Global Impact Volunteers Get Right to Work

The Global Impact Volunteer team that is currently in Nicaragua wasted no time in getting down to work, as shown by the photos here sent by the LHM director in Nicaragua, Ricardo Arguello. The team, led by led by Pastor Ray Scheer of Covington, Louisiana, will spend one more day in Nicaragua before returning home.

Global Impact Volunteers Heads to Nicaragua

Global Impact Volunteer Team led by Pastor Ray Scheer of Covington, Louisiana will be traveling today to Leon, Nicaragua to assist our office in building a “rancho.” The eight members of the team are from the Southern District, and include Scott Scheer, Joseph Arthur, Gerard Haulard, Dixie Lee, Elizabeth Alford, Carl and Katherine Baeuerlin.

The roof and metal supports for the “rancho” are already in place. This group will be working on the construction of the walls. The “rancho” will be completed by another Global Impact Volunteer Team next year. Please keep this group in your prayers for safe travel, a wonderful week of work and meeting with local people, and bless this project as it is being built to serve LHM for outreach events and establish a church for worship.

To learn more about LHM short-term mission trips check out the Global Impact Volunteer page.

Friday Devotion: Power & Peace

During our recent trip to Thailand we would often find ourselves walking through the little souvenir shops that lined the streets or the open area around a popular Thai attraction. As we admired the workmanship of the beautiful Thai silks, carved wooden objects, colorful gem pendants, and polished stone figurines, we soon concluded many of the items in these shops were either in the shape of elephants or were decorated with pictures of elephants. Later, we learned from our tour guide that elephants were very important to Thai culture. Elephants in Thailand have long been a symbol of both power and peace. Several centuries ago, they were used by kings to lead armies to win wars and therefore restore peace among the people.

While looking through these same souvenir shops, we discovered most of these shops did not display anything with the shape of a cross. With only 1.6 percent of the population claiming to be Christian, this is not a surprising discovery. The cross, a symbol of power and peace for Christians around the world, reminds believers of God's sacrificial love. It was on a cross that God allowed His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the world. The powerful death and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives victory, hope, and the promise of eternal peace to all believers.


A large cross is fastened to the front of the Lutheran Hour Ministries Thailand building in Bangkok. During our first few days in the city, that cross became the image we sought. As we made our way through the unfamiliar streets of Bangkok congested with people, scented with unfamiliar smells, and displayed with unfamiliar words, the cross on this building brought us a powerful sense of security and peace. The cross identifies this building as a place where Christ is present -- both in the work being done and within the people who daily carry out His tasks. As Lutheran Hour Ministries reaches out to others through their countless ministries, we pray that 1.6 percent of the population (Christians) will be blessed and strengthened and 98.4 percent of the population (non-Christians) will hear the message of Christ, and no longer consider it foolishness, but as a means of hope.

Though our trip to Thailand quickly came to an end, it will long impact our hearts and lives. Like most tourists, we brought home a collection of souvenirs to remember our visit. This collection includes some beautiful silk scarves, tasty cashews, and even a few items with elephants on them. One item, though, will always be treasured as a rare find in Thailand: it is a hand-painted ceramic cross -- given to us by Lutheran Hour Ministries Thailand.

THE PRAYER:O God, we thank You for sending Your Son Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross so that we might know the power of the forgiveness of sins and the peace of eternal life. Open the doors of faith to non-believers so they might also enjoy the power and peace that can only come from You. In Christ's Name we pray. Amen.

Biography of Authors:Pastor Doug Chinberg is senior pastor of King of Kings Lutheran Church in Chesterfield, Mo. He and his wife, Kathy, went to Thailand with the Pastoral Leadership Institute where they led men and women's seminars and shared messages in various Lutheran churches in Thailand. Since 1991, the LHM-Thailand office in Bangkok, known locally as Journey Into Light (JIL), has used community radio programs, Equipping the Saints (ETS), Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC), print, Internet, and Gospel text messaging to share the good news of Jesus Christ in this country of 65 million people.

See some photos from the PLI Global Impact Volunteer trip to Thailand here.

Global Impact Volunteers Give Resouces Time and Energy in Guatemala

A group of Global Impact volunteers from Faith Lutheran Church in Michigan visited LHM—Guatemala in July. Pastor Todd Biermann, senior pastor, led 13 members of his church as they performed service projects including painting at rural medical clinics, as well as the Holy Cross Lutheran missionary in Amatitlan, and the inside of the World's Redeemer Lutheran Church in Santiago Zamora.Vacation Bible Schools were also carried out in orphanages at REMAR and AGUA VIVA.

For more information and photos please visit the LHM—Guatemala blog.

CNH Volunteers Prepare to Return to India

Two days from now the first team of volunteers will embark on a short-term mission trip to India. They will be continuing the work begun last year, in support of LHM ministry in India by helping to refurbish the 50 year-old Christian Media Centre (as LHM is known in that country). The trip was organized as part of the Global Impact Volunteer program and the group consists of volunteers from the California-Nevada-Hawaii District.

Over the past year, funds were raised, and a team selected and trained. Now we ask for your prayers that everything goes well on this trip.

India is a country of 1.2 billion people, yet fewer than 4% of them are Christian. The world’s largest democracy, and yet just earlier this year dozens of Christians were martyred, hundreds of churches burned, and thousands of homes destroyed in violence against their faith. 86% of the population lives on less than $2.50 a day. Yet, God is at work in India – today.

We invite you to follow the journey at www.cnhindiamission.org, where you can read updates on the blog, see pictures, and watch videos as team members post about their experiences and impressions in the amazing country of India. On the left hand side of the home page, under the fundraising thermometer, is a place to sign up for email updates from the blog, if you wish. You’ll even have opportunities to make comments and ask questions of us while we’re there.