Lutherans Engage the World | Winter 2023

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Lutherans Engage the World is published quarterly by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

© 2023 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. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are property of the LCMS.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV ® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Staff

Megan K. Mertz managing editor

Kevin Armbrust director, editorial

Erica Schwan director, design services

Erik M. Lunsford manager, photojournalism

Lisa Moeller designer

Chrissy Thomas designer

Rudy Blank webmaster

Cover image

Lonnie Loehr, a Lutheran Early Response Team (LERT) volunteer from Zion Lutheran Church, Pasadena, Texas, takes a break after clearing hurricane debris at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School in Sarasota, Fla., on Oct. 17.

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We’d love for you to join us on the journey. To be notified when new issues are posted online, visit engage.lcms.org

On the Move Together

This issue of Lutherans Engage the World — like so many that have preceded it — portrays a lively church and her living members intentionally on the move together. We are called to live and work not in chaotic commotion, but with purposeful “co-motion.” St. Paul’s encouragement comes to mind: I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (EPH. 4:1 – 3)

The apostle pleads with baptized saints to cultivate humility — and from that, gentleness, patience and forbearance in love. In such a setting, the church’s mission is poised to flourish.

If the active practice of humility were meant to disrupt the divisions between the Jewish and Gentile members of the congregation at ancient Ephesus, how much more so does it do that in our day, in the midst of a polarized, intersectionalized, take-no-prisoners and win-at-all-costs culture? We are really not so far from the saints who journeyed through this earthly life before us. With them, we rejoice in a gifted unity, the oneness that is already ours by virtue of one Baptism into the one body of the one Lord Jesus Christ. He prays for those the Father has given Him, and He sacrifices Himself unto death upon a cross, that this unity would not be just feeling or façade or guesswork, but reality. And the Father, through the Spirit, answers for the sake of Christ’s flawless righteousness with a big, beautiful, bold oneness that is now ours.

The foundational fact that Christians are one in Him begins and ends with Jesus. Together and on the move, the church speaks His pure Word of grace and the hope of life everlasting in the kingdom of God. It’s how the kingdom grows.

In His hands, Rev.

Editorial Office

1333 S. Kirkwood Road St. Louis, MO 63122-7295

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From the Editor

“Most people … don’t understand the importance of church. … It’s hard to explain, but it’s just the place I need to be,” says David Rode, a member of a Lutheran church in the small town of Chapicuy, Uruguay, that recently dedicated its new building after many years of meeting in people’s homes. (Read the story on Page 3.) The church is the place to be because it’s where God’s gifts are distributed to His people. And Lutherans all around the world — from Peru to Papua New Guinea to Florida’s hurricane-ravaged coast — find comfort there that is foolishness to the world. In these pages, I hope you’ll find much to rejoice over as we come together to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In Christ, Megan K. Mertz Managing Editor, Lutherans Engage the World

Kevin D. Robson Chief Mission Officer, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

PHOTO: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD

‘At All Times and in All Places’

Stacey Egger

Representatives from 34 of the LCMS’ partner churches gather for two days of discussion and fellowship in Kenya.

Megan K. Mertz

For 42 years, the LCMS Youth Gathering has strengthened teenagers in the faith while also raising up young adults for service to the church and world.

‘There in the Name of Jesus Christ’ Sarah Reinsel

After

Kevin Armbrust

QA &

WITH THE Rev. Jonathan Manor, DIRECTOR OF PALS

Tell me about your experience with PALS.

In my first call in Michigan, we were part of a PALS group. Our PALS group was a huge blessing to us. It really helped us through that transition from seminary to the parish, especially with the unique challenges at my first call. My wife [Deaconess Dr. Tiffany Manor, who is now director of LCMS Life Ministry] and I also served as facilitators in the New England District for the last eight years. I got to see what a benefit and support it was for the young pastors and their families.

Why is PALS important?

