'Sharing His Story' Doesn't End Just Because the Convention Does
 You know you've done something right when most people at your convention agree the last day of the event is just the beginning of something else—something bigger and better still.
So it was with the 92nd International Convention of the International Lutheran Laymen's League (Int'l LLL). The event, held July 16-19 at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, North Carolina under the theme "Share His Story," filled participants' hearts and fueled their passion to spread the salvation story of Jesus from their neighborhood to the remotest places on the planet. "As God works in the lives of His people today, His loving story continues," Mick Onnen, Int'l LLL President, told the Convention's 740-plus attendees.
"God has blessed Lutheran Hour Ministries with a clear sense of mission, a clear call to Share His Story, and the enduring power to carry out our task," said Larry Lumpe, LHM Executive Director.
Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour®, punctuated a series of stirring messages throughout the Convention by exhorting those attending The Lutheran Hour Celebration event to "help us proclaim the Savior's story to men and women you will never meet, whose names you will never know, who live in places you will never visit ... but who, because of your commitment and by the Holy Spirit's power, will have their names written in the Lord's book of life!"
Activities during the course of the International Convention reinforced the theme:
- Men shared stories and fellowship at a special Men's NetWork outing at Adaumont, the farm owned by auto racing legend Kyle Petty and his wife Pattie;
- At a lunch with Woman to Woman® host Phyllis Wallace, guest Pattie Petty shared how she and her husband Kyle achieved their son Adam's dream of founding a camp for children with chronic diseases;
- During the Convention's main sessions, LCMS President Dr. Gerald Kieschnick encouraged participants to keep sharing the story with the same doctrinal integrity and unity that congregations of the LCMS continue to uphold; and Rev. Robert Bugbee, President of Lutheran Church—Canada, shared a moving personal story of the impact The Lutheran Hour program had on his own faith life and on his decision to enter full time church work;
- Auto racing and broadcasting legend Ned Jarrett shared with a
sellout Fellowship Lunch crowd how God has moved in his life and career;
- Participants at an International Ministries Breakfast heard stories about LHM outreach ministry around the world and experienced through a rhythm and dance performance how people in other cultures are often introduced to the message of God's love;
- Workshops educated participants on an array of "Share His Story" topics ranging from "Share ... Where God Puts You" to "Share ... through the Important Role of Women in the Men's NetWork" and "Share ... Using New Technology Tools";
- Convention attendees participated in a servant event that collected more than 750 Bibles for children and seniors who need them in the Greensboro area (see related article in this newsletter).
Bruce Wurdeman, selected in June to be Lutheran Hour Ministries' next Executive Director, shared a little of his vision for telling the story of Jesus in the coming days: "I know God has opened and will continue to open more doors for ministry than we can walk through—and He will expect us to choose wisely those that we can best handle and where we can have the most impact. I know that it is better to do a few things with excellence than a lot of things with mediocrity. We will focus on excellence."
If you have a high speed Internet connection, you can view mainstage presentations from LHM's divisions, messages from God's Word by Pastor Ken Klaus, and addresses from Executive Director Larry Lumpe and Int'l LLL President Mick Onnen online at no cost throughout much of August. To watch these Convention videos, visit www.lhm.org/convention/ondemand.htm.
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