For more than seven decades, LHM-Brazil (Hora Luterana) has been sharing the Gospel with millions of Brazilians. Former ministry center director Paulo Warth has long considered the ministry to be a "family" organization. His father served as long-time speaker on The Lutheran Hour broadcast in Brazil, and Paulo started his own 50-year career helping out in the office before working his way up to ministry center director until his retirement at the end of 2018. As with all family situations, change is inevitable and offers opportunities for growth-and a significant, positive change will soon occur for the Hora Luterana (HL) family.
At a historic HL board meeting last November, LHM President and CEO Kurt Buchholz and Rev. Adelar Munieweg, current director of LHM's Brazilian ministry center, signed a Memorandum of Understanding whereby Hora Luterana will no longer receive funding from LHM beginning June 1, 2020. Although they will be financially self sustained, HL will continue to partner with LHM in our mission.
HL and LHM will continue working together to strengthen and expand media ministry outreach throughout the world through prayer support and the sharing of resources. They will also work together to recruit, equip, and empower a global community of Christians committed to carrying on and supporting Gospel media outreach throughout the world.
Munieweg expressed profound thankfulness for the 73 years of support from LHM, which resulted in many mission congregations being started and formed through the ministry of HL and in the expansion of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB) into the north and northeast parts of the country. He assured the commitment of HL in facing the challenges of becoming self-sustaining, under the blessings of the Lord.
"In recent years, Brazil as a country has faced big economic, moral, political, and social crises," says Munieweg. "The timing of this move is a challenge, but one that is being faced with the grace of God, the support and prayers of God's people, and the support of our staff. We are working hard, with much determination and love for Jesus."
As one of LHM's longest-running ministry centers, HL uses a variety of programs to share the love of God with all who want and need to hear it. One of the biggest ministry programs in Brazil is the radio programming. HL airs its daily Five Minutes with Jesus radio program on 130 radio stations across Brazil. In addition to the radio programming, the ministry utilizes social media platforms to reach a wide audience of individuals. "We support Vivenciar.net, which is a very important tool through which many people contact us looking for counseling, for help, asking for the extended hand that God offers in those difficult times in life," says Munieweg. "Besides the digital media, we also create literature, such as more than 50 titles of booklets and a devotional book that is printed yearly."
This is a great opportunity for LHM to reach even further with the Gospel. Since Hora Luterana will be raising their own money to keep their ministry center running, LHM will be able to take the funds that were to be designated to Brazil and reinvest them in other areas to allow the Gospel to reach even more people.
"This is an exciting time for the Brazil ministry as they transition into a self-sustaining member of the global LHM ministry family," says Buchholz. "This is the first time that one of our ministry centers has taken this enormous step. Our work in Brazil is not finished, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with our Brazilian brothers and sisters in Bringing Christ to the Nations-and the Nations to the Church. We pray for God's blessings on this new and courageous endeavor that the ministry in Brazil has embraced."