both vocal and instrumental, further distinguish the band’s fresh sound. Their most recent release, Photograph, was released in November 2010. In addition to Erin as the group’s singer/composer, the group also includes pianist Adam Maness, drummer Derrek Phillips, and bassist

OUTREACH CONFERENCE

DETROIT • JULY 24-27, 2014

“Jesus said to them again,‘Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’” John 20:21

Syd Rodway, Bode’s husband. Erin, the youngest of four children born to a Lutheran pastor, has opened for high profile musicians such as Jamie Cullum, Michael Buble, and Chris Botti, and her talent and appeal have been lauded in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, JazzTimes, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and many other major publications.

Our Savior Worship Band Our Savior Worship Band performs at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Nashville, Tenn. Led

by Matt Benge, the band is comprised of lay musicians, recording artists, touring players and songwriters. Working with Trinity/HOPE—a Tennessee-based program dedicated to feeding Haitians—significant proceeds from the band’s CD, “Hope Restored,” go toward feeding Haitian students in Christian schools. It was at Auburn University where Benge began leading worship music. As worship leader he has served at Trinity Lutheran Church in Auburn, Ala.; St. Paul Lutheran Church in Montgomery; Word of Life Fellowship in Schertz, Texas; and Concordia Lutheran Church in San Antonio.

Conference Schedule

(Schedule is subject to change)

Thursday, July 24 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Two Morning Lab Sessions 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Two Afternoon Lab Sessions 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Detroit Princess River Cruise

Friday, July 25 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. First Main Session 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Second Main Session 1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Three Breakout Sessions 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Discover Detroit

Saturday, July 26 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. First Main Session 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Second Main Session 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Special Sending Celebration 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. The Magic of Motown

Sunday, July 27 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Worship service see next page The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014 11

Outreach Conference, from page 11

Friday, July 25, 6 – 10 p.m.

Discover Detroit Spend Friday evening checking out the dynamic food, arts and cultural scene that Detroit has to offer. Enjoy live bands while walking the International RiverWalk, visit the captivating Henry Ford Museum, or eat at some of Detroit’s fine or affordable dining options.

Saturday, July 26, 6 – 10 p.m.

The Magic of Motown What would a visit to Detroit be without enjoying the sounds of Motown? Enjoy dinner and dancing to the music of the Prolifics, a sought-after local Motown cover band.

Youth/Young Adult Program: “CALLED-LOVED-SENT”

Conference Entertainment (Additional costs apply; visit lhm.org/conferences for more details)

Experience the amazing renaissance that is today’s downtown Detroit when you attend the Lutheran Hour Ministries Outreach Conference.

An infusion of new business, together with renewal efforts by organizations like the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, have transformed and revitalized the area into a popular tourist attraction featuring unique cultural and culinary treasures. Downtown has come alive with great restaurants, bars and clubs, professional sports and concert venues, theatres, festivals, a 3.5-mile family-friendly RiverWalk, and more.

Lutheran Hour Ministries has scheduled the following evening events during the conference to allow you to experience just a few of the reasons that Detroit is a vacation destination that you don’t want to miss!

Thursday, July 24, 6 – 10 p.m.

The Detroit Princess River Cruise Take in the Detroit skyline while cruising on the luxurious Detroit Princess, a five-story riverboat docked close to the GM Renaissance Center. This Thursday evening event will include a prime rib buffet and the internationally renowned jazz sounds of The Erin Bode Group.

12 The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014

Youth (ages 8-13) and young adults (ages 1418) will participate in a separate program titled “CALLED-LOVED-SENT” during the Lutheran Hour Ministries Outreach Conference. The program will teach attendees what it means to be CALLED, always LOVED and ultimately SENT into God’s kingdom to serve HIM and others.

The registration fee for this year’s youth/young adult program will be $99 per individual and will include three days of programming, materials, a t-shirt, shuttles to special events and service projects around Detroit, and lunch on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Thursday’s dinner cruise and Saturday evening’s banquet will be additional costs).

While all program details have not yet been finalized, potential activities are being planned at famed Detroit locations such as Ford Field, The Henry Ford Museum, Old Trinity Lutheran Church and the Motown Museum (home of Hitsville U.S.A.). In addition, program participants will enjoy a Friday night concert on the RiverWalk right outside of the conference hotel and take part in a service project in the Detroit area. Final details for the youth/young adult program will be announced soon and will be posted at www.lhm.org/conference!

For adults registered for the conference, child care will be provided for their children up to age 7 at no charge. You simply need to register your child at www.lhm.org/conference to make sure we have enough volunteers staffed for the child care. n

OUTREACH CONFERENCE

DETROIT • JULY 24-27, 2014

“Jesus said to them again,‘Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’” John 20:21

Conference Venue and Accommodations The 2014 Lutheran Hour Ministries Outreach Conference will take place at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit, Mich. Located in the heart of downtown Detroit, the Renaissance Center is ideally located on Detroit’s RiverWalk next to Hart Plaza and offers an essential mix of specialty shops, services and dining options for everyone attending the conference.

The conference hotel, the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, soars 73 floors above the Detroit River and offers easy access to the city’s “People Mover” public transportation system. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the rooms offer dramatic views of Detroit’s skyline and of neighboring Windsor, Ontario, while a renovated lobby boasts functional seating and business-friendly amenities in a trendy setting.

The smoke-free hotel rooms are highlighted by luxurious Marriott bedding, 37-inch flat panel televisions and convenient plug-in technology.

The Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center is offering special room rates for attendees of the Lutheran Hour Ministries Outreach Conference during the event (as well as three days before and three days after). To reserve the special rate of $120 per night plus tax, call 1-877-901-6632 and mention “Lutheran Hour Ministries” or visit the “Venue” tab at www. lhm.org/conference to secure the discounted rate online. You may request double beds for your room, but they cannot be guaranteed.

