For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

The salvation story of Jesus Christ reaches around the world. So that the readers of our Daily Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the volunteers of our international ministry centers to write our Sunday devotions. We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words.

In Christ, I remain, His servant and yours,
Kenneth R. Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour

By God's grace, I am now 16 years old, and many things in my childhood have crushed my spirit.

One of those things happened when I was 10. At that time a strange woman came to my home claiming to be my mother! I soon discovered my mother had abandoned me when I was seven days old. That explained why I had been raised in several homes, and the woman who was raising me at the time was actually my grandmother.

This event changed my life by making me very bitter. I developed an intense hatred for my mother since I felt she hadn't cared for me and had never been there for me when I needed her the most. Then and there I decided never to forgive her.

My grandma raised me lovingly, but then she became ill and she no longer could take care of me. I was sent off to a foster family that was non-Christian. In my new home I was taught Islam and spent many hours learning the practices of my new faith. In 2011 my father died, and that stripped me of any hope of reuniting with that part of my family.

I felt lost and worried about what would happen next.

I prayed to Allah for help. I could not have imagined that the Triune God was already working out a plan for me. That plan became real when I was reunited with my grandma. It was at that time I enrolled in the Lutheran Hour Ministries Bible Correspondence Course.

The Bible course opened up a whole new world for me. I came to know who God really is. I learned about His love and care for me but, most importantly, I learned about His free gift of salvation. As I studied, I desired to know more about the Christian faith and this ministry which sent me these books. It was the Lord's will when I was selected to be among the students who would take part in a behavior change seminar that had been organized by the ministry center.

During the seminar I experienced a love I had never seen before.

The ministry staff loved and cared for us in a way I could not have imagined. In all the discussions, God was accorded the first place. My heart was convicted, and right there I knew the Holy Spirit was bringing Jesus into my life.

Since that day my life has never been the same.

In this new life I have found healing for my soul. Through prayer and counseling I was able to forgive my mother and have been reunited with her. More importantly, I have a living hope for eternal life. Through the ministry I have been brought exactly where I belong: to my Father's arms.

THE PRAYER: Father God, thank You for showing me the light and for loving me and making me know Your great love. Send Your Spirit so others are also brought to Jesus. In His Name I pray. Amen.

Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written by Sudat Ndagire. She is one of the youth volunteers involved in the coordination of the Bible course at Kisugu in Kampala. She first came into contact with Lutheran Hour Ministries in Uganda when she enrolled in the Bible Correspondence Course (BCC).

In this African nation of more than 37 million people, Lutheran Hour Ministries-Uganda, known locally as Lutheran Media Ministry, has connected with more than 250,000 individuals through print, broadcast, electronic and traditional media, which includes radio and television programming. This outreach has led to the formation of more than 100 Lutheran churches countrywide, working in cooperation with area Lutheran churches. Further efforts include enrolling students in BCCs (of which more than 130,000 have now participated), distributing Bibles and topical booklets, and launching a biblical values-based peer education program designed for secondary school students. The Equipping the Saints (ETS) program assists people with their understanding of Scripture and strengthens their outreach to others. Beyond this, holiday specials, dramatic shows and storytelling performances, concerts, films, and youth and small group ministry share with audiences the Good News of Jesus as Lord and Savior.

You can check out LHM-Uganda's blog and the efforts of this ministry center's staff and volunteers as they take the Gospel to people in the Kampalan slums of Kamwokya, Ggaba and Kisugu. Along with this effort a film on Jesus was shown to more than 1,200 people, which generated more than 800 responses! You can visit the Uganda blog and see this story in text and pictures by clicking here.


To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhm.org/international.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 101, 103, 108    John 15

To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"