In the seminary, students have a very close-knit group. Now all of a sudden, they are out in the parish. They might be near classmates, or they might not. They might be near family, or they might not. Being a pastor is brand-new for them, and it can be difficult and isolating. PALS provides that

intentional support for pastors and their wives and families. It allows them to walk with other pastors and wives that are going through the same things they are, and it gives them the opportunity to develop good habits. … The research has shown us, too, that the more pastors and their families are in things like PALS, the healthier they are overall in ministry and the longer they tend to stay at calls.

What does a PALS gathering look like?

PALS participants gather around the Word in worship and study, casuistry, personal sharing, and topical study. Meeting structures vary but add up to six days per year. At times, the husbands and wives are together for discussion. There is also time for separate study and fellowship time. … It’s not a top-down approach. The PALS office has developed many materials over the years. The group

chooses what they would like to study based on their cultural and congregational contexts. The topics can range from transitions to the parish to pastoral care to preaching/teaching to administration/leadership to the many aspects of being a pastor’s wife.

How can a congregation support a new pastor?

The congregation can support their new pastor by encouraging him and his wife, if he is married, to be a part of PALS. PALS asks the congregation to financially support their travel and hotel, if there is an overnight stay. The rest of the funding comes from the Synod and district. We also ask the congregations to grant them the time to be there, so they don’t have to use vacation time. We encourage the congregation to see the benefit in PALS for their pastor and for the well-being of the pastor

and his family. It’s not a big commitment from the congregation, but it’s a willingness to say, “We want this for you. Please go and be a part of it.”

Why are you excited about this role?

As a facilitator in the New England District, I often saw pastors who were from the Midwest who were placed in the East without a built-in support system. The reality is that being a pastor and a pastor’s family is a challenge, but it’s also a great joy. It is wonderful that our Synod is supporting our young pastors and their families. I’m so glad to be a part of supporting that and making sure the program continues to be a blessing to all.

2 • LUTHERANS ENGAGE | WINTER 2023

Megan K. Mertz is managing editor of Lutherans Engage the World and chief copy editor for LCMS Communications.

BY KEVIN ARMBRUST

PHOTOS:

It is difficult to know where the Holy Spirit takes us, what will happen in the future,” noted the Rev. André Luiz Müller, president of the Lutheran Church of Uruguay (LCU). The LCU is growing, yet it is only present in a few areas of Uruguay. “We are not currently in each department [state] … because Uruguay is a difficult country to work in.”

But Müller’s hope is to “take the Gospel to every corner of this country!” Recently, that plan began to take shape in new ways.

This past August, two new locations for preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ were dedicated in the northwest region of this small country in South America. Uruguay is a largely rural land full of cattle, sheep and canola.

German settlers brought Lutheranism to the country long ago, and now the LCU is renewing this work, continuing to spread the Gospel and working to plant churches.

LCMS missionaries in Uruguay work with pastors of the LCU and of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil to spread the Gospel and serve God’s people. The Rev. James Sharp, regional facilitator for the LCMS Office of International Mission, has worked in the country with his wife, Angela Sharp, since 2015. Recently, the Rev. Philip Jaseph and his wife, Deaconess Rachel Jaseph, were called to join the work in Uruguay.

Solidity in Salto

On Aug. 27, a new location in Salto, Uruguay’s second largest city, hosted its first Lutheran Divine Service. Many drove hours to attend the dedication. “We had … so many supporters. … To look at the congregation and see the participation of the church of Montevideo, Chapicuy and visitors … was an incredible blessing from God, which shows that it is not our human work, it is God’s work, through His Holy Spirit, that His Word is here. … The Lutheran church is not a competition between congregations. We are a single church that seeks to live and carry the Word of God, to preach the Word of God,” noted the Rev. Maicon Schieferdecker, an alliance missionary from Brazil who works alongside LCU pastors and LCMS missionaries in Uruguay. Schieferdecker will primarily serve the congregations in Salto and Chapicuy.