Just outside the hotel is the Detroit RiverWalk, a public-access walkway along the riverfront that includes multiple water fountains, outdoor art sculptures and Chene Park, a stunning venue for an outdoor concert. Visitors can also take advantage of Rivard Plaza’s carousel, concessions and bike rental shop; the Dequindre Cut Greenway connecting the RiverWalk to Eastern Market; and Milliken State Park and Harbor, Michigan’s only urban state park. For more information about places around Detroit that you’ll want to be sure to visit during your stay, check out www.visitdetroit.com. n

‘Exciting’ is the Word for Outreach in Mexico

Now completing his first year as director of the newly relocated LHM— Mexico Ministries Center, Eugenio Gallastegui is more enthused than ever over the prospects for Gospel outreach and the impact of a positive witness on many people.

“We determined to put into practice the motto ‘Your Partners in His Mission’ and worked to build a fraternal relationship with the Lutheran Synod of Mexico [SLM],” Eugenio says, excitedly (see picture at right). “We envision a Commission for Mission at SLM for effective collaboration in outreach among the synod, its congregations, and our center.

“In addition to the challenges of building these relationships, another Eugenio Gallastegui, who directs challenge we have faced is human need,” Eugenio adds. “There are many LHM outreach in Mexico, plans to in Mexico who are unemployed. Unemployment causes poverty, which attend this year’s LHM Outreach can lead to violence and other problems. Often the ‘sermon’ our society Conference in Detroit, Mich., demands is one that addresses this situation. Our center’s ‘BREAD’ proJuly 24-27. Participants at the gram is designed to do just that; through BREAD, the Gospel is proclaimed event will have the opportunity to not only in what we say but also in what we do in feeding and caring for converse with the director. unemployed and homeless people.” BREAD consists of workshops and working skills training programs to help people administer their income as well as their spiritual needs. The Good News of Christ Jesus is shared.

“The ministry is expanding in Mexico City, and we also want to take the proclamation of the Gospel northward, extending BREAD to Guadalajara, Matamoros, San Luis Rio Colorado, and Reynosa. We are the only organization in Mexico that has a comprehensive evangelism strategy to meet people’s needs from a Gospel that is concerned with all areas of life; and we’re looking forward to proclaiming that Gospel all over the country in partnership with congregations of the Lutheran Synod of Mexico.”

Eugenio has an undergraduate degree from the National College of Technical and Professional Education in Mexico; he has also studied at Augsburg seminary in Mexico City. Prior to accepting the role of leadership at Lutheran Hour Ministries—Mexico, he served as a manager of public relations for a Christian bookstore.

Eugenio attends Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Mexico City. n

LHM Sunday:

Pick Your Date to Celebrate!

The official date of Lutheran Hour Ministries Sunday was Feb. 2, and great feedback has already been received from congregations across the continent who celebrated the ministry we do together. Other congregations say they will be observing LHM Sunday on an alternate date—and if you haven’t held an LHM Sunday celebration yet, we encourage you to do so now! Any time is a great time to celebrate all the great things that God is doing through Lutheran Hour Ministries.

Thanks to a $50,000 grant to LHM this year, gifts given to the ministry for LHM Sunday are worth twice as much until the amount of the match has been met! As an official auxiliary of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, LHM receives no direct financial support from the LCMS. We rely solely on gifts from faithful and generous supporters like you to help reach out effectively in Jesus’ name.

This year, to support participating churches in their own ministry efforts, LHM will provide special incentives to congregations that contribute in excess of $1,000, $2,000 or $10,000 on LHM Sunday. Those who give $1,000 will receive a set of three Men’s NetWork Bible studies (Reel to Real, Lost Books? and The Great Deceiver) as well as a bag full of popular LHM promotional items. Congregations donating $2,000 or more can host a MISSION U workshop for free, and congregations providing $10,000 or more may receive a visit from Speaker of The Lutheran Hour Rev. Gregory Seltz! (MISSION U workshops and visits from Rev. Seltz are subject to schedule availability; you will be contacted by Lutheran Hour Ministries to schedule these events when you reach your goal.)

All LCMS congregations should have received a DVD containing an LHM Sunday promotional video and a sermon from Rev. Seltz, as well as other promotional materials, at the end of November. All of these materials are also available online at www.lhm.org/lhmsunday. Congregations planning to hold an LHM Sunday celebration in the coming weeks can also visit this web site to order FREE copies of bulletin inserts and offering envelopes to hand out to their members. Order these materials today!

Questions? Call us at 1-800-876-9880 or send an e-mail to ambassador@lhm.org. n

Fadi Grew to be a Director

As Fadi E. Khairallah grew up in a Christian family in Baabda, Lebanon, he never envisioned that his career would turn toward Lutheran Hour Ministries, but it did.

Fadi directs the Lutheran Hour Ministries’ outreach center in Lebanon. The center is known locally as Middle East Lutheran Ministry, or MELM. It uses a variety of strategies and media to touch many thousands of people throughout the Arabic-speaking world with the Gospel’s message of eternal hope.

“Our mission is making the Gospel accessible to Muslims in the Arab World,” says Fadi, “and we do this through creative media, relational evangelism, and discipleship. Our main challenge is the rise of radical Islam in the country. The situation is truly dangerous. Direct evangelism is not allowed in most Middle Eastern countries—so we have become adept in the use of media communications technology.

This allows us to cross borders easily and reach hundreds of thousands with God’s Word.”

Fadi earned a bachelor of science degree in busi- Fadi will be heading to the ness administra- LHM Outreach Conference tion from Notre this summer where Dame University supporters can obtain in Beirut and a firsthand information bachelor of divinabout the success of ity degree from Gospel sharing overseas. the University of Balamand, Tripoli, North Lebanon. He has also taken graduate courses in communications and Lutheran theology from Concordia University—Nebraska and is completing a masters degree in Islamic studies. Fadi joined the MELM staff as Audience Relations Coordinator in 1999 and was appointed as director in 2001.

