This month we are highlighting the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) grant of $80,000 to Lutheran World Relief (LWR) Quilt & Kit Shipping Fund.

For as long as the LWML has existed, Lutheran women have been making quilts to send to those in need. These same women have been putting together kits of health items or school supplies, baby needs or even just fabric. And since 1945 Lutheran World Relief (LWR) has been supplying these quilts and kits to those who need them most. These basic items help families to reallocate limited funds to other necessities as they work to break out of the chains of chronic poverty.

Getting these items to the farthest reaches of the world can be complex and challenging. Great care must be taken to ensure the program runs efficiently and that these materials reach these vulnerable people in remote areas. LWR has established a network of transportation, warehousing and distribution, enabling the recipients to live better lives and to know the love of Jesus.

LWR ships between $12 and $13 million worth of quilts, blankets, baby care kits, personal care kits, school and fabric kits and soap to twenty countries on average each year. Each year it costs approximately $1.5 million to run this program. The Quilt & Shipping Fund raises about $675,000 each year, but grants like the LWML grant of $80,000 help sustain the fund and support the rest of these costs.

In fiscal year 2015, LWR sent 332,592 quilts along with 375,500 kits to countries from Angola to Yemen, from Burkina Faso to Ukraine and from Ghana to Thailand. The Quilt & Kit ministry is LWR’s oldest ministry, serving as an expression of Christ’s love in the world and as a way to educate us in the U.S. about the need for humanitarian assistance and the opportunity for ministry. We pray that through this grant, supplying funds for shipping, that the quilts made with great care and love will be an expression of the compassion and the love of Jesus.

Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML) is the official women’s auxiliary of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Since 1942, the LWML has focused on affirming each woman’s relationship with Christ, encouraging and equipping women to live out their Christian lives in active mission ministries and by supporting global missions. For more information on each month’s mission focus, visit LWML.org. Saint John’s Mission Guild (LWML) meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM in Room 301. All ladies of the congregation are invited to attend.