2015 Lutherans Engage the World - January-February

Lutherans ENGAGE the WORLD January – February 2015, Vol. 3, Issue 3

Lutherans

ENGAGE the WORLD January – February 2015

vol. 3, no. 3

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Living in Mission

US Church Planting: A New Initiative for the Office of National Mission New Work in an Ancient Land It Takes a Network: Church Planting in Georgia Providing Bread and the Bread of Life

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Engaging the Church in the work of witness and mercy across the globe in our life together.

LUTHERANS ENGAGE THE WORLD is published bi-monthly by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. © 2015 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Reproduction for parish use does not require permission. Such reproductions, however, should credit LUTHERANS ENGAGE THE WORLD as a source. Print editions are sent to LCMS donors, rostered workers and missionaries. An online version is available (lcms.org/lutheransengage). To receive the print edition, we invite you to make a financial gift for LCMS global witness and mercy work. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are property of the LCMS. 888-THE LCMS (843-5267) lcms.org

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001

by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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engage THE MISSION: FAR AND NEAR

10 Questions

From our earliest days, the LCMS has been a church

Career Missionaries Again on the Rise

Forging Mission Partnerships through God’s Grace

LCMS Grant Funds Roofs for Madagascar Churches

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Reversing the Trend

focused on mission — sharing the Gospel of Christ Jesus in places far and near. This desire even factored into the decision to become a Synod, as the many scattered Lutheran congregations in this country determined to unite their efforts and resources for the sake of the Gospel.

It didn’t take long before we began sending missionaries and supporting them with our prayers and resources.

Did you know that our very first missionaries were sent to work among Native Americans? Were you aware that our first missionary sent to a foreign post was the Rev. Theodore Naether, who was sent to India where he eventually gave his life in service to the Gospel?

As you might imagine, much has changed since these first mission efforts. Today we send missionaries to work alongside international church bodies that are, in many cases, products of our earlier overseas mission work. Much of our work is now happening in our own backyards, in cities, small towns and suburbs where we live, and where immigrants have settled and are making a new life.

We’ve also learned a thing or two.

Our experience has taught us about the best practices for mission work. Our international partners are teaching and telling us that theological education is primary in order to train indigenous pastors. We are focused on caring for our missionaries and their families, and we have learned better ways to do that.

Nationally, we’ve seen how important it is for local congregations and their districts to lead as the Synod’s ministries walk in lock-step with them, bringing capacity and expertise.

The LCMS is, by God’s grace, doing incredible work at home and abroad, bearing witness to Christ in the 21st century. As you read through the pages of this issue, I hope you see a bit of the height and breadth of this work.

Please consider how you might support it with your prayers, finances or even as a missionary!

In Christ, Pamela J. Nielsen Associate Executive Director, LCMS Communications

S TA F F David L. Strand Pamela J. Nielsen Erica Schwan Melanie Ave Megan K. Mertz Erik M. Lunsford Carolyn A. Niehoff Chrissy A. Thomas

executive director, communications executive editor manager, design services staff writer staff writer photojournalist/staff writer designer designer

EDITORIAL OFFICE 314-996-1215 1333 S. Kirkwood Road St. Louis, MO 63122-7295 lutheransengage@lcms.org lcms.org/lutheransengage

Cover image: Portrait of the Rev. Deng Jock Kier, at Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

PHOTO: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD

Living

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in Mission

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he Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod lives in mission. It is who we are. It is what we do.

From our earliest days, the LCMS has understood our Gospel mandate to carry the pure Word of God and rightly administered Sacraments to the very ends of the earth. Wherever there are those who have not yet heard, whether in our backyard or across the globe, we have been prepared to proclaim the hope that is in us and the faith that comes from hearing. The mission zeal that marked the earliest days of our church is being invigorated in the present day. Mission is happening at home and abroad. The kingdom of God is expanding.

Thanks be to God. He does all things well.

That mission has been richly blessed by our Lord right up to the present day.

Today the church is living in mission more than ever before, despite the changing and challenging face of Christianity around the world. To say the world is changing is no surprise. The challenges to the Gospel often

seem insurmountable to our human eyes and frail faith. Yet the Lord is blessing in amazing ways. He is faithful. His Word never returns empty. He is using our efforts to do great things. The mission field is abounding with a harvest unto eternal life.

We work at home and abroad. In the United States, we see the mission field that is growing around us. The United States is now the third-largest mission field in the world. And so we work to support a domestic church that transitions from traditional ministry to a mission focus and ethos. A church that is invigorated to live in the midst of the mission. A church that has all that is needed to proclaim the Gospel in our own backyard. At the very same time, we are working with partners around the world. Each partner has different needs, and we stand ready to help and support them in meaningful ways. Many of our older church partners are moving from mission to traditional ministry. They often need us to support them with theological

education for both pastors and lay leaders.

They need support to transition into sustaining ministries as people become lifelong disciples of Jesus. Other emerging partners need us to help them engage with missionaries on the ground to support the beginning of an indigenous church that will share the Gospel in their own language and cultural context.

The mission work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is as critical today as ever before. We ask for your prayers and support of that work. In the following pages, you will hear a few of the amazing things that are happening by the grace of God in our Synod. I pray these will inspire you to partner with us in this wonderful task of telling the whole world about Jesus.

In His name, Rev. Bart Day Interim Chief Mission Officer and Executive Director of the Office of National Mission, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

not yet heard, whether in our backyard or across the globe … who have

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PHOTO: ISTOCK/THINKSTOCK

Wherever there are those

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by Melanie Ave

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1.

Questions with Deaconess Sandra Rhein

Sandra Rhein has been to Africa 16 times, but she doesn’t call herself “a traveler.” Instead, she is a deaconess and church musician at Emmaus Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Bend, Ind., who has been called to use her unique combination of gifts in service to Lutherans around the world.

In 2012, she completed a hymnal for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK), an LCMS partner church. Recently, she started working on a hymnal update for the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, with which the LCMS has a working agreement.

How did you get started on the Kenyan hymnal?

After being asked by the ELCK to assist them, I started making trips to Kenya to worship with the people there. I needed to know what the worship was like. We were assisting them in writing a Kenyan hymnal, not an American hymnal. After getting to know their current hymnal, and where we could strengthen it, we were able to translate 30 hymns into Swahili for the first time. I got to know some ecclesiastical language in Swahili, but I had lots of proofreaders since I was working in a language I didn’t understand that well.

