2019–2021 Mission Grant #13 “Digital Media Development — Lutherans for Life” $30,000
Life Means Hope
By Pastor Michael Salemink, Executive Director, Lutherans for Life with Eden Keefe, Mission Editor
Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day, but teach him to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime. Address the sanctity of life with laws, and we may change a neighbor’s behavior. This one may become an obedient citizen. But envelop the matter in the Gospel, and we will change the neighbor’s heart. That one becomes a brother or a sister in Christ. Why fling a few coins or crumbled bills when you can break the bank and empty the treasury?
Lutherans bring a distinctive voice to conversations about life issues. We do not deny the suffering they sometimes involve. Surprise pregnancy or terminal diagnosis can leave people feeling afraid, abandoned, and ashamed. Most who support abortion, endorse physician-assisted suicide, or engage in embryocidal biotechnologies do so in anxiety or anger. Legislation and elections apply a necessary triage to the immediate trauma. Protesting and closing clinics treats the symptoms.
But only God’s truth and Christ’s love cure the root condition of sinful selfishness. We come with courage, compassion, and community that relieve and heal. We have hope and joy to give. No one needs to use death as a solution once they know the Lord creates, redeems, and calls every human life; each is His own precious treasure from fertilization to final breath (and beyond — forever!). Whatever a person’s size, skills, or circumstances, we can lead our culture to receive him or her, to rejoice in every member of our race as a gift and a privilege.
Lutherans For Life (LFL) delights to put this ministry into practice across the country. Our Owen’s Mission project leads chapel services and classroom discussions. Our Y4Life initiative engages youth and networks students. Our Word of Hope hotline provides post-abortion and crisis care. Our Life Teams, Life Chapters, and State Federations connect volunteers taking local action. Our professional staff prepares life-affirming articles, devotions, brochures, booklets, podcasts, social media posts, in-person education, and online presentations. As recipients of a series of district awards along with a generous 2019–2021 national mission grant (LFL Digital Media Development), we proudly partner with and represent LWML.
What can you do?
- Learn. Visit our home page or YouTube channel to explore how Holy Scripture and Lutheran doctrine intersect life issues.
- Love. Involve yourself in the experiences and concerns of others to affirm their worth and purpose.
- Serve. Invest your abilities and interests in the relationships and opportunities God gives you.
- Converse. Ask questions and listen when sanctity-of-life topics arise. Testify to how His grace makes up for all our failings.
- Celebrate! Invite others around you to enjoy marriage, family, health, and length of days as blessings from the Heavenly Father.
God bless your Gospel-motivated voice For Life!
Pastor Salemink [pictured above on the far right at the 2022 March for Life] has served as Lutherans For Life Executive Director since 2015. He writes and speaks nationwide, equipping people to be Gospel-motivated voices For Life. He lives in St. Louis with his wife, Heather, and their three sons.
This story was originally featured in the Summer 2022 Lutheran Woman's Quarterly. Order your subscription here.
For more information about this mission grant, view the individual mission grant page here.
