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If one of these was not up to Space, then he would have gone into space practicallyX for a second.

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of men, demanding obedience, speaking of love and the rights of all, document,

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spoken, memorized, repeated as in prayer, soon to become the written symbols of

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love, breathing the spirit of truth between man and men, document, banner of change,

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celebrating victory over tyranny, needing only the loom of time to weave its greatness and stitch

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to history, document, words of protest leading to reform and building a new freedom, strong

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Latin words nailed to a church door, clearing the air with the echoes of a strong hammer,

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document, testament of courage when men feel as brothers they proudly sign one under the next,

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pledging today to tomorrow, document, folded time-stained thoughts unfolded for eager eyes

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searching for freedom or equality or just happiness, document, treasured for its face,

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revered for its meaning, for behind the document stand the ethics and the beliefs of man.

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Early Lutheran life in America was simple and rugged. A man was concerned as much with survival

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as with grace. Comforts would come but later. Now there was time for work and little more.

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A man built his barn and his house and grew things, made things by hand. On Sunday he folded

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his arms in rest and in prayer. Homesteads, here, there, isolated and farther yet from the town.

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Families working together build, till, grow, sow in homes, in fields, in small shops. Good times

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brought the harvest. Children loving, learning, laughing, growing, growing up, growing old,

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homely pleasures. There were bad times too. Ever-present threat of illness staying busy

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hands while untended work increased hardship. Natural disasters, drought, flood, failure.

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Where to turn when adversity struck? There was no social welfare, no government funds,

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no insurance, only the helping hands of friends and neighbors, church collections. Men proved

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themselves their brother's keepers. Lutheran compassion. One day the giver, another day the

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given. Give, Luke said, and it shall be given unto you in good measure, pressed down, shaken

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together and running over. All men hope to walk in dignity, earned by time and toil and faith.

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None wish to ask or beg.

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How the land grew as wilderness yielded to cold steel and to fists full of seed. How the land

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grew. Trails became paths and then roads. Homesteads became communities. Fields became towns.

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People spread far and came close, linked by more than streets and roads. They came together in

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churches out of common belief and common need. If a man faltered, he turned to his brethren and he

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fell not so far and not so hard. As membership grew, need deepened to purpose, purpose to program,

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for protection and self-help leavened with Christian fraternalism, family assurance and insurance.

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In 1902 it was formed. It was called AAL, Aid Association for Lutherans. Objectives, mutual

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benefit through mutual action. To turn financial growth to Christian good, Lutheran spiritual and

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phenomenal results. In 1902, 607 certificates and $759,000 of insurance. In 1905, 2,119 members.

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1923, 33,329 members. 1952, 449,036 members. And currently billions of dollars of insurance.

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From the original 33 branches have grown 4,000 branches. The sapling has become a forest.

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This is the home office in Appleton, Wisconsin. Contemporary, reflecting the forward look of

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today, looking to tomorrow. Housing people, active and devoted men and women, dedicated to service.

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A pervasive Christian spirit spurred to the dynamic movement of successful growth. Each person,

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part of something bigger than themselves. Lutheran Christians doing things together

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that alone they could not do. AAL is people helping people.

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They are headed by a dynamic executive group, skilled in sound business practice,

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experienced managers in finance and investment, imaginative planners, leaders in church work,

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charting the course of AAL growth. Today, the largest fraternal benefit society.

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AAL officers, directors, administrators, staff personnel, all concerned with and responsible to

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the membership. To the people and their families, their files and records carefully administered,

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service to keep current with the lives and hopes of each member.

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Enormous investments in time and equipment, keeping pace with over one million certificates

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of membership.

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We should first think of where we fit into the organization here at AAL. We are part of the

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insurance operation division. We are called the issue services subdivision.

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But the real bridge to the member is the AAL field force. The district representative, trained to aid

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individual members in planning insurance needs. To be a district representative or a general agent,

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one must answer to AAL standards. This means thorough training. At the home office,

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there are courses in progress to develop and maintain high professional qualifications.

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Harold, a question please. What is the effective date of a non-medical case?

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It is simply a sort of a blueprint or a diagram of your total financial picture.

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And with your permission, I'd like to proceed. Glenn, how old are you? 30 years old.

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And Betty, how old are you? 28. Now some of these questions are a little difficult to answer and

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we're going to... Insurance counselors, nurtured by Christian Lutheran ideals.

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Service to church and fellow men, helping to form branches, bringing people together for social and

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fraternal activities, serving as counselor and friend. Awareness that the fraternal work of AAL

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is never ceasing and goes on moment by moment, month by month, year by year.

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For good reason then, in the very midst of this hubbub of business and training,

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there is a quiet spot for meditation, which is open at all times for communication with God.

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This is the chapel, symbol and reminder that the work of men should help the love of God

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and man in the world, should lead to the kind of benevolence that has made AAL world renowned.

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In the quiet hush of this small room, the bond of fraternalism is confirmed in the Word of God.

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The certificate of membership in AAL is like all of man's great documents, the stated objectives on

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the face, the deeds unwritten beyond the paper. For behind the certificate is the true Christian

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fraternal work of AAL. It begins with people helping each other in time of need. The given

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take of mutual concern, celebrating the moments of happiness, sharing the periods of stress,

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caring, comforting, cooperating, lightening the impossible burden.

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In the archival files in Appleton are stored the moving events of many human dramas,

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the objectives of AAL realized in vital daily acts. These are a few.

