Lutheran Church of Australia

This year the Lutheran church celebrates 70 years of reaching out in love to people in need through ALWS. Pastor Stephen Schultz says he was privileged to witness the fruit of this work last year at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya and the way it has helped change people’s lives.

At the Lutheran Community Sewing Group, a volunteer team supports and teaches migrant women not only how to sew, but how to be loved and to make sense of an alien world. ‘The most important thing we do is equip the women with skills and confidence’, coordinator Helen Semmler says.

Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) was formed 70 years ago so that our Lutheran family could walk alongside people in need. Today our church through ALWS works in 11 countries. Last year the ALWS family helped 297,498 people with the same spirit of service as 70 years ago.

With ALWS Walk My Way community events cancelled due to COVID-19, four Year 11 students from Concordia College in suburban Adelaide thought creatively about raising funds to support the education of children in refugee camps. They raised enough to help 143 children to go to school.

A box of cardboard candles falling from a church storage cupboard sparked Elisabeth Clarke’s unique ministry almost a decade ago. Since then she has been creating inviting and interesting spaces in church foyers, presenting a peaceful and welcoming entrance to bless all those who walk through.

Whether we’re sitting in the doctor’s surgery awaiting a scary diagnosis, watching flames take hold of our house, or pondering memories of a precious loved one, we all know what it’s like to need comfort. Lutheran Tract Mission has the ideal way to remind those suffering that God is with them.