That evening, people greeted each other as the clergy vested for the opening service. When the time came for worship, Schieferdecker immediately led the congregation in confession, and they rejoiced in receiving the absolution.

Later, the congregation moved outside to dedicate this new location. “This is a special place, not because the bricks are special or it is built special, but because when you walk in these doors, the Word of God is here,” said Müller.

“The altar is special because here you receive the body and blood of Christ for you.”

“This is a good thing that shows people that it is a serious church.”

REV. MAICON SCHIEFERDECKER

Top: A passerby looks in as the Rev. Maicon Schieferdecker, an LCMS alliance missionary from Brazil, leads the Divine Service in Salto, Uruguay. Bottom left: Schieferdecker leads a children’s message. Bottom right: LCMS missionaries Rev. James Sharp and Rev. Philip Jaseph prep for the dedication service in Salto.

Making the sign of the cross, Müller dedicated the new space in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Schieferdecker then led the children back into the building first, noting that the church is for all generations — past, present and future. Sharp preached on Psalm 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain,” noting that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the foundation and the strength of the church and for every Christian. After the service, those in attendance stayed for snacks and a light supper, rejoicing in the fellowship of shared faith and in this new opportunity for ministry in Salto.

“When I arrived here in Salto, I told people that I am the pastor of the Lutheran church,” said Schieferdecker. But when people asked where his church was, there was no building.

With the opening of the new space, Schieferdecker can now point people to a physical location, which lends a sense of permanence and solidity to the church in people’s perception.

“This is a good thing that shows people that it is a serious church,” said Schieferdecker, as he noted that Uruguayans perceive churches as organizations that want to get money from the people. By opening a space, the church has credibility and shows that the Lutheran church is not this type of church, but one established on the truth of God’s Word and one that cares for the people in Salto.

“There was nothing [in Salto],” reflected Schieferdecker, so the people of the LCU worked to start something. Now, by God’s grace, that work is bearing fruit.

A ‘Place to Be’

The next morning, Aug. 28, Müller, Schieferdecker and the Sharps drove 40 minutes south of Salto to dedicate a new church building in the small town of Chapicuy. “Just as the temple in the Old Testament was a house of prayer and the forgiveness of sins, so this temple will be a place where sins are forgiven by Jesus and we pray in His name,” proclaimed Müller during the service.

“This church was present, but now we have a physical

place to be, a place to invite people so they can join the church,” explained member David Rode. Rode said that many people in Uruguay do not understand why anyone would get up on Sunday to attend church. “Sunday is a rest day, a day for soccer games. … Most people are not Christians, and they don’t understand the importance of church. … It’s hard to explain, but it’s just the place I need to be.”

Traudy Müller and Helga Schefer have been Lutherans their whole lives and have both prayed for this day.

2022.

“This church was present, but now we have a physical place to be, a place to invite people so they can join the church.”

DAVID RODE

Congregation members and guests gather for fellowship following the dedication of a new church building in Chapicuy on Aug. 28,

“It’s been many years of meeting in people’s houses. There’s nothing better than having a church building to meet in,” said Traudy Müller.

Schefer recounted that when she was young, pastors would come from nearby Argentina and conduct services in the fields. When Argentinian pastors did not come to Chapicuy, people had to cross the river to go

to church in Argentina. “It’s beautiful to see all the generations in church,” said Schefer. “Now we can see our grandchildren in church together.”

Following the service, the small congregation came together for lunch and fellowship as the children played and all rejoiced in the blessed event.

Even though the building in Chapicuy is new, the congregation has strong roots,

explained LCU President Müller, “because there are already cradle Lutherans there, several generations in Chapicuy that will be helping to orient it.” Müller noted that the mission of Chapicuy already existed, with services held in a rented facility. The pastors of the LCU and Rev. Sharp traveled the five hours from Montevideo to serve those in Chapicuy before Schieferdecker arrived. The addition of a permanent structure and a regular pastor will solidify that work. The congregation “is so close to Salto, it was like a ripe fruit that we just needed to go and harvest,” said Müller.

