Ablaze! in the Northern Illinois District

San Pablo Receives $5,450 Thanks to LCEF Investors

Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) recently presented $5,450 to Iglesia Evangelica Luterana San Pablo, Aurora, Illinois, on behalf of 218 individual LCEF investors in northern Illinois.

This donation resulted from an October to December 2006 special offer by LCEF. That offer committed $25 to San Pablo for each new Northern Illinois District individual investment it received during the 90-day period. November’s 39 first-time investors were the highest number of such investors in recent memory for Northern Illinois, according to Larry Ulrich, the district’s Vice President for LCEF.

The special offer was communicated through letters to individuals who attended the September 2006 Ablaze! district-wide rally in De Kalb, Illinois, as well as through bulletin inserts and announcements in LCEF partner congregations in the district.

“Special thanks to each of the individuals who directly supported a vibrant and growing Hispanic ministry on Aurora’s east side,” Ulrich said. San Pablo, one of Northern Illinois’ newest congregations, is led by Rev. Alex Merlo. San Pablo was the 2005 recipient of the Fred E. Lietz Mission Project Award, presented annually by LCEF to an innovative mission outpost of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.

These 218 Northern Illinois individuals either increased or made an initial investment in the ministry of LCEF, which provides space and place for ministry by providing loans to Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod entities. LCEF also provides a wide variety of services for growing and expanding congregations. The range of services is made possible through individual and organizational investments in term notes and other investments offered by LCEF. To learn more about investing in LCEF, click here

For the latest from the San Pablo ministry, read a letter sent by Jenny Rohr, San Pablo’s Director of Christian Outreach intern. Jenny, a 2006 graduate of Eureka College, is serving San Pablo while studying for her Masters’ degree in Christian Outreach through the Dr. Oswald Hoffmann School of Christian Outreach at Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Jenny is supported through the generosity of a number of ministries, including a grant from the Northern Illinois District Endowment Fund, as well as gifts from Lutheran Life Communities in Arlington Heights and Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Palatine. Click here to contribute to the San Pablo ministry.