LFL across the seas

Last July, committee members Rose Graham and Hayley Simons had the privilege of attending a series of conferences in the USA, with one of them being Higher Things, a youth-focused conference. While here, we were able to meet and chat with Y4Life, from the American branch of Lutherans for Life.

Lutherans for Life America structures their organisation a little differently to how we do things here in Australia. They have the main branch of LFL that focuses on education and resources to support life-worthy causes all over America, as well as a youth branch, Y4Life, that is focused more specifically on educating and encouraging youth and young adults.

LFL America states their mission as: “Equipping Lutherans and their neighbours to be gospel-motivated voices for life.” You could see the confidence of the team in their understanding that through Christ, life is sacred and to be cherished. They share this message widely throughout different areas of youth work, setting up teams on university campuses and conducting education in schools.

As part of this, the Y4Life team held a stall at the Higher Things conference where they spent time talking all things life with the youth in attendance! The Y4Life team has developed some fantastic resources that promote life, which they were able to freely hand out to all who were interested in learning more. Alongside this, the Y4Life director, Michelle Bauman, delivered a talk to the whole conference on the value of who you are in Christ and how that affects how we see life.

We particularly loved the group’s focus on education on not only direct life-facing issues, but also on issues that could lead to life-focused problems. For example, they have resources around anxiety, love in the Biblical understanding, and the problems with cohabitation, making for an all-encompassing ministry.

Alongside this, their main LFL branch runs a call service called “Word of Hope,” which is their 24/7 manned crisis hotline run by Deaconesses who aim to give a Gospel-centred response to the caller in times of need, sometimes getting up to 400 calls a month. This provides a beautiful opportunity to deliver Christ to every life, as Christ holds every life valuable, and connects them with their local Lutheran pastor.

It was a joy to speak with the team and be encouraged by a like-minded passion to promote life with the Gospel at the centre. You can find our interview with Y4Life on our LFL Australia Facebook page from July 21—click on the ‘videos’ tab to find this link easier. We encourage everyone to look them up online to learn from and use the wealth of resources that they offer.

Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to adjust! 😊