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Did you include some of our hymns?

PHOTOS: SANDRA RHEIN, LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD

by Megan K. Mertz

As a committee, we looked especially at those hymns by Martin Luther and Paul Gerhardt that teach the faith. They certainly don’t sound African, but the Kenyans wanted to be connected to the universal Church. They didn’t want something that was only Kenyan.

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What about the liturgy?

The music for the liturgy was lovely, but I couldn’t find a written version of it. So I had a pastor sing it over and over, and I transcribed it for the new hymnal. The name of the hymnal is Ibada Takatifu, which means “Divine Service.”

4.

What was most challenging?

The enormity of the project. It was foreign in so many ways. The challenge was always trying lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

to break it down into steps that were manageable.

Also, the communication. With a different culture, you want to be helpful without dictating results.

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Most rewarding?

The opportunity to serve. As a deaconess, my desire is to serve the neighbor, to bring God’s love to them. To be given ways to do that is the most rewarding thing.

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How long did the project take?

The Kenyan hymnal took almost five years.

In 2012, when it was nearly done, I spent a month at the seminary in Kenya with my husband, who is also a musician. The two of us taught music reading classes. It’s amazing to meet educated adults who have literally never read a note of music. It was so much fun to help them discover that. We took little keyboards in our suitcases — the toy kind — and lots of batteries.

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Now you are working on an Ethiopian hymnal?

When leaders of the Ethiopian church and the LCMS began discussions, one specific request was for assistance in a hymnal update. They have formed a hymnal committee, of which I’m a member, and we’ve begun work on a new hymnal.

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How will this project be different?

One of the biggest challenges is their language. The language in Ethiopia is Amharic, which uses its own unique alphabet.

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Why is this work important to you?

Hymnals are probably second only to Bibles in how important they are to Christians and to the Church. Good hymns teach the faith, with Christ at the center. They help unify the Church and give comfort to people. A good hymnal also has liturgy, the Psalms and the catechism. Where the Lutheran church is growing very quickly, as in Kenya, they don’t have enough pastors. A pastor might have 10 or 12 congregations. If the people hear a pastor only every other month, then what they are singing preaches to them.

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What do you hope this work will achieve?

I pray that the hymnal allows the Kenyan Lutherans to receive God’s gifts in the Divine Service and worship faithfully. I would love to see some new hymns come from Kenya. Now that they have a strong hymnal, their next generation might produce new hymnwriters to join with those God has given us throughout the world and over the centuries.

Megan K. Mertz is a staff writer for LCMS Communications.

Learn more: blogs.lcms.org/2011/a-lutheran-hymnal-forkenya-8-2011

wmltblog.org/2013/02/dedication-ofkenyan-hymnal-ibata-takatifu/

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 US Church Planting: A New Initiative for the Office of National Mission

by Melanie Ave

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new chapter on church planting is about to begin in the recent history book of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

PHOTOS: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD; MAP: ISTOCK/THINKSTOCK

Faced with population shifts and a request for the Synod to play a larger role in helping districts, circuits and congregations start new churches, discussions are just beginning about how to craft a new church-planting initiative aimed at encouraging, facilitating, funding and sharing best practices, said the Rev. Bart Day, interim chief mission officer and executive director of the LCMS Office of National Mission (ONM).

The 2013 Synod convention approved a resolution to “encourage church multiplication as means of making new disciples.”

Some LCMS districts, congregations and related church organizations are actively planting churches. But the effort, Day said, seems fragmented and somewhat invisible.

“Right now, it’s just not in the spotlight, on the radar,” he said. “It’s not getting the attention it needs from the broader whole of Synod and all 35 districts being engaged in daughtering and planting congregations.”

The LCMS Office of National Mission has written policies specific to church planting that call for the Synod to work with districts and congregations to develop witness and mercy opportunities that will lead to the establishment of Word and Sacrament ministry and support the development of strong missional leaders.

A New Mission Frontier When the discussion turns to church planting, you have to begin with demographics, population shifts and global Christianity changes, said the Rev. Steven Schave, director of LCMS Urban & InnerCity Mission, who is directing the yetunnamed ONM church-planting efforts.

“We in the United States were always considered to be the ones who sent missionaries around the world to plant churches and to preach the Gospel,” he said. “Now we’re seeing the reverse. We are seeing our church partners thriving. …

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We’re seeing the United States from a global perspective. We’re the third-largest mission field in the world.

“Only China and India have more people outside the Christian faith than we do.”

In short, the mission field is here. But by and large, LCMS congregations are not concentrated in fast-growing areas — cities — or where minority groups are the highest.

Sixty-four percent of the Synod’s membership is in the Midwest, 16 percent in the South, 13 percent in the West and 7 percent in the Northeast, according to Pew Research Center’s “Religious Landscape” report.

But it is U.S. urban areas, Schave said, that are prime spots for mission work and new churches.

“This is the next chapter in the Missouri Synod book of missions,” he said.

Schave said LCMS church plants will go beyond the suburbs and small towns to reach different ethnic groups, college campuses, underserved communities and neglected inner cities. Domestic missionaries will become mission developers, helping to plant or restart churches.

During November’s LCMS National Mission Summit in California, the Rev. Larry Vogel, associate executive director of the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations, gave a presentation on demographics, citing information from Pew and the LCMS Office of Rosters and Statistics.

He said the LCMS is 95 percent nonLatino white compared to less than 64 percent for the entire country. Only one other faith tradition had a higher percentage of whites: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Additionally, Vogel said the level of aging in LCMS congregations is well above average and the Synod is struggling to retain and evangelize young people.

After presenting the rather grim statistics, Vogel left the group on a positive note.

“We live by the Gospel, not numbers,” he said. “We will all die without it, so I simply remind you that we walk by faith not by sight or statistics. That doesn’t mean we can ignore the numbers, but I pray that it will allow us to keep them in their place.”

“Only China and India have more people outside the Christian faith than we do.”

— Rev. Steven Schave

Coming Alongside Church planting is very much a part of LCMS history.

In the late 1800s, the Synod averaged a new church a day. In comparison, between 2006 and 2014, the LCMS had 559 new church starts and new congregations — an average of 70 per year, according to LCMS Rosters and Statistics.

