Are you planning ahead? Here is a link to the February 2025 resources for LWML Mission Grant #24 and LWML Mission Grant #27.

Due to the number of grants this biennium, this month there are two grants featured!

A Legacy of Love for Special Needs Children

2023–2025 Mission Grant 23 — $100,000

In 2023, Lutheran Special Education Ministries is celebrating 150 years of serving God's children with special needs. They have a rich and full history which began as an orphanage for children after the Civil War, turned into Lutheran School for the Deaf, and has grown into Lutheran Special Education Ministries now serving children with all kinds of learning needs across the country and internationally.

One in five children in the United States has a learning need. Each child is unique, they all learn at a different pace, and some require different approaches to learning. Parents often must make the choice between public school that addresses their learning needs or Christian education that develops their spirituality. 

Lutheran Special Education Ministries (LSEM) serves schools, churches, and families to advance the success of children who have learning needs by providing resources to benefit them in the classroom but also in their church communities. They have served God’s children with special needs for 150 years. 

This grant will allow LSEM to continue to develop and research tools and techniques so they can provide resources to Lutheran churches to welcome, integrate, and support children with specialized needs and their families in their church bodies.

Resources for Grant #23

• Mission Grant Story
• Bulletin Byte (Word doc)
• Bulletin Insert (half page insert, 2 per page)
• Devotion
• Prayer Guide
• Zoom Background (JPG)

Large Print Resources for Grant #23

• Devotion — large print
• Prayer Guide — large print
• Story — large print

Learn more about this mission grant and view more photos here.

Donate to the LWML Mission Goal

Growing Our Place: Care for Special Needs Students

2023–2025 Mission Grant 28 — $20,000

Terri Siebrass (left) and Heidi (right) measure ingredients during activity time at Our Place After School Care Inc.

Our Place After School Care (Our Place) is a caring Christian community for special needs students between the ages of 13 and 20 years old, who are unable to be safe when home alone and have aged-out of the Hastings area daycare facilities. Our Place benefited from the generosity of Faith Lutheran Church which provided space in its existing facilities for their operations. 

To expand the outreach and activities of Our Place, the Advisory Board recommended locating a new space to rent. A space has been located which will require little or no modification. 

This grant will serve as a funding bridge to cover the monthly rent, allow them to purchase software to open a store, and allow for scholarship aid to students. 

Resources for Grant #28

• Mission Grant Story
• Bulletin Byte (Word doc)
• Bulletin Insert (half page insert, 2 per page)
• Devotion
• Prayer Guide
• Zoom Background (JPG)

Large Print Resources for Grant #28

• Devotion — large print
• Prayer Guide — large print
• Story — large print

Learn more about this mission grant and view more photos here.

Donate to the LWML Mission Goal

Due to the number of grants this biennium, this month there are two grants featured!

Healthy Together: Healthy Workers, Healthy Church

2023–2025 Mission Grant 21 — $106,000

Launched at the Iowa District West Convention in the summer of 2022, Rev. Dr. Jim Lamb shares a personal testimony of his struggle as a young pastor and how he was helped by an LFS counselor who brought professional support and the love of Jesus to him at a time when he was at a point of potential ministry burnout. Dr. Lamb reminded the group that he — and most pastors — are really good at hiding their pain.

God directs the church to care for those He calls to serve in ministry. Church workers and their families regularly face unprecedented stress, challenges, and suffering which affects their physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being. There is an urgent need for the church to support and care for church workers. 

Lutheran Family Services is responding to this need by launching a campaign to fund expansion of their services to support church workers and their families beyond Iowa and into the greater Midwest. These professional services are provided on an ability-to-pay basis through support of individuals and congregations without funding from the Synod or government funding to not limit their Christ-centered ministry. 

This grant will help increase their ministry team of masters-level, licensed therapists who will provide marriage and family counseling that is Christ-centered.

Resources for Grant #21

• Mission Grant Story
• Bulletin Byte (Word doc)
• Bulletin Insert (half page insert, 2 per page)
• Devotion
• Prayer Guide
• Zoom Background (JPG)

Large Print Resources for Grant #21

• Devotion — large print
• Prayer Guide — large print
• Story — large print

Learn more about this mission grant and view more photos here.

Donate to the LWML Mission Goal

Life Connection Events and Kits

2023–2025 Mission Grant 26 — $70,000

The sanctity of life is enjoying a higher cultural profile than ever before. This ministry represents a fifty-year effort in the wake of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade verdict.

The mission of Lutherans for Life (LFL) is to renew hearts with the Word of the Lord and to receive every human being as a sister or brother with whom we may share God’s everlasting blessings. Life issues like an unplanned pregnancy or a terminal diagnosis offer us mission moments. 

LFL has learned that youth and students gravitate toward activity-oriented involvement and have developed a framework consisting of two elements — namely, pilot events and "event-in-a-box" kits designed to intentionally connect young adults with seasoned local Life Teams, Life Chapters, and LFL pioneers. Participants will learn to conduct life-affirming education and service in their own neighborhoods. 

This grant will provide funds to support the outreach effort to young adults to encourage their involvement in LFL Life Teams and Life Chapters.

Resources for Grant #26

• Mission Grant Story
• Bulletin Byte (Word doc)
• Bulletin Insert (half page insert, 2 per page)
• Devotion
• Prayer Guide
• Zoom Background (JPG)

Large Print Resources for Grant #26

• Devotion — large print
• Prayer Guide — large print
• Story — large print

Learn more about this mission grant and view more photos here.

Donate to the LWML Mission Goal

Due to the number of grants this biennium, this month there are two grants featured!

