Some invitations can be life-changing.

Look at what happened to Jane Schlenvogt-Dew, who invited a family from South Korea to her home for Thanksgiving dinner. The three sons all ended up attending Luther Preparatory School in Watertown, Wis., with one continuing his training to be a pastor. Life-changing!

Or what about a church’s invitation to the community to attend a summer camp? Brett and Vanessa Gilbertson didn’t know that sending their three children to Living Promise, Morristown, Tenn., for a science camp would result in them joining a new church and then moving across the country to New Ulm, Minn., so Brett could study for the ministry. Life-changing!

New ministry recruitment counselors will be inviting congregations and lay leaders across the synod to work with them to encourage more people to prepare for full-time gospel ministry. Those invitations—first, to lay leaders and then to those who may consider the preaching or teaching ministry—could make an eternal difference as more people train to proclaim God’s Word in our churches, schools, and mission fields. Life-changing!

- Julie Wietzke, managing editor