“God is not far from us. God is Emmanuel, who is with us to weep, to suffer, to forgive, to change lives, to love and also to do the work of conversion in people. It is God who does the work, who made and uses our testimony, our mouth, not only mine but of my family and that of the brothers here in Chapicuy,” said Schieferdecker. “May God be praised for everything, for all the help we receive from everyone, … the help both financial and prayer, … God be praised for the Lutheran Church of Uruguay here in Salto, in Chapicuy … [that] more people come to know this God who is … a God who loves us in Christ. This is the most wonderful thing that there is.”

Planting Seeds

Müller said that the dedication of the two locations in Salto and Chapicuy represents a renewal of the entire ministry of the Lutheran church in Uruguay. For many years, the mission was focused exclusively on the Prado neighborhood of Montevideo, especially the Lutheran school there and relatives or families linked to the school. Recently, Müller has been working with others on “a vision more on the high seas. … There is a different crowd, an audience that we do not know very well yet.”

In addition to serving as LCU president, Müller is pastor of San Pablo Lutheran Church in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay. Montevideo boasts Colegio San Pablo, a Lutheran school

“It’s been many years of meeting in people’s houses. There’s nothing better than having a church building to meet in.”

TRAUDY MÜLLER

Top left: An exterior view of the new church building in Chapicuy.

Top right: The Rev. André Luiz Müller, president of the Lutheran Church of Uruguay, preaches. Bottom: The Rev. Maicon Schieferdecker distributes the Sacrament during the Divine Service.

with 1,800 students in preschool through high school. The school covers three campuses and is looking to expand. Lutheran teachers (even those who speak English) are desperately needed.

Angela Sharp teaches math to the middle school students at Colegio San Pablo. But she said her job is about more than just teaching math. “It’s about who I am as a child of God, … how I live my life through my vocation and how I live my faith.” She explained that she often has opportunities outside of class to talk to students about the issues they face and to share her faith with them.

Not many of the school’s students are Lutheran, so the opportunity is great for outreach. “I talk with students informally and during their break time. I get to know them and show them love,” said the Rev. Christian Hoffman, a pastor from Brazil who serves as the school’s chaplain. “I teach Christian education classes and meet with students. They also write out prayer requests.” As Hoffman walks throughout the three campuses, everyone greets him — students, faculty and staff — reflecting his constant efforts to point people to Christ.

The Sharps and the pastors of the LCU are overjoyed that the Lord has seen fit to call another LCMS missionary family — the Jasephs — to Uruguay.

“I’m excited to … bring God’s Word to people … who are suffering,” said Deaconess Jaseph. “We are here in a place where there’s such a spiritual vacuum, such a lack of understanding [of] who the true God is. … I’m looking forward to walking with people, getting to know them, to build that trust and to share with them the truth of the Gospel.”

“The amazing thing about mission work is that things don’t happen immediately,” said Rev. Jaseph. “Sometimes it takes 10 to 20 years. And we’re reminded of the missionary work of Saints Paul and Timothy. … It’s a process of … preparing the soil and watering. … God always reaps the harvest in His time.

“In the meantime, we’re caring about the people who are here in front of us. We’re loving them where they are. And we are teaching them Law and Gospel and walking with them through their lives.”

The people of Uruguay are proud of their independence and their progress. The nation is known for its atheism and resistance to religion.

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Hear more from the Synod’s missionaries in Uruguay: engage.lcms.org/uruguay-winter-2023

“On the Uruguay flag, there’s a large sun that represents … the 19th-century idea of human progress and all that came with it,” observed Rev. Sharp. “This country that has totally given itself to those Enlightenment ideals, to reason and science, is the country with the most depressed people in all of Latin America. … We are here … to shine the light of Christ on those people who really are in darkness.”

