Reflections on LWML 2025

LWML 2025 National Convention in Omaha! This opportunity staked its place on the VFM calendar since the moment the Event Team returned from the Milwaukie Convention in June of 2023. VFM leadership spent the past two years discerning, budgeting, and trusting God to orchestrate ALL THINGS so that Visual Faith® Ministry could encourage others to grow in God’s grace (2 Peter 3:18) at the 2025 Convention! God answered those prayers with His abundance, once again affirming that, with Him, ALL THINGS are possible! From “set-up” to “load-out” and every moment in between, your VFM Event Team felt honored to represent this ministry and to connect attendees to VFM. Following are the thoughts of Bev Wicher, Beth Foreman, Jamee Thieme, and Jenny Long, as each adds her voice and her photos to this “convention reflection” blog.

Bev Wicher

What an amazing God we serve! The team left the convention in awe of how God’s presence was with us from planning right through to the moment we arrived back home. After an amazing experience in 2023, we did not hesitate to go back, and we were not disappointed. So many hands worked together so that 4 coaches could go and enthusiastically reach so many with our ministry. Some attendees came already knowing about us and using our resources, but they wanted more: more interaction and to know more about what’s new at VFM. And there were still so many who had never heard of us. We shared our hearts of how VFM resources and practices enhance our devotional, prayer, and worship time. The days were filled with non-stop - beautiful faces, old and young - coming to learn more, excited to see what they could take back to their societies and congregations. We even had a few of the other exhibitors stop by to see how they might be able to use our resources in their respective ministries. Like all things Visual Faith®, we surrounded everything in prayer. My favorite moment was when the exhibitor across from us watched us pray together before the exhibit floor opened; she was moved to take a picture of us and said it brought her to tears. We could not do this without the Holy Spirit moving through every conversation and always stressing that it is about connecting to Scripture God and His Word. Thank you to the VFM community for your generosity and support.

Beth Foreman

Wow! What a joy to spend time in real life at the Visual Faith booth during the Lutheran Women’s Missionary convention. The Omaha Convention Center was filled with laughter, service, singing, and faithful servants wearing lots of purple. Many of my Visual Faith experiences are virtual, and it was so fun to talk with women in person who were curious about who we are and what we do. Some were already familiar with Visual Faith and shared their stories. Others were discovering it for the first time. “This is all free? Really?” They filled their convention tote bags with prayer cards, prayer spaces, versicles, and more. Everyone was eager to browse the beautiful display and page through the sample books. The booth was also busy with two hands-on projects — making a lovely thanksgiving garland for President Eden and Seeds of Faith packets to make and take. What a privilege to offer ideas about how they may use resources to grow their own faith and to encourage others. Best of all, I was blessed to work alongside three seasoned Visual Faith coaches Jenny, Bev, and Jamee, and get to know them better. To God be the glory! 

Jamee Thieme

Over the years I’ve had numerous opportunities to participate in LWML conventions as a host committee volunteer, as a delegate and as a guest.But this year was different as I was privileged to serve as a volunteer with our Visual Faith® Ministry team in our exhibit and view the convention through fresh eyes. Reflecting on our time serving together in Omaha, I’m drawn to the following three “C’s”:

• Conversations: It was a joy to engage in conversations with a wide variety of folks as we shared our mission and ministry with Visual Faith®. It was a blessing to share our own personal spiritual journeys and the impact that these practices have made on our daily faith walk with Jesus.

• Connections: It was a delight to reconnect with long-time friends and to make new friends! Lots of hugs! It was also a wonderful opportunity to make connections with other ministries in the exhibit area and share our resources with them. Especially heart-warming was the chance to share some of our Spanish language resources with several Hispanic ministry organizations and to see the delight on their faces as they received our materials.

• Community: It was especially exciting to meet so many of our VFM community members IN PERSON. Faces & names we’ve met over Zoom or communicated with through our Facebook group, we were able to share hugs of joy!

With much gratitude for your prayers and your support of our team!

Jenny Long

How does one condense four days of LWML Convention news into a brief reflection??? I could tell about the “big things” – worship services of 4000+ attendees, a parade of mission flags that brought tears to my eyes, uplifting Bible studies, and a long-time friend (Eden Keefe) skillfully presiding over the convention. But there were also the “little things” – occasions when I saw the Lord’s hand quietly at work. Here are three of my “little things” – privileges for which I am so grateful.

It was my privilege to hear so many stories of God’s faithfulness in the lives of His people. One pastor’s wife told me how a tornado ripped through her town, narrowly missing their church; she related miracle upon miracle of how God used devastation to draw people closer to Himself and to one another. Visual Faith® has resources for times of struggle; it was a joy to place some of those resources into her hands so that she, in turn, could share them with people in need.

It was also my privilege to meet women from all over the country. You’ve probably heard of “six degrees of separation” – the notion that we are only six social network connections away from one another. Well, I’d contend that within the church, there are “two degrees of separation!” It didn’t take much conversation time to find common friends and common ground. As I visited with attendees, our faces would light up as we explored our connections and told stories of shared acquaintances. Visual Faith® offers in-person events – coaches who visit churches/rallies/retreats to share practices and resources, thereby perpetuating the “two degrees of separation” phenomenon!!

Finally, it was my privilege to directly witness answered prayers. When we asked for convention supplies, the VFM community responded to our Amazon Wish List with staggering generosity. When we needed materials for our four traveling teaching tubs, a dear friend and supporter of VFM wrote a Thrivent grant to fill those tubs to their brims! When our stash of giveaways was running dangerously low after Day #1 of convention, the Holy Spirit provided much-needed energy and light-heartedness as the Event Team copied, cut, and prepped additional materials into the wee hours of Friday morning. As a result, Visual Faith® Ministry’s books, Bible studies, devotionals, Spanish resources, children’s bulletins, margins, prayer cards, Daily Truths, and so much will now ripple out into the family of faith. And God will continue to answer our prayers as we make Him known to all nations.

Big Things and Little Things. Plenty of memories to treasure for years to come. Thank you, VFM Community, for the prayers, provisions, and privilege of sharing this ministry at the LWML National Convention in my home state of Nebraska!