“Planting a church is a natural occurrence in the life of the church and it is quite biblical and Trinitarian by nature,” Schave recently wrote for the LCMS Leader Blog in an article called “Planting a Reformation.”

“And in these dark and latter days, when one thinks upon Christ’s imperative to preach repentance and forgiveness to the ends of the earth, and we consider how

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some of our largest major cities have only a handful of LCMS churches, there is certainly opportunity to love our neighbors and preach the Good News across the spectrum.”

Day said by taking a leadership role, the LCMS can bring together districts, circuits, congregations and other partners and help create a more coordinated approach and a framework in which to plant churches.

“We’re just recognizing our lack of leadership in church planting has not been helpful,” he said. “How do we strategize and help equip districts to do missions in new territories or where maybe they’ve wanted to but they haven’t had the resources or the skills?

“Can we come alongside them and help them do it?”

In addition to the Synod’s urban ministry, its Black, Hispanic, Rural & Small Town and Campus ministries also will be a key part of the church-planting initiative.

LCMS Hispanic Ministry works with

districts and congregations to reach out to Hispanics in their communities, which has included the creation of congregations, special Spanish-language services and mercy work.

The Rev. Dr. Carlos Hernandez, director of LCMS Church and Community Engagement — which includes the strategic development of Hispanic Ministry — said the 52 million Latinos in the United States, the largest ethnic population, are an “enormously untapped mission field.”

“This is what we have been called to do — to make disciples of all nations — and to be Christ’s witnesses to the ‘ends of the earth,’” he said. “What a Gospel-proclamation opportunity.”

The Rev. Todd Kollbaum, director of LCMS Rural & Small Town Mission, said although much of his work has focused on church revitalization, he is helping rural congregations determine potential areas or communities in which to plant churches.

About half of the Synod’s membership comes from rural areas or small towns.

“Church planting and revitalization really work hand in hand,” Kollbaum said. “We cannot forsake one for the other.”

While the new ONM church-planting initiative is in its infancy, it will flow from the Synod’s Witness, Mercy, Life Together emphasis.

“We’re going to plant distinctly Lutheran churches doing distinctly Lutheran missions,” Schave said. “We’re going to look back on history and say this, for us, was a watershed moment for a new chapter of Lutheran missions. How did we respond?

We’re going to take seriously and plan for this United States of America being the new mission frontier.”

Melanie Ave is a staff writer and the social media coordinator for LCMS Communications.

Abigail Konig (left) and Talitha Elbert share stories during the 2014 Lutheran Youth Corps pilot project debriefing at Shepherd of the City Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, Pa.

“ How do we strategize and help equip districts to do missions in new territories or where maybe they’ve wanted to but they haven’t had the resources or the skills? Can we come alongside them and help them do it?” — Rev. Bart Day

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p A mosaic

above the altar in the chapel of Mekane Yesus Seminary, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

New Work

in an Ancient Land PHOTOS: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD

E

thiopia is a country with an ancient history and rich culture dating back to the Old Testament period.

Some Bible versions translate Cush in Ezek. 29:10 as “Ethiopia,” and the Oromo, the largest of Ethiopia’s many tribes, is known as “Southern Cushite.”

Christianity has been in Ethiopia for nearly 2,000 years. It became the state religion in 330 A.D. when Archbishop Athanasius of Alexandria sent a bishop to Ethiopia, resulting in the birth of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and it remains the predominant religion to this day.

Lutherans are relative latecomers to this African nation — and the LCMS later still.

Lutheran contact with Ethiopia began in the 17th century with the arrival of Dr. Peter Heyling, a young missionary from Lübeck,

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p The LCMS delegation, led by the Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver III,

LCMS director of Church Relations and Regional Operations, meets with leaders of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. Also representing the LCMS were the Rev. Dr. Tilahun Mendedo, president of Concordia College Alabama, Selma, Ala.; the Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast Jr., president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., and chairman of the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR); the Rev. Dr. Joel Lehenbauer, executive director of the CTCR; the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Kloha, provost of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis; and the Rev. Dr. William Schumacher, a professor from Concordia Seminary who is currently teaching at Mekane Yesus Seminary. The Rev. Shauen Trump, LCMS area director for East Africa, also attended the meetings.

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Germany. Heyling practiced medicine while teaching Lutheran theology to the Ethiopian clergy. Echoing Martin Luther’s work, he translated the Gospel of John and the liturgy into Amharic, the language of the people.

When Islam demanded his conversion, Heyling refused and was martyred. His teachings, however, survived in the Ethiopian desert for nearly 200 years.

Once discovered, they laid a foundation for the work of Lutheran missionaries who came to Ethiopia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The missionaries — who were sent by Lutheran mission societies in Sweden, Germany, Norway, Finland, Denmark and the United States — planted a patchwork of independent churches that merged over 50 years ago to form the Ethiopian Evangelical

Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY).

Mekane Yesus means “the dwelling place of Jesus.” It aptly describes this rapidly growing church body that is focused on ministering to the whole person with Christ’s gifts in Word and Sacrament.

The LCMS began regular contact with the EECMY in 2000, although informal connections occurred through individual students and professors of the EECMY in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

The EECMY, with its zeal for missions and the revitalization of congregations, has grown significantly from a church of 20,000 members in 1959. Its membership will soon surpass 7 million.

Such rapid growth creates a tremendous need for pastors and provides a challenge for this young church body with a goal of t The Rev. Alan Ludwig, LCMS

missionary and theological educator in Siberia, teaches seminarians at Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

He is one of several LCMS pastors and seminary professors currently serving as rotating guest lecturers for the EECMY, an effort that will continue in the future.

training 10,000 pastors and evangelists in five years.

Because the LCMS has an international reputation for excellence in theological education and pastoral formation, the EECMY has asked the Missouri Synod to assist in helping train future professors who will teach at its central seminary, five regional seminaries and 40 Bible schools.

The Rev. Dr. Berhanu Ofgaa, the EECMY general secretary, says the EECMY needs a strong Lutheran identity to remain faithful in light of the many challenges the church faces — challenges ranging from Islam to Pentecostalism to liberalism. This is a conviction shared by EECMY President Rev. Dr. Wakseyoum Idosa.

In November, an LCMS delegation led by the Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver III, LCMS director of Church Relations and Regional Operations, met with EECMY leaders to discuss and sign a revised working– partnership agreement. The agreement includes provision for theological education and support for Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa.