Fadi also serves as chairman of the Carmel Evangelical Mission, a Christian Non-Government Organization (NGO) in Lebanon. He lives in Beirut with his wife and two sons. n

The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014 13

onthemove

by Kurt Buchholz Executive Director Lutheran Hour Ministries

“Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation”

Changes and

—Mark 16:15

Possibilities

As a child, when I wanted to play with friends I hopped on my bike, raced through streets and vacant lots, and knocked on their doors. If they weren’t conscripted by an adult to do chores, we headed out on an adventure to the creek, a favorite climbing tree, the local park, or just ride around and jump curbs.

Now that I have children, things have changed. There are the advancements of cell phones, social media, and smartphone apps. Yet, many things have remained constant, and it is on these constants that I direct my focus.

As a child I was limited to a few relationships due to the challenges of communication and distance. I am in awe of children today as they continue to nurture relationships on a regular basis with friends in other cities, with friends they met at a camp, or even with friends who live in far-off countries. Opportunities for relationships have changed, but the core love of the relationship has not.

Children still seek to connect in a very relational way. They want to be together, talk about their world, and support each other when life is confusing and difficult. Girls and boys do this in distinct ways, but I believe that at the core, each relationship is nurtured and fed with the exchange of neighborly love. It is a natural response to the command that has been built into the “spiritual DNA” of every human being made in the image of our Creator: “Love your neighbor as yourself…”

(Leviticus 19:18). Still, our relationships are speckled and disrupted by the sin that infects each of us.

In this issue of The Lutheran Layman, as we talk about many forms of outreach past and present, we are discussing the same core action of investing love in each relationship. “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation” (Mark 16:15).

What would it look like if through mass media LHM could impact the life of every North American with the message of Christ’s love?

Not only that, but to do so with great clarity and cultural sensitivity, delivering love in a way that is multilingual and age-and-gender appropriate? What if that same task could be done in every country?

Wouldn’t that be exciting, overwhelming, and a fantastic dream?

Wouldn’t the sheer impracticality of such an endeavor seem completely out of bounds with reality? What if these were the parameters by which your performance was being measured? Would you not harbor anxiety and fear amid expectations?

Would we be absolutely crazy to add to that monumental task the commitment that the Gospel of Christ is to be proclaimed and that there must also be a way for every hearer to respond and connect to other believers in community? That’s not all. Churches must be enabled to be strong Christian communities that effectively receive, disciple, spiritually nurture, and send out new believers in order to exponentially increase this outreach.

14 The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014

When I grew up, such an ideal would be admired but set aside as an impractical impossibility. As we at LHM look to the next generations, we are questioning the label of “impractical dream” and asking ourselves, is this not an emerging, attainable reality? “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Attempting to do this the same way we always have is futile. As the world changes, we must change for one purpose alone: that all might hear the Gospel which God has prepared for them. I heard a speaker say that if we fall in love with our systems and structures we lose the ability to change them. The message and goal are unchanged, but just like our children’s use of technology today, the systems and structures must change lest we be left behind and silenced.

I invite you to pause and pray with me that God would give us the boldness to dream beyond what we think is possible and seek His vision that all might hear and come to Him. I invite you to continue to push LHM forward—to seek to engage emerging opportunities so that even more may hear Christ’s message of Love. n

Live the Six: Learning to Live as an Everyday Missionary

In this new booklet from Project Connect, Pastor Dion Garrett encourages you to go beyond one day and give the other six to God as well. You will be amazed at what He can do in your ordinary life!

For a limited time, purchase 20 Live the Six booklets ($10 plus shipping and handling) and receive 5 additional booklets free!* (Order 40 get 10 free, 60 get 15 free, and so on.) Visit our special ordering page, www.lhm.org/live and enter code LMLIVE14 to receive this offer. Offer valid while supplies last through March 31, 2014.

HURRYd!s

Offer en 1, March 3 2014! * U.S. orders only

onnect Booklet from ew Project C N d n a r AB

Order NOW to receive 5 FREE!!

Visit our special ordering website, www.lhm.org/live and enter code LMLIVE14 or call 1-800-876-9880.

• The level to which churches utilize LHM’s resources depends on knowing they’re out there. How familiar are congregations with LHM’s work and what do they seem to use the most?

Man of ‘Many Hats’ Knows the Importance of LHM In his capacity as a Lutheran Hour Ministries regional manager for United States Ministries, Keith Peterson (shown above, center, in action) is a man who knows. He handles multi-dimensional duties and dons many hats when telling church workers and congregations about LHM’s numerous and varied programs and resources. See what he says in this special interview conducted by Paul Schreiber.

• What prompted you to consider working for LHM? “I’ve always had great respect for the work and mission of LHM. It’s a terrific privilege to serve this organization. LHM is the leader in outreach within the Lutheran Church. It is creative in approach and determined in purpose to get the Gospel message to the lost, wherever they might be…. I am proud to be a part in achieving the goals of this mission-minded organization.”

• Can you tell us a little bit about your career before LHM? “I taught and coached in Lutheran high schools in northern Illinois for 11 years before becoming the head men’s basketball coach at Concordia University Chicago. After six years, I accepted the position of head men’s coach at North Park University in Chicago. I returned to CUC as a development officer and moved into the director of alumni position. After five years as a development consultant, I accepted the call to LHM.” • LHM has numerous programs, products, and services to offer. How do you determine which of these to promote?

“I target specific resources to specific ministry personnel that would benefit most. After briefly introducing LHM’s resources, I emphasize our school resources to school administrators, the Men’s NetWork to men’s groups, or MISSION U to pastors. We have so many relevant resources—and are adding new items at a steady pace—it’s a challenge….”

