God's blessings are evident on every page of the Report to the Twelve Districts.

In June each of our synod's 12 districts will be holding district conventions. These conventions are held in even-numbered years, with the synod convention held in the odd years. District conventions give an opportunity for grassroots discussion and input for the work that we do together as a synod.

To enable informed discussion, the synod publishes a book called the Report to the Twelve Districts. The Report to the Twelve Districts contains reports from leadership groups such as the Synodical Council and the Conference of Presidents. It also features information from the synodical areas of ministry.

God's blessings are evident on every page of the report. World Missions will describe the blessings being experienced in existing mission fields such as Zambia and Malawi, where vibrant national mission churches continue to grow and make progress toward being fully self-sufficient. World Missions will also share how the gospel is being shared in non-traditional ways in newer fields such as Nepal, Pakistan, and Thailand.

Home Missions will tell of the new mission congregations in places like Castle Rock, Colo., and Kansas City, Kan., and how existing home missions in growing areas are being assisted with additional manpower and resources. The Board for Home Missions will also report on its efforts to analyze how it can best be structured to carry out its work of proclaiming the gospel in more places.

Our ministerial education schools will report growing enrollments on the prep level and a sufficient amount of students on the college and seminary levels to serve the needs of the church. Martin Luther College will express its thanks for the newly dedicated Chapel of the Christ, and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary will describe its central role in developing a program for continuing education for pastors.

The commissions of the Congregation and Ministry Support Group will share the challenges of providing congregations assistance in the areas of worship, education, evangelism, ministry to adults and youth, and special ministries in the face of reduced budgets. The Commission on Lutheran Schools will outline its strategy for assisting congregations in the rapidly expanding area of early childhood education.

And, of course, there will be the necessary reports on financial matters. After last summer's difficult reductions in all areas of ministry, districts will hear that those reductions were carried out as carefully as possible in order to avoid long-term damage to ministry.

We'll hear encouraging stories of financial support provided by God's people:
- More than $4.5 million was provided in the Year of Jubilee Offering for reduction of the debt (now reduced to $13.8 million, from the original $22 million in 2007).