Listen to this story on the LWML On The Go podcast

“And the winner is ... Katie Stam!” 

Being chosen Miss America 2009 was a dream come true for Katie, who had been interested in everything Miss America since childhood. She fashioned “crowns” made from cereal boxes and paraded around the house pretending to strut down the runway! Katie’s mom, Tracy, stated, “For Katie, coming from a rural farming area, to be selected as Miss America is still incomprehensible. Katie helped with farm chores, was a 4-H member, and showed cattle at the county fair!”

Although “beauty,” in the sense of eye-appeal, is a part of the Miss America story, there is actually so much more to it. The Miss America experience includes scholarships, education, community service, and personal and professional growth, grounded in goals that enhance the lives of others. Rather than competing “against each other,” contestants compete “with each other,” thus making the experience a sisterhood event. Katie still carries that thought in her heart. “It is a powerful reframing of the experience that is relative to motherhood, the workplace, and friendship; we are doing this together.”

As a lifelong member of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Katie’s faith was grounded through attending Sunday School, Lutheran elementary school, and worship services. Tracy shared, “The constant rock that our family leans on ... is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” As she traveled around the country during 2009, Katie’s fiancé, Brian (now her husband), gifted her a travel Bible, and often they would pray and read devotions together via phone. “The Miss America organization respected my faith and said that if I was asked, I could share it. God created opportunities everywhere I went ... people would ask me in very public forums to share my faith. God made a way!”

The biblical story of Esther continues to guide Katie. “The part of Esther’s story that resonates with me is that she was called to her position of influence for a purpose. He has given us all opportunities to serve Him, and we are capable of doing great things if we are courageous enough to accept His calling.”

During her reign, Katie was part of the Children’s Miracle Network and numerous organizations supporting service men and women. Today, as a working mom of three pre-teen children, she volunteers with an organization advocating for the best interests of abused and neglected youth, has developed a 4-H scholarship program, and has written a devotional and a children’s book.

One of Katie’s guiding Bible verses is, “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is” (Psalm 39:4 NLT). She feels it is important to pause and reflect on the brevity and purpose of life. During the 17 years since serving as Miss America, Katie continues to share her faith and influence others to serve the Lord with the gifts God has given to them.

Here is a link to Katie’s story in the Fall 2010 edition of the Lutheran Woman’s Quarterly:      

LWQ Fall 2010 Katie Stam
 

We would love to hear YOUR story!

Read more HIS Story through History

Related Resources: LWML History
I Love to Tell the Story

Listen to this story on the LWML On The Go podcast

A verse from Dorothy Degnitz’s confirmation days that came to mind when she asked God for advice on where to work after graduating from nursing school was “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). Inspired by a missionary nurse’s presentation, she said “Yes!” to working in the LCMS mission field. In 1966 her first assignment was to Immanuel Lutheran Hospital in Eket, Nigeria.

After serving for about a year, war broke out between Nigeria and Biafra. All missionaries were called home. She used that time to earn a midwife certificate. When it was safe, she returned to Nigeria, serving with the International Red Cross in refugee camps where many languages were spoken. She realized that each dialect, in addition to the actual words spoken through interpreters, contained culturally-based, non-verbal cues. She studied her patients’ cultures to more accurately diagnose and treat each person. “As Americans,” she observed, “we needed to remember that God’s way is not always the American way.”

Dorothy then served the Lord for 11½ years in Papua New Guinea at Immanuel Lutheran Hospital in Enga (highlands area), followed by four years as deputy principal and senior tutor at the Lutheran School of Nursing in the coastal city of Madang.

Admittedly, Dorothy did experience a few “scary” situations. Many prayers were said when she passed through countless checkpoints during the Nigeria/Biafran war and when she needed to deliver a baby in difficult circumstances. Once an intruder cut the phone line and entered the home where she was living. Her roommate was assaulted, and her car was stolen. Through those trials, Dorothy said she felt God’s presence, knowing that He would protect her. She recalled comforting verses: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b) and God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

Dorothy is a member of the Papua New Guinea Mission Society and follows the work God is still doing there. New missionaries are serving now; some are children of Dorothy’s co-workers from years ago. She has even found a few former students on social media!

It is unlikely that a number can ever be placed on how many people — patients, co-workers, and students — were influenced, healed, and inspired by Dorothy and the work she did in those far-away lands. Undaunted by unique cultures, unfamiliar languages, and travel woes, she served people and the Lord with gladness. When she returned to the United States after retiring from active service, she spoke about her work to many LWML groups, influencing a new generation to consider mission work as their career.