“Some congregations have a terrific grasp of the resources and use them to a great degree. However, for many other churches their main familiarity with LHM is through The Lutheran Hour. Another popular program is Pastor Klaus’ Daily Devotion. I talked with a seventh and eighth-grade teacher who used the Daily Devotions every day in his classroom. When discussions began about possible graduation speakers, all the students wanted Pastor Klaus! We do have a large number of men’s groups aware of the Men’s NetWork Bible studies. I personally want this to expand as we involve more men in their spiritual walk. Overall, we have a challenge to get our message to those who can best utilize our programs…that particular person who can best utilize it. That’s where I come in. It is vital this message is personally delivered for receivers to fully understand how beneficial it is.”

• What are some of LHM’s most frequently used programs and/or resources that congregations like?

“Besides those I listed, we have many congregations taking advantage of the Project Connect booklet ministry. I encourage churches to look for places in their communities where these booklets will reach those who are not easily reached…. JCPlayZone is popular among early childhood centers, and we are getting increasing interest in our Online Mission Trip. The number of schools participating in this effort is increasing every year.”

• What are the most rewarding things about the work you do?

“It is very rewarding when you introduce LHM resources and they get used, especially when it comes to motivating congregational outreach. Getting lay people involved in outreach is critical to the life of the church. I think of LHM as the Nike of outreach.

When Nike first launched, Converse had the total market on basketball shoes. Converse concentrated their marketing efforts on the 10 players on the floor. Nike came in and marketed to the thousands of people in the stands. Likewise, we have to get the “people in the stands” involved in outreach. We can’t rely just on the players on the floor to spread the Gospel. That’s where MISSION U comes in. Facilitating these courses is another area of my work I find extremely rewarding. To see lay people get excited about outreach through MISSION U is very gratifying.”

• What are the most demanding things about your work?

“Keeping up with the ever-changing inventory of resources is a challenge. Making sure new and revised resources are conveyed to our church leaders and lay people is crucial, too.

Reaching all congregations in my territory is daunting. Because the message is so vitally important, you don’t want to see anybody left out. If people are not utilizing our resources, we’re missing opportunities to share Christ with even more people.

Our mission of equipping people for outreach must be front and center. We have a huge task ahead of us to train as many people as possible to spread the Gospel message.” n

The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014 15

a y n e K

Virtual Trip Took Thousands to

for an Adventure

“Jambo habari gani!”

During this year’s National Lutheran Schools Week (January 27-30) this customary Swahili expression for “Hello! How are you?” meant one thing in Lutheran schools across North America: it was time for the day’s segment of Lutheran Hour Ministries’ Online Mission Trip to Kenya. Each day, a group of students from one of four selected schools in Plainview, Neb., Verona, Pa., Sanford, Fla., and Bishop, Texas, used the greeting to welcome participants. After the group asked God to bless the day’s activities, the adventure was on.

An estimated 21,000 students—each one a virtual missionary for the week—tuned in at more than 230 school and home-school locations to get an up-close look at how Lutheran Hour Ministries works to advance the Good News about Jesus Christ in the East African nation of Kenya. As with LHM’s previous Online Mission Trips, the Online Mission Trip to Kenya used a blend of pre-recorded video and interactive live video to offer students a rich and compelling picture of Kenyan culture and the physical, social, and spiritual needs of the country’s people. Africa Regional Director Eric Gates, along with LHM International Ministries’ Chris Myers, co-hosted the trip from LHM’s St. Louis studio, while ministry center Director John Maina joined them live from Kenya via videoconference technology.

Students met Sarah Machama, a 12-yearold girl who goes to school in Nairobi; Tetu, a 12-year-old Maasai boy from a rural village who dreams of becoming a doctor; and The Conquerors, a group of street boys who

16 The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014

became friends at an LHM Bible club and formed a singing group. Students also learned how the LHM ministry center staff and volunteers use music, dance, drama, film shows, medical care, assistance with educational needs, vocational training, and other means to reach out with God’s love and create opportunities to share the Gospel. They spent some time being virtual tourists as well, visiting schools, shopping with John at Nairobi’s markets, and going on a big game safari in Nairobi National Park.

As with past trips, students had a wealth of questions and kept Chris busy with the interactive chat feature. They asked questions such as, “Do kids in Kenya ever talk about visiting

the United States?” “Does Kenya have its own army?” “What can we do to let Kenyans know about Jesus?”—and many more, so many that they could not all be answered during the question-answer segments. John promised to answer others on the Lutheran Hour Ministries—Kenya blog during February (visit nurulhm.blogspot.com to read them all!).

Thanks to all the schools that participated in LHM’s’ Online Mission Trip to Kenya and who are supporting the ongoing our work through prayer and chapel offerings. Where in the world will LHM virtual missionaries help spread the love of Jesus when the Online Mission Trip returns in 2015? Stay tuned! n

eran nts at Karama Luth Teachers and stude have to pe ro a don’t need Academy in Kibera a tug-of-war!

Director Maina co-ho sted the 2014 Online Mission Trip and explained the ministry’s dyna mic Gospel outreach to Kenyans.

Helping Neighbors—the Men’s Network WORK DAY Trimming, building, repairing and more can be part of the WORK DAY in your area!

B

efore you know it, the calendar will flip to Saturday, April 26.

That’s when neighborhoods and communities around the country will reap the benefits of the second Men’s NetWork WORK DAY. Registration and more information for this hands-on event is at www.lhmmen.com/workday. All participants get a Men’s NetWork cap, and there will be a Facebook page dedicated to the WORK DAY, where you can post your photos, stories and more during and after the event: www.facebook.com/lhmmen.

The Men’s NetWork is again anticipating a strong showing from men who will be tackling jobs like setting up playground equipment in the community, clearing brush off a trailhead, or removing graffiti from the side of a public school. Whatever it is, the work adds to the betterment of communities and the quality of life for those at the receiving end.

