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Series: LFL National Conference
Keywords: 2015 essay contest
Detail:
Nearly 400 Lutherans gathered October 30-31 at both the Cincinnati Airport Marriott and the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, from across the United States and Canada for the 2015 Lutherans For Life National Conference. The theme: Created • Redeemed • Called.
This is the inaugural year for the National Essay Contest sponsored by the Council of Federation Presidents (COFP). Many of our Lutherans For Life State Federations and Life Chapters conduct state and local essay contests annually. Last year the COFPs decided to implement a national contest for Lutheran students. Two levels were established: the elementary category, grades 6-8, and the high school category, grades 9-12. State winners were advanced to the national level. Many remarkable students who won their state contests progressed to the national level. The national award for one student in each category is $250 plus a travel stipend and the opportunity to read their winning essay at our LFL National Conference banquet. All entries are based on life issues relative to the conference theme and Bible reference.
Hannah Nissing is the elementary category winner. She is a student from Immanuel Lutheran School in St. Charles, Missouri. She is the daughter of Matthew & Sarah Nissing. She has a long-standing history of being extremely active. Since kindergarten she has participated in volleyball, basketball, chorus, and the Scholar team. She is active in LWML and has taught Sunday school as a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Bridgeton, Missouri. Hannah has also been involved in various local pro-life activities. She enjoys playing piano and horseback riding in her free time. Hannah loves to write and has been blessed to have poems published by Creative Communication and the America Library of Poetry. Hannah’s winning essay is titled “Abortion: Destroying God’s Perfect Plan.”
Rebekah Anderson, the high school category winner, is from St. Paul Park, Minnesota, where she is home-schooled. She is the daughter of Mark and Laura Anderson and is a member of Ally Lutheran Church in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. She leads a Bible study for eleven and twelve year old girls—mentoring them to love the Lord and live lives pleasing to Him. This past summer she spent five weeks on a mission trip to Costa Rica with Reign Ministries, where she got to do three things she loves: play soccer, speak Spanish, and share Jesus. Last Christmas, she took several hundred dollars of her babysitting money and bought gift cards and tracts as a witnessing tool for people like cashiers, waiters, waitresses, and shoppers who looked stressed. Rebekah feels the Lord calling her to the mission field in Guatemala and plans to head there after high school. She has her own card business, Salvation Cards, which she started when she was twelve. She has a real heart for sharing the love of Jesus and is often sending cards or making cookies or bread to bring to neighbors, with a Bible verse and tract. She has volunteered in the infant nursery at her mother’s Bible study for the past six years and loves getting her baby-fix weekly! She just had her eighteenth birthday. Instead of having a birthday party, she hosted a ministry event where guests made gifts to take to others and share Jesus’ love. She requested no presents, asking guests to bring items for the ministry. Rebekah has purposely taken college classes at a public college so she can be a light! Last year in her speech class, she presented speeches on her best friend “Jesus,” how she feels the Lord calling her to the mission field and what missionaries do, and the biblical account of creation with someone opposing her on evolution. Rebekah’s winning essay is “Abortion … What Can We Do?”