Today, looking forward to celebrating her 90th birthday, Dorothy continues to reach out with God’s love to those around her. By volunteering at her church and in her assisted living complex, she inspires other women to use their God-given talents to do the Lord's work.
 

We would love to hear YOUR story!

Read more HIS Story through History

Related Resources: LWML History
I Love to Tell the Story

Listen to this story on the LWML On The Go podcast

Do you know people who are “movers and shakers” — people who pursue their goals with relentless energy, always on the move? Think about Jesus, our perfect example: He came to earth to spread the Good News and was literally always on the move as He walked throughout Galilee (see Mark 1:39) with His saving message. He kept moving forward despite many setbacks. 

Clara Schmitt was also a mover and a shaker. She spent most of her adult life relentlessly pursuing her goal to develop a national women’s group to support missions through The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. 

Born in 1878, Clara grew up at a time when women mainly served as wives and mothers. One of the few girls in her St. Louis high school class of 1895, she was offered a four-year scholarship to Washington University, but she turned it down to work in her father’s company, the Senniger and Schmitt Wallpaper and Painting Company. When her father died, she married his business partner, Otto Schmitt, and became a co-owner of the company. 

Clara used her gifts and talents in her home, as well as while working in the family business. With managing a household of their three children (and many pets, including dogs, snakes, canaries, and a wolf), she certainly was busy! At times, Clara’s mother and mother-in-law also lived with them. When Viola, their daughter, became a widow at a young age, she joined the household along with her five small children. One of those children, Rev. Kenneth Young, recalled that the home was filled with fun and laughter. He remembered Clara as kind and talented, a good speaker, and a great organizer.

With Otto’s blessing, Clara used her gifts and talents in their church, too, organizing mission outreach projects. She realized that if women in congregations throughout the USA worked together, much more could be accomplished. For 14 years, she traveled around the country speaking to groups, working with LCMS leaders, pastors, laymen, and congregational women, while relentlessly pursuing her goal.

The work was long and tedious. Many pastors did not want the women to organize. Finally, at the 1938 LCMS convention, Clara and several other women presented resolutions to establish a national LCMS official women’s group. The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) was born in 1942. Clara, elected president, served until 1947. She passed into God’s loving arms in 1950. In her memory, the LWML purchased a baptismal font for Christ Church for the Deaf in Cleveland, the recipient of its first mission grant. 

Clara set an example for all women of the church to Serve the LORD with gladness! (Psalm 100:2), prayerfully moving forward despite setbacks. At one point, Clara’s hair caught fire from her hair dryer. Not to be stopped, after her scalp healed, she bought a wig and continued working toward her goal. Her influence continues today through thousands of women still prayerfully funding mission grants and sharing God’s love around the world.
 

We would love to hear YOUR story!

Read more HIS Story through History

Related Resources: LWML History
I Love to Tell the Story

Listen to this story on the LWML On The Go podcast

Happy 250th birthday, United States of America! 

For the last 179 years of that historic period, LCMS women have been “influencers” in our American culture, using their many gifts and talents to share Jesus’ love in their homes, families, churches, schools, and work places. For the next eleven months, you will read stories on our LWML website about LCMS women who applied biblical principles in their vocations; some names you may recognize, while others are known only to a few. 

For example, my grandmother, Minnie, known only to her family, was born in poverty in 1880 to Lutheran parents who taught her to love the Lord. She had a meager third-grade education, was the wife of an abusive husband, and was the mother of eight children. The Lord enabled her to have them all baptized, attend Sunday School, and be confirmed. They grew up loving the Lord despite their living conditions. While she never told me specific verses that guided her life, I imagine that one of them was I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).

God blessed my brother and me with her Christian influence when she lived with our family. Her descendants now live all over America and have the opportunity to share God’s love with others. One does not need to be famous to serve God while applying His principles in our interactions.

Minnie’s influence in America may not have been as dramatic or far-reaching as other women who have served as deaconesses, teachers, writers, speakers, missionaries, and presidents of corporations. However, her life accomplished the same goal: to share our Lutheran faith in God and to pray that others come to saving faith. 

I am inspired when I remember Grandma Minnie sitting in her rocking chair with the golden glow of sunlight streaming through the window behind her. Her lap held an open Bible where her work-worn fingers slid along the verses as her lips silently formed the Scripture words she was reading. 

May you be inspired during the next eleven months through the stories of LCMS women who continue to keep Jesus in their minds and hearts and influence others in their varied vocations. We are all children of God who serve Him with gladness, using the gifts and talents that He has given to us, wherever and whenever He has need of us.
 

We would love to hear YOUR story!

Read more HIS Story through History

Related Resources: LWML History
I Love to Tell the Story