It was evident from feedback that men participating in last year’s WORK DAY benefited greatly from the event. For instance, more than 20 guys from Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Centennial, Colorado, did some spring cleaning for six Bethesda Lutheran Communities homes in the area. Following a devotion and fellowship—washed down with coffee and donuts—the men divided into three teams, each assigned two homes. “We trimmed bushes, cut back trees, cleaned gutters, washed windows, set-up patio furniture, cleaned flower beds, mended fences, and anything else that helped make the outside of the homes more attractive,” said one participant.

“All of the men ended the day knowing that the Lord had put our faith into action,” he added.

An excellent example of the synergy that results from these kinds of sweat-equity community efforts was relayed to us by Charlie Moore, study leader of the Saturday morning men’s Bible study group in Emmanuel Lutheran Church of York, Neb. The group spent three hours “removing excess furniture, desks, and trash from the church annex, which is used by our ELY youth group. The excess furniture was donated to our local Living Water Rescue mission, which helps homeless men, women and children. Our local sanitation company (who are also church members) brought two of their garbage trucks to help remove the trash,” Moore said.

This year we’re looking forward to hearing more great stories from guys in the field who are making a difference in the communities and neighborhoods where they live. Join in! Set aside time on Saturday, April 26, and make a big difference in someone’s life. n

Roll up your sleeves d for your neighborhoo y! and your communit m around On April 26, join men fro s to make the country doing thing of others. a difference in the lives m/workday Go to www.lhmmen.co n up! to find out more and sig

Saturday, April 26 The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014 17

LHM’s Rutt and NaThalang, second row, 5th and 6th from left, gathered with 43 other Protestant leaders from China and the United States to learn from each other and celebrate the advance of the Gospel in China.

LHM Represented at Protestant Leaders Forum in China

by Greg Koenig

Late last year, LHM’s International Ministries Director Dr. Douglas Rutt and Asia Regional Director Gunya NaThalang traveled to Shanghai, China, for the second China-U.S. Protestant Church Leaders Forum. This provided a special opportunity for 45 Protestant leaders to meet together with leaders of China’s principal Christian organizations, the China Christian Council (CCC) and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), to learn from each other and to explore ways of working together to advance the Gospel.

“It was an amazing week, and Gunya and I were honored to have been invited to participate,” Rutt reported.

The inaugural China-U.S. Protestant Church Leaders Forum was held in 2011 and contributed significantly to greater understanding among American leaders about the church in China—as well as to cooperation between Christian organizations in China and Christian organizations in North America. According to the forum’s sponsor organizations, “During the last two years, society and the church in both China and the U.S. have undergone new developments and changes”—and this was the motivation for the 2013 forum.

It “included presentations by Chinese and U.S. representatives on the topics of ‘Reconciliation and the Gospel,’ ‘Challenges Churches Face in the Process of Urbanization,’ ‘The Gospel and Local Culture,’ ‘Compassionate Care,’ and ‘How to Strengthen Chi-

18 The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014

na-U.S. Church Relations,’” Rutt reported. An additional theme common to many discussions was the role of the church in improving not just China-U.S. church relations but China-U.S. relations in general.

“It was really interesting to hear participants talk about the tension between the Gospel and culture from U.S. and Chinese perspectives,” Rutt pointed out. “In contrast to the American presenters, the Chinese speakers approached the issue more from the point of view of a minority group; what they want to learn is how to coexist in the culture and discover the points of contact between traditional Chinese values and Christianity.”

One highlight of the week-long event was an outing to Nanjing, where participants visited the Amity Press, founded in the late 1980s through the efforts of a group of Christian leaders that included Dr. Oswald Hoffmann, then-Speaker of The Lutheran Hour. Rutt said, “The Amity Press printed its 100 millionth Bible in 2012. Nearly 63 million of those Bibles have been distributed in China.”

Rutt added, “It was clear to me over the course of the forum that our Regional Director Gunya is highly regarded by the leaders of the Protestant church in China and by the government’s State Administration for Religious Affairs. We’re thankful to the Chinese Protestant Church for inviting us to participate in this historic event.” n

November Tour to Germany is Sold Out While Rev. David Mahsman in his feature article for this issue refers to Wittenberg as the center of a most difficult mission field today, the city was central to changing the face of Christianity forever when Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Schlosskirche nearly 500 years ago.

That’s why Wittenberg will be a featured destination when nearly 200 people join hosts Rev. Gregory Seltz, Kurt Buchholz, Bruce Wurdeman, and Rev. Ken Klaus for Lutheran Hour Ministries’ sold-out tour of Germany on Sept. 7-19 of this year. The trip is part of the celebration of the Luther Decade that includes many festivities leading up to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.

In addition to Wittenberg, the tour will trace Luther’s footsteps through the cities of Erfurt, Eisenach, and Eisleben with visits to locations such as Wartburg Castle, the Collegium Maius, the Town Church, and the remains of the Augustinian Monastery that played

‘Hour’ is Prominent in Two New Books on China

By the time author David G. Kohl completed six years of research leading to the printing of volume one of “Lutherans on the Yangtze,” he was hooked on the necessity of international outreach and the use of broadcasts in global missions. Specifically, the impact of The Lutheran Hour in China became one of his research passions.

His recently published two-volume book series (printed by One Spirit Press, Portland, Ore.) also resulted in a Website: www.lutheransontheyangtze.com. Kohl is quick to say that his work “is a celebration of the first 100 years of Missouri Synod activity in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.” He gathered “photos of historic activities of missionaries, businessmen, and educators sharing the Gospel with the Chinese people in central Mainland China beginning in 1913; in Hong Kong with the arrival of evacuated missionaries in 1949; and with the spread of the Good News (Fu Ying or Happy Sound) to Macau from 1950 and Taiwan from 1951. With the emergence of the Recognized Church (Three Self Patriotic Movement) in the People’s Republic, Lutherans continue to witness their Christianity through educational and social service activity.”

