1. To reach 100 million previously unreached and uncommitted people with the Gospel—50 million in the United States and another 50 million around the world, starting 2,000 new LCMS congregations in the process. This movement is called ABLAZE!

2. To gather $100 million for LCMS World Mission endeavors in support of this initiative. This campaign is called Fan into Flame.

These are challenging goals, to say the least! The resolutions call for the ABLAZE! objectives to be achieved by 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, and for the Fan into Flame goals to be achieved by 2010. We have much work to accomplish in the years ahead! Visit the synod's web site for updated information on the progress of ABLAZE! Just go to www.lcms.org and click on ABLAZE! at the bottom of the page. This same Web site is the place to go to report ABLAZE! activities and to record the stories of how you've shared the Gospel in your own life, as well as to read the stories of the many others who have done the same. Please also encourage your people to share their stories with you and with the entire Synod by using this handy method.

As of this writing, the ABLAZE! Web site includes reports from Missouri Synod Lutherans who have shared their faith with more than 100,000 people and use their own words to describe the reason for the hope that lies within them (1 Peter 3:15). That's a great start in the task of planting the seed of God's Word in the hearts of people, praying that the Holy Spirit will work faith in those hearts through Word and Sacrament. You'll be hearing more about ABLAZE! and Fan into Flame in the weeks and months ahead. Please remember these efforts in your prayers and support them with your participation and your encouragement to those who look to you for wise counsel and godly leadership. ABLAZE! and Fan into Flame are significant efforts toward realizing the Synod's vision to be about One Mission, reaching the lost, through the One Message, that Jesus Christ, and He alone, is the Savior of the world—a mission accomplished and a message proclaimed best when we act together as One People, united by Christ's love.

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