“Though differences remain,” said Collver, “the EECMY has a great respect for the

t A woman prepares for a

PHOTOS: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD

traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony.

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LCMS’ commitment to the Holy Scriptures as the inerrant Word of God and to the Lutheran Confessions. At the same time, the LCMS can learn from the EECMY’s zeal for mission and revitalization of congregations.”

“The EECMY has a strong desire for confessional Lutheran theology taught to the highest standards,” said the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Kloha, provost at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. “By strengthening their graduate programs, pastors and professors of the EECMY will be built up in the Scriptures and Confessions. … We are pleased to have several pastors from the EECMY already studying for advanced degrees here through the Global Seminary Initiative. They will return to Ethiopia to strengthen theological education there for the next generation.”

The Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast Jr., president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., expanded on this, stating: “Students from the EECMY have benefited from educational opportunities at Concordia Theological Seminary (CTS) in Fort Wayne for more than a decade now.

At the same time, faculty from CTS have built deep and lasting relationships with Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa.

Through this mutual interaction, we see God at work building and strengthening His Church for a robust future.”

“There are great opportunities ahead for the LCMS and the EECMY as this relationship develops,” Collver said.

“Thanks be to God for opening this door.

LCMS ministry leaders look forward to continuing this work together.”

The Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver III, LCMS director of Church Relations and Regional Operations, and Deaconess Pamela J. Nielsen, associate executive director for LCMS Communications, contributed to this story.

From Herdsman to Shepherd Deng Jock Kier is a pastor in the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY). Kier shared his journey from the tribal lands of western Ethiopia to the seminary with Pamela Nielsen, who was part of the visiting LCMS delegation to Ethiopia in November. It is a two-day journey from the seminary to the Gambela region, where Kier grew up and now serves.

Kier: My people are farmers. They grow corn, planting twice a year, and also herd goats. My tribe lives together in the desert, and we make up the largest tribe in Gambela.

Nielsen: I noticed you have scars on your forehead, can you tell me about them?

Kier: When you reach 15 years, [you] get the mark. They make the mark with knives.

You cannot cry because now you are a man.

It is no longer common in the tribe because in an area with no doctor, people can bleed too much and can die. I remember the day of the mark the most because it hurt!

Nielsen: What is the religion of your tribe?

Kier: Until 1962, we were traditional African worshipers of the spirits, above and below. Today, most of the region is Christian, mostly Lutheran. When the missionaries came, they opened schools, clinics, began agriculture projects. We

border Sudan, and the Sudanese worship different gods.

Nielsen: How do you minister to them?

Kier: They pray to [their] god and ask him for help. I tell them that the god they worship is the creator God. He is [the] One who died for us. I tell them about Jesus. They sacrifice animals for protection.

I say no more sacrifice. Only Jesus Christ sacrificed once for all. This God is mercy God. Nielsen: When did you become a Christian?

Kier: I became a Christian when I was 12 years old in 1984, and was baptized and confirmed. My father still is not Christian.

My brothers and sisters [are] Christians. My mother waited for 20 years [to become a Christian].

Nielsen: Why did you come to the seminary?

Kier: The pastors are very few. We need more pastors and lay ministers. I have come here to learn more about God’s Word. I learn new things here about church and the mission of God so when I go back I can teach it. The seminary can educate me to serve [the] community with the Word of God. The seminary is [a] good thing. I appreciate [the] seminary and the partners who support it. God bless all of us.

Learn more:

Read about the agreement: blogs.lcms.

org/2014/eecmy-lcms-sign

View the photo gallery: photo.lcms.org

t Women collect the offering during

a worship service at the EECMY mother church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

FAST FACTS Full name:

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

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distinct ethnic groups languages, including English, Arabic and Amharic

Religious makeup:

96,633,458

43%

Orthodox

33.9% 18%

Muslim

2.7%

Traditional

0.7% 0.6%

Catholic

6.2 million EECMY members

Other

2.2 million LCMS members

Protestant

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Ethiopian population

318,892,103 U.S. population

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Career Missionaries Again on the Rise

300

225

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Paraguay Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia

KEY

200 175

Career missionaries

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti Lanka Lutheran Church Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania

Partner churches

150 125

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod founded 1847

100

India Evangelical Lutheran Church

75 Evangelical Lutheran Church—Synod of France Evangelical Lutheran Church in Belgium

50 25

Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile

Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Denmark

The Lutheran Church of Nigeria

2014

2004

1994

1984

1974

1964

1954

1944

1934

1924

1914

1904

1894

1884

1874

1864

1854

0 1844

NUMBER OF MISSIONARIES IN THE FIELD

The Lutheran Church—Hong Kong Synod

Lutheran Synod of Mexico Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana Lutheran Church in Korea Gutnius Lutheran Church, Papua New Guinea The Lutheran Church in the Philippines

250

Matthew C. Harrison

Japan Lutheran Church

China Evangelical Lutheran Church, Taiwan ROC

275

Robert T. Kuhn Gerald B. Kieschnick

A.L. Barry

Ralph A. Bohlmann

J.A.O. Preus II

Oliver R. Harms

J.W. Behnken

F. Pfotenhauer

Franz Pieper

H.C. Schwan

C.F.W. Walther

F.C.D. Wyneken

C.F.W. Walther

For more than 100 years, the LCMS has carried out international mission work. Nearly every Synod convention since 1974 resolved to grow the number of career missionaries serving overseas. In 2013, the Synod convention adopted Res. 1-11, “To Recruit and Place More Career Missionaries,” which called for the doubling of career missionaries. Today, indicators show that the Synod is on track to meet this mandate, doubling the 68 career missionaries in 2013 to an anticipated 136 by the next convention in 2016. The Lord indeed sends laborers to the harvest, and the Synod’s prayer is that He would send even more laborers so that the Gospel of Christ is proclaimed to all the world.

