Watch Lauren’s faith story

Dear Friend of Missions,

Meet Lauren, an adult confirmand and member at Intown Lutheran Church in Atlanta, Ga. In this special video, hear how her life was changed by the gospel she heard through a WELS home mission congregation. We praise God for working powerfully in Lauren’s heart, your heart, and mine!

Watch video

There are millions of more “Laurens” out there! They are hurting. They are lost. They need to hear the good news that we have a Savior who died and rose again, giving us forgiveness and eternal life.

That’s why WELS is launching an ambitious new initiative to plant 100 missions in 10 years from 2023–2033. This effort is not about numbers and statistics; it’s about everyday, real people. It’s about reaching Lauren and others just like her as we carry out the Great Commission that Christ has given us.

Carrying out this mission and taking up this aggressive initiative is exciting! Just imagine the number of souls that can be reached as we plant many more missions. Yet, we all know these efforts come with a cost. This is where you can help. While it’s unrealistic to think that one single person would fund this entire multi-million dollar initiative, it isn’t unrealistic to think that thousands of God’s children working together can.

Might you be one of those individuals? Might you be willing to consider giving a generous donation that helps share the gospel across North America? Thank you for praying about these efforts and how you can participate.

Serving together with you,

Pastor Mark Gabb
Chairman, WELS Board for Home Missions

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You can help!

Dear Friend of Missions,

“How can I help?” is a question God leads us to ask when we see somebody in need. We also ponder this question when we see lost souls in need of spiritual help. The answer: We can all help reach souls with the hope of Jesus as part of our synod’s 100 Missions in 10 Years initiative to plant 100 new home missions and enhance 75 existing ministries from 2023-2033.

Pray! Lord Jesus, you assure us that you are able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. Grant wisdom, perseverance, and joy to all involved in this effort. Move us to see and do our part in spreading the gospel so that more may know your saving peace—all to your glory. Amen.

Get involved! If you see a potential mission opportunity, talk with your pastor and church leaders. Seek the advice of your district’s mission board. Maybe your congregation will help plant the next home mission! Encourage young men and women to consider full-time ministry and pray for more called workers. Talk with fellow members about the privilege we have in reaching those who don’t know Jesus with the gospel and provide them with regular updates about the synod’s work.

Give generously! God’s generosity has resulted in the riches of forgiveness, peace, joy, and hope being given to you. As you ponder these immeasurable riches, consider responding with a gift that shares these blessings with others.

Working together as brothers and sisters across the synod, we can help! Let’s see how God uses our efforts to reach more of the lost.

Serving him,
Pastor Mark Gabb
Chairman, WELS Board for Home Missions

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A message from WELS President Mark Schroeder

“Go.” It begins with that one word from our Savior as he sends us to carry out the mission he has given us. He wants us to go to our families, to our friends and co-workers, to our communities, and, in fact, to all the world.

But going is not enough. It’s what he gives us to take along when we go that is at the heart of that mission. He sends us to go with a message—a lifechanging
and soul-saving message—of a Savior who came to this world to rescue people from guilt, despair, and eternal death. “Go . . . and preach the gospel!” (Mark 16:15).

At our synod’s convention in 2021, delegates heard about an ambitious proposal to further the spread of the saving gospel. Pastor Mark Gabb, chairman of the WELS Board for Home Missions, outlined a plan to establish 100 new home missions and enhance 75 existing ministries in ten years. It was a breathtakingly ambitious idea, but it was one that the delegates of the convention endorsed without hesitation. Since that convention, the Board for Home Missions has been working to develop plans and strategies for accomplishing that goal—a goal that we know can only be reached with the blessing of our gracious God.

No doubt there are challenges to this effort. One challenge is workers. Due to smaller seminary classes and an increasing number of retirements, our synod is wrestling with a serious shortage of pastors. How do we answer the question of whether we have enough pastors to embark on this ambitious plan? First, we need to remember that our synod is already opening about six home missions annually. That means that this plan calls for only four more mission pastors each year. Second, the graduating classes at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary have been in the mid-20s in recent years, but in the coming years they will number in the 40s—enough to staff new missions and help reduce the number of pastoral vacancies. Finally, most importantly, we do as Jesus told us: We ask the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into his harvest field, and we make that request with the full confidence that God will hear and answer our prayers.

A second challenge is funding. It costs an average of $800,000 to $1,000,000 to plant and support a new mission until it can support itself. We thank God that in recent years God’s people have generously supported the work of the synod, enabling significant dollars to be earmarked for new mission openings. We are now beginning the push to provide additional funding for this effort. We are confident that as God places this amazing opportunity before us, God’s people will continue to respond with their prayers and generous offerings. Please consider a special gift to help bring the gospel to more people.

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The 100 Missions in 10 Years effort is not about numbers and statistics. Rather, it is simply a concerted effort to boldly take the gospel to people in new locations throughout the country. And when the gospel is preached and proclaimed, the Holy Spirit works in his way and in his time to build his church.

Serving him,

WELS President Mark Schroeder

Aid distribution in Ukraine

Ukraine Update 072022

As Russia continues to wage war against Ukraine, the effort to support WELS’ brothers and sisters in Ukraine has been blessed by our Lord Jesus. WELS has received more than $1.4 million from individuals and groups to support the Ukrainian Lutheran Church (ULC), WELS’ sister church body in the Ukraine, and its efforts to help members and others affected by the conflict.

WELS has sent more than $300,000 in aid to Ukraine. Approximately $200,000 has been sent to the ULC (as it has requested it) for clothing, food, medicine, and other supplies. About $100,000 has been sent to Direct Relief, an organization equipped to provide emergency medical supplies to those remaining in Ukraine or who are refugees in Poland. As the conflict continues, and as needs arise, additional funding will be sent. WELS also is anticipating significant rebuilding costs when, Lord willing, the war ends.

Rev. Roger Neumann serves the Board for World Missions as the WELS liaison to Ukraine. He maintains regular contact with ULC leaders and provides updates about how the aid is being used and how doors are opening to share the gospel, even in trying circumstances. These are just a few examples of the many ways people are hearing about the love of Jesus through your gifts.

  • ULC Pastor Taras Kokovsky and his wife were asked to visit Latvia by Latvian Lutheran pastors to reach out to Ukrainian refugees who settled there. The goal of the trip is to determine how to best serve them and their spiritual needs, invite them to worship, and tell them about the ULC, so when they return they might find a church to attend.
  • A member of Resurrection Lutheran in Kiev was able to get an additional package of food for a 72-year-old neighbor who is struggling to buy food.
  • Liudmyla, a retired member of the ULC church in Kyiv, was having a difficult time getting her medications, and the church was able to supply them for her.
  • Food and medical supplies are regularly being distributed to people in need in the communities around ULC congregations.
  • After an outpatient hospital in the small town of Bereznehuvate was destroyed, a ULC church member who is a dentist there was provided with funds to purchase tools and medicine so that she can help those who need it.
  • Bishop Horpynchuk, the head of the ULC, delivered soap, shampoo, toothpaste, detergents, etc., to members and visitors in Kyiv.
  • Iryna from Bachmut and Valentyna from Brianka heard about the ULC church and attended worship. They told their stories of how they left home with only a few things and found shelter in Kyiv. Horpynchuk and his congregation shared with them food and drink, detergents and soap, and Christian love.

We thank our heavenly Father for the generous gifts that we’ve received, for Rev. Neumann’s faithful contacts, and for WELS World Missions’ partnership with the ULC.

To learn more or to support the relief efforts in Ukraine, visit wels.net/ukraine.