Congratulations to Shirley Dyson, Zone 3, who designed an inspiring logo illustrating the convention theme: “Jesus is Our Passport.” Following are Shirley’s words describing her thought process and meaning behind the logo:

I am truly grateful that you have chosen my logo to represent the theme “Jesus is my Passport” for this year’s CNH Convention. I mean, I really am thrilled.

My mind swirled when I thought about that wonderful promise “Jesus is my Passport”.

As I pondered this, it made me think about the Passport as being like the Bible. Imagine God’s word in black and white, giving us instruction to live a great life. As it says in the Bible verse from Psalm 25:4 “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.” God’s words guide us on life’s journey.

There were times in my life where I felt like I was alone, overwhelmed, fearful, in poor health, or I shared another’s suffering. As I look back on these times, which I call my “face in the gutter moments,” all it takes is that one phone call and life is turned upside down. These are the times when I humble myself to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Those moments matured me, strengthened me, and assured me that Jesus was guiding every step. Romans 8:28 states “…for those who love God all things work together for good”. Life is simpler when I follow the path that Jesus has for me.

Your passport is useless if you don’t get that stamp of approval that allows you to enter the foreign land, never to be deported. That made me start to think about the passport stamp, and the Crown of Thorns came to mind as the spiritual symbolism which conveys the vision. John 19:2-3: “And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and struck him with their hands.”

The blood that Jesus shed for us on the cross is our assurance, our promise, our passport to enter into everlasting life. 1 John 1:7: “…and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” The red ink symbolizes Jesus’ blood. The fingerprint on the rubber stamp represents my fingerprints (my sin). He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

His death meant that our names could be in the book of life.

This was a wonderful experience. I love you all and am happy our names are in the Book of Life.

Now that the convention logo has been chosen, and we have the inspiration from Shirley, Zones can begin working on their banners. Please see the Banner Guidelines that you will need to follow. The theme, scripture, goals, and objectives might be helpful, as well, and are included in the Banner Guidelines. Detailed convention information is available on the Event page of our website.

As your LWML CNH Ambassador, I am privileged to volunteer my time and enthusiasm engaging people throughout the district in the work of LWML.

In June 2024, the LWML Board of Directors decided to allocate some of the funds which had been gifted to LWML CNH from the Korte Estate. As our first project, we began a partnership with Sierra Lutheran High School (SLHS) in Carson City, Nevada.

As you may have heard, the current goal of LWML CNH is “Growing in Christ from Generation to Generation”. So certainly, I knew I had to join the students at SLHS, Carson City, Nevada for their three-day orientation session. As you can see from the photo, I traveled all the way to Lake Tahoe to join the students for bonding day. What a great way to meet and bond with new and old students.

In May, LWML CNH representatives provided snacks at a ribbon cutting event to open the new addition of the school. Pastor March Shamburger and his wife Rachel from Holy Cross, Rocklin, were the inspirational speakers at the opening day assembly.

My past experience as VP Gospel Outreach (2018 – 2024) was the perfect background to this new role. You might recall I created the character Penny, who traveled around the District encouraging all of us to donate our pennies, nickels, dimes, dollar bills and checks to support our Mission Grants. My new character is Nikki (think Nickel).

I am always happy to share about LWML at your meetings or events. If you would like Bev/Nikki to come to your gathering, contact me: mailto:edbev2@sbcglobal.net

With St. Paul I say: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Phillippians 1:3-5 ESV.

I know you, too, may be overwhelmed thinking of the events, Bible studies, and meetings you have planned for this year, and I thank you for continuing to encourage mite giving in your congregations.

We are in the process of paying out #13 Tuition Assistance for Grace Christian School, Visalia, $10,150. There are five more mission grants to fund before the convention in April with an amount of $38,590. By the grace of God, I’m sure it will happen. See “Mission Projects Update” below for more details.

I am working on the update of my recent trip to Kenya, and hopefully will complete it before any of your Zone Events. Dr. Omolo was quite surprised, as was I, at the outpouring of love and generosity from all of you.

