December 2024

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

man standing at podium, presenting to many people in audience

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

Large Print Resources for Grant #21

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

pregnant woman holding sign: "God knit me together in my mother's womb"

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

Large Print Resources for Grant #26