Lutheran Church of Togo Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya

Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church

Notes on Career Missionary Numbers The career missionary numbers are primarily taken from the Proceedings of the Synodical Convention from the Board for Foreign Missions (other Synod mission boards were not counted). In 1965, the Synod in convention voted to merge the various mission boards into a unified mission board. Despite this change, the number of career missionaries was not significantly affected — in fact, the number declined by 49. Not every Synod convention reported career missionary numbers. Between 1969–81, when J.A.O. Preus II was president; between 1981–92, when Ralph Bohlmann was president; and between 2001-10, when Gerald Kieschnick was president, the Synod in convention did not report career missionary numbers. The most significant decline in career missionaries occurred after Seminex when the “majority of missionaries walked off the field” (1974-81). In 1981, the Synod adopted a resolution to increase the number of career missionaries to 600 by 1990. The second-largest drop in career missionaries occurred between 2001-09. Career missionary numbers from 2001–14 were obtained from the records of the Board for Missionary Services and the Office of International Mission. These numbers do not include people who served in “Home Missions in Foreign Lands” — which would include pastors and professors who served primarily German-speaking people in Europe and South America. The numbers only include people counted as missionaries to “Foreign Lands.” The Synod did not begin using the category “volunteer” or “GEO” until the 1990s. These are not career missionaries and are not included in the tabulation.

Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver III Director of Church Relations and Regional Operations

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Missionaries By the Numbers 131 92 39 47 65 155

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total missionaries career missionaries Globally Engaged in Outreach (GEO) missionaries new career missionaries in 2014 percent projected increase in career missionaries by February 2015 additional missionaries desired

Latin America and the Caribbean

The LCMS began work in Latin America and the Caribbean in 1900 at the request of German immigrants who were living in Brazil. Since that time, the LCMS has expanded its witness and mercy work to many other countries in the region. Current LCMS projects in the region include providing scholarships for seminarians from six countries to study at Concordia Seminary, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and church planting in eight countries with mercy houses alongside.

30 current missionaries 11 additional missionaries desired

Eurasia

The Synod’s work in Eurasia is focused on connecting the people of the region to the resources of the LCMS so they might hear the saving Word of God. The missionaries’ work is focused on those who have never heard of Christ and those who have heard but do not yet know Christ as their Savior. Missionaries are involved with church planting, theological education, music instruction, agriculture, human-care needs and prison ministry.

26 current missionaries 14 additional missionaries desired

Africa

From the earliest days of the LCMS’ mission work in Nigeria in 1936, church planting and evangelism in Africa remain top priorities.

As the Lutheran Church in Africa has grown, the churches established by missionaries have planted new congregations. These African-initiated Lutheran churches are emerging all over the region and provide a great opportunity for theological education and partnership with the LCMS.

21 current missionaries 68 additional missionaries desired

Asia Pacific

The Synod’s mission work in the Asia Pacific region began in China in 1913 and escalated following World War II. During the last 60 years, the LCMS has been involved in many acts of witness and mercy in diverse areas of the region, from remote villages in Thailand to the modern metropolis of Hong Kong. The LCMS, whose rich heritage includes a strong emphasis on education, also has helped start Lutheran schools in many countries.

40 current missionaries 39 additional missionaries desired

Southern Asia and Oceania

The Southern Asia and Oceania region is home to 1.5 billion people. It also is the site of the earliest LCMS mission field (India, 1895) and some areas where Lutheran groups are just starting to emerge. Through a renewed commitment in this region, the LCMS plans to provide the guidance and support necessary to help fellow Lutherans in Southern Asia and Oceania overcome obstacles and become strong witnesses for the Gospel. A critical priority for future work in this region is the recruitment and sending of missionaries to work alongside indigenous pastors and church leaders.

14 current missionaries 23 additional missionaries desired

Supporting Your Missionaries

The Synod’s missionaries treasure your prayers and financial support to help tell others about Jesus. Learn more about how you, too, can get involved in the Lord’s mission.

Together In Mission

A network of congregations, organizations and groups lcms.org/togetherinmission

Mission Senders

A network of individuals and families lcms.org/missionsenders

Mission Central

A special place in Iowa’s famland missioncentral.us

nspire Pray. Examine the demographics. Find a core group of supporters.

Secure a place to meet.

Plan outreach. Invite the community in.

Church Planting in Georgia

by Megan K. Mertz q Pastor Timothy Droegemueller

leads a Bible study at Living Faith Lutheran Church in Cumming, Ga.

In the Community Living Faith Lutheran Church in Cumming, Ga., and its pastor, the Rev. Timothy Droegemueller, have been a “spark plug” in this church-planting effort, according to the Rev. Douglas Kallesen, district mission executive.

When Droegemueller came to Living Faith in 2006, the congregation — a mission start planted four years earlier — was on the verge of closing.

But all that turned around. The congregation outgrew two different locations and built a new building, which was dedicated in October 2014. It also began hosting Living Faith Korean Lutheran Church, a Korean mission led by Pastor Chang Soo Kim. Kim organizes job-training classes to help Korean immigrants find jobs after coming to the United States. The mission offers

PHOTOS: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD

It Takes a Network:

These are the basic steps to planting a new congregation — something the North Atlanta Circuit of the LCMS Florida-Georgia District knows a thing or two about.

In the last five years, the circuit has planted about a dozen new mission starts. It also has raised up a number of men for the pastoral ministry, including five Koreans who will work on planting their own Korean Lutheran congregations as soon as they finish their studies.

In 2012, nine congregations of the circuit came together to form the Kairos Network, a church-planting group from the confessional Lutheran perspective. The name comes from Paul’s words in 2 Cor. 6:2: “Behold, now is the favorable time [Greek: kairos]; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

“ It all starts with trust in the Word spilling out from the font and altar, 12

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alone to do what it says. Life keeps and we just keep going out.”

— Rev. Timothy Droegemueller

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classes on sewing, computer skills, English grammar and conversation, and medical billing and coding. So far, 27 graduates of the medical billing and coding program have found jobs in local hospitals.

“We don’t refuse anyone who wishes to attend these classes,” Kim said by email.

“Many of the people who attend these classes have also joined our church.”

Kim also teaches weekly Bible and catechism classes. One of his goals is to address “misperceptions” within the Korean community about the Lutheran denomination, which is not well-known in South Korea where most of the immigrants once lived.

Through these outreach programs, Living Faith’s Korean mission has grown from just six members to more than 35.

Kim also has recruited five Korean pastors to go through the colloquy process to become LCMS pastors. One is preparing to start a Korean-language outreach to abuse victims in Georgia, while a second pastor is working to start the first Korean LCMS church in Dallas.

“Many times, our plans and our ideas fall to bits, but we rejoice because we know that the Lord will continue to work,” Droegemueller said. “It all starts with trust in the Word alone to do what it says. Life keeps spilling out from the font and altar, and we just keep going out.”