“We are a Christocentric, biblical church, which speaks the Word of God, which has its foundations, which is a historical church,” said Schieferdecker. “The Word of God changes lives here too, because there is no country or person that God cannot change.”

Right now, “[we have] a good group of solid pastors who have training in different countries but with the very unanimous

doctrine of the Gospel of the cross — a group that is working together,” said Müller. Looking ahead at what he prays the LCU can accomplish, he notes, “We lack workers, we lack resources. The harvest is great. Of the 17 departments [states] in Uruguay, we are currently only in four: Salto, Paysandú (Chapicuy), Montevideo and Canelones. We have another 13 to get to.”

Müller, Sharp, Jaseph, Schieferdecker and all in the LCU continue to plan and work, knowing that God is the one who effects the work of the ministry in Uruguay. As Müller observes, “The work is happening, because the Word does not return empty.”

Dr. Kevin Armbrust is director of Editorial for LCMS Communications.

Left: LCMS missionary Angela Sharp teaches middle school students at Colegio San Pablo in Montevideo on Aug. 29. Top right: Exterior of the high school campus of Colegio San Pablo. Bottom right: The Rev. Christian Hoffman, a Lutheran pastor from Brazil, greets a student at the elementary/middle school campus of Colegio San Pablo on Aug. 29.

‘AT ALL TIMES AND IN ALL PLACES’

Representatives from 34 of the LCMS’ partner churches gather for two days of discussion and fellowship in Kenya.

In mid-September in a conference room in Kenya, several dozen Lutherans sat together, many of them with headsets over their ears. In the back of the room were translators with microphones. As the presenter at the front of the room spoke, the attendees in headphones waited, reacting a moment later — hearing good messages about the work of the church translated into a language familiar to them.

The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) two-day Church Relations Conference, held Sept. 17–18 in Kisumu, Kenya, gathered together representatives from 34 partner churches of the LCMS to discuss the work of the confessional Lutheran church around the world. One of these church bodies, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Sudan/Sudan (ELCSS/S), became an LCMS partner church during the conference with a celebration of altar and pulpit fellowship during the concluding Divine Service.

The group had journeyed from countries around the globe. Yet despite their

geographical diversity, these attendees were remarkably united in one central thing: their affirmation of the truth of the Gospel in Jesus Christ and its articulation in the Lutheran Confessions.

One in Word and Action

The LCMS currently has relationships of varying degrees with 98 Lutheran church bodies in 76 countries. These relationships involve theological conversation, theological education and mercy work. Of these, 40 are official partner churches of the LCMS.

A “partner church” is a church body with which the LCMS has full altar and pulpit fellowship. The Lutheran Confessions lay out the standard for such fellowship: agreement “in the doctrine and all its articles” (FC SD X 31).

LCMS partner churches preach the Gospel according to a pure understanding and administer the Sacraments rightly in conformity with the divine Word (AC VII 2–3).

LCMS Church Relations (under the LCMS Office of the President) works with the

LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) to ensure unity in confession, in worship and in the daily life of the church body seeking partner status with the LCMS. “Unity in daily life” includes raising up and training pastors, promoting true doctrine and practice, protecting against false doctrine and practice, and sharing God’s diverse gifts for the common good — from mission and mercy to stewardship and vocation.

Formal recognition of such a partnership is taken up by the Synod in convention every three years; however, when fellowship is requested between conventions, especially by a small and emerging church body, the LCMS president can declare such recognition, with the approval of the CTCR — which was given regarding the ELCSS/S prior to the conference. This summer, when the LCMS convenes in Milwaukee, delegates will be asked

officially to recognize this partnership with the Sudanese Lutherans.

During the two days of the conference, participants joined together in devotion and prayer, listened to presentations and panel discussions, and enjoyed meals and fellowship together.

“It was a tremendous event. COVID had prevented international interaction, and all of our friends were delighted to be with each other. We are enjoying profound unity and purpose in confessing Christ,” said LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison.

