LWMS convention: mission work

LWMS convention highlights mission work

The Chicago Area Circuit of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS) welcomed nearly 1,100 WELS women from around the world to praise God and show their support for WELS mission work. “Christ Alone, Our Cornerstone” was the theme for the 53rd annual LWMS convention, held June 23–26 in St. Charles, Ill.

During the convention, members attended several workshops and learned from home and world mission speakers about what God is doing through WELS missionaries—and through all of his people. “As a mom, I definitely want my kids to learn that missionaries aren’t just people that maybe live in a different country,” says Katherine Schmoller, a member at Lamb of God, Lafayette, Ind. “We’re all called to be missionaries for Christ and we can do that whether we live in Zambia, or whether we live in Indiana or Wisconsin or anywhere (that) Christ has called us to share the good news.”

Missionary Terry Schultz, the preacher for opening worship, was amazed at the enthusiasm of the attendees. “To stand up on stage and see over one thousand women have such a passion for missions—it’s like no other church service you can imagine,” he says. “Their support through their prayers, volunteer work, and their gifts allows WELS to bring that Bible-based truth to all ends of the earth.”

About $53,000 was gathered during the convention for mission projects, and more than $143,000 was received throughout the year from LWMS chapters and its k.i.d.s. care program.

“Such faithful support isn’t taken for granted,” says Keith Free, administrator of Home Missions. “It is another evidence of the power of the Lord’s love moving hearts to support the work we do in WELS through Home and World Missions,” Karen Fischer, LWMS president, sums up the convention: “It was a wonderful, emotion-filled convention that underscored how God takes all of us—little pieces of rubble—to build his church as he sees fit, making more of us together than we could ever make individually and building a diverse church full of saints around the world.”

Next year’s convention will be held June 22–25, 2017, in Orlando, Fla.

Learn more about LWMS at www.lwms.org.

Author:
Volume 103, Number 10
Issue: October 2016

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