For more than 80 years, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) has offered welcome and hope to more than half a million refugees. With the support of people like you, we have supported, equipped, and empowered these new Americans, while advocating for policy that protects all of God’s children.

LIRS is grateful for the generous and prayerful support of congregations and communities across the Western Iowa Synod. We could not do this work without you.

In the coming year, the U.S. expects to welcome 125,000 refugees to our shores. Our Lutheran communities can lead in the work of welcome, and LIRS is looking to partner with congregations and faith leaders in big and small ways.

For more information on how your congregation or community can partner with LIRS, contact Chelsey Johnson at 507-829-0431 or email cjohnson@LIRS.org

10 Ways to Get Involved

  • Organize a Transformed Community bible study to explore ideas of radical welcome.
  • Explore resources for congregations fractured by fear.
  • Join Emmaus: A Congregational Discernment Program, launching this spring, for congregations to discern how they can best walk alongside refugees and migrants in their community.
  • Ask your congregation to support LIRS through a special offering.
  • Host an interfaith prayer vigil in Pentecost through Stand Up Speak Up, a program focused on prayer, reflection, and stories of migrants and refugees.
  • Learn more about a region or country that LIRS supports through cultural and educational resources, discussion guides, worship resources through the LIRS Gather program. In 2021, we will focus on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ​
  • Support migrant children during the holidays with Hope for the Holidays, a program for congregations and communities to tangibly engage with and support migrant families impacted by immigration detention through donations, gift-giving, and card-writing. ​
  • Learn about LIRS advocacy initiatives, including policy updates and invitations to virtual events.
  • Request an expert speaker from LIRS for your panel, webinar, church service, or other event. Our speakers are immigration activists, foreign policy experts, theologians, and former refugees.
  • Sign up to volunteer with a local LIRS partner or affiliate.

For more ideas on individual and congregational engagement, visit the LIRS Action Center.