In January 2015, Malawi experienced floods that destroyed the homes of many families of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa–Malawi (LCCA), WELS’ sister synod. Initial aid included supplies for temporary housing.

The floods also washed away the families’ crops, so (the staple food of Malawi) to an estimated 4,700 LCCA families in 21 different areas. National pastors oversaw the distribution and conducted devotions and prayers with the families receiving the donations.

Mr. Mark Vance, director of operations for Christian Aid and Relief, wrote: “As I watch the trucks get loaded with their 40 kilogram bags of maize, I say to myself, ‘That is a lot of maize.’ But when we get out to the villages and the families get their 20 kilograms (which is about a medium-sized bucketful), I say, ‘That seems like so little.’

“As I relayed this thought to one of the Malawian pastors, he said, ‘You must remember, ten minutes ago this family had no maize, and they don’t have much money at all to buy maize. Now they have more than they had, and it was given freely to them. This is a huge blessing to them, and to know that this gift of love and compassion came from their Lutheran brothers and sisters from around the world is for many of them more than their emotions can handle.’ ”

The Commission on Lutheran Schools continues to support the work of 524 WELS schools with an overall PreK-12 enrollment of 41,138. Leadership initiatives were the focus of the work of Lutheran Schools in 2015.

Photo Caption: Three guests from China attended the WELS National School Leadership Conference in Pewaukee, Wis., in June. The visitors are opening a Lutheran school in our fellowship in Shanghai. They attended the conference to network with more than 400 other Lutheran educators and to find best practices for their school.

• Evangelism’s Daily Devotions are sent to nearly 10,000 e-mail subscribers and are available through WhatAboutJesus.com, wels.net, and the WELS Mobile App.
•  My Son, My Savior was released in October 2015. This outreach film focuses on the birth, life, and ministry of Jesus told from the viewpoint of his mother, Mary, as she grows in her understanding that her son is also her Savior. The main message for all viewers is that Jesus is their Savior, too. During Advent, congregations and individuals purchased more than 75,000 DVDs and made use of the many complementary materials based on the movie. This is the third in a series of four outreach movies that are planned as a collaboration between WELS Commissions on Evangelism and Adult Discipleship, Northwestern Publishing House, WELS Multi-Language Publications, and Boettcher+Trinklein Television, Inc.
• Did you know?In 2015, an average of more than 23,000 visitors per month accessed WhatAboutJesus.com, an outreach website produced by the Commission on Evangelism.

• Veterans from WELS and our sister church body, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, have formed an organization called Lutheran Military Support Group to support the work of WELS Military Services and—on the local level—to help military families.
• WELS Prison Ministry continues to add new Bible study courses for inmates to its resources. One prisoner recently wrote, “Thank you so very much for allowing me to participate in this Bible study course. I cannot express how much joy it brings me to study the Word of our Lord and to feel myself being drawn closer to his love. Your materials have been a great help and comfort to me at a time in my life that I have so desperately needed it.”
• Freedom for the Captives, a Special Ministries team, launched a new website, freedomforcaptives.com, with resources for survivors of child sexual abuse and for churches and their leaders who desire to minister faithfully when cases of such abuse become known.