Harrison spoke to the group on oversight and visitation as the tasks of presidents and bishops. The Rev. Geraldo Walmir Schüler, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil, presented on recruiting and training pastors.

Representatives from Lutheran church bodies around the world enjoy fellowship time on Sept. 17, 2022.

‘Profound Unity and Purpose’

The LCMS currently has relationships of varying degrees with 98 Lutheran church bodies in 76 countries.

The Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland and newly acclaimed chairman of the International Lutheran Council, discussed the threats that various contemporary ideologies pose to Christian teaching on ordination, fellowship, ethics and more. A panel on church planting was held among leaders from South Africa, Kenya, India, Canada, Argentina, Norway and Iceland.

“What a joyous occasion to meet with our sister church body representatives at Kisumu,” said the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Shaw, director of LCMS Church Relations. “Engagement was robust and positive on all of these topics.”

With great joy, these Lutherans gathered on Sunday morning to celebrate that which is at the heart of their fellowship: God’s gifts in Word and Sacrament.

Harrison led the Divine Service, preaching on the

Clockwise, from top left: Church leaders from Kenya (left), South Africa (middle), Guatemala (right) and Lithuania (bottom right) listen and discuss during the LCMS Church Relations conference in September. Bottom left: The Rev. Peter Anibati Abia, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Sudan/Sudan, and LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison celebrate their declaration of altar and pulpit fellowship during the conference’s closing Divine Service on Sept. 18.

account of Christ’s healing of the 10 lepers in Luke 17.

“The one Samaritan came back to give thanks,” said Harrison. “Just the one. The church is few, the little folk, the one man that is lost then found. So Jesus has foreseen it. So Jesus has planned it.”

During the service, Harrison and the Rev. Peter Anibati Abia, bishop of the ELCSS/S, read their letters of fellowship. The Rev. Joseph Ochola Omolo, archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya — the church body in the area where the conference was hosted — led prayers of blessing for the church bodies. Then the assembly gathered together at the Lord’s table.

“Bishop Abia served as celebrant for the service of Holy Communion with church partners from around the world communing. It was a glimpse of heaven,” said Shaw.

“We see the Gospel abiding in Finland, in Norway, in Portugal, in Canada,” said Harrison in his sermon. “We see the church growing in Africa. We thank God for you, brothers in South Sudan. … As we say in the liturgy, ‘It is truly meet, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who on this day overcame death and the grave and by His glorious resurrection opened

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About LCMS Church Relations: lcms.org/church-relations

About the Synod’s partner churches: lcms.org/partnerchurches

to us the way of everlasting life. Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You.’”

At the conference’s conclusion, Lutherans began their journeys home — to Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, South Sudan/Sudan, Togo, Uruguay, Venezuela and the United States. Although their time of worship and fellowship together was ended, they returned united in a confession with one another and in praise of God in whom they are united evermore.

Stacey Egger is a staff writer and editor for LCMS Communications.

From Chef to Shepherd

BY JANA INGLEHART

JJeancarlos Ramírez, a native of Lima, Peru, attended culinary school and had his sights set on becoming a chef. One evening, he stopped in to practice his English at Coffee and Conversation, an informal English class offered by the Lutheran mission in La Victoria, Peru. At the time, he had no idea that God would use this class to set him on the path to becoming a Lutheran pastor.

At Coffee and Conversation, LCMS missionaries were looking for volunteers to assist with work at Castillo Fuerte, an outreach to children and families in the poor sector

as the chef, preparing daily meals for the children. The kitchen was adjacent to the chapel, so Ramírez could hear the missionaries sharing the good news of the Gospel with the children. In addition, the pastors, who were still learning Spanish, began asking Ramírez to check their sermons for Spanish grammatical errors. This prompted more theological questions, which the missionaries answered from the Scriptures. In 2015, Ramírez was confirmed and began to assist with teaching the children. Missionaries who saw him teach and interact with the staff and children recognized his potential and encouraged him to consider attending seminary.

activities, such as monthly youth events, women’s socials and men’s game nights. The couple shared the Gospel in various ways in the community and their efforts bore much fruit; the congregation grew and prospered. During their time in the Dominican Republic, Jeancarlos and Caitlin were blessed with two children, Abraham and Eliana.

of Lima. The mission serves neighborhood children with a daily meal, a devotion and help with homework while their parents work long hours in local garment factories.

