Tag Archive for: Nebraska district

Finding better in Jesus

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“I have to call my mom about this . . . this is better!” she said. That has become one of my favorite lines I have ever heard in a Bible information class. I sat across the kitchen table from my new friends Dan and Jenny, taking them through the lesson on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. This was a place I wanted to be but a place I was never sure I would be.

You see, our friends Dan and Jenny had both grown up with a Baptist background and were a good Christian family looking for a church in our area. We just happened to meet them when our girls played on the same T-ball team. Before they were ever visitors of our church, they were just our good friends—friends we would have over for dinner and meet at parks, pools, restaurants, and wineries. I wanted nothing more than to baptize all four of their awesome kids (now five!), but I understood that’s not what they believed. If only we could talk about it.

I remember the night on my back patio, standing under the awning during a thunderstorm, when Dan asked me, “What’s the difference between Lutherans and Baptists?” “Well, I think it really comes down to how God works,” I replied. “You see, Lutherans believe that God works in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, giving to his people forgiveness and granting and strengthening faith, whereas Baptists would see it as something that I am doing for God. It’s sort of arrow up versus arrow down theology.” To his credit, and through the working of the Holy Spirit, Dan told me that night, “I think I am on board with that. But it might take a little more discussion with my wife . . . ” (sorry, Jenny).

But that discussion happened. It happened informally at picnic tables, at our local winery, standing on the beach of a manmade lake, and around both of our kitchen tables, until finally, Dan and Jenny both saw Baptism for the comfort that it is. God wants you to know that he claims those children too. He forgives their sins too. The Holy Spirit works in their little hearts too.

So, on March 30, we not only baptized the five children but also their dad. You see, Dan had always thought that sometime along the way he had been baptized. But a few phone calls later, he realized he never had. So this was going to be a really special Sunday for their family. As a father, it’s an incredible gift not only to tell your children what happens in Baptism but also to show them—first by being baptized yourself and then by lifting each of your little ones up to that same font, watching as God claims them as his own, washes away all their sins, and makes to them the very same promises he just made to you. Baptism now saves you also . . . this promise is for you and for your children . . . all of us who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through Baptism into death, so that just as he was raised to the glory of the Father, we too walk in new life.

“I have to call my mom about this . . . this is better!” Call your mom, dad, brother, sister, friend, neighbor, stranger on the street! Let them know that in Jesus, it is better.

Written by Rev. Jake Jenswold, home missionary at Victory Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kan.




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Is your church a success?

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How do you measure the success of the church? Do you base it on the membership, weekly service attendance, weekly Bible study attendance, or stewardship?

Since Grace Hmong was established as a mission congregation in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) in Kansas City, the leaders of Grace Hmong have contemplated this question. “Is Grace Hmong a successful church or not?” In the end, only God knows the answer. But it’s an answer that God shares in His Word. “…My word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent” (Isaiah 55:11).

This is exactly what the pastors and members of Grace Hmong strive to do every day, and God has blessed Grace Hmong and its ministry work abundantly.

Even though Grace Hmong is a small mission church with small membership in an area where many of the Hmong people already call themselves Christians, every Sunday the Word of Christ is still preached to its members and new souls are regularly brought to our services. Many Hmong people around the community come to the services at Christmas and New Year’s to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ preached. Here the seed of the gospel is planted inside their hearts waiting to sprout sooner or later. Each year, babies are baptized into faith, and adults are baptized and confirmed into the family of God. Every Sunday morning, no matter how many people attend the service, the gospel is preached. Through the word of Christ that is preached every Sunday morning, the members have grown so much in their faith. In the past, they were not sure about their salvation because they based their salvation on good works. But now, they are confident of their salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

As Jesus told his disciples to go out to the world to be his witnesses and teach what he has taught them to the world, so the members of Grace Hmong go out to the world. They go out to the Hmong community with a helping hand while sharing the good news of Christ. For some, this is the first time they’ve heard about Jesus. Others call themselves Christians yet sill base their salvation on good works. We get to share the Word in its truth and purity with them.

By God’s grace and blessings, the word of Christ has not only been preached in Kansas City, but in Vietnam too. When Pastor Bounkeo Lor was still the pastor of Grace Hmong, God used him to extend the word of Christ to another corner of the world – to the country of Vietnam, where Christians are often persecuted in the rural areas. Grace Hmong and its members knew that God wanted Pastor Lor to travel to Vietnam to share the love of God to both the Hmong brothers and sisters in Vietnam who called themselves Christians and to the unbelievers. When WELS called Pastor Bounkeo Lor to be the Hmong Asia coordinator, he accepted the call. And when the time came for Pastor Bounkeo Lor to be the Hmong Asia coordinator, Grace Hmong still continued to be part of the Vietnam mission. The ministry of the church is to nurture and equip the members of the church to be ready to share the gospel.

Even though Grace Hmong is a small mission church, it continues to partner with the Vietnam mission. Through the ministry work in Vietnam, God has blessed the Hmong Fellowship Church (HFC) with grace upon grace. The HFC has grown from 55,000 to 145,000 members in the last 9 years. More than 350 pastors and leaders are seeking training from WELS. Currently, WELS pastors and professors are conducting training to 120 church leaders quarterly. The 55 students that graduated from the theological education program in Vietnam are also training more than 1,400 members twice a month in the rural areas. More and more church leaders are seeking WELS training. Since receiving training from WELS, their faith has grown so much in the Word of God. Many thousands of children have also been baptized in the last several years. They are confident in their salvation through faith in Christ. The power of the gospel has done great things in Vietnam, and a lot of people have put their hope in Christ.

“Is Grace Hmong a successful church or not?” In the end, only God knows the answer. But it’s an answer that God shares in his Word. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

As the church fully embraces Jesus’ command, we will understand that this is what it should be all about—being faithful to God by sharing the gospel in Word and sacrament.

Written by Rev. Ger Lor, missionary at Grace Hmong Lutheran Church in Kansas City, Kan.

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