The Lutheran Hour and the International Lutheran Laymen’s League were among early supporters of the outreach in China in the 1930s. The effort continues, as Kohl noted, through print outreach in particular, under the watch of Chinese authorities.

He added that the Int’l LLL’s “support would positively affect the mission field in future years through financial support, volunteerism, witness, and sponsorship of The Lutheran Hour….”

Individuals interested in the two-book set may visit the Website or contact author Kohl at 6300 Barclay, West Linn, OR 97068. n

key roles in Luther’s life. The tour will also include stops at famous German sites such as the Neuschwanstein, the fairy-tale castle of “mad” King Ludwig II; the 1972 Olympic Park in Munich; the Bavarian Alps; Dachau, home of the first concentration camp; the ancient city of Augsburg; and the bustling modern metropolis of Berlin, where one of the featured sites will be the remains of the Berlin Wall.

One of the main highlights of the tour will be the potential first-time recording of sermons for The Lutheran Hour at the Castle Church of Luther and at St. Matthaus Church, the home church of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. “What an awesome honor and privilege it is going to be for Pastor Klaus and me to speak at these historical locations in front of our fellow travelers,” said Rev. Seltz.

For more information about the tour, visit www.lhm.org/germanytour.

While no spots are currently available, you can be added to the waiting list to receive information if spots open for this tour or future tours. To add your name to the waiting list, please contact Trans World Travel, Inc. at 1-800323-8158 and tell them you’re interested in Lutheran Hour Ministries’ “Luther’s Germany-Our Heritage” tour. n

God has blessed you…

Bless others

First Fruits Giving You can donate a portion of your harvest, land or property to God’s mission at Lutheran Hour Ministries. For more information, please contact the LHM Gift Planning Department at lhmgift@lhm.org or 1-877-333-1963.

The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014 19

Extending Outreach with Project Connect

Offering Project Connect booklets as a displayed resource in churches, offices, or community centers has long been an effective way to get timely and topical volumes into people’s hands. Increasingly, however, they are ordered as a valuable resource to distribute to people beset with difficult circumstances.

One example of a church using Project Connect booklets to supplement ongoing social ministry is the work being done by St. Paul Lutheran Church in New Hartford, Conn. There, under the banner of Hands of Grace, members of St. Paul’s assist individuals and families in area communities who are experiencing a temporary financial crisis. Addressing this situation, Hands of Grace provides food, clothing, and household items at no charge to those in need.

In Shelby Township, Mich., Shepherd’s Gate Lutheran Church is one of dozens of churches in Macomb County participating as a member of the Macomb County Rotating Emergency Shelter Team (MCREST). This coalition of Protestant and Catholic churches offers numerous services to the homeless commu-

nity of Macomb County. These include hygiene and shower facilities, meals, safe shelter, laundry services, transportation, employment assistance, and friendship to men, women, and families for up to 90 days, housing these individuals within the host congregations.

Barbara Cabble, who’s been ordering Project Connect booklets for Shepherd’s Gate for nine years, said, “During MCREST the residents stay in a different part of the church. Copies of Lutheran Hour Ministries tracts are nicely and intentionally displayed on a table. Many copies are taken. Tracts that are popular are those on alcohol, gambling, the Bible, prayer, being a prisoner of guilt, money, life beyond divorce, and anger.”

One reason, among many, for these booklets’ continued popularity is the succinct, Christ-centered approach they offer to complex problems. “We are living in hectic times with no time to read a 300-page book,” said Nancy Kellerhals, Project Connect support person for LHM. “When an issue is disrupting our daily routine, it is often because we lack knowledge and need some understanding of the subject. These Project Connect booklets—short essays—can put us on the correct path to finding a solution.”

Kellerhals added, “Project Connect booklets are not only brief—typically around 5,500 words—they are also easy to read, accurate, and deal with real-life topics. People want to know why these things are happening: death, sickness, drugs, domestic violence, and so on. Project Connect booklets help individuals sort out and structure their priorities, stressing the need to put God first in one’s life for a deeper, more fulfilled life.”

You can learn more about Project Connect at www.lhm.org/projectconnect or call 1-800-876-9880. n

The Top Ten

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Among booklets from LHM that are in the top 10 by demand (see graph at left) is “PRAYER: When You Don’t Know What to Say” which is near the 25,000 level in copies distributed. This places it in the lead among all Project Connect booklets.

“Spending time with God is the ultimate relationship,” says the booklet. “Prayer is simply communicating with God, both talking and listening to Him. Through His Son Jesus Christ, we are free to come to God to share our deepest and most private joys, pains, thoughts, and feelings without having to impress someone or be fearful of criticism.”

The thought goes on: “Some think God’s really busy and you have to fight for His attention. He’ll only answer your prayers after you’ve nagged Him enough….These false ideas about prayer misrepresent the Lord terribly….The truth is, God does care, and He didn’t mean for prayer to be pulled out as a last resort….” n

Celebration, Outreach Highlight Mexico Center’s One-year Anniversary To some, it might have seemed like “Lutheran Week” in parts of Mexico City. Beginning Saturday, December 14, of last year, two Lutheran churches were bustling with special events; a new theological training program was launched at the Lutheran Center in the city; and Lutheran Hour Ministries—Mexico was in the midst of all the activity, both celebrating the achievements of the past year and looking to the future.

Health and children’s ministry outreach event: On Saturday, in partnership with San Pablo Lutheran Church, Lutheran Hour Ministries—Mexico presented a Brigada Medica— or “Preventive Health Fair”—in front of the San Pablo facility. People from the community were invited to come for dental checkups, nutritional advice, haircuts and other services.

Participants were also treated to a performance by the children’s drama workshop the ministry center supports at San Pablo.

