An Update on Owen’s Mission
by Michelle Bauman (November 17, 2025)
As you know, Lutherans For Life has been boldly proclaiming a Gospel-motivated message in response to contemporary life issues for more than 45 years. We have been blessed with the opportunity to educate and equip thousands of Lutheran churches and tens of thousands of adults and youth across the nation during this time. And that equipping has led to countless Gospel-motivated, for-life voices in our churches, schools, communities, and world.
One of the ways we’ve been teaching children, in particular, about the sanctity of life is through our Owen’s Mission program. Born out of personal tragedy, this special initiative honored the death of Dr. Lamb’s grandson Owen. Dr. Lamb and his family, alongside LFL, raised money to purchase and provide a fetal model set for each Lutheran school across America.
Our efforts and your contributions have indeed been a blessing! Initial fundraising came in at just under $200,000 dollars, and in honor of Owen, Lutherans For Life contributed an additional $100,000 toward this valuable initiative.
Thanks to your generous donations, Lutherans For Life has been able to present a set of babies to more than 435 Lutheran schools in the last twelve years, and through those presentations, we’ve reached over 58,700 youth! Praise be to God that each child in attendance at an Owen’s Mission presentation heard the life-affirming message that they were fearfully and wonderfully made by a loving God, redeemed by His Son, Jesus, and called to faith through the work of the Holy Spirit. Each child learned that his or her value was and is established by God, and that value, no matter what happens in life, never changes.
Your generous support of LFL’s Owen’s Mission project, whether through volunteer hours or financial donations, has changed tens of thousands of lives for good.
At this time, Owen’s Mission funds have been depleted, and it is time to let our babies rest. We are thankful for the schools across the nation that have been open to receiving, caring for, and sharing them with students, and we are certain the Owen’s Mission babies will continue to impact children for generations to come.
Even though the Owen’s Mission initiative has ended, our work as Gospel-motivated voices is not done! There are many more initiatives in progress at LFL, and some soon to come, and we hope you’re just as excited about sharing them!
Schools have been inquiring for years about materials for younger students, and Y4Life is working to meet that need. We’ve already begun building materials that directly serve children from preschool through second grade through our Lil’ Lutherans initiative, and new resources for youth in grades three through eight are now published under our brand new Y4Life Jr. logo.
For high school and college youth, Y4Life has not only produced numerous infographics, lesson plans, and kits in the last few years, but also offers valuable in-person events like Y4Life in Washington, D.C., the Y4Life Summit, the Y4Life Apologetics Retreat, a one-day From Fertilization to Forever conference, and high school and college leadership retreats. Find out more about these resources and events at y4life.org.
And we have also started serving young adults, those between the ages of 20 and 35, through our new YA For Life programs. If you’d like to learn more about Lil’ Lutherans, Y4Life Jr., or YA For Life, please visit yaforlife.org.
In addition to initiatives serving youth, our Volunteer Relations department just launched our new House of Refuge program—a program your entire congregation can take part in to make it clear that you support LIFE. And Word of Hope is hosting Christian mindfulness classes and a new abortion recovery retreat even as the department gears up for the production of a suicide awareness program.
God still has good work to do though you and through LFL’s many initiatives!
If you’d like to support our work or find out how you can be a Gospel-motivated voice for life, we welcome your partnership.
Reach out to us at info@lutheransforlife.org or visit lutheransforlife.org today!
Thousands of students have now heard about Owen’s Mission!
Horton the elephant was right! The Bible agrees! In fact, the Bible says more: A person’s a person created by God (Psalm 139:13-14), a person redeemed by Jesus (Galatians 3:13), and a person the Holy Spirit wants to call to be His child (1 Timothy 2:4) no matter how small!
Owen’s Mission is a very special project of Lutherans For Life. The goal of this project is to honor Jesus by presenting a set of Touch of Life fetal models to every Lutheran elementary and high school in the country. We want students to understand the God-given value of each life from the moment of conception. We want students to be motivated by what God has done as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier that gives value to life. We want students to value themselves and to value others as persons because of this God-given value.
Where did Owen’s Mission come from? From a very small and special baby named Owen. Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb, former executive director of Lutherans For Life, shares his story:
“I held my little grandson Owen in the palm of my hand. He died at twenty-one weeks during pre-natal surgery to remove a large tumor. The nurse brought him to our son as we waited in the recovery room for Owen’s mother. I find it difficult to describe what I felt when I was able to hold him. I had held the twenty-week Touch of Life fetal model in my hands hundreds of times in front of students from preschoolers to seminarians. Holding Owen revived in me the reality behind those models. I will never hold them in the same way again.”
As Owen’s grandpa, Dr. Lamb wanted to do something special to remember Owen, honor Jesus, and help others understand the value God gives to even the smallest of lives. With the help of Owen’s family, Owen’s Mission was born.
Contact Lutherans For Life about getting an Owen’s Mission fetal model set at your school! Call 888.364.LIFE or email info@lutheransforlife.org.
Find Out How Touch of Life Fetal Models are Made