In Neighboring Communities In the past few years, Living Faith has planted two daughter congregations of its own nearby: St. John the Apostle Lutheran Church in Buford and St. Peter Lutheran Church in Dahlonega. Droegemueller also served as the field-work supervisor for the Rev. Aaron Reinking, a 2012 graduate of the Specific Ministry Pastor program at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort

Wayne, Ind., who now oversees Christ the King Lutheran Church in the nearby town of Commerce.

Christ the King — which currently meets in a rented space in a strip mall — is a plant of two congregations in Athens, Ga., and it’s one of six mission starts supported by the Kairos Network.

Reinking admits that planting a new church is hard work. He had to find a place to meet, negotiate the rent and acquire Bibles, hymnals, an altar, even chairs — all the things an established congregation takes for granted. He even works as a teacher during the week to make ends meet.

But he does it all because he believes that “people need churches in their own communities,” a concept he observed firsthand as a field worker at Living Faith.

“We are a congregation of mission,” Reinking said. “We’re not about protecting our turf. We want this church to grow and become self-sustaining. But then we’re going to look into other areas because we want to establish other congregations so more people can hear the Gospel.”

On the National Level To assist this church-planting effort, the LCMS gave a $7,000 grant to the Kairos Network to help new church plants in the area. The grant will provide $1,000 each for seven new church plants.

“The grant showed such great trust,” Droegemueller said. “It gives people the little bit of help they need for Bibles or hymnals or catechisms or a place to rent to start work in a new community.”

Kallesen’s goal for these mission starts is to see them become full-fledged, chartered LCMS congregations.

He looks for a certain set of benchmarks when evaluating whether the time is right for a mission start to become a chartered

p Tabitha Back (left) and Sang Mok Ko sing during a worship service at

Living Faith Korean Lutheran Church.

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congregation: the mission start is fully functioning in its capacity to conduct worship, provide the Word of God through education, provide fellowship opportunities and carry out witness to the community. It also must demonstrate the ability to become self-sufficient in the future.

“It’s a circuit-district project, but the circuit is helping to do the real heavy lifting,” Kallesen said.

Through the Kairos Network, the congregations of the circuit were rallied to provide more support than would otherwise be possible from one congregation acting alone.

“The network is vital because it just won’t allow us to leave the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ alone. It also keeps reinforcing for us the very things that people in this world actually need, like life in God’s holy Word, Baptism, Absolution, the Lord’s Supper and the preaching of the cross,” Droegemueller said.

“When we realize the biblical treasures that should be poured out on all Christians, we can’t help but move out. The network also puts us in a regular habit of considering how to reach new areas and communities.”

In addition to his work with the circuit, Droegemueller is involved in the Synod’s new church-planting initiative. He is part of a group working to create resources to share with members of the Synod, and he will participate in an upcoming roundtable event on church planting.

“Christ has completed all things on our behalf,” Droegemueller said. “There’s nothing we can lose. We’ve got our identity in Baptism. Our sins are forgiven. We’re at the Lord’s table. There is no reason for us to sit back and keep this to ourselves. It’s time to proclaim the Gospel.”

View the photo gallery: photo.lcms.org

p A man holds a Korean hymnal during a worship service at Living Faith

Korean Lutheran Church. lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

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MERCY MOMENT

nspire

Providing Bread

and the Bread of Life

by Melanie Ave

PHOTOS: ISTOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK, CONCORDIA LUTHERAN CHURCH

C

oncordia Lutheran Church in In addition to food and clothing, the Triangle, Va., has a small and largely ministry also provides Bibles, materials from aging population. It’s located in a Lutheran Hour Ministries and Concordia poor neighborhood in one of this country’s Publishing House’s Portals of Prayer. richest counties.

The ministry receives prayer requests On any given Sunday, about 35 people weekly. can be found in worship.

The ministry’s goal is to clearly proclaim In 2005, the congregation prayed for the name of Christ and reach out with care God’s guidance on how to serve the for His people, McElvain said. Ministry community. What grew from those prayers leaders and volunteers try to foster was the Concordia Food Ministry, which relationships with the families that come now provides food and clothing to about 100 each week and steer them to understand families each week. that all they receive is from the bounty of It’s a big ministry by a small congregation. God’s open hand.

“We shouldn’t be able to sustain,” said The ministry doesn’t require any special Pastor John McElvain. “We haven’t, actually. screening or income guidelines for families God’s done it. He provides. It’s amazing. to participate.

I always say it’s the five loaves and two “To be in need can be a fish, and we get to see it every week. somewhat humiliating “Somehow, He makes it happen. experience,” McElvain said.

“We’re food I just get to watch it and go, “We don’t question. It’s for the body ‘Wow.’” just God’s blessing that Church volunteers bag food we distribute. We’re just and food for at 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays. At 5:30 serving to meet people’s the soul.” p.m., the church holds a weekly needs and reaching — Pastor John McElvain, Concordia Food Ministry, service of the Word before the them with the Gospel.”

Triangle, Va. food distribution, which occurs On a Wednesday in from 6-7 p.m. Each family that shows mid-November, 57 people up receives four bags of groceries. Tucked attended the pre-distribution inside is a colorful card with a Scripture service and 153 families — representing 457 passage and the sermon text for the week. individuals — received groceries.

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“We’re food for the body and food for the soul,” McElvain said.

The ministry has many partners.

Concordia Food Ministry works with the Capital Area Food Bank, and a local grocery store supplies the pantry with baked goods and produce. Another organization, New Hope Housing, also gives the ministry baked goods periodically. Thrivent Financial provided the ministry with funds from the “Care Abounds in Communities” program.

Other congregations in the circuit collect food and clothing to donate to the ministry.

Concordia Lutheran Church members collect food, clothing and have special offerings to support the ministry.

In 2014, the LCMS awarded the ministry $16,200 in grants.

“Concordia Food Ministry is designed in such a way that it is really more than a service of only providing nutritious food to people who are in real need in the midst of hunger,” said the Rev. John Fale, associate executive director of LCMS Mercy Operations. “They are also providing opportunities to feed their souls with the Bread of Life through worship, pastoral care and Bibles.”

