January 20, 2005 Welcome to the 21st issue of Lutheran Women in Mission e-News! Please forward and share this news and encourage others to stay in touch with LWML by email. To date, there are over 1900 subscribers to e-News receiving LWML news and updates. NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS FROM PRESIDENT REISER I have heard from many of you that you watched the parade and saw me waving at all of you. It was truly an amazing experience - I was most overwhelmed by the thousands and thousands of people who would stand, cheer, clap, yell when this float went by. I heard many express things like, "bless you," "thank you," "you got it right," etc. None of us on the float heard any negative comments, although a few times we knew people were yelling, but we never heard what they said! So, that was an affirmation of the blessing of The Lutheran Hour float having a presence in the parade. One note - as much as the float committee would like to win awards, they realize their purpose is not to win an award here, but to clearly state a message about Jesus and the award He promises! Prayers of thanksgiving go out for the safety of our Bangkok mission grant recipients from the recent Tsunami. Please continue to remember them in your prayers and with gifts to a charitable organization for all the victims. LWML MEANS MITES AND MISSIONS This is our preliminary December mite report: Total receipts for December: $62,149.39 Mite goal for the 2003-2005 biennium: $1,575,000 Average needed each month of the biennium: $65,625. Total needed for 21 months in this biennium: $1,378,125.00 Total received for 21 months in this biennium with this preliminary report: 1,229,218.34 Shortfall for the biennium to date: $148,906.66 We would in essence need mite receipts of $115,261 each month for January, February and March to meet the mite goal. Can it be done? Yes, but it will take your prayers and the efforts of everyone to get the word out. God has blessed the LWML over the past 60 years as its focus has been on mission support, both financially and in prayers for the missionaries and the mission grants. The Word of God has been brought to many through the gifts of the women of the church. Our goal is not just to raise money. Our goal is to FAITHFULLY support what God has put in our hearts. We agreed together, through the delegates across our 40 districts, to support those grants selected in Oklahoma City. Now we have the opportunity to respond in prayer and financial support through March 31 to make a difference in the world as an organization. I encourage you to keep these grants, the missionaries and the mission they serve in your prayers in the days ahead. If possible, consider an extra gift - remember our mites are based on the Biblical account of the widow's mite (Luke 21:-14), and also thank God for allowing the LWML to be an avenue for women's service, using God's gifts and talents to share the Gospel message through our mission focus! May God richly bless your day, Linda K. Reiser THE LUTHERAN WOMEN'S MISSIONARY LEAGUE The Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML), with a membership of over 250,000, is the official women's auxiliary of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The LWML focuses on affirming each woman in her relationship with Christ to enable her to be in ministry among the people of the world. For over 60 years the LWML has been encouraging and equipping women to live out their Christian lives in active mission ministries and to financially support global mission. The first issues of LWML e-News are available as text documents; click here: http://www.lwml.org/e_news.html. To subscribe, click the link below and follow instructions to add your email to the LWML subscription list under "Mission and Ministry." "Full Text Version" will include LWML graphics and logo. The "Weekly Summary" version comes on Friday in a weekly abbreviated version with links to the entire text without graphics. Refer to your Internet provider about enabling images and links embedded in email.