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Scholarship grants to young students, awarded to AAL members and other fellow Lutherans

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served by the association. Each year, 100 Lutheran high school seniors win scholarships

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to any accredited college or university in the nation. The largest privately sponsored

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scholarship program in the United States. I received the AAL scholarship last year in the

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spring of the year. I applied for it through my minister in my church in Minnesota. My choice of

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schools varied, but I finally in the end decided on the University of Chicago because there's a

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very, very fine political science department. A graduate student reaching into society with new

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awareness relating to people with deeper insight. Valpo scholarship winners become leaders in their

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chosen field, in their churches, in their communities. This scholarship to helping me to

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come to Valparaiso University, it being a Lutheran university and Christian has helped me in a lot of

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ways to prepare myself for the life that I'll be meeting when I get out of school through the

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courses that you take here and just living in the dormitory life. You come to an understanding of

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people and how they function and just the various ways that to get along with them and the types

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that you'll meet out in the world. It's not supposed to be the world because a lot of people

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complain about the regulations here, but it's a gateway to the world and you're sort of learning

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what it's going to be like away from your home.

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The Foundation for Reformation Research. Gathering and preserving on microfilm and microcards,

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the epic chronicle of Reformation writings, making available materials found only in

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European depositories, study of ancient documents, prophetic statements of the past,

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keeping alive the history and the doctrine.

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I'm a professor of Old Testament theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, interested

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during the last 19 years in the languages of the Near East and since 1960 interested also very much

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in the archaeology of Bible lands.

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Project Teltonic, AAL financial assistance making possible three excavations to uncover and bring to light of day and the eye of man,

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the remains of events that shaped the minds of men in the times of the great prophets,

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enforcing and enriching biblical disclosures with artifacts of history,

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supporting magnificent libraries, collecting, cataloging, confirming the past and present interest in music for the singing church,

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the inspiration of bygone cultures preserved and distributed in books and films,

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the art, the skills, the ideals, giving man a perspective of his place in the continuum of God's work.

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I'm the director of the Australian Lutheran Hour, which began the Lutheran layman's league,

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recipient of AAL grants, conducting workshops for foreign representatives,

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printing, distributing booklets, inspiring belief and faith, answering questions of concern to Lutherans.

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The Lutheran Hour, carrying the doctrine and philosophy to listening ears across the land and sea,

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extending the bonds of brotherhood beyond arbitrary national borders,

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linking men in their common history and common future.

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When I was pursuing for my master's degree in theology, at that time I was somebody in need of

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financial aid and through the recommendation of our seminary in St. Louis,

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I had the pleasure and also honor to receive one of the scholarships provided by AAL.

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Extensive AAL loans to congregations to build Lutheran churches across the country.

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For members who spread far and grow in numbers to come closer in the house of God.

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For expanding the facilities to accommodate church-centered secular activities.

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Edifices constructed with loans made at preferential interest rates,

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yet consistent with AAL policy of sound financial practice.

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Grants for printing books and booklets to inform, to educate on many subjects,

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to extend the religious message of the church or relate to a broad range of branch projects and events.

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Grants are made to welfare institutions, sometimes directly from AAL, sometimes directly from the

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branches. Other times they are combined grants, co-op grants by AAL,

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supplementing group branch donations made for many needs.

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Homes for the aged, the indigent, medical care and considerate attention retaining

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dignity for the individual in the dependent declining years.

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Institutions for the handicapped, the retarded, the deaf, the blind, giving care, treatment,

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training and aid so desperately needed. Bolstering hope and faith with acts that speak

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and with words that speak by touch.

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Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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Grants in support of Lutheran hospitals in the cause of healing, to camps for recreation for the

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young, to schools for learning, to projects like the blood donor program that started as a branch

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activity grew in response to increasing demands and with AAL cooperative grants.

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Now a nationwide program answering to sudden crises carrying the fluid of life to AAL members

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or Lutheran congregation members. An AAL mobile unit makes periodic trips to local churches

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where blood donor club members give their unique gift to be used by a brethren in need.

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Deposited in the blood bank, withdrawn to sustain a life.

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And how it happened that I was burned is uh there's uh gasoline and the gasoline can

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started on fire and uh picked up the gasoline can and carried away from the fire and I tripped and

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fell and it spilled on my legs and my back my arms. A boy burned over 40 percent of his body,

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129 pints. An open heart surgery patient, 11 pints. A bleeding ulcer patient,

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nine pints. An ammonia victim, 13 pints. Bond of mutual concern symbolized in the fluid of life,

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freely given one to the other. I needed six pints myself and having been secretary of our blood bank

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at church since 1959, I felt that here I was getting a chance to use the service which I had

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been giving to others. Give, Luke said, and it shall be given unto you in good measure,

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pressed down, shaken together, and running over.

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branches do their benevolent work in many ways. A pancake fest to raise money for a stricken family.

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A plowing party to assist a hospitalized farmer. A rummage sale for school equipment.

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A branch picnic brings members together in a day of family fun. Fun with a purpose.

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A time for games. A time for music. A time for refreshment.

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A time for talk. A time for relaxation.

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And time for branch business. The next order of business is new business.

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Mr. Jensen? It is customary that the collection received at the Vesper service

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from the combined branches picnic be used for a useful and charitable cause.

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I move that we make a donation to the wall camp at Kingston, Illinois.

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I second the motion. One day the giver, another the given. For those who have gathered here

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know the comfort and security of the large and growing family of AAL brothers and sisters.

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People imbued with the love of Christ to love a fellow man and by Lutheran tradition

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to involvement in Christian deeds. On such principles, concern with human values,

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AAL builds the future. From God and from Christ came the seed of love

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carried by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to his sons and daughters. That gift shall flower in

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the love of men for each other and it is to a rich future to our children and their children

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and beyond that our heritage of love belongs.