Outreach for Hope

06/03/2026

A table of scattered LEGO. By the end, a Luther Rose held the room together.

At the Greater Milwaukee Synod Assembly, piles of red, blue, white, and black pieces sat quiet until hands—young and old, strangers and longtime members—kept adding one more. Slowly a heart with a cross emerged at the center. No single person built it; every small act mattered.

It felt like a simple, tangible sermon about dignity and relationship—when we bring our gifts together, something larger appears.

Read the full story:
https://www.outreachforhope.org/devotion-details?recordId=recTueV1q5kVPrGf7

05/23/2026

https://www.outreachforhope.org/devotion-details?recordId=recJm9zua3b8jpVXv

05/23/2026

05/14/2026

🎵 "Come hungry, come weary, come find a place to land. There is grace in every welcome, there is hope in every hand."

This week's devotion about Emaus ELCA's Mexican Fiesta in Racine comes with an original song — "From Famished to Full" — and these lyrics capture everything this ministry is about.
A kitchen full of flame. Hands stirring pots of mercy. Neighbors called by name. That's the gospel in a fiesta. 🌮

Listen to the song and read the full devotion → https://www.outreachforhope.org/devotion-details?recordId=rec76rcekaPEwwMvN

05/05/2026

She found a worm on her first shovelful—and instead of dropping the shovel, she gently replanted the worm to save.

On a recent bright Saturday, Reformation Lutheran, neighbors, and partners planted native trees in collaboration with the Urban Ecology Center in Washington Park, Milwaukee. Everyone worked shoulder to shoulder, planting new life in the park. Penny Schwid said, "Together as church, we are making a difference." They planted knowing the full shade would belong to children not yet born.

This is quiet, patient hope—the kind that shows up, kneels in the dirt, and cares for life that will outlast us.

Read the full story: https://www.outreachforhope.org/lenten-devotions-details?recordId=recNQki8zC0wnWeTF

05/03/2026

She walked four and a half hours before dawn — with her grandson, no coat, no plan.

Anne left after a fight and kept walking until she reached Hope Ministries at Mt. Hope Lutheran (West Allis), not sure anyone would be there. The team welcomed them, found warm clothes, packed a backpack, bought bus tickets and fed them. They told her, “We will never let go of you.” That line changed the morning.

It shows how welcome and dignity given in small, practical ways can restore hope when everything else has been lost.

Read the full devotion and hear the dedicated song here: https://www.outreachforhope.org/lenten-devotions-details?recordId=recupWQNIc4XrAwII

04/07/2026

More Than Enough to Give

At a kitchen-table conversation, a woman thought for a second and said, “Everything I have isn’t really mine.” The room went quiet — generosity stopped feeling like duty and began feeling like a response to what God has given.

Another person laughed and said, “You don’t give till it hurts—you give till it feels good,” and you could see relief in people's faces. What began as money talk became a question of who we are as people of faith.

It shows faith can free us from a scarcity world-view: giving becomes identity and joy, not loss.

Read the full conversation devotion for today: https://www.outreachforhope.org/lenten-devotions-details?recordId=reciYZOMTwo8UnHz9

04/05/2026

📣 Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
Alleluia!

Throughout this Lenten season, Ashes to Alleluias:
Stories and Songs of Hope has walked us through the
honest terrain of faith—through struggle, presence,
and the quiet, steady ways hope shows up in real life.

Each story has reminded us that God is at work not
just in the extraordinary, but in everyday acts of love,
service, and relationship.

And now, we arrive at Easter.

This final message brings it all together—a reminder
that the journey from ashes to alleluias is not just
something we observe… It’s something we live.

▶️ Watch the final devotional video here, and as you
watch, I hope you see what we’ve seen all along in our
Ministry Partners:

Hope that refuses to quit.
Hope that shows up.
Hope that walks alongside.
Hope that rises even in the midst of struggle

Because of Christ, hope is not wishful thinking–It is
alive in you and me!

Blessings to you this Easter season—
May resurrection joy meet you right where you are.

The Staff, Board, and Ministry Partners of Outreach for
Hope
Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

https://tinyurl.com/OFHLent26Day40The final video of Ashes to Alleluias ties the Lenten journey together by celebrating Christ’s resurrection and showing how...