Since LMM's beginnning in 1969, staff members and volunteers have looked to the Scriptures for foundations for new ministry initiatives. Staff retreats, "soup and scripture" gatherings and guest speaker sessions have been times for reflection and reconnection to the mission of God for people who are hurting. To suggest this is all-inclusive would be a mis-service to the continuing process of listening to God's Word in the context of the needs of His people. But these six themes provide the foundation - and inspiration - for our mission: To promote shalom (peace, well-being) and justice (right relationships) through a Christian ministry of service and advocacy with those who are oppressed, forgotten and hurting.

1.) Salvation describes God’s total care for the people of His creation: health, healing, well-being, both now and forever. In our culture marked by individualism, we understand salvation also influences community. We intend to be all inclusive in love and concern for each other and engage in advocacy on behalf of human dignity.

• "Here is a poor man who called out. The Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles. The Messenger of the Lord camps around those who fear him and he rescues them. -Psalm 34:6-7
• "Strengthen limp hands. Steady week knees. Tell those who are terrified, 'Be brave; don't be afraid'... Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unplugged..." -Isaiah 35:3ff
• "Later, at dinner, Zacchaeous stood up and said to the Lord, "Lord, I'll give half of my property to the poor. I'll pay four times as much as I owe to those I have cheated in any way." -Luke 19:8
• "My dear friends, you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I am absent. In he same way continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling...My life is being poured out as a part of the sacrifice and service I offer to God..." -Phillipians 2:12ff

2.) Kingdom of God: God’s caring rule and activity among people now and into eternity, most clearly expressed in Jesus Christ. This means that LMM upholds the dignity of every person. “In the kingdom of God nobodies are somebodies and somebodies are called upon to become nobodies in order to be somebodies in the Kingdom of God." --Rev. Richard E. Sering, LMM Founding Executive Director

• "The Spirit of the Lord is with me. He has anointed me to tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to announce forgiveness to the prisoners of sin and the restoring of the sight to the blind, to forgive those who have been shattered by sin, to announce the year of the Lord's favor." -Luke 4:18-19
• "When the day comes, a highway will run from Egypt to Assyria...Israiel will be one-third of God's people...The Lord of the Armies will bless them..." -Isaiah 19:23ff

3.) The biblical terms “peace, shalom (Hebrew), eirene (Greek) describe God’s intention that all people live in health, safety, security, harmony, prosperity, absence of war, and in covenantal peace with God. We continually work at right relationships.

• "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore." -Ezekiel 37:26
• ""For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands." -Isaiah 55:12
• "Because of our God’s tender mercy the dawn will break upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” -Luke 1:78-79.
• "Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." -Luke 7:50
• "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:7

4.) Justice and righteousness refer to preserving the covenantal relationship between God and human kind and between people. Humans break the covenantal relationship (both ways) and Jesus is there with forgiveness, new start, reclamation, reconciliation, and the call to live in both covenantal relationships - both vertical and horizontal. We do not just pull bodies out of the river, but go upstream to find the cause, advocating just solutions.

• "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." -Micah 6:8
• “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’" -Matthew 25:31-40

5.) The gifts of people are assets to build upon in all ministry activities. Being created in the image of God, everyone is gifted. This assumes that at birth God placed unique abilities, interests and skills into all people. Rather than considering deficits, what is lacking, we choose to focus on the assets, or strengths of individuals. In our journey with each other we work to discover individual giftedness.

• "Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." -Genesis 1:26-27
• "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship." -Romans 12:1

6.) LMM is dedicated to lives of service that guard and promote human dignity. LMM staff members are joined at the heart with the mission of Jesus and joined at the heart with the people we serve with. Our service is characterized by the “upside down pyramid.” We see ourselves as called to be advocates for others.

• "Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." -Psalm 82:3-4 "Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." -Mark 10:42-44
• "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." -Ephesians 6:12