The note was short, but illustrated how God does indeed work through LFL resources.
“What you do changes lives. Especially mine.”
One refrain in the musical Wicked reads, “Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.” There is an intended double meaning—the change is for the better and the change is lasting. In spite of all the jokes you hear about Lutherans resisting change, sometimes change is good.
After attending a pastors’ conference where the LFL speaker connected the life issues to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a pastor commented, “You’ve changed my mind on just about all of these things.” That’s change for good!
After an LFL staff person spent a weekend at a congregation discussing the importance of God’s people affirming life at all stages of development and under all conditions of health, a member later wrote, “Everything changed after you were here. We talk about these things now and want to do something to make a difference.” That’s change for good!
“What you said changed the way we looked at mom’s apparently meaningless life in the nursing home. God is at work through her.” That’s change for good!
From a woman with an abortion in her past: “I never realized that Jesus Christ was willing to get down into my muck and miry life and lift me up out of the sewage of my problems. He has since shown me He really is.” That’s change for good!
I could go on and on and on. How can there be such change for good? Because one thing does NOT change!
“[Y]ou have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23-25).
What LFL does changes things because we base everything we do on this unchanging “word of the Lord.”
Of course there is another unchanging thing that always looms—the need for your support in changing people’s hearts and lives.
The need for your support does not change because we refuse to settle for the status quo. LFL continues to expand its outreach with that powerful agent of change, the unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Y4Life, our outreach to the younger generation, is changing things! Laura Davis, director of Y4Life, recently wrote, “Y4Life programs are here to help students who are wrestling with these feelings. I was talking with a friend recently who shared with me how difficult it was to share her faith and her beliefs with her peers, but that after attending a Y4Life presentation, she felt encouraged and equipped to keep trying.”
Our outreach to congregations is changing things! Lori Trinche, our mission and ministry coordinator, received this from a chapter leader: “You’ve convicted us that there is still much work to be done and we need to help encourage the next generation to be strong voices for life where the worldview teaches that sexual purity until marriage and the value of all life is simply an old-fashioned ideal. Your visit has helped us come together and given us new energy.”
LFL’s Word of Hope post-abortion hotline continues to change people’s hearts and minds through our unchanging Word-based counseling. (888.217.8679; www.word-of-hope.org) Answering nearly 300 calls per month resulting in comments like this, “I would still be lost today if I hadn’t called Word of Hope. My life has changed, Christ has cleansed me. I no longer need drugs and alcohol to fill the void I had in my heart from my abortion. My sins have been covered by His atoning blood. If I had never had the opportunity to receive that hope and counsel, I would still be lost today. My counselor, Grace, was a reflection of His life, a mirror of His love and hope. Because of her gentle words of council, I was able to see the promise of God. She led me back to His loving, merciful arms. I no longer live in darkness!”
Our work within the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) is changing. Partnering with LCMS Life Ministries, we helped establish district life coordinators in twenty of the thirty-five LCMS Districts and we are working on the rest. These coordinators provide a fast and easy communication tool from LFL to congregations, and they exchange ideas and information with one another.
Our work with other Lutheran bodies is changing. With more and more congregations leaving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), there are now over one thousand non-LCMS congregations who affirm life and are eager for resources to aid and equip them to do so. (If you would like to be encouraged by their various statements upholding the God-given value of life, please click here.)
All of these changes are For Good! They are For Life! I ask you to help us keep changing things through the unchangeable Word of God. Who knows, maybe you will want to change a little and respond to this letter with a gift and/or give a little more than you gave last time! We would appreciate anything you can do. Please consider giving a special financial gift.
We want more people to be able to respond, “What you do changes lives. Especially mine.”
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Please remember, if you are not aware, that a BIG and negative change for LFL is the abrupt cut off of Choice Dollars and other funding from Thrivent Financial. Our budget was depending upon these dollars. Now we are depending upon you. Keep the change going!
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You will have several membership and donation options.
If you prefer, you may also call 888.364.LIFE to contribute by credit card.
By mail
Please send your check, made payable to “Lutherans For Life,” to:
Lutherans For Life
1101 5th Street
Nevada, IA 50201-1816