When a passionate, dedicated and mission-minded group formally registered their new “mission advocacy” organization with the State of Minnesota in the summer of 1995, they couldn’t have known the twists and turns that Lutheran Partners in Global Ministry would travel over the next two and a half decades.
Founded in response to Tim Olson’s tragic death in the Central African Republic, this community came together in the hope and faith that green shoots would rise out of the dead earth.
They didn’t yet know that a small Lutheran church body in India would reach out about sponsoring students who needed a place to live and learn. They couldn’t have imagined waking up to news of a catastrophic tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 that would affect so many, or of the dream of building a community college in the ensuing ten years that would focus on the families and livelihoods of those very tsunami victims.
In the past 25 years, the community of LPGM has grown and transformed in unimaginable ways.
More than 600 of you have traveled to places like the Central African Republic, Argentina, Guatemala and India, meeting neighbors, seeing how God is at work across the world, and returning home transformed.
You’ve helped more than 9,344 people living in dire poverty in C.A.R. access stable financial loans through the Village Savings and Loan program.
You’ve provided scholarships for young Q’eqchi’ Maya women in Guatemala and provided safe housing for young Maasai women in Tanzania.
You continue to respond when a pandemic greatly affects all our global partners.
All of this has happened, and continues to happen, because for 25 years the LPGM community of which you’re a part has listened to the needs and priorities of neighbors around the world and responded to their voices.
Thank you for being part of this community over the past 25 years, and for driving this mission and ministry for another 25 to come!
Dan Ruth
Executive Director
It’s not an understatement to say that COVID-19 affected everything this past year. In February of 2020, LPGM staff Mary Peterson and Dan Ruth attended strategy meetings with all the international partners of the Arcot Lutheran Church (ALC) in Chennai, India. The ALC had designated 2020 as the “Year of Labor.” It was inspiring and energizing. The ALC’s leaders had grand plans for making an impact.
Even as the meeting focused on strategy and planning, conversations during coffee and tea breaks often circled back to a “new virus” that was beginning to circle the globe. Nobody imagined how the novel coronavirus would define the year that had only just begun.
The COVID-19 crisis has affected everyone around the world–including all of us in the United States, and you reading this. As with most crises, it has disproportionately affected people at the margins who often live with closer social ties, fewer financial resources, more delicate infrastructures, and fragile or inaccessible healthcare systems. The girls, boys, women and men who take part in LPGM-funded programs are no exception.
Your support provided much-needed stability for all our partners and programs this year, even as the focus of our efforts shifted to address the unprecedented effects of the pandemic. Thank you. You helped ensure that all the people we serve have the opportunities and resources they need to survive this crisis, continue to pursue their educational goals in innovative ways, and navigate a return to school in safety and with confidence.
I am grateful for the LPGM community, from sponsors and donors like you, to dedicated staff and partners who consistently choose to put the needs of students at the center of our shared efforts. Thank you for being part of this global community where we meet one another as one human to another, experiencing God’s presence in relationships of mutual service and gratitude.
As we look ahead to the future, I am hopeful and grateful. I’m impressed by the commitments we share and by the leaders in each of our partner programs who will continue to guide us in providing access to quality education to people at the margins–especially women and girls.
Marc Olson
Board Chair
*As of Dec 31, 2020
‡ Executive Committee
LPGM envisions a world where relationships transform boundaries and where all people have the resources and opportunities they need to thrive.
LPGM provides access to quality education for people at the margins – especially women and girls. We work together with global partners to listen, respond and bear witness to local needs and priorities.
Grants & Donations | $917,000 |
Investment & Asset Income | $5,775 |
Loss on Disposal of Assets | ($1,568) |
Total Support & Revenue | $921,207 |
Program Services | Management & General | Fundraising | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Personnel Expenses | $145,990 | $70,280 | $67,597 | $283,867 |
Program Expenses | $503,665 | $503,665 | ||
Rent | $44,366 | $44,366 | ||
Professional Services | $45 | $13,591 | $5,246 | $18,882 |
Other Expenses & Services | $7,806 | $24,953 | $7,637 | $40,396 |
Total Expenses | $657,506 | $153,190 | $80,480 | $891,176 |
Cash & Cash Equivalents | $175,191 |
Prepaid Expenses | $4,717 |
Investments | $659,391 |
Lease Deposit, Property & Equipment | $6,150 |
Total Assets | $845,449 |
Accounts Payable | $10,634 |
Undesignateed Net Assets | $84,020 |
Board Designated Assets | $650,599 |
Net Assets with Donor Restrictions | $100,196 |
Total Liabilities & Net Assets | $845,449 |
Thank you for providing access to quality education for people at the margins – especially women and girls!