Stories about the ways in which the mission and ministries of the ELCA and its partner churches are lived out.
Lt. Cmdr. Glenn Orris had a moment’s notice to report as chaplain to the USNS Mercy, the Navy hospital ship whose mission was to help hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients…
In Gambia, a small country in West Africa, many women depend on subsistence agriculture for survival and regularly face periods when their food supply is scarce. Unexpected events—from crop failure…
At the Costa Rican Lutheran Church’s shelter in San José, a baby’s birth was welcomed with joy. The mother, who fled from Nicaragua to Costa Rica, had spent the last…
For more than 13 years, Miriam Vargas has lived in Columbus, Ohio. While there, she had two children, held a job, paid taxes—and has been an undocumented immigrant. Vargas and…
Ministering to some 700 National Guard and Army troops during New York City’s severe COVID-19 outbreak might seem daunting. But not to Anthony Stephens, an ELCA pastor and an Army…
“Sanctuary” means different things to different people. Perhaps that is a strength that can be brought to the ELCA’s self-designation as a “sanctuary church.” Individuals, congregations and synods are able…
Like many Lutheran programs, ELCA outdoor ministries have faced challenges in determining the most effective way to serve, and be led by, people who are often marginalized, said Don Johnson,…
By the time asylum-seekers reach the Welcome and Respite center in Phoenix, they’ve migrated hundreds or thousands of miles to safety. The majority come from Central America, with a growing…
Savannah (last name withheld) and her two brothers entered foster care as young children. When they were adopted by a prominent South Carolina couple, they expected a stable and loving…
Born in Jerusalem, Rodny Saïd felt called to serve the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). “I felt my call was specifically to one geographical point…
Often risking life and limb to come to the United States for safety and a new life, asylum-seeking families arrive only to find that their long hard journey is not…
It can be difficult to disseminate information throughout Nepal, which is monetarily poor, geographically diverse, educationally unsound yet multilingual. To distribute life lessons there, one innovative social organization is using…
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