Join LEAN and be part of a faith-based movement grounded in the call of Matthew 25: to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and seek justice alongside our neighbors.

This is holy work. It is public work. It is work we are called to do—not alone, but together.

Rooted in faith and shaped by love of neighbor, LEAN brings people and congregations across Nevada together to turn belief into action, hope into advocacy, and compassion into change.

We are called to do this work.
So let us do it—together.

Congress may vote very soon on critical housing funding – urge your lawmakers to act now.

Congressional negotiators have released a bipartisan spending bill for Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (T-HUD) programs ahead of a Jan. 30 shutdown deadline. This comes as hundreds of messages were sent by Lutheran ministers and congregants to lawmakers late last year calling for sustainable housing investments and funding. 

The bill, which is expected to have a vote in the House of Representatives the week of Jan. 20, would increase the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) total budget by $7.3 billion and is expected to renew most programs addressing housing insecurity. It includes boosts to areas like senior housing, homeless assistance, affordable housing initiatives and more. 

As homelessness rises and accessible housing grows more scarce, reliable increases to housing are a welcome development from Congress – though passage is not guaranteed. Lawmakers should hear why housing is a critical need for congregations and ministries working to end homelessness, and what initiatives will help the most vulnerable in our community. “Christians who have shelter are called to care, called to walk with homeless people in their struggle for a more fulfilling life and for adequate, affordable, and sustainable housing,” notes the ELCA social message “Homelessness: A Renewal of Commitment.” Please share your local experience, stories and values.

Contact your representatives today with a customizable message and urge them to pass an adequate T-HUD spending bill as soon as possible, separating the bill from controversial measures that are unlikely to pass. 

First, the U.S. government canceled flights for thousands of approved and vetted refugees already booked for travel to the United States. Now, it is seeking to relitigate the status of those already here and delay or block their path to permanency—a profound betrayal of the safety and security offeredby a longstanding U.S. humanitarian program.

Urge your senators and representatives to speak out and advocate to keep refugee status intact and ensure refugees can remain in their new homes!

Act Now!

Hunger is rising, and children are at risk.

But together, we can do something about it.

Join Bread for the World President and CEO Rev. Eugene Cho and staff, as well as hundreds of advocates across the country for the online launch of the 2026 Offering of Letters on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. ET.

During our time together, you’ll learn how you and your community can join this nationwide letter writing movement asking Congress to recommit to ending hunger.

In the last year we saw setbacks in programs and policies that support families facing food insecurity, both in the U.S. and around the world.

Yet these challenges galvanized our network to speak up. And together, our voices made a difference. Over the past year, the advocacy of Bread members like you led to meaningful policy changes that benefit children and families, including but not limited to:

• an increase in the per child benefit in the Child Tax Credit,
• Congress fully funding WIC at $7.6 billion for FY2025 with no cuts to the Cash Value Benefit,
• Meaningful funding for programs like Food for Peace and Feed the Future, which some proposals suggested entirely eliminating.

We know this advocacy must continue.

By joining us online for the 2026 Offering of Letters launch event, you’ll hear about the most pressing hunger related issues in Congress right now, learn tactics we can use together to speak up on these issues, and commit together to advocating through the 2026 Offering of Letters campaign.

We hope you’ll join us. It’s an honor to partner with you as we pursue a world without hunger.

LEAN will continue to update the website with resources, and ways to engage.

We are people of the cross, praying for hearts to be transformed.
We are disciples of Jesus who show up, who flip tables, who refuse to mistake comfort for faithfulness.
We are resurrection people—surrounded by death—and we will not be quiet about it.

We follow the witness of the prophetic theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who called the Church into costly discipleship: a discipleship that moves beyond temporary concern into real presence, real risk, and real action on behalf of our neighbors. Costly discipleship does not wait for permission. It responds when harm is at the door.

Now is the time for our communities to prepare for versions of Operation Metro Surge. This is not a conscience-based response, nor will it be an isolated incident. Escalation must become a catalyst—calling communities of faith across this country to be ready: to know our rights, to strengthen our networks, and to ensure that no neighbor faces what comes next alone.

As people of faith, we must ask ourselves:

• Do you know your neighbors’ names?
• When was the last time you connected with them—truly connected?
• If you haven’t, what is your plan to begin?
• How are you showing solidarity with your neighbors right now?
• And how might that solidarity grow and sustain itself if your community were to experience federal occupation or intensified enforcement?

Faithfulness in this moment is not abstract. It is relational. It is prepared. And it is rooted in the promise that resurrection is stronger than fear.