“We served about 150 people at the event,” says Mexico center Director Eugenio Gallastegui. Nearly 100 of the participants responded by providing contact information for follow-up.

The ministry center staff, together with workers and volunteers from another congregation, San Pedro, also previewed BREAD, a holistic vocational training program that is planned to grow out of the church’s popular

Lutheran Hour Ministries—Mexico observed its first anniversary with a holistic “Brigada Medica” outreach event that featured dental care.

Executive Director Buchholz (right) greeted worshipers at the Sunday service.

Latin America Regional Director Dr. Nilo Figur assisted as interpreter.

weekly lunch and Bible study for unemployed and homeless people. According to Eugenio, the aim of the BREAD program is to provide tools to help participants achieve a measure of self-sufficiency and build them up spiritually.

Anniversary celebration: Saturday’s activities culminated with a banquet marking Lutheran Hour Ministries—Mexico’s first anniversary in its new location. Leaders from Lutheran Hour Ministries, local congregations, the Lutheran Synod of Mexico, and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and its partner, the Luther Academy, gathered at San Pedro Church, nearby the LHM Ministry Center, for a banquet that featured Mexican cuisine and a live mariachi. Among many officials from the LCMS, was Rev. Ted Krey, LCMS Regional Director for Latin America. Lutheran Hour Ministries’ Executive Director Kurt Buchholz served as banquet speaker and highlighted the blessings of partnership in ministry and evangelism. On Sunday, December 15, the celebration continued with a special Anniversary Advent service at San Pedro Lutheran Church; the Rev. Dr. Nilo Figur, Lutheran Hour Ministries’ Regional Director for Latin America, delivered the homily.

New Strides in theological education: LHM—Mexico has been working for the past year to build relationships that will help strengthen the Lutheran Synod of Mexico (SLM) and its workers. On Sunday, December 15, the LHM center and the Mexico Synod witnessed one of the results of these efforts: the launch of a four-day conference on the Lutheran Confessions sponsored by the Luther Academy, in cooperation with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The workshop was organized by Rev. Daniel McMiller, Executive Director of Luther Academy, and was led by Rev. Roberto Bustamante, a professor at Concordia Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina; representing The LCMS at the event was the Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver, LCMS Director of Church Relations. More than 40 attended the workshop.

“Everyone involved is interested in continuing to collaborate in this way,” says Eugenio. A second training event is being planned.

“This was an historic week!” Eugenio added. “Please pray with us that God continues to bless our work together in bringing Christ to the Mexican people—and the Mexican people to the church!” n

The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014 21

Lost Artwork was a Form of Outreach

by Gerald Perschbacher

When seven art experts and historians spearheaded a special assignment in the waning months of the Second World War, little did they think their exploits would be made into a big budget motion picture, but it happened recently with the nationwide release of The Monuments Men, Feb. 7. The action drama (rated PG-13) is based on the book by the same title, written by Robert M. Edsel.

The Lutheran Layman for May-June of 2010 introduced the subject to its readers via an article by Edsel. His book, still in print, traces some of the challenges met by nearly 345 men and women from 13 nations who located more than five million cultural items stolen as war booty by the Nazis.

Many of the artistic items were from private collections and churches. A good number carried religious themes which, in bygone eras prior to mass communications, were appreciated as “outreach tools” in sharing the Christian faith and educating believers.

“Perhaps the most important work of art stolen by the Nazis was the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, housed in Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium,” said Edsel. Originally intended to be moved to the Vatican, the huge artistic piece (nearly 12 feet high and 16 feet wide) ended up in Pau, France, then was deposited in

DaVinci’s Lady with an Ermine, in Allied hands.

pieces in a salt mine in Austria. The altar was returned in August of 1945 as the first piece restituted by Allied forces.

Key individuals in the reclamation are portrayed in the film by George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean DuJardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett. Clooney also was film director.

The big screen adventure involved Columbia Pictures, Fox 2000 Pictures, and Smokehouse Pictures.

More artwork, important books, archival documents, and artifacts are still missing. For details on the continuing efforts to find and return precious items to rightful owners, contact www.monumentsmenfoundation.org n.

Lost Books? & The Great Deceiver, now Mobile Apps

by Paul Schreiber

The Men’s NetWork now offers two recent releases, The Great Deceiver and Lost Books?, as smartphone applications for Androids and iPhones. This makes these Bible studies available anywhere individuals have an Internet connection. Depending on your mobile device, you can download the application for free directly from the Apple App Store, Google Play, or Amazon. Search for it using “Lost Books Discussion Guide.”

22 The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014

In a Men’s NetWork survey taken among users who had recently used the Lost Books? app, response to its ease of use was a definite bonus. “I found the app to be an enhancement to the study. Since we always have our portable devices with us, many of the guys were able to watch a video and catch up if they missed a session,” said one participant.

Using the Lost Books? app is essentially the same as accessing the Bible study through a laptop or desktop computer. To get the user squared away, a promotional video sets the stage. This is then followed by information on the issue of lost books in general, suggestions for the study leader, details on the study’s Digging Deeper links, and a note to the discussion guide user.

Hitting “START” takes the user into Session One where a video clip gives background for that session. This is then followed by an introductory prayer, text pertinent to that session’s topic, discussion questions, and a closing prayer.

Opening the Digging Deeper links leads to Internet data that expand the study’s depth and value.

Hitting “NEXT” moves the user through the study’s next sessions. It’s all easy and extremely handy. In the space of a couple of minutes, you can be going through the study at home, showing it to a friend or co-worker on your lunch break, or preparing to look sharp before your Sunday morning Bible class.

As with any group study, participant interaction greatly adds to the learning process. In respect to Lost Books?, one participant indicated how the group discussion was beneficial because they spoke of the frequent challenges that target the reliability of the Scriptures. Hearing others and their experiences on the topic reminded him again of the vigorous challenges we face as defenders of truth. Another man said, “I liked that it presented factual information against the false info circulated on the topic.”

