January 30, 2017

“They say I’m gonna die,” the little boy explained to his Santa-Claus-suit-clad visitor. “How can I tell when I get to where I’m going?” The Santa stand-in replied, “When you get there, you tell them you’re Santa’s number-one elf, and I know they’ll let you in.” The five-year-old reached up from his bed and gave the man a hug. He flashed the same frail smile that had surfaced moments earlier while weakly unwrapping his visitor’s gift to spot the toy inside. Then the child died quietly lying in the stranger’s arms.

This touching scene happened in a Tennessee hospital over the holidays. It calls to mind the comfort of the familiar hymn: “Who so happy as I am, even now the Shepherd’s lamb? And when my short life is ended, by His angel host attended, He shall fold me to His breast, there within His arms to rest.” In fact, we Gospel-motivated voices have an even stronger promise to deliver than getting designated Santa’s number-one elf. We Lutherans For Life hold a still sweeter hope with which every heart may face fear, suffering, and death itself.

Whoever is afflicted can say to pain, “Jesus who suffered for me also suffers with me, and my healing is hidden with him on high” (see Colossians 3:3-4). Anyone ashamed can tell sin, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20a). Everyone that is afraid can reply to the devil that “the Lord God has made me His beloved child, baptized and forgiven, ‘with whom [he is] well pleased’” (see Matthew 3:17b). All who are alone can respond to hell, “I belong to the Everlasting and Almighty One, and Immanuel incarnate never leaves me nor forsakes me” (see Deuteronomy 31:8b).

Yet sinister forces remain in action around us. They keep recommending death as the best solution for disappointment. Sinful human beings seek to control, and this leaves certain persons vulnerable—those whose ages, appearances, or inabilities make others uncomfortable. Nevertheless, our heavenly Father regards the ones death endangers as especially precious. Will you join us in speaking the uplifting message of God’s grace? Can we count on your special financial gift to show Christ’s compassion through Lutherans For Life’s resources, conversations, and community? I want you to share in our greatest joy—witnessing His mercy rescue and protect lives!

Making a Difference
The Gospel is working. Our Savior is lending His success to efforts like ours. Expressing His concern for how much human beings matter is reaching hearts. Enacting His servanthood to the least of these sisters and brothers is changing fates.

  • It has reduced reported abortion rates in the United States to their lowest since 1973. Only half as many took place in 2013 as did 25 years ago.

  • One nationwide network of over 1,100 pregnancy resource centers (where many LFL volunteers serve and assist) celebrated saving 70,043 babies in 2015 (and 531,997 in the last eight years!).

  • And surveys reveal that almost 60% of all teenagers are practicing abstinence—28% more than in 1991 and a 10% increase in just the last two years.

Our Lord Jesus is multiplying His Word’s harvest so much that we can’t gather it alone. We need you to open your arms with us and bring in the abundance of His dear ones. Come alongside us by sending a gift today to keep this life-affirming ministry in motion!

LFL Is Necessary Everywhere
So many individuals among us desperately desire what we have plenty of. The very favor of God which we enjoy can also apply saving medicine where they’re hurting. Why must any of them go without?

  • Since the invention of in vitro fertilization, over 2,500,000 embryos have been discarded and destroyed in the United Kingdom (whose population measures only one-fifth of the U.S.).

  • Less than a third of churchgoers in this country have heard worship services proclaiming the Gospel specifically to abortion issues.

  • Of the 60 million Americans who have a life-affirming worldview and also give to charitable causes, only about one in six financially engages in ending the destruction of unborn children.

That’s exactly why our national staff is hoping to cover lots of ground in 2017. And our volunteer coalitions are putting God’s love into action locally. Everywhere and every way we can, we will declare and demonstrate the distinctively Lutheran understanding that life has value by God’s grace and not because of our works.

  • We’re sharing Owen’s Mission with students from Saginaw, Michigan, to Conover, North Carolina.

  • We’re organizing and encouraging Life Teams in Baltimore, Maryland, and Springfield, Illinois.

  • We’re engaging youth with servant events in Washington, D.C., and Portland, Oregon.

  • We’re gathering for worship and learning in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and New Braunfels, Texas, and Lincoln, Nebraska, and Pekin, Illinois.

Your gift to us (and to them!) means much more than money. You’re investing in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and He guarantees everlasting returns. We see and receive them every day. Last month we heard from a registered nurse near Cleveland, Ohio. Due to demographic shifts in the struggling neighborhood around them, her congregation’s membership has been declining. How could a church with German heritage survive in this difficult context? She couldn’t ignore anymore the suffering of those who don’t know the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s when learning about a Life Team from Lutherans For Life really energized her. She’s enthusiastic to educate her congregation about the opportunities for outreach to the people right outside their doors. She and her husband have already started the process.

Help us do it again. Help us do it all over. We’re looking forward to your gift!

We accomplished more than we thought possible last year—thanks to you! We believe God is leading us to an even busier and more ambitious vision for 2017 (and beyond). With your gift, we intend to do over $1,000,000 worth of life-affirming work for the first time ever!