Sharing Hispanic resources is central to Lutheran Hour Ministries’ mission of outreach to Spanish-speaking communitiesin the U.S. and abroad. To illustrate the point, three different groups recently received items from LHM to complement their local missions in California, Mexico, and Guatemala.
On April 6, Rev. Germán Novelli, LHM Hispanic ministry director, preached and presented at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Orange, California. The church had an event to kick off Children’s Day activities, an annual festivity celebrated in Mexico to honor children. Following his presentations, Novelli handed out kits that included LHM’s kids’ booklets—Welcome in English and ¡Bienvenido! in Spanish—some candies, and Gospel Adventures stickers.
St. Paul’s holds four services every weekend, three in English and one in Spanish, and has a vibrant ministry in Orange, serving Hispanic families in their community. Novelli reminded the congregation (and the young ones present) of its shared mission with LHM: “We are all missionaries in our different contexts, and the little ones are included in this mission task.”
A congregation in Sanford, Florida, Resurrection Church, recently sent a mission team to work with children in Guatemala. Pastor Chris Johnson was the leader of the mission group, and they took with them a bunch of children’s booklets to share with kids there. Another package that included kids’ booklets went to 1000 Generaciones, a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod mission group serving communities in Tijuana, Mexico. They are using these materials this month during the celebration of Children’s Day events.
Novelli understands the need to produce and distribute the kinds of Hispanic resources LHM is making available. “The number of congregations and organizations working together to bring the Gospel to Latino communities in the U.S. is growing, and so is the number of churches doing missions and leading ministries in Latin America. That’s why we continue producing amazing and contextualized materials that will bring the Good News of Jesus to our Spanish-speaking neighbors here, there, and everywhere,” he says.
Keeping churches and mission groups well stocked with relevant, Christ-centered materials enhances their efforts and is central to LHM’s goal of Bringing Christ to the Nations—and the Nations to the Church. “Our commitment is to keep working with our congregations and ministry leaders to supply them with tools and materials they can use in their own contexts, understanding their realities, challenges, and needs,” Novelli adds.
For more information on LHM’s Spanish-language resources, go to paraelcamino.com.