Learn more:

concordialutheranva.org

facebook.com/concordiafoodministry

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Forging

Mission Partnerships through God’s Grace

PHOTO: ISTOCK/THINKSTOCK

by Ted Krey

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PHOTOS: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS

Several churches, an orphanage and a seminary Purposeful Connection constructed. Properties Forums, or “foros” as they are known in rented to hold church Latin America, have been created to services. Schools supported. provide a platform for LCMS entities in the Teachers educated.

United States to plug into the mission of Missionaries encouraged. the church abroad.

It is an amazing list and just one example of a partnership that has been forged in six different countries, made possible by God’s grace, involving multiple Synod entities working alongside LCMS missionaries and partner church bodies abroad.

Three years ago, the LCMS South Wisconsin District partnered with LCMS missionaries in the Dominican Republic.

This partnership included supporting Brian and Jeanette Keller, a couple who led and oversaw short-term mission teams from the district and across the Synod. They helped build the first Lutheran church in Santo Domingo. This mission plant later moved out of a garage and into a new sanctuary.

It is being served by the first Dominican Lutheran pastor, the Rev. Willy Gaspar, a graduate of Concordia Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He preaches the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus on the cross and distributes God’s Word and gifts.

But there is more to this story. Gaspar was brought into the church by Walter Ries Jr., a Brazilian Lutheran pastor.

It was a multitude of partnerships, from Wisconsin to Brazil, that made this possible.

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Missionaries, partner churches and the LCMS as a whole greatly benefit from this purposeful connection that supports the preaching of the Gospel.

“It is such a blessing to have our home churches and districts sit at the same table with us and assist us in coordinating and supporting our work and caring for us,” says Deaconess Katie Ziegler, an LCMS missionary serving in the Dominican Republic.

LCMS missionaries directly benefit from the variety of people, groups and institutions that come alongside them.

These brothers and sisters in Christ strengthen and care for our missionaries in their preaching of repentance, Jesus and the forgiveness of sins that is ours by faith in Him. While there are many ways in which districts, congregations and LCMS Recognized Service Organizations (RSOs) collaborate for the sake of supporting the mission of the church, one of the ways these many entities are brought together is in forums, created for the sake of planting churches.

Preaching the Gospel is the means by which our Lord brings hardened hearts to repentance and faith in Him. Supporting

this preaching and teaching by missionaries or partner churches is a critical task. These partnerships come together to assist in bringing human and financial resources behind missionaries and partner churches in their proclamation of our Lord.

Forum Mechanics Forums work like this: • A strategic plan for church planting is written by LCMS missionaries or the partner church body.

• Forum members meet with missionaries and local partners on location, where the work is taking place.

Day 1: Project reports are presented.

Partners and potential partners engage and learn more.

Day 2: Worship and a tour of mission sites and projects occur.

Day 3: Major partners oversee strategy meetings with missionaries and/or the partner church body to hold them accountable to the plan.

• The strategy is reviewed, future forums are planned and new partners are sought.

• These partnerships seek support from partner churches, LCMS auxiliaries, districts, congregations and individuals.

Forums at Work At this time, seven LCMS districts are currently committed or are contemplating commitment to work in six Latin American

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and Caribbean countries.

In the Dominican Republic, the English District plays an important role in the partnership, as do the 15-plus LCMS day schools that support the work of Lutheran school teachers in the country. Individual LCMS members also provide short-term service in their vocations as musicians, physical therapists, professors and pastors.

This has directly contributed to the life of the church by filling in where needs were identified by missionaries.

The forum in Uruguay involves four

Republic, where it has funded the construction of a group home for children with disabilities.

Bethesda Lutheran Communities’ outgoing Executive Vice-President Dr. Jack Preus speaks of the benefit to Bethesda as an RSO of Synod in being a long-standing member of the foros.

“Bethesda has been immeasurably blessed through its participation in the foro in the Dominican Republic,” he says.

“It has enabled us to work alongside our missionary team to plant churches and

Lutheran church bodies: the national Lutheran church in Uruguay, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil — as well as the Lutheran Hour Ministries center in Brazil — Concordia Seminary in Argentina and the LCMS. This is a work that can only be done and is being done together as the una sancta, the one, holy Christian Church!

In Peru, 15 LCMS congregations support the work by sending short-term teams year after year and have established long-term relationships in the country. The Central Illinois, Southeastern and North Wisconsin districts also are at the table in Peru, providing support and dollars that are helping expand church plants.

Lutheran Hour Ministries, an auxiliary of the LCMS, has the distinction of being the only partner that works alongside the LCMS in every one of the six existing Latin American forums.

The LCMS’ other auxiliary, the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, has been active both in Peru, collaborating with mercy work, and in the Dominican

enhance the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities there, which in turn has revitalized our work back home.”

Blake Warren, a member of Faith Community Lutheran Church in Las Vegas, speaks of his enthusiasm: “The foros have offered an opportunity to meet and build friendships that have a lasting impact, which have lit an internal fire to become more involved in supporting the team in any way possible.”

He and his wife, Liz, are considering full-time mission work in Latin America.

New forums are being forged, and many opportunities still exist to partner with missionaries and church partners in Latin America.

LCMS regional directors from around the world visited the forum in the Dominican Republic in October 2014. They are now contemplating the types of partnerships that might work in their regions.

Please consider yourself invited to one of our next forums or even to a new one.

Together, your Synod, your missionaries and your partner churches seek to make known

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His name to an ever greater circle of people, tribes and tongues through the preaching of His Word and the giving of His gifts.

The Rev. Ted Krey is LCMS regional director of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Watch a video: lcms.org/video/foro

Learn about the region: lcms.org/

latinamerica

Follow the work: facebook.com/LCMSLAC

Won´t you join hands with us?

To learn about forums, or “foros,” contact the Rev. Ted Krey at ted.krey@lcms.org.

Forums planned for 2015:

1. B elize: March 6 or 13 (still to be determined), Oct. 24-25

2. Chile: May 18–20, Dec. 6-8 3. Dominican Republic: Feb. 27-March 2, Oct. 9-12

4. Peru: May 16-19, Dec. 4-6 5. Spain: March 6-8, June 5-7 6. Uruguay: March 26-29, Sept. 3-6

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STEWARD’S CORNER

REVERSING THE

Trend

by Adriane Heins

I

n 2014, the LCMS English District increased its pledge to support the Synod in a significant way, bucking years of downward trends in giving to the Synod.

had to be sold at a loss. … After many How? Following the departure of an years … LCEF sent the district a large education executive, the Rev. Dr. David reimbursement check.”

