Martin Luther College

Thalassa Prize

Thalassa

This award is given to recognize a Martin Luther College student or graduate who expresses clearly and beautifully, in image and word, a personal reflection on a WELS/CELC ministry experience overseas.

2025 Winner: He Knows My Name

The winner of the 2025 Thalassa contest is Madeline Liebert ’24 with her submission, “He Knows My Name.”

In January 2023, Madeline served in workers’ camps in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, teaching a VBS for the mothers and children there.

MLC’s Cultural Engagement Center awarded her $1,000, half of which she designated to the Mission for the Children – Mexico. This is the 19th annual Thalassa Prize awarded by MLC.

Small boy with a puppy

He Knows My Name

Meet Cristian. And his beloved, adorable puppy he fittingly named “perrito,” which means puppy in Spanish.

Cristian lives in a workers’ camp for poor families of sugarcane workers in the rural city of Cuautla, Morelos, Mexico. To the children and young mothers living there, we presented a week-long vacation Bible school.

Every day when we arrived, Cristian would appear with a sneaky grin on his face, a glint in his eyes, his pet in his arms, and an excitement to participate in that day’s lessons and activities.

Little did I know upon meeting him that first day that I would be the one to share the love of Jesus with this precious child for the first time.

The stories we shared with the children during VBS were ones that I had grown up hearing my entire life: Jesus’ birth, Jesus feeding the 5000, Jesus raising Lazarus. I recounted the familiar details in imperfect Spanish, just hoping the children would at least understand, despite my errors and different accent, the important details: that there is a God who exists, and he loves us! He saved us!

Cristian’s name means “follower of Christ.” Cristian did not know of the Christ his very name speaks of. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit worked in his little heart so that whenever he hears his name, he remembers that there is a God who knows him by name, who loves him, and who offers free and full salvation to those who trust in him

Cristian, God knows your name, follow Him!

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”(Isaiah 43:1)

Purposes of the MLC Thalassa Prize

  • To express gratitude to God for the opportunity to serve him in international venues.
  • To provide an opportunity for MLC students and graduates in WELS/CELC international ministry to share their stories.
  • To motivate and inspire current MLC students to consider serving overseas.
  • To bring glory to God through excellence in the arts of photography and creative writing.
  • To reaffirm through image and word the dignity of the entire human race and the desire of God to save all people.

Entrance Requirements

  • Open to all MLC undergraduates and graduates who have done WELS/CELC ministry or are doing WELS/CELC ministry outside the United States.
  • Each entry must include
    • A completed entry form.
    • A color digital photograph taken in a foreign mission field.
    • A personal reflection on ministry in that foreign mission field.
  • Entrants may submit as many entries as they wish.
  • Annual deadline for all submissions: April 30
  • Check out submission guidelines, photo and essay specifications, and judging criteria here.

Prize

  • The Thalassa Prize recipient will be announced in May or June.
  • The $1,000 prize will be divided equally between the winner ($500) and a WELS/CELC international mission of the winner’s choice ($500).
  • The winning submission may be published in MLC and WELS publications, posted online, and displayed on campus.