Tanzania Children's Homes

2023–2025 Mission Grant 19 — $74,500

In July 2022, a group from St. John, Bingen (Decatur, IN) travelled to Tanzania to meet the pastors, deaconesses, church leaders, and children at the home they funded for their 175th anniversary.

The Tanzania Children’s Home welcomes albino children to offer security, care, and education. Albinism (limited melanin pigment in the skin, eyes, and hair) is especially prevalent in Tanzania. Children with albinism face health risks of skin cancer and visual impairment and are threatened by the pagan practices of the tribal religions that falsely teach their body parts have magical powers to make one rich, successful, and powerful. The home offers security and specialized care for the children that their families cannot provide and is located on the campus of the Lutheran Boarding School in Mwadui. They are raised in the knowledge and love of the Lord and are transported to the Mwadui Lutheran Secondary School for their education. 

This grant will help purchase a bus for safe transportation of the children and will contribute to the support of the children.

Resources for Grant #19

• Mission Grant Story
• Bulletin Byte (Word doc)
• Bulletin Insert (half page insert, 2 per page)
• Devotion
• Prayer Guide
• Zoom Background (JPG)

Large Print Resources for Grant #19

• Devotion — large print
• Prayer Guide — large print
• Story — large print

Learn more about this mission grant and view more photos here.

Donate to the LWML Mission Goal

Bringing God's Word to India

2023–2025 Mission Grant 25 — $100,000

"The Lutheran Study Bible" translation project began at this meeting in South India in 2018. These are the translators who started working on the Tamil language translation.

Thirty-two million Christians living in India do not have access to a study Bible in their own language that has abundant, doctrinally sound study notes, and commentary to help in understanding God’s Word. The India Bible Translation Project’s mission is to publish the study notes and commentary from The Lutheran Study Bible into the Tamil and Telugu language. 

This grant will provide funds to complete the translation work. With The Lutheran Study Bible translated in their heart language, indigenous Indian pastors, seminarians, and members of Lutheran churches in India and Sri Lanka will be better able to understand and share the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Indian Lutheran Study Bible will be a great blessing to the members of the India Evangelical Lutheran Church and Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sri Lanka.

Resources for Grant #25

• Mission Grant Story
• Bulletin Byte (Word doc)
• Bulletin Insert (half page insert, 2 per page)
• Devotion
• Prayer Guide
• Zoom Background (JPG)

Large Print Resources for Grant #25

• Devotion — large print
• Prayer Guide — large print
• Story — large print

Updates and Articles

Mission Grant disbursement update — Check Presentation: "Bringing God's Word to India"

Learn more about this mission grant and view more photos here.

Donate to the LWML Mission Goal

Due to the number of grants this biennium, this month there are two grants featured!

Sharing Christ with Women and Children in Kazakhstan

2023–2025 Mission Grant 20 — $100,000

Lutheran Hour Ministries-Kazakhstan staff and volunteers distribute food packages to families living in extreme poverty in remote villages and share the love of Jesus.

The mission of Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM), based on the clear teaching of Scripture, is bringing Christ to the Nations and the Nations to the Church. The established LHM ministry center in Kazakhstan carries out Gospel outreach to a non-Christian country where many people are facing hardships and have limited opportunities to hear the Gospel. 

LHM has identified opportunities to reach out and share the Good News with women and their families in urban areas and remote villages. Effective outreach methods have included Christian training programs, resources, and media that allow them to share the love of Jesus. Outreach through media and Christian discipleship materials allow families to hear God’s message of salvation in culturally appropriate ways. 

This grant will support the powerful Christian witness of love to strengthen relationships, provide encouragement, and build faith in Jesus.

Resources for Grant #20

• Mission Grant Story
• Bulletin Byte (Word doc)
• Bulletin Insert (half page insert, 2 per page)
• Devotion
• Prayer Guide
• Zoom Background (JPG)

Large Print Resources for Grant #20

• Devotion — large print
• Prayer Guide — large print
• Story — large print

Updates and Articles

Mission Grant disbursement update — $50K For Two Great Missions

Learn more about this mission grant and view more photos here.

Donate to the LWML Mission Goal

Expanding Gospel Outreach to Hispanics in U.S.

2023–2025 Mission Grant 22 — $100,000

The Sentido Latino weekly podcast is hosted by Rev. Luciano Vega-Ayala and Deaconess Noemi Guerra. The program addresses issues and values that directly impact U.S. Hispanics' family, spiritual, and community life.

Hispanics have become the second largest ethnic population in the United States and Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) realizes that there are many opportunities to reach out with the Gospel using Christian resources that are available through media and outreach technology. 

LHM is not simply translating English materials into Spanish, they are crafting programming, media content, and written materials for Hispanics by Hispanics. These are applicable to daily life in the American culture and help to spread the Gospel. Working with LCMS ministry leaders, churches, districts, universities, and seminaries, LHM has been able to reach out to more of the Hispanic population. 

This grant will share God’s message of salvation with the Hispanic people through technology in their own language, which will help strengthen their faith and encourage them to seek to learn more about Jesus. 

Resources for Grant #22

• Mission Grant Story
• Bulletin Byte (Word doc)
• Bulletin Insert (half page insert, 2 per page)
• Devotion
• Prayer Guide
• Zoom Background (JPG)

Large Print Resources for Grant #22

• Devotion — large print
• Prayer Guide — large print
• Story — large print

Updates and Articles

Mission Grant disbursement update — $50K For Two Great Missions

Learn more about this mission grant and view more photos here.

Donate to the LWML Mission Goal