LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 395

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8. SOCIAL MINISTRY

8-01

Report of Board of Social
Ministry and World Relief

Life as we know it in this 20th century is rough on people.
Although God has created people most miraculously and has
endowed them with wonderful powers to withstand the strains
and tensions that sin has brought into our world, there comes
a breaking point beyond which a person just isn’t able to func-
tion calmly or productively. Such has been the situation in our
world during the past decade.

The political, economic, and social ills in society have pressed
down on people with the result that many have lost their sense
of balance. They have become confused by the struggle for
power marked by sinister and sinful schemes. Add to the con-
flict in society the tensions within the church, and you find
people who have lost their moorings and are struggling to stay
afloat.

Though one frequently suspects that our world resembles
some of the days before the Renaissance and the Reformation,
one also asks: How long can people withstand the pressures
without a breakdown that throws them into a state of despair
and hopelessness?

The social Ministry program of our church may seem like
a small voice or an insignificant part of our church’s work, but
we believe it has a powerful and positive affirmation that is
desperately needed in the church and by the world. It is the
great eternal truth that

Jesus Christ Cares

The very existence of the church today is evidence of the
activity of the caring Christ. The church was founded on a rock;
it was empowered by the Holy Spirit, and it was protected by
the long arm of God. Even the gates of hell cannot overcome it
(Matthew 16:18). This is evidence that Christ cares. Never has
the church in any age merited the distinction of its existence.
Made up of sinners, called by God’s grace, and commanded to
move out into the world as a light, it has imperfectly accom-
plished this only because Jesus cared enough to give His life
for its continuance. Apart from Christ there would be no church.

As part of the body of Christ we have been strengthened by
the rainbow of promises that come from the Lord. The guar-
antee of forgiveness of our sins of commission and omission; the
assurance of strength and support as we struggle with life’s
problems; the promise of everlasting life—all give evidence
that Jesus cares. The message of the Gospel raises our spirits,
engenders hope, and conveys God’s love because of a loving
Father, a caring Savior, and a life-giving Holy Spirit.

Christ's Care Must Move Us to Care

God doesn’t love us without a purpose. He expects His love
to beget love in our life. And this love must be two-dimensional.
It must reflect back to Him, and it must reflect out to others.
He made this plain when He agreed with the lawyer who re-
ported God’s law as: ‘“‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength, and
with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself” (Luke 10:27).
The principle of cause and effect holds good in this matter. Jesus
caring for us is the powerful cause that warms our heart, produc-
ing the effect —a ‘faith that works by love.” It can’t be otherwise
for the Christian. God’s care must move us to care.

Christ Cares for People

Jesus’ love was not in a vacuum. It was extended to people,
the crown of God’s creation. Nothing is more important to Christ
than those for whom He suffered, died, and rose from the dead.
Principles and precepts, traditions and training may rate high
on the priority list of scholars, but all sink into insignificance
when compared with the object of Jesus caring. He cared for
people—all kinds of people—sinful people, sick people, im-
prisoned people, poor people. The Board of Social Ministry
and World Relief has attempted during the past years to reflect
the caring of Christ for people. We have felt the tensions in the

395

world and church; we have been frustrated by the lack of
resources—men and money-—to reach out to hurting people:
and we have been limited by our own human frailties as well
as by circumstances that have stood in the way of caring for
people as Jesus would care for them. Yet we thank God for the
grace and guidance given as well as a measure of success in
healing hurts, relieving suffering, and providing help on a world-
wide scale in Jesus’ name.

Christ Cares for Hungry People

World Relief programs have reached out to hungry people
in more than 30 different countries including the United States.
Some of these programs have provided milk for children in
India and Hong Kong: some have assisted people to share
water in reservoirs in Baramati, India; some have provided
medical help in Central America; and some have offered
agricultural and technological help in Nigeria. Poverty-stricken
people in Brazil, handicapped children in Taiwan, crippled
children in the Middle East, starving people in Africa, war-
scarred people in Vietnam, chronically poor people in Appa-
lachia, economically deprived people in the Bootheel of Mis-
souri, and tornado-ravaged people in Honduras are some who
have experienced the compassion of Christ through our ongoing
World Relief activities. Under the direction of Rev. Melvin Witt,
Secretary for World Relief, we have provided almost $144 million
worth of help during the past biennium for programs of self-help,
rehabilitation, and development.

We have used various channels to get the help to people in
need, Our principal avenue of outreach overseas has been
Lutheran World Relief, the inter-Lutheran agency that has
served us well for more than 25 years. Lutheran World Service,
Church World Service, Canadian Lutheran World Relief, and
our overseas sister churches have also served as channels to
transmit help to those in need.

A special effort is currently underway to raise a minimum
of $1 million in behalf of world hunger. Authorized by the New
Orleans convention, this effort is now at the halfway mark in
regard to time and the financial results. Our congregations as
well as special contributors have responded generously, for
which we are most grateful. The ‘‘Loaves and Letters” em-
phasis suggesting that people forgo one meal a week or two
meals a month and put the saving in a fund to be transmitted to
our Hunger Appeal, and that they write a letter a month to
a public official about world hunger, deserves the support of
all of our congregations. We are attempting to recruit 25,000
members who will support this program. We call such people
“Hunger Fighters.”

Some of the funds for world hunger have already been
transmitted to hunger areas. Specific projects are being
screened by our World Relief Committee, which will make rec-
ommendations to our board for action. This committee includes
Dr. Robert Mugge, Washington, D.C. (chairman); Mr. Ray
Dankenbring, St. Louis (Secretary); Miss Hildegard Herfurth,
St. Louis; Mr. Marvin Tank, Chicago; and Rev. Norman Walter,
Salina, Kans.

Christ Cares for Broken People

The record of caring through the 59 health agencies and
institutions related to our church is a distinguished one. For
more than 115 years our congregations have sought to show
mercy and compassion for children and adolescents whose
homes have’ been broken, to the aging and the infirm who
sought security and care, and for families that were shaken by
illness, unemployment, misunderstandings, and poverty. Special
attention was given during the past years toward bringing these
agencies in to a closer relationship with the church. Excellence
of program, financial accountability, and an ongoing reflection
of the church’s concern for people in need are marks of a well-
managed agency. Under the direction of Mr. Alfred Y. Arm-
stead, ACSW, Secretary for Agencies and Institutions, the
accreditation process has moved ahead.

Many agencies have experienced increasing problems
because of the economic condition of our country. Some have
secured new administrative leaders. Most have revised their
programs to meet the changing needs of people.