Back Issues

by Christa von Zychlin

Months before my 16th birthday, my mom and dad let me know I would soon be old enough to get a job. My older brother and sister heartily agreed. After all, they had each started working when they were my age.

Two weeks before my birthday, my brother decreed the time was at hand! He’d ever so helpfully gotten a job application from the local grocery store.

by Sara Olson-Smith

My mornings are utterly chaotic. I am amazed that we even make it out of the door most days, much less on time. While I race around, our 7-month-old plays contentedly on the floor, babbling to herself. I keep my eyes on the clock as I rush to pack a lunch, fill a bag for daycare, pick up the toys left out, and try to find my keys. My daughter looks up and grins at me every once in awhile. But mostly, she’s lost in the joy of the present moment, banging her rattle on the ground.

by Barbara R. Rossing

A bumper sticker popular among some fundamentalist Christians years ago proclaimed, “When the Rapture comes this car will be driverless.” Soon a humorous response began appearing on the bumpers of other cars: “When the Rapture comes, may I have your car?”

Katie's Fund

by Emma Crossen

Ask women why they support Katie’s Fund, and one answer comes up again and again: They love Katie. Or, Katharina von Bora Luther, to be more precise.

“We never knew anything about her before,” said Marie Tesch, a longtime Katie’s Fund donor from Waseca, Minn.

by Dennis Bushkofsky

The Holy Spirit’s entrance on Pentecost Day, as recorded in the second chapter of Acts, occurred with the rush of a violent wind (2:2). Maybe my eyes have come to notice the word violent a little more in recent readings of that story because of my close encounter with a tornado in western Minnesota a number of years ago, but it does seem to be a significant aspect to the Pentecost story. Certainly it would have been a completely different occasion had the Holy Spirit entered the house where the disciples were staying in the manner of a gentle breeze.

by Megan Ross

Apriliza enthusiastically took my arm to guide me across the busy streets through the market. She asked, “Sister, is the market in your country like this?”

At that point, I had only been in Indonesia for two months, so we both had fresh eyes to look upon each other. I struggled to answer. My attention was elsewhere—at my feet as I looked for potholes, trash, and other obstacles—and beside me, careful of the cars, motorbikes, and people. We passed piles of dried fish next to a seller of toiletries next to a table of fruit.

by Anne Basye

Here's a heartwarming story: An elderly woman wanted to start a new church in her Masai community of Kenya. She teamed up with an evangelist from the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church and together they shared the good news with her neighbors. Twenty-five people were soon ready to be baptized. The local bishop presided at the baptism, and the new congregation celebrated by holding its first party.

by Deanna A. Thompson

 I have to admit that in life before cancer, I had a dim view of the Internet’s ability to bring people together. Living and working with others constantly connected to digital tools left me skeptical that any new relational depth was being plumbed through our wired lives.

Then I got sick. Really sick.