LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 48

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

48 SYNODICAL REPORTS

with partners around the world to determine the global priorities to
which our Synod can effectively make an impact. They will also
serve as the channels through which the LCMS will deploy re-
sources around the world.

In 2004, positions for one nongeographic director for Muslim
work, and several regional directors for national mission work may
also be added.

Balanced Focus Plan—Board Focus

Develop vision and policies that stretch into the next generation and
reflect a worldview that acknowledges the unique challenges of the
twenty-first century and responds creatively.

The Board for Mission Services is tasked under the Bylaws of
the Synod with supervising the planning and implementation of
programs that will best utilize the Synod’s resources of people and
possessions. The Board is constantly searching for information
from a variety of sources to creatively address the challenges of
mission work for the next decade. It is their desire to play an even
stronger role as advocates for world mission. To strengthen that
role, the Board approved a policy to send three of its elected mem-
bers to a mission field every year, so that during each triennium
every elected member of the Board for Mission Services will have
had the opportunity to visit an active mission field of the LCMS.
Three members of the Board received an intense orientation in the
Russia mission field in the spring of 2004.

Funding Trends for the Triennium

Over the past three years, annual support for LCMS World Mis-
sion has continued the shift toward individual, direct gifts. The tra-
ditional stream of support for LCMS World Mission through a por-
tion of congregational offerings is in a steep downward trend.
Funding strategies have shifted to address the change. The LCMS
World Mission Support Team is increasingly working to solicit di-
rect gifts from individuals through personal contact, direct mail,
and telephone calling. Additional congregations are being recruited
for the Together In Mission (TIM) program, which enables them
to provide partial or full financial support of a missionary family.
An expanded mission projects emphasis is inviting schools, Sun-
day schools, and vacation Bible schools to provide specific field
support. Donor-giving clubs are heavily promoted.

During the past triennium, donor response has grown an aver-
age of 7 percent each year. Despite the impact of Sept. 11, 2001,
LCMS World Mission donors have remained loyal and responsive.
The majority of donors to LCMS World Mission are age 70 and
older. A continuing strategy addresses attracting new and younger
donors. Donor communications such as electronic newsletters and
new support opportunities such as online giving are proving attrac-
tive to more and more donors.

O o O Direct Gifts
mw Weekly Offerings

, san i
wo:

pn sas

| ar meme
aan) . |s170
i |, AES $16.2

2004 Convention Workbook

In 2002, faced with declining Synod revenue through traditional
congregational giving channels and declining direct gifts at the
height of the U.S. economic downturn, the LCMS Board of Direc-
tors asked LCMS World Mission to immediately take steps to “live
within its means.” Approximately $2.5 million was cut mid-year
from the 2002-03 fiscal-year budget, bringing about significant re-
ductions in missionary and St. Louis staff positions. An additional
$3.8 million was cut from the 2003-04 budget.

2002 LCMS Giving to LCMS World Mission through Tradi-
tional Channels
(From the 2004 Lutheran Annual, p. 722.)

For every dollar put into an LCMS collection plate, LCMS
World Mission receives .3¢ for national and overseas mission
work.

Highlights of Triennium

New Muslim Work in Central Asia—New work for LCMS
World Mission focuses on seizing new opportunities in central
Asia, where an LCMS survey team visited Pakistan and
Afghanistan in late 2002. One of the outcomes of that trip is a part-
nership agreement with People Of the Book Lutheran Outreach
(POBLO) in a joint effort to plant churches and train leaders in
Pakistan and other central Asian countries. The firstfruits of these
efforts have resulted in a Lutheran church, seminary, and medical
clinic being established in Lahore, Pakistan in 2003. Work is also
being planned for Afghanistan. (See “Balanced Focus Plan: Partner
Focus,” above.) In the post-Sept. 11, 2001, atmosphere, doors for
LCMS outreach to Muslims in North America have also opened
wider.

Nuba Mountains Work in Sudan—Work in the extremely iso-
lated Nuba Mountains of Sudan began in 2001, when then area di-
rector Rev. John Duitsman met a young man named Younan Bashir
and sent him back to his homeland to preach the Gospel. Younan
started with just a couple of people worshiping under a tree. Now
there are 38 congregations serving an estimated 6,000—8,000 Chris-
tians. There are 4 pastors, 31 evangelists, and 7 congregational el-
ders. LCMS World Mission provides theological training. The peo-
ple take this training and share it with others. The response to the
Gospel in Nuba exceeds all other LCMS work sites in East Africa.
Recently, Nuba suffered greatly from the war in Sudan and from
efforts to eliminate the people of the Nuba region through famine
and the destruction of basic societal infrastructures.

LCMS World Mission also supports two primary schools in
Nuba, serving more than 1,200 students in the region. Eight trained
Kenyan teachers—two of whom were the first commissioned in-
ternational missionaries for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Kenya—were sent in Oct. 2003. In addition to the regular academic
curriculum, every student receives two classes a week in Christian
religious education. Both Muslim and Christian students receive
this class, and the Muslim families have agreed to it because of the
quality of education that is offered. The schools have greatly raised
the profile of the Lutheran churches in the region and made many
people curious as to why strangers are doing this “great thing” for
them.

Ministry to the Armed Forces—The aftermath of Sept.11, 2001,
has included large-scale military action, primarily with Operation
Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Not only
have thousands of servicemen and women been deployed, but thou-
sands more reservists and National Guardsmen have been activated
for extensive combat or ongoing security service. Serving at sea
and ashore with these active-duty and reserve forces are dozens of
LCMS military chaplains. Of special note in these last three years
is that at least 31 LCMS reserve and National Guard chaplains
were activated. Most left their families and congregations for at