Evangelism Day: “Your Kingdom Come”
“Evangelism Day is a day set aside so that the Spirit can fill the hearts of both faculty and students with excitement and gratitude,” says MLC President Mark Zarling.
“Excitement as we learn more about the amazing things the Lord Jesus is doing through the gospel. Gratitude as we think of almost 50 people who come to New Ulm and share with us the good news about the power of the Good News.”
The theme, “Your Kingdom Come,” echoed throughout the day in worship, workshops, and presentations, encouraging all our students.
“I liked hearing my professors talk about their ministries,” says first-year Bob Beaver (LPS / Holy Trinity-Okauchee WI). “They explained how our evangelism plans don’t always work out the way we think they will, but God always gets his work done.”
“When the presenters shared their personal evangelism stories it made me really excited to have similar experiences!” Jessica Friebe (MLS / St. Bartholomew-Kawkawlin MI) adds. “It really hit home with me that there are so many people out there who need to hear the gospel.”
“This day not only motivates us all,” President Zarling concludes, “but it keeps us grounded in our mission as a college and our connection to the Great Commission.”
ST. PAUL – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) released its academic honors from the fall semester, and 84 Martin Luther College student-athletes were named Academic All-UMAC. Those 84 honorees were the most of any school in the conference.
MLC Day will be a day of celebration for our college and all who support our ministry. With an emphasis on communication through social media, MLC Day will allow supporters across the globe to follow our activities online, share our message with friends, pray for our work of service, and give to support that work. Pray, Share, Give will be the focus of our second annual event held on May 4. That focus will also be a part of messages shared with MLC online ambassadors—social media followers of MLC interested in spreading the good news of the gospel and the good news of MLC’s role in that proclamation. Watch for more information!
With your support through congregational mission offerings, the establishment of endowments, estate designations, and many direct gifts, Martin Luther College is able to keep educational costs for our students to a reasonable level. In fact, the student costs at MLC are low enough to attract the attention of Money magazine, Washington Monthly, and most recently USA Today. USA Today reported: “. . . the costs of getting that [college] education increase every year, far surpassing the college savings of many families. . . . Martin Luther College keeps costs low, with the average yearly cost of the school being $18,000. [Our total cost this year is actually $18,920.] Students graduate in an average of 4.4 years bringing the total degree cost to $78,600. This makes Martin Luther College very underpriced when compared to schools of similar quality.” What USA Today doesn’t realize is that our ranking is only possible through the support of WELS and our faithful donors. Thank you!
The Lord has blessed MLC with stable opening enrollments over the last seven years. Our official fall opening enrollment for 2015-2016 was 723 students on campus. We are grateful for continued recruitment efforts, which brought over 500 high school students to our campus for the Focus on Ministry weekends and over 300 students for our third annual Tip-off Tournament. Our mid-year commencement service was held on December 17 where 22 students received degrees. From that pool of graduates, five temporary calls were issued: four education and one staff ministry. Our official second semester opening enrollment is 685 full-time students on campus.
The MLC governing board met Saturday, December 5 in teleconference, and guided by the Holy Spirit, issued three calls. Please ask the Good Shepherd to bless their prayerful deliberations for the overall good of his Kingdom.
At a recent Administrative Council meeting, President Zarling reported that the Synodical Council approved several requested ministry plan (budget) adjustments at MLC. The approval ratifies the use of college reserve funds designated by our board to call a physical education professor and to accelerate the auditorium renovation project.
A tea ceremony presented by Professor Tingting Schwartz was just one of many presentations and displays during International Education Week, informing students about other countries, study abroad options through International Studies Abroad, and global ministry opportunities through MLC Daylight International.
During two Focus on Ministry weekends, about 300 high schoolers from all over the country were able to walk in MLC students’ shoes for a few days. They experienced campus life by going to classes, watching sports practices, staying in the dorms, and chatting with current students, faculty, and coaches.
