The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, with its North American and worldwide partners, is prayerfully looking into the future with renewed commitment to the Great Commission of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Our purpose statement defines our objective: 

"Praying to the Lord of the Harvest, LCMS World Mission, in collaboration with its North American and worldwide partners, will share the Good News of Jesus Christ with 100 million unreached or uncommitted people by the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017."

One hundred million people. That's 40 times the size of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod! Can this really be accomplished? Absolutely!

In the world today, political, social and economic conditions that facilitate travel, commerce and communication have opened up doors for proclaiming the Gospel in previously unreached places. At the same time, immigrant populations in North America continue to grow, changing the face of our neighborhoods. Throughout North America and the world, LCMS World Mission has multiplied its efforts by working in partnership with mission organizations, agencies and partner church bodies. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we hope to kindle a common vision and mutual commitment among LCMS individuals, congregations, Districts, mission societies and agencies and with Lutherans from national church bodies around the world to share the Good News of Jesus with 100 million people.

This vision of setting 100 million hearts on fire for Christ is expressed in the single word Ablaze! The goal is to ignite a worldwide Lutheran mission movement that will identify and equip indigenous Christian leaders to plant new communities of faithful believers in North America and around the world. The Holy Spirit, working through the Word of God, can ignite faith in the heart of even the most resistant person. Our united goal is to present God's Word through meaningful personal contact with unreached and uncommitted people which will prompt a response to God's promise of salvation in Christ Jesus.

LCMS World Mission is the global Gospel outreach of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, a confessional Lutheran church with more than 5,500 congregations and 2.6 million members in North America. For more than seven generations, the LCMS global mission focus has been church planting and leadership development in partnership with in indigenous Lutherans in North America and around the world. LCMS World Mission missionaries currently work in approximately 40 countries. They train local leaders to share the Gospel with others as evangelists, teachers and pastors. These leaders, in turn, train more leaders and plant more churches. These leaders play a vital role in the vision to ignite a worldwide Lutheran mission movement like nothing the world has ever seen before.

The following items may be ordered from LCMS World Mission by calling (800) 254-9495 or by sending an e-mail request to mission.orders@lcms.org :

• Ablaze! stickers (free in packages of 20; item no. S13048).
• Ablaze! offering envelopes (free in multiples of 100; item no. S11561).
• Ablaze! video, "Igniting a Vision," available free in limited quantities, DVD or VHS. DVD copies were mailed to all LCMS congregations in September, and VHS copies also may be borrowed from district offices.
• Ablaze! bookmarks, available in packages of 25 for $2.  A shipping charge will be added to orders of more than 100.

Ablaze! stickers, offering envelopes and bookmarks also may be ordered from Concordia Publishing House by calling (800) 325-3040.  Shipping charges may be added to some orders.