Australian Lutheran World Service

Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) brings love to life as the overseas aid and resettlement agency of the Lutheran Church of Australia. Our mission is to reach out in love ... for justice. If you have a passion to help people who are hungry and thirsty, to welcome strangers as friends, and to seek justice for those who are oppressed, please join us!

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Background

ALWS was born in a refugee camp – of sorts … the Bonegilla Migrant Centre, just outside Albury in NSW.

In 1947, local Lutheran pastor, Bruno Muetzelfeldt, began ministry to European migrants coming to Australia after World War II. The Lutheran World Federation saw the need to support these migrants to settle in Australia, and so established a Lutheran World Service in 1950.

The ministry developed through the 1960s, and expanded to become the principal channel for the Lutheran family in Australia to give overseas aid. In 2017, the ALWS family helped more than one million people.

How we serve

Our ALWS privilege is to help you serve. Through ALWS, you can support people in developing communities in countries like Cambodia, Nepal, PNG and Indonesia to build better lives for their families. Clean water, training for farmers, small loans to start businesses, and dozens of other practical actions improve the health of children, increase family income and offer a way out of poverty.

In Africa, you can welcome refugees fleeing to refugee camps at Kakuma and Dadaab in Kenya, and in Djibouti. A special focus is supporting children, and caring for people with special needs. You also support communities in two of the poorest countries in the world – Burundi and South Sudan.

When disasters happen, through ALWS you can supply critical emergency care. Often this is delivered in partnership with other churches working together through the ACT Alliance.

Whether you are a church, school, fellowship group or individual, your practical action through ALWS brings love to life where it’s needed most.

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