Stechholz, LCMS English District bishop and president, worked to redistribute the workload into two part-time deployed positions, saving health insurance — Rev. Dr. David Stechholz, LCMS English District bishop and president costs while “still getting excellent results in terms of While the district could have kept performance,” he said. “I asked the Board the money, the board made the [of Directors] to increase our district’s decision to give “a tithe of that amount pledge to Synod by $11,000, restoring to Synod,” Stechholz said. “With that in part the cuts that we had made” in tithe, we have more than made up for previous years. the cuts … and have applied some of that And the Lord had still more to give tithe toward our obligation as a managing the district. “Two decades ago, the partner in the Dominican Republic English District had been involved with Lutheran Mission.”

Lutheran Church Extension Fund [LCEF] in advanced site purchases,” the bishop Waiting on the Lord explained. “Many of those properties did Increasing congregational giving to not matriculate into congregations and districts and districts’ giving to the Synod

PHOTO: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD

God is a God of

“abundant blessing.”

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often can be hard work. But a decline in giving, Stechholz noted, has more than just financial implications. It has theological repercussions as well.

As he travels around the district, visiting members and congregations, Stechholz said he is keenly aware that the temptation to reduce giving is sometimes strong. But he also believes a proper understanding of stewardship teaches Lutheran Christians that “we learn to both ‘wait on the Lord’ for His direction and take bold action as He opens up doors, some of which we have not been willing to go through.”

“God is a God of abundant blessing,” Stechholz said. “There is such joy in giving in response to His grace in Christ. … The life of a child of God is hugely blessed in responding to God’s grace in Jesus Christ.”

Adriane Heins is the managing editor of The Lutheran Witness and editor of Catechetical Information.

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MISSION MOMENT

LCMS Grant Funds

Roofs for Madagascar Churches

by Erik M. Lunsford

I

n the extreme southern part of Madagascar, set against hot hillsides of prickly cactuses and Triangle palms, a tour guide in Andohahela National Park stops on the rocky path.

Here, he said, is where two different climates meet. To the west in the desert is the Androy region; to the east, the tropical Anosy region.

It’s also a place where two church bodies intersect as they seek altar and pulpit fellowship. The LCMS and the Malagasy Lutheran Church, known locally as the Fiangonana Loterana Malagasy (FLM), have embarked on a project to install tin roofs on FLM churches around the country. For this, the LCMS gave a $100,000 grant.

A man herds zebu in southern Madagascar.

PHOTOS: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD

“We are so glad to have the support from the U.S. to realize the tin roof project,” said the Rev. Dr. David Rakotonirina, FLM bishop of the capital city of Antananarivo. “This project is just one way to show the relationship between the two church bodies.”

To see the first round of roofs, one needs to have an experienced driver, a durable four-wheel-drive truck and a strong stomach. Churches sit off roads cratered with potholes, far from towns and cellular service. Along the way, there is rarely a smooth surface.

Near the town of Antsovela, members of a congregation in a small stone church explain how they plan to use these pieces of tin to extend the building for a growing parish. After prayer, they give a visiting LCMS representative a highly respected gift of daily bread — a live goat — as a gesture of thanks.

Pastor Joroaze, president of the FLM district west of Antsovela, said the LCMS project has helped him witness in the community and build a sense of unity through the teamwork involved in roof construction.

“It has great impact because people are more willing to help and work and get the church done,” he said.

The project also has helped to change minds. By witnessing the LCMS’ help, Joroaze said residents have come to realize that the church serves the poor within the community. It isn’t the actual roofs that are important, but rather how the community responds to the project, he explained.

“The church is the community, the community is the church,” he said.

LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison and the Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver III, LCMS director of Church Relations and Regional Operations, first pursued the project in February 2014 after meeting

“This project is just one way to show the relationship between the two church bodies.”

— Rev. Dr. David Rakotonirina, FLM bishop of the capital city of Antananarivo with FLM bishops in Antsirabe, the staging area for LCMS Mercy Medical Teams in Madagascar. In all, the project will buy some 22,000 pieces of tin to cover 220 churches.

“The Malagasy Lutheran Church, although only 20 years younger than the LCMS, is a church body that the LCMS has only had contact with for about 15 years,” Collver said. “Both churches’ commitment to the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions have drawn them closer together over the past decade.”

During this time, a number of FLM pastors have studied at the Synod’s two seminaries in the U.S. The LCMS also has worked with synods of the Malagasy church to carry out mercy projects like HIV awareness, hospital projects and Mercy Medical Team trips.

“The tin roof project is the largest project between the Malagasy Lutheran Church and the LCMS to date,” Collver continued.

“It helps show concern for individual congregations. We hope that Christ will draw our churches closer in a common confession of faith.”

Rakotonirina is visibly excited when he discusses the tin roof project. “We are very thankful for having a relationship between the LCMS and the FLM.” As the sun sets over the farming community of Amboasary, the community gathers to watch two men install tin roofing on the church. The elderly Falesoa JeanPierre hoists a piece of tin over a rickety handmade ladder and nails it into place.

He stops for the evening — not because it’s getting dark, but because he runs out of nails.

Later, while observers overlook the cliff edges at the rough intersection of the Indian Ocean and the Mozambique Channel, clouds begin to shroud the sky, obscuring the pale landscape of rocks and shrubby plants.

The words “Thy Kingdom come” come to mind. And on this intersection, an LCMS representative and an FLM bishop shake hands. Where two bodies of water meet, so do two cultures, walking onward together.

“Thy will be done.”

Erik M. Lunsford is the staff photojournalist and a writer for LCMS Communications.

View the photo gallery: photo.lcms.org Learn more: lcms.org/madagascar

Falesoa Jean-Pierre (front) and Mahavita Arlin install a tin roof onto an FLM church near Amboasary, Madagascar.

Top of page: The altar of an FLM church near Antsovela, southern Madagascar.

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NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID Burlington, WI Permit No. 12

The Word alone. Sola Verbe.

In Wittenberg, Martin Luther brought to light the marvelous truth that God reveals Himself in His Word (Verbe), the Holy Scriptures (Scriptura). You can play a personal role in the creation of a special Lutheran center in the very heart of Wittenberg with a gift of $500 or more to The Wittenberg Project.

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“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Heb. 1:3 NIV).