Meanwhile, know your work is a work of love for the Lord and His Kingdom, and as St. Paul says in Ephesians 3:16-20, “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love…know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Can you just imagine being filled with the fullness of God? How can we not succeed!

The 2025 LWML CNH retreat was held last month on August 1-3 at the peaceful St. Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista, CA. Fifty-nine attendees were awed, entertained, and changed by our speaker, Lindsay Hausch, as she spoke on “Just as I Am”. Morning and evening devotions following our theme were ably led by Pastors Doua Xiong and David Jung. LaVada Terrell on piano, and Pastor Jung on guitar, accompanied our singing.

Saturday afternoon activities included a prayer walk, making prayer squares, writing faith mail to others in crisis, and folding a book into a hedgehog! Saturday evening brought us a delightful, relaxing time with a wine reception featuring “Lutheran” wine generously donated by Julie Pedroncelli St John and Cindy Steinbeck. Sunday morning’s closing communion worship was led by Pastor Doua with the sermon delivered by Pastor Dave.

Members of the Christian Life committee included: Chairman and Vice President of Christian Life Cathey King, Registrar Christa Hamilton, Judy Huber, Laura Lynn Ledsen, and Margaret Peterman. The wine reception was facilitated by Denise Britton. A huge thank you to all of you for your participation, endurance, and support.

“Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Romans 15:7

We invite you to join us for our Fall Rally on October 18 at Zion Lutheran Church, Lodi, CA.

Our guest speaker Laura Kahler, RN, Palliative Care Coordinator at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, Stockton, has a passion for serving and helping others. She was inspired by her dad who, as a pastor, served the community in his ministry, which included visitation to folks in hospitals and nursing homes.

Laura will speak about Planning According to God’s Promises – God’s Advance Directives, a spiritual and ethical approach to legal advance directives, which are documents guiding end-of-life medical care decisions to align with one’s faith.

The Magic Yarn Project is known for providing whimsical, giggle-inducing character wigs and beanies that invite children into the world of imagination and play during difficult times. Wigs are always free for the families who receive them.

Volunteers at the August workshop, held at Grace Lutheran in Modesto, completed 106 wigs for children undergoing cancer therapy. Thank you to everyone who volunteered! You have made some little people’s hearts very happy! If you didn’t get a chance to attend, mark your calendar for January 24, 2026. More details to be announced.

Sept. 27, 9AM–1PM

Trinity Lutheran Church

333 Woodland Avenue, San Rafael

Join us for Bible study, guest speakers, lunch, fellowship, and more! A freewill offering will support Lutheran Social Services.

We are excited to welcome a new LWML group at Waikoloa on Hawaii Island. On August 16, Zone president, Susan Hendricks, gave a presentation to nine women and their pastor at Waikoloa Lutheran, providing information about LWML, LWML CNH, mission grants, and so much more.

Pastor Jeff Mueller and his wife Linda hosted the meeting and provided the group with a delicious lunch and time to get to know one another. The group plans to meet soon to set up bylaws, elect officers, and decide on ‘glocal’ (global plus local) mission opportunities they want to support.

Hallelujah, Lord, we will have another group on Big Island that Susan can actually drive to for visits! Praise God for these women and their desire to serve the Lord with gladness.

Our next Zone 11 event will be held via ZOOM on Saturday, October 25, 2025, 9:00-11:00 am (Hawai‘i time) with a presentation by Jan Froh, Vice President of Gospel Outreach. All LWML ladies in the CNH district are invited to zoom with us. To register, use the link below and provide your name, email, zone, and church affiliation (with location) by October 17th, 2025.

Questions email: Jennifer Stager

Praying for each other is an important part of our Christian faith, but not all of us are prayer warriors, and that’s okay. We each have our own spiritual gifts. However, if you are a prayer warrior or enjoy praying for your sisters and pastors in Christ and their families, I invite you to sign up for LWML CNH Prayer Ministry. Our prayer warriors will receive email notifications when prayer requests are received.

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” – Mark 11:24 ESV

The deadline to submit your grant application is coming soon! All applications for 2026-2028 District Mission Grants must be submitted by September 30, 2025. Resources and Forms can be found at the link below. Look for Forms under Resources.