LWML member and retired deaconess Nancy Lingenfelter, left, visits with Dcs. Grace Rao, the district mercy coordinator for LCMS World Relief and Human Care, at the LWML Convention in Portland.

Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML) members voted June 25-28 at the 33rd Biennial LWML Convention in Portland, Ore., to fund 19 mission grants over the next two years totaling a record $1.8 million. Three of the grants will finance LCMS World Relief and Human Care (LCMS WR-HC) projects:

• $50,000 to provide "body and soul" care for disabled children in the Dominican Republic.
• $50,000 to LCMS Prison Ministry to provide 5,000 copies of Lutheran devotional materials to U.S. prison inmates.
• $50,000 to provide residential education and care of underprivileged children at the Missouri Evangelical Lutheran India Mission School, and "body and soul" care for school drop-outs, women, and children in India.

"LCMS World Relief and Human Care gives God thanks for the faithful support and partnership of the LWML as we have been presented with these opportunities to share the mercy of Jesus through the Gospel while providing for real human needs," said Rev. Matthew Harrison, executive director of LCMS WR-HC. "We pray that our Lord will bless those who benefit from these grants, that they may receive care of their body and soul."

For a list of all 19 grants, visit http://www.lwml.org/missions/lutheran-women-in-mission-mission-grants.htm.