NAIDOC and Confirmation

Image: Confirmation at Hope Vale in July 2023 National NAIDOC week for 2023 took place from 2–9 July. The theme for its celebration this year was For Our Elders. The emphasis was that across every generation of indigenous communities, our Elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and a prominent place in our communities and families. They are cultural knowledge holders, trailblazers, nurturers, advocates, teachers, survivors, leaders, hard workers, and our loved …

Wokmeri Trening Skuls – 2023

Main Picture: Girls’ dormitory at Stang Girls’ School Lae – Morobe Province Greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ from the coordinator, the staff, the teachers, and the board of the four Women’s Ministerial Training Schools (Wokmeri Trening Skuls) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELC-PNG): Baitabag Wokmeri Training School in Madang District of Madang Province; Stang Wokmeri Training School in Yabem District of Markham District of Morobe Province; Sattleberg …

The blessing of scholarships

Most people are not overly excited at the prospect of supporting scholarships for international partner churches. When it comes to mission work, it just doesn’t carry the same thrill that comes when we see pictures of missionaries reaching out to tribes in the jungles of North Sumatra, or the sense of ownership that comes from helping build churches in the mountains of northern Thailand. Yet scholarships for pastors to undertake advanced theological studies remain the …

Luther Study Centre

The Luther Study Centre (LSC) is based in Pematang Siantar, Indonesia and aims to help church members, seminaries, and pastors to understand and appreciate Lutheran doctrine. To promote the work of LSC and to explore the needs of the people, LSC are teaching and equipping. The National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation in Indonesia (KN-LWF) regularly visits church leaders, member churches, and theological seminaries. Luther Study Centre is a new LWA project. Through your …

Give us today our daily bread …

Making bread. It sounds easy. Therapeutic even. My grandmas used to do it all the time. I thought it would be fun. Something to fill in the afternoon and surprise the family for the soup meal that night.

Oh, but when I first tried, it was a disaster. It was like a rock! Even the chooks turned up their beaks at it. Luckily, we had a loaf of bread from the supermarket in the deep freeze to rescue the day.

But, for Francine whom I met in Burundi, there was no bread. No options. I could try making bread for a leisure activity. For Francine, daily bread was a matter of fighting for survival.

Australian Lutheran College (ALC) Pastoral Students Support Update

In July 2021, the Lutheran Women of Australia (LWA) Executive made changes to support the ALC Pastoral Students. The following changes are: To increase the amount of money gifted to the Pastoral Students. Given the changes to the Pastoral Program, the LWA have amended this encouragement gift, from the first year Pastoral Students to the third year Pastoral Students, to be used to purchase their Albs. This gift will increase to $500 per student, commencing …

Smiles again at the Home of Praise

After such a long time, living life in isolation in Thailand, we are pleased that many people have now been, or are planning to get, vaccinated and that the number of COVID-19 infected people is decreasing. The evening curfew which lasted for many months, now no longer applies. The schools have started to reopen, we can attend worship in person, and we can gather again to share a meal at a restaurant. But Thai people …

Support for scholarships helps train a new pastor in Malaysia

In Peninsula Malaysia there are eighteen officially recognised indigenous tribes. The ancestors of these indigenous (Orang Asli) tribes were the first people to populate the peninsula more than 4,000 years ago. Since then, most have continued a hunter-gatherer and small-scale agricultural lifestyle. Being an Orang Asli in Malaysia means facing many of the difficulties experienced by indigenous groups across the globe. Most of the forests that they depend on for their livelihoods are now owned …

Challenges at Australian Lutheran College

In August 2015, I attended an interview for the position of Accountant at Australian Lutheran College (ALC). My first impression of the organisation was positive, and it was for a twelve month contact to cover a staff member going on maternity leave. I knew nothing about the college, or even that much about the Lutheran Church, but the place “felt right”, so when the Business Manager rang to offer me the position, I jumped at …

ALWS – How a house, you helped build, brought a heart full of joy

“My mum and my dad both grew up on farms. So, every school holiday I got to be hissed at by grumpy geese, plopped on by cows I was trying to milk, and shirt-fronted by rams annoyed at being penned for shearing. I also got to see lots of humble, hands-on hard work. Sunrise to sunset, no matter what the weather.” I see that same kind of humble, hands-on hard work in what Lutheran women …

Increased female participation during FRM’s COVID-19 recovery year

This report covers the work of Finke River Mission (FRM) from spring 2020 to spring 2021. Highlights have been the three teaching courses, renovation work at the Hermannsburg Historic Precinct, and having indigenous delegates at Synod for the first time. Besides all this, there have been a few personnel changes. All this has occurred against the background of co-operative weather, but a not always co-operative virus. The year has also been noteworthy for the increased …

Existing and New Projects for Lutheran Church of Australia International Mission

Like many of you, I was eagerly anticipating our time together in Horsham for the LWA Convention where I was hoping to offer these words of thanks in person and share with you the proposed projects for the next triennium. While that is not possible, I give thanks to God that even a world-wide pandemic and constant lockdowns are not enough to stifle his mission to bring forgiveness and life to people everywhere.
Pastor Matt Anker shares with us the projects that we will be supporting through LCAIM for the next triennia.