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We currently send each issue of our newsletter through the US Mail. If you would like to receive the newsletter, please fill in the information requested below. You may include your email address as we may send the newsletter by email in the future.
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2008 Illinois High School Essay Contest
The Lutherans For Life mission statement states that “we witness to the sanctity of human life through education based on the word of God”. LFL of Illinois does this in many ways. One of the most important is our high school essay contest. Anyone who has ever been assigned a paper to write knows the thought and effort that goes into forming the ideas and then putting them down on paper. Research must be done and a good deal of that searching must be in the Bible to seek God’s word on all life issues. Those who have guided students through this process report that it is eye opening for them. Students must determine and support when human life begins, why does God care about what happens to each person, how can we best fill our role in His plan for us all. It can be a life changing experience.
This year, the two top essays will receive a $500 award. Also, there can be as many as three $100 runner up awards.
As indicated in the following, essays may be submitted as an email attachment and or through the mail.
Click here for instructions and form.
Lutherans For Life of Illinois
2008 Life Awareness essay contest
Sponsored by Lutherans For Life of Illinois
All of us, as educators and parents, strive to teach our children God’s truth about the sanctity of life. There are very encouraging statistics that indicate the attitude and behavior of young people has shifted to be more pro-life. For the past 13 years we have been conducting this essay contest to give the students an opportunity to witness to their values and opinions about God’s gift of life. We thank all that have participated in the past and encourage others to join.
Topic: "In the Hand of God" is the theme for Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, January 2008. We would like to emphasize how He creates life with His hands, how He redeemed life with His hand and how He calls us and holds us with His hand. It is not necessary to write about abortion. The essays should reflect the student’s viewpoint, substantiated by God’s Word when possible.
Statistics: Whenever possible, the source of statistics used should be referenced.
Identification: All entries should be typed or handwritten in ink and must include the student’s name, grade and school name. It would be very helpful if each teacher would enclose a separate list (preferably typed) of the names of the participating students.
Levels and Length: There are three levels and suggest lengths for the essays:
Grades 3/4 -- 100 words
Grades 5/6 -- 250 words
Grades 7/8 -- 250 words
Again this year: Some teachers have asked if they could send in only their better essays. I encourage any teacher that would like to do so. There is no limit. All students who write essays will receive a sticker. Let me know the total number of stickers to send.
Awards: Three students, one from each of the levels above, will receive a $50.00 cash gift and will have their essays published in various newsletters and on our website. The second place winners at each level will receive a $35.00 cash gift.
Contest Dates: To coordinate with Life Awareness Week, please submit all entries no sooner than January 17, 2008, and no later than February 6, 2008.
Please direct all entries and inquires to:
- Sandy Goss
- 629 East Central
- Lombard, IL 60148
- 630-495-1093
- cybersandyg@hotmail.com
Inspirational Christian Radio
If you have broadband Internet access you can find “Inspirational Christian Radio for the World” that’s Worldwide KFUO (AM 850 - Clayton, MO). “Proclaiming the Truth of Jesus Christ to the World” is the mission. Listen live to KFUO-AM “Bible studies”; “Issues, Etc.”; “Law and Gospel”; “Portals of Prayer”; “Front Porch Parenting”, and many other programs via your computer to enlighten and enrich your walk with Christ. Try it today! Just go to www.kfuoam.org and click on “Listen Now”.
In addition, on KFUO-FM you can listen 24/7 to fine music and other programming such as “Friday Morning with the Arts”, “St Louis Symphony Preview”, “Composer’s Datebook”, Classic Kids”, “Broadway Spotlight”, and “Live from the Garden”. Go to www.classic99.com and click on “Listen Now”.
2007 Lutheran Elementary School Winning Essays
Over 700 students representing 16 Lutheran elementary schools throughout Illinois participated in this year’s essay contest. Thoughtful evaluation of Life issues from a Biblical perspective was apparent in every essay submitted. Lutherans For Life of Illinois is thankful for the participants, their schools, teachers, and other adults who guided these young authors in thinking and writing about a “life” issue important to them.
Each Lutheran school student who submitted an essay was given a bookmark as a remembrance of their participation in the contest, and a reminder that they are a child of God who has a plan for their life.
Student essays were grouped and judged according to the following grade levels: 3rd and 4th grades; 5th and 6th grades; and 7th and 8th grades. First place winners in each grouping were awarded $25 and second place essay writers received $15.
Following are the first place essays from each grouping:
3rd/4th grade winner
5th/6th grade winner
7th/8th grade winner
1st Place - 3rd and 4th Grade
3rd Grader
Zion Lutheran School
Marengo. IL
One Easter a couple of years ago, my church was filled with people. When it was time for communion, an elderly couple walked toward the front of the church, but everybody was passing them because they were so slow and shaky. The woman had a cane and was holding onto her husband’s arm. Finally, they came to the rail and received the wine and bread. It may have hurt them very badly to come up to communion, but they did it, and I think they did it for God. It shows me that they must love God very much. It helps me want to follow their example.
An old man comes to my church and sits in a wheelchair. A kind lady helps him. His hair is gone, his head sinks down, and he is so weak he cannot sing the hymns. It amazes me that he comes to church, anyway, even though he is very fragile and cannot walk. He still comes to worship our Lord. My great-grandma is ninety-nine years old. She is in a wheelchair. Sometimes she understands things, and sometimes she doesn’t. Still she goes to church. For communion, these elderly people cannot get up to the rail because they cannot walk. So the pastor comes to them. That reminds me of how Jesus comes to us even though we are all weak, weary, and sinful. Jesus loves all of us. He does not wait for us to be strong enough to come to him. He always comes to us.
Seeing elderly people who love God, and seeing how much God loves them makes me see that God cares for everyone, both young and old, black and white, born and unborn, weak and strong.
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1st Place - 5th and 6th Grade
5th Grader
St. John Lutheran School
Country Club Hills, IL
The Mentally Challenged
Helping and loving the mentally challenged is an important task God gave us. A mentally challenged person is just like any other person; he/she needs to be saved. God made them mentally challenged for a reason. He wants us to help them with the tasks that they cannot do, such as learning, talking, and communicating with others. People that are challenged cannot take care of themselves. Sometimes we ignore them, and treat them as if we wish that they were not around. God wants us to treat each other equally, whether we are challenged or not.
Many people in the world are challenged, but that does not mean they do not need to know about God. It may take awhile for a person to explain to them about God, but that does not mean you should give up. Proverbs 31:8 says, “Speak up for the people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rlghts of all who are helpless.” According to this verse, we are to help people who cannot help themselves. When we help them, we are pleasing God.
A mentally challenged people, besides physical needs, can sometimes also need help with spiritual needs. They need to learn about God so they can be saved, like any other person who believes, if they have the ability to learn. God wants us to teach all people about him.
Mentally challenged people are a special gift from God. They give us a chance to teach them about God, His blessings, and other spiritual things. Even though sometimes we do not want to teach them about God, we should. “He who is not with me is against me.” Matthew 12:30.
If we do not help the mentally challenged or any other person, we are against God. Helping and loving the mentally challenged is an important task from God.
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1st Place - 7th and 8th Grade
Eighth Grader
Trinity Lutheran School
Tinley Park, IL
As a Christian, I believe that all life is a gift from God. It is a gift that should be cherished, protected, and cared for. Abortion, however, does not value life as God’s gift.
Jeremiah 1:4-5 states, “The Lord spoke His Word to me. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” God has planned every pregnancy and every life is very precious to Him. I believe it is the responsibility of Christians to defend and protect the life of the unborn. Someone who is faced with an unwanted pregnancy needs Christian love, understanding, and support. There are options available, such as adoption. God will always give them strength and be there for them. People in these situations can find comfort in Isaiah 44:2, which states “I am your Creator. You were in My care even before you were born.”
Just as the life of the unborn is precious to God, so is the life of the elderly. As Christians we should cherish and care for the elderly. There are some young people that feel that the elderly have outlived their value and usefulness. From my own experiences, I know what a blessing an older person can be. My Grandfather lived with us for the past six or seven years. I saw it as a privilege to have him in our home. Not a day went by that he didn’t share his knowledge, experiences, and love of Jesus with me. Even in his declining health, I never considered him a burden. When he died, last November, he said that he was eager to cross the last “t” in Christ and go to heaven. I feel that he led a very valuable life.
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Twenty-Fifth National Lutherans For Life Conference
July 6-8, 2007
Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center• Omaha, Nebraska
Ed Szeto, National Conference Director
Job 12:10 • Lutherans For Life
OMAHA, NEBRASKA ? In the Hand of God was the theme as Lutherans gathered from across the United States and Canada for the national conference of Lutherans For Life (LFL), the only pan-Lutheran pro-life organization in the nation.
“I love the theme of our conference!” said President Diane Schroeder. “We are in God’s hands so we can be the hand of God for others . . . When we reach out with hands of compassion to the pregnant teen and her baby with love and support, we are the hands of God. When we teach our children to trust the Lord of life?even if they make bad decisions?we are the hands of God.
When we care for rather than kill the elderly, ill, or handicapped, we are the hands of God. That’s what Lutherans For Life is all about. Helping Christians connect, through either our words or actions, biblical truth to life issues. When that happens, lives are changed.”
Dr. Wallace Schulz, executive editor of Good News magazine and former speaker on The Lutheran Hour, gave the Friday night keynote address on the theme By God’s Gift of Faith We Believe. . . and We Speak for His Unborn, based on 2 Corinthians 4:13. Dr. Schulz said abortion is not “something which God only occasionally thinks about. This in on the front burner . . . the scope is incredible.” [An estimated 48,000,000 unborn babies have been killed by abortion since 1973.] He told the conference that in our culture “we can expect to be opposed,” but also prayed in closing, “Almighty and everlasting God, unleash upon this room as You did upon the disciples years ago .. . the power of Your word and spirit to shake up the Church! Give them the courage of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Let them say ‘I’ve got to speak. I’ve got to speak for the unborn."
Saturday morning included plenary addresses from Dr. David Menton (Associate Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Washington University School of Medicine) on Chance or Design?; Rev. Dr. Dean 0. Wenthe (President of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana) on The Christology of Life (John 10:10b) and The Holy Spirit and Life (John 6:63a); and Buddy Davis (speaker, singer, and songwriter for Answers in Genesis) on Dinosaurs--Separating Fact from Fiction.
Workshops focused on Biblical Manhood; Biblical Womanhood; Defending the Defenseless; a biblically-minded process for finding a marriage partner for life; Trinitarian Theology and End-of-Life Issues; The Untold Story of Abortion; and Implications of Evolutionism.
In the Sunday morning Bible study, Rev. Dr. James Lamb, LFL Executive Director, laid three foundation stones upon which the Christian stands when connecting God’s Word of Life with the life issues. “We are created by God’s hands, redeemed by His hands, and He calls us and holds us in His hand. This foundation does not shift or change. ‘It stands forever’ (I Peter 1:24-25). This foundation gives value to human life because of what God has done. This foundation enables bold and joyful proclamation of the value of God’s gift of life in all circumstances.”