The mobile app is another step in making Men’s NetWork resources available to a wider user base. The ubiquitous presence of cell phones today offers excellent opportunities to share the truths of Scripture and the life-saving message of Jesus with the world at large. To learn more, go to www.lhmmen.com. n

Reaching the

Hoffmann

‘Century Mark’

by Gerald Perschbacher

December 6, 2013, marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Oswald C.J. Hoffmann. Anyone who saw the newborn in his crib in Snyder, Neb., could hardly have imagined what this child would make of his life—or, to say it better, no one knew what the Lord would do through this man!

Born shortly before the First World War, the child came to learn that life is not easy. He learned that even more during his years at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, as Hoffmann assisted Dr. Walter A. Maier, founding voice of The Lutheran Hour and a professor at the sem. Hoffmann further learned that life took added excitement in the Dr. Oswald Gospel of Christ. He witnessed the launch of the Hoffmann entered program in 1930 and with it came a renewed hope radio big-time in for Christ-centered outreach as the world entered its 1955 on The Lutheran worst economic depression. He also saw how much Hour and stayed with the job more than people needed the Good News that healed the brothree decades. kenness of life.

Hoffmann emulated Maier, and Maier deeply appreciated Hoffmann for his potential. Hoffmann told this writer that Maier regularly came into class tired from a long train trip for The Lutheran Hour. As the prof entered the classroom, he placed a sheet of paper on his lecture podium, leaned against the blackboard behind him, closed his eyes for most of the period, and began lecturing. After nearly an hour he retrieved the sheet, placed it in his portfolio, and headed for another task.

But one day he forgot his sheet.

Hoffmann and another student lingered until they were the only two remaining. They tiptoed up front to see what was on the sheet. To their surprise, it carried only one Bible passage! After that experience, Hoffmann marveled at Maier more than ever for his Scriptural and doctrinal depth of knowledge. Hoffmann was encouraged to do likewise.

By 1955 Hoffmann had established a solid reputation as

communicator, instructor, family man, and paragon of faith. He seldom admitted he was much more than a cut above the task at hand and avoided elevating himself to the detriment of others. He enjoyed speaking with “dees and dats” and in common words, little and meaningful, that carried impact to people of all ages and all walks.

Hoffmann was the speaker for the common man, the educated, the lowly, the wealthy, the bedridden, the poor, the elite, and anyone who heard the Gospel broadcasts. He carried the message around the world through his special speaking engagements and radio messages, even to American troops in combat zones and people behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains. His chairmanship of the United Bible Societies allowed him to foster the spread of the written Word of God. Hoffmann was a translator, too. Often he used the Greek New Testament and merely translated as he preached. When someone wrote to ask “what translation does Dr. Hoffmann use,” the threetime honorary doctor eased back and said, “The original.” He was handy with German and no doubt knew more than a few phrases in other tongues, too, which helped him when overseas. see next page

Hoffmann, on site in the Holy Land in 1984, was host for the national five-hour TV mini-series Yeshua, which he considered a high point of his career.

The Lutheran Layman March - April 2014 23

Hoffmann,

from page 23

Hoffmann’s first message as Speaker of The Lutheran Hour came on September 25, 1955. His last was for Christmas of 1988 wherein he told of the opening of China to the grace of radio broadcasts and printed literature conveying the Gospel of Christ.

His accolades were many and mighty.

He founded the first communications department of The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod. He emphasized evangelism. He wrote books and articles on the subject. He knew potentates and the lowly, seeing them as equals in Christ. He was friends with religious notables, such as Dr. Billy Graham, who said Hoffmann “was one of my close friends and mentors.

We were together many times on various occasions throughout the world. He was a man of God and a man full of faith and love. He could put his arm around people of every Christian persuasion and make them feel that they had a friend…he had few parallels.”

His wife Marcia and their children, then their grandchildren, played important parts in his life. They were an encour-

agement to him.

Truth be told, Dr. Oswald Hoffmann (“Ossie” as he most often was called by friends) had his entire ministry tied up in a few words.

This writer realized it one day when there was a staff social at the Int’l LLL headquarters in St. Louis, Mo. “I think I can summarize your ministry very simply,” said the editor. “Yours has been a ministry of encouragement.”

“That’s it!” the doctor snapped with a strong, booming voice. He then went on to provide examples of the encouragement he gave while traveling, especially encouraging professional church workers, missionaries, and the laity who worked hard to share what Hoffmann called “the marvelous Word of God in the Resurrected Christ.”

He knew the work of Gospel proclamation is good for eternity and respected the ways it advanced around the globe. He credited the Lord with the increase and God’s people for growth “from strength to strength.”

If Dr. Oswald Hoffmann were still walking the earth today, he surely would thank all the faithful supporters of The Lutheran Hour and its multi-faceted Lutheran Hour Ministries in the endless effort of Bringing Christ to the Nations—and the Nations to the Church. It is the Spirit-driven energy of countless support-

Hoffmann, an energetic speaker, mesmerized countless crowds and radio audiences.

ers that keeps the outreach going and growing, even to the present day and beyond.

What more can we say but AMEN! Dr. Gerald Perschbacher worked with Dr. Hoffmann professionally beginning in 1979 and continued to associate closely with this Emeritus Speaker of The Lutheran Hour until Dr. Hoffmann’s passing in 2005. n

Lutheran Hour Ministries, 660 Mason Ridge Center Drive • St. Louis, Missouri 63141-8557 • (314) 317-4100 or 1-800-944-3450 Philip Krauss II, Chairman • Kurt Buchholz, Executive Director The Int’l Lutheran Laymen’s League, with its outreach through Lutheran Hour Ministries, is an auxiliary of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and Lutheran Church—Canada.

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