LIVING THE MISSION is a workshop designed to help us as individual Christians to live out our baptismal call to be witnesses of Jesus Christ through our personal lives.

Written by the International Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) and the Evangelism Department of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS), this workshop is designed to help individual members of congregations to make a difference in the Lord’s mission by equipping participants to reach out in their daily lives (and through their congregations) to four groups of people:

1. New Members who have joined the congregation within the last 6 months.
2. Guests who are looking for a church to meet their individual and family needs.
3. People who have moved into the community
4. Inquirers who want to know more about Jesus and Christianity

On the 27th and 28th February Linda and Kyle Hollman will present the "Living the Mission" workshop at the English Lutheran Fellowship, 371 West Ave, Ferndale, Johannesburg. Registration at 6 to 7 pm, Friday evening and the workshop concludes at 3:30 pm on Saturday. The cost is R50 per person, payable on or before registration.

The Hollmans attend Christ Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Livonia, Michigan, USA and Linda currently serves as Director of Outreach and Assimilation. She has served as a professional church worker for 20 years. Linda earned a Master’s degree from Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska and studied at the Oswald Hoffman School of Outreach. Kyle served as lay chairman of the Evangelism Board and is active in other areas of ministry as well.

For more information or to register, please call Christel at 011- 792 8440, or send an e-mail to LLLSA@icon.co.za

2. Waiting to Die to Discover Life
By Josef Henning

Lonely, hopeless and without purpose. This is the life of a young man in prison, who is suffering from HIV/AIDS….

He's been sick for three years now, at first he thought it was TB. They sent him to the hospital and this is when he found out that he was HIV positive. When he got back to prison he did not speak about it and did not try and change. He received medicine from the hospital, but sometimes did not take it. His fear and anxiety grew, he became so scared because he was ill more and more and he did not know what to do. He sat in his cell day after day, year after year in isolation waiting to die.

How many of the young men in our country suffer from this disease, but don’t know it and won’t go to be tested?

This young man came to one of our service because he was told that the only person who can help him is JESUS CHRIST. He came, expecting a miracle.

"I heard God can heal me", he said to me the first time I met him after a Drama performance during the ministry time. "Will you please pray for me?"

I told him that we would gladly pray for him, but that he needs to really trust God and submit his life to Him, that he needs to repent of his sins and ask God to forgive him. And that was the beginning.

Since then he has not missed a single service. It is amazing how happy he looked every time we visit him. He also started to reach out to the other inmates with the Word of God.

But now he has reached the stage where he can not feed or wash himself. He is always very sick and he can’t even speak. This is the last stage of full-blown AIDS. However, when they bring him to the service you can see in his eyes that he is at peace and content, because he has given his life to the LORD.

Reminder !!!! Drama Training Workshop on 1-3 April 2004 !!!!

3. New Opportunity in Radio Ministry

LHM-SA offers an exciting new opportunity for young adults to be trained as Youth Radio Presenters. South Africa is a country of young people, where 67% of the population is under the age of 26. In this pioneering venture we offer to train a team of 15 young people as producers, scriptwriters, studio technicians, editors and radio reporters. The intention is that young people will produce programs for young people. The estimated cost for the training, as well as the production of a series of 12 programs targeted specifically at young people is as follows:

Training of 10 Young People @ R2000 p.p.= R20,000.00

12 Programs at R1,200 per program = R14,400.00
Total = R34,400.00

Please consider supporting the Youth Radio Ministry with a monthly stop order, either as an individual or as a congregation.

The close of 2003 meant the end of an era for the LHM-SA Radio Ministry with the last broadcasts of our weekly radio program "Face the Facts" offered on the CCFM Radio Station in the Cape Town region. We thank Doc Fick for putting in so much time and effort to produce over 70 top quality programs. Sadly we are unable to finance further "Face the Facts" productions.

4. LHM-SA Workshops 2004

Whether you are a seasoned leader in your local church or just starting out there is for all of us, always a next level. Perhaps you are looking for fresh challenges, or maybe looking to make a positive difference for women or children in the church—it could also be that you want to enhance your ability to act biblically and resolutely, or maybe you just want to hone your skills in leading and managing your youth league/men or women’s league. If so then you should make every effort to attend one the many exciting workshops that LHM-SA has to offer this year.

These workshops are designed for leaders and lay leaders in the Lutheran Church. The emphasis is on practical training, fellowship and fun. So whether you are an elder or a deacon, a youth leader or part of the steering committee, a chairperson of the women’s or men’s league or a Christian seeking to contribute in some meaningful way……we invite you to pick up the phone and to call us regarding the exciting range of workshops we have on offer.

Youth Leaders Training: Young people are the biggest resource for the future of our country. Today we are making decisions; tomorrow they will. Drug abuse, violent crime, delinquency, alienation from families and other problems continue to have an unprecedented impact on the lives of urban and rural youth. Problems range from teenage pregnancies, aids and hopelessness to mental illness, low academic achievement, dropping out of school and high unemployment. Sadly it is clear, that many needs of urban youth in particular are not being met.

Too often the church appoints youth leaders who have limited understanding of the issues young people face. These youth leaders struggle to get a youth league up and running or to offer useful and exciting programs that keep young people interested and involved.

The series of three weekend workshops for Youth Leaders or those who serve on the Youth Committee/Council; will go a long way to equipping you for the challenges of youth and church work. In fact it will help you to create the conditions where young people can get involved in life changing opportunities to serve others.

Youth Camp: This year LHM-SA in conjunction with ELCSA and the LCSA is keen to organize a youth camp for about 200 young people in the 14 to 21 year old age group. While we still have to consult with the respective youth leaders we want to make this happen during the June/July school holidays. We shall be pleased to receive any thoughts or ideas that you have on this matter. In fact those of you who will be attending our workshop for Youth Leaders will help to organize this youth camp as part of your practical assignment.

Drama Training: Lucas Baloyi (an awarding-winning actor with a Honours Degree in Drama) has generated significant interest in theatre through his one-man mini-drama’s in Churches, schools and youth groups. Lucas is contracted to Lutheran Hour Ministries and we are keen to expose his considerable acting skills to the broader Lutheran Community.

His repertoire of one-man dramas include (among others)—The Good Samaritan; Living with HIV/AIDS; The Prodigal Son. LHM will host a total of 5 Drama Training Workshop which we are sure will help to discover and expose many talented young adults in our communities. Be sure to pick up the phone and ask for Lucas who shall be glad to give you more details.

Equipping for Outreach: Sharing the gospel is no easy thing. Once you get beyond the fear of wondering What will people think of me? The next question often is How do I raise the issue? What should be my approach? What do I say?

These and a host of other questions that you might have will be addressed in these workshops. Who should attend? Anyone and everyone who call themselves Christian. Jesus clear command to all of us is to share the Gospel wherever we are.

Don’t Miss Out: The purpose of these workshops is to help equip the saints (you and I) for the work of the ministry. Please write, telephone or e-mail us for more information. We are excited about these opportunities to serve and look forward to sharing with you and learning from you.

5. THANK YOU !!

We are so thankful for the huge gift of R 15,000.00 donated in support of the Drama Ministry by a donor who wants to remain anonymous.

In December 431 inmates responded to the Drama Outreach and requested the LHM-SA Bible Study, Topical Booklets, counselling and/or prayer, 75 people called in response to the "Face the Facts" and "Spotlight" radio programmes, 51 people responded to our ministry by e-mail, 30 people called to order the "Little Shepherd" story book.