WELS endowment funds continue to provide ongoing ministry support

Thanks to the generosity of God’s people, WELS Foundation distributed $1.4 million for our Savior’s gospel ministry in July from the WELS endowment funds. Established by delegates at the 2005 synod convention, these funds provide ongoing, dependable support for the Lord’s work in WELS Ministerial Education and WELS Home, World, and Joint Missions.

The WELS Joint Missions Endowment managed by WELS Foundation provides support to cross-cultural ministry efforts like the Vietnamese outreach ministry at King of Kings, Garden Grove, Calif. Missionary Trung Lê was installed at King of Kings in August 2023 after graduating from the Pastoral Studies Institute at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Lê leads the congregation’s ministry to its Vietnamese community, which makes up about 40 percent of Garden Grove’s population.

King of Kings shows its love to its Vietnamese-speaking neighbors in a number of ways, including offering U.S. citizenship classes, after which the students are invited to stay for Bible study. Lê has also begun providing English as a Second Language classes twice per week. In addition, he leads two Bible information classes in Vietnamese and is working to form a core group, with the prayer that within the next year or two, he will begin a Vietnamese worship service. “Everything is in God’s will,” Lê says, “but we try our best and see what can happen.”

Lê is grateful for the support provided to the Vietnamese ministry at King of Kings from the Joint Missions Endowment: “It has been a wonderful blessing to have such wonderful help from WELS Joint Missions,” says Lê. “I praise the Lord for that.”

WELS Foundation also manages endowments that are set up by individuals, congregations, and other WELS-affiliated ministries. In total, WELS Foundation distributed $4.5 million from more than 375 endowments this year, providing ongoing financial support for Christ’s gospel work throughout WELS.

“An endowment fund can provide a source of predictable financial support for ministry like the Vietnamese outreach being done in Garden Grove for years to come,” says Mr. Jim Holm, executive director of WELS Foundation. “That’s what makes endowments so impactful and such a blessing to gospel work.”

There are a variety of ways to give to an endowment: cash or appreciated assets; through a will, trust, or beneficiary designation on a retirement account; or with insurance proceeds. To learn more about adding to an existing endowment or establishing a new endowment for a ministry that you love, contact your local WELS Christian giving counselor at wels.net/giving-counselors or call 800-827-5482.

Read more about Trung Lê and the ministry in Garden Grove in Forward in Christ:

https://forwardinchrist.net/huu-trung-le/

https://forwardinchrist.net/one-campus-three-languages/