What is the LWML?

The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) is the official women’s auxiliary of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. For over 65 years, the LWML has focused on affirming each woman’s relationship with Christ, encouraging and equipping women to live out their Christian lives in active mission ministries and to support global missions.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Our Mission Fair- Spring Event 2009



We had a wonderful event at Christ Lutheran Church in Murray last month. Thank you so much to everyone who traveled to attend. Ladies came all the way from Provo to Idaho to share the day together and God blessed our time. District President Melody Rosenwinkel even joined us all the way from the mountains of Idaho! We began our morning with coffee and a light breakfast provided by Society President Meredith and the ladies at St. Johns. Pastor Krause from Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Bountiful lead us in a bible study about service in action, we learned about being "cheerful givers" (1Cor 9:7-8) and that God comes to us and serves us through His means of grace (Phil 2:1-11).

There were three speakers who came and shared their time with us. Tami Champo from Salt Lake County Youth Services was our first speaker. She shared how we can all donate goods and our time to help youth who are in between foster care or in state custody.
Our second speaker was Chris Croswhite, his picture is below. He is the Executive Director of The Salt Lake Resucue Mission. Chris oversees the complete ministry and day to day operations of the Rescue Mission (for men) and Rescue Haven (for women). They are a Christian based shelter in downtown SLC they offer emergency housing, daily meals, showers, clean clothing and a recovery program to the homeless and drug-addicted community. The Rescue Mission has big plans to relocate and expand their mission- so please keep that in your prayers. Thank you Chris for sharing the day and your passion with us!




Chris brought a wonderful surprise with him- she was a young woman by the name of Missy. She is a senior in the program at the Rescue Haven, and she shared her story with us. What an inspiration she was! Once living in a car and storage unit, she was a perfect example of God working through our hardships and tough times, all to His glory. She spends her days in prayer and bible study and is learning how to transition back into society, starting with a job. Thank you Missy for coming to our event, you truly opened our eyes and touched our hearts; we will keep you in our prayers.

Thank you everyone who donated goods for our in gathering, below is a picture of what we sent back with Chris and Missy. There were hygiene items, sheets, socks, underwear and clothing. They are also in need of used men's clothing and pillow cases.

Last, but certainly not least, we heard from Donna Neward who is a Stephan Ministry leader at Grace Lutheran Church in Sandy. She spoke with us about Stephan Ministry which is fairly new to our area. Also a Christian based organization; they offer specialized training for people to assist the Pastor in congregations by visiting, listening and offering support to those in need. We learned people in our congregations and communities are in need of our love and support and Stephan Ministry offers a confidential, safe environment for those hurting and in need to share their thoughts and concerns.

We finished up our day by spending some time marking bibles for the prison. There were a few of us who had never marked prison bibles before, it was really fun! We had Spanish and English bibles along with a guide that helped us mark certain verses and write certain phrases. St. John's in SLC and Christ in Murray are apparently veteran "prison bible markers", so thank you for the tutorial ladies!
Thank you again to Tami, Chris, Missy and Donna our wonderful speakers. Also to Pastor Krause and the ladies of Christ Lutheran Church, thank you for all your hard work.