When the LCANZ was contacted by a member of La Jolla Lutheran Church in California USA because of that church’s ‘Bibles for the Nations’ project, Local Mission Executive Officer Tania Nelson soon realised this ‘out-of-the-blue’ connection was no coincidence.

In the wake of devastating and deadly bushfires in the Adelaide Hills in December 2019, Lobethal Lutheran School teamed up with Spring Head Lutheran congregation to establish an outdoor learning program and encourage local children to reconnect with the surrounding bush.

To Rosemary Lange, it looked like a blue waterfall coming towards the vineyard where she was waiting for her husband Kevin to appear among 650 blue t-shirts. Then she spotted Kevin, at 83 the oldest to complete the full 26-kilometre trail of Walk My Way.

There’s no better time than Advent and Christmas to be bold in telling others about the gospel, especially as most people in Australia and New Zealand celebrate Christmas. Lutheran Tract Mission has more than 950 resources to help share God’s love, joy, comfort and peace at Christmas and year-round.

The LLL shows how the vision of one person, Ben Koch, has given many people the opportunity to serve God, his church and use God-given resources to share the gospel. Since 1921, the LLL has helped build churches, schools and aged-care facilities, assisted mission work, and funded programs.

Serving overseas as a missionary is something Pastor Murray Smith never thought he’d do. But then God’s call on our lives can often surprise – because that’s exactly what he and his wife Tracy are preparing for, after his call to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea.