If you’ve ever belonged to an amateur sporting team, cultural society, arts or environment body, service club or charity, or if you’ve been part of a school or church community, you’ll undoubtedly be familiar with fundraising.
I know what it’s like, working hard to stage that quiz night, gala dinner, high tea, concert, wine and cheese tasting, movie screening or strawberry fair and pleading with friends and family to attend and buy or sell raffle tickets. And what your club or community makes in return can hardly seem worth the effort.
But we contribute physically and financially because we care about the cause. And there are always good causes to support, both within our home churches, our LCA/NZ and our wider communities.
In 2020 the COVID-19 lockdowns and changing restrictions on gatherings made fundraising more difficult than ever. But as a result we saw some fresh and inspiring ideas come to life. And members of our Lutheran family gave generously.
When, due to COVID, ALWS couldn’t hold large Walk My Way events around the country to support schooling for refugee kids, people walked alone or with family around the yard, the block or the local park, or committed to other challenges.
When Lutheran pastors in the Philippines were left without financial support due to church closures and no government safety net, their brothers in the LCA/NZ (and some Lutheran congregations) sent financial support for several months.
As it wasn’t possible to have a room full of trivia buffs ready to take on the toughest questions, the folk at Our Saviour Rochedale in Queensland hosted an online quiz night and raised thousands for a community project in Africa.
Lutheran Women of Australia have continued their wonderful support of a wide range of local and international mission and service projects throughout COVID, holding innovative fundraisers such as ‘cakeless stalls’.
And there are many more examples. In this issue we share some reflections on fundraising for the kingdom – and come to see that God multiplies our gifts. Watch out for more of these encouraging tales in coming issues, too, as these pages are so full of resources and information we couldn’t fit everything in this time.
Another exciting development is that our new digital edition of The Lutheran is now available. All our regular features are online as well as in print, and print subscribers can access the digital version at no extra cost! To subscribe, give the new digital version as a gift, or to register for free digital access, go to www.thelutheran.com.au/subscribe
God bless your reading.
–Lisa
Not a subscriber? Click here to receive stories & upcoming issues in full