Dr. Lamb’s Sunday morning sermon theme was God in Hand or in the Hand of God? based on Job 12:4-10. “Carrying your god around in your hand might seem convenient. You could shape and form your god into whatever you wanted him to be and have him say whatever you wanted to hear. But there is one problem with such a god in hand. They would have to be so very, very small. Such a god could never carry you in his hand. But there is a God who can! ‘In God’s hands is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind’ (Job 12:10). The God who created us in our mothers’ wombs with His hands, the God who redeemed us with His hands nailed to a cross, this God now holds us. Indeed, we are engraved in the palm of His hand. This is our comfort and hope when facing difficult times. This is our power and strength as we share with others the value and dignity God’s hands give to all life.”
For more information contact LFL at (888) 364-LIFE, info@lutheransforlife.org, or visit www.lutheransforlife.org.
Illinois attendees at the Omaha Conference
(left to right): Rev. Paul Koschmann,
Rev. David Frey, Joan Koschmann, Grace Frey,
Carl and Diane Schroeder, Allan & Donna Benson,
Corinne Thomley, and Joyce Fassig.
Former Bush Speech Writer Janice Shaw Crouse Speaks at Life Breakfast
Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, a speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush, was the keynote speaker at the 12th annual “January Life Breakfast” in Rockford, Illinois on January 18th.
The breakfast, formerly hosted by Rockford Area Lutherans For Life Chapter 120, was hosted for the first time this year by the Howard Center for Family Religion & Society and the World Congress of Families. Dr. Allan C. Carlson, president of the Howard Center and International Secretary of World Congress of Families, was the master of ceremonies.
Crouse is a Senior Fellow at the Beverly LaHaye Institute in Washington, D.C. She is an internationally recognized authority on sex trafficking, the United Nations, and U.S. domestic-policy, as well as children’s, women’s and cultural concerns.
She also served in the current Bush administration as a delegate to the United Nations (2002-2003). Crouse has been interviewed on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, C-Span, MSNBC and CNN. She spoke at both World Congress of Families III (Mexico City, 2004) and World Congress of Families IV (Warsaw, 2007).
The January Life Breakfast featured two awards:
The White Rose Award was given to the student or teen who has demonstrated outstanding activism on Life Issues. This year’s recipient was Brittany Brady, a volunteer with Teens For Life in Rockford.
The Heritage Award was given to a family reflecting the life ideal through opening their hearts and home to children. This year’s recipients were Kenneth and Jody Pineschi, the adoptive parents of eight children, ranging in age from 5 to 20 years.
More than 200 people attended the breakfast, which was co-sponsored by the Rockford Area Lutherans For Life Chapter 120 and the Respect Life Office of the Catholic Diocese of Rockford.
The breakfast was originated by Rockford Area Lutherans For Life and Kent and Jean Heise. Mrs. Heise is a longtime volunteer and coordinator of various World Congress of Families events. Most recent coordinators of the event were Donna Benson, president, of the Rockford LFL Chapter and her husband Allan, co-president of Lutherans For Life of Illinois.
For more information on the Howard Center, go to www.profam.org.
For additional information on World Congress of Families, visit www.worldcongress.org.
Copies of Dr. Crouse’s remarks can be requested from Larry Jacobs (larry@worldcongress.org). To schedule an interview with Janice Crouse or Allan Carlson, contact Larry Jacobs at 1-800-461-3113.
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In celebration of the life God has given each of us, Lutherans For Life of Illinois is seeking your support. We are asking for a donation of one penny for each year of life for each family member, young and old alike. (Larger contributions happily accepted!)
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Your gift will be used for many educational projects, including the elementary and high school essay contests, which share the scriptural value of all human life.
Please help support Lutherans For Life by converting your pennies into a check and mailing it to us in care of our Treasurer:
Brian Umbach
5811 North Old Hickory Lane
Peoria, IL 61615
THANK YOU!
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If you are interested in learning more about Lutherans For Life and how to join a local chapter click here.
If you would like to send a donation to help us spread the pro life message, please send your tax deductible donation to:
Brian Umbach, Treasurer
Lutherans For Life of Illinois
5811 N. Old Hickory Ln
Peoria, IL 61615-2227
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