Ramírez was quick to volunteer. His culinary skills were put to work immediately as he guided the missionaries through the process of furnishing a restaurant-style kitchen. It was not long before Ramírez was offered employment at the mission

Through La Victoria, Ramírez met LCMS missionary Deaconess Caitlin Worden. The two were married in 2017 at Castillo Fuerte. The following year, they relocated to the Dominican Republic where Ramírez began his formal studies at Concordia the Reformer Seminary. He served his vicarage in the Dominican Republic, at a congregation in Palmar Arriba. The Ramírezes spearheaded outreach

In May 2022, Ramírez donned his cap and gown and, with tears of joy, received his diploma. Seminary Director Rev. Joel Fritsche reflected, “Over the course of four years of theological study and pastoral formation at Concordia the Reformer Seminary, Ramírez grew from a new husband, new father and fairly new Lutheran into a confident, yet humble man of God, an astute Lutheran theologian, and a passionate preacher of the Gospel of Jesus, with a pastoral heart of gold.”

Ramírez was ordained and installed in Peru on Oct. 23. He serves in La Victoria, where he previously prepared and served physical food to the children at Castillo Fuerte. Pastor Ramírez now serves spiritual food, the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins. In addition to daily devotions, he

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leads weekly Divine Service where children and their families gather around the Word and Sacraments. Deaconess Ramírez was also installed as an LCMS missionary in Lima during the same service.

The Peruvian Lutheran church is still in its infancy; it will take time before it can support full-time pastors. So, for now, Pastor Ramírez relies on his culinary skills as a source of income. At the same time, he shepherds the congregation in La Victoria. This young pastor and his precious family have a lifetime of service ahead of them.

Jana Inglehart is an LCMS missionary and communication specialist for the Latin America and Caribbean region. Learn more at lcms.org/inglehart .

• About mission work in the region: international.lcms.org/latin-america-caribbean

• About the Rev. Jeancarlos Ramírez’s seminary graduation: engage.lcms.org/dominican-republic-fall-2022

A new national pastor is ordained and installed to serve God’s children through the Lutheran mission in Peru.

PHOTOS: JOHANNA HEIDORN

Generations of Service

BY MEGAN K. MERTZ

PHOTOS: JULIE LUTZ; LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD

Dr. Steve and Julie Lutz, along with their four children, provide medical care to the Penale people during a medical patrol in 1995.

Dr. Steve Lutz speaks at the opening of a medical clinic for the Hewa people.

The seeds of one missionary family’s work continue to sprout in Papua New Guinea.

Shortly after Dr. Steve and Julie Lutz arrived in Papua New Guinea (PNG) as LCMS missionaries in 1986, they noticed a small, gray-brown bird with a red head flitting among the foliage outside their new home. They soon learned it was the Mountain Red-headed Myzomela — Kalipinjiwan in the native Engan language — which was known for planting seeds that would later feed other birds.

“The Enga say, ‘Don’t be like that bird. Don’t put your effort where you won’t directly receive benefit,’” said Julie. “But that, to us, is Christian service. You’re not doing it for yourself; you’re doing it so that God’s blessing can run through you to others.”

The Lutzes come from a long line of missionaries. Steve’s grandparents went to India in 1912, and his father also served in India for his entire ministry. From the beginning, Steve and Julie knew that they wanted to serve internationally as well — although it took 14 years of preparations before God called them to PNG. In the United States, Steve studied to become a general surgeon specifically because he thought it would be a useful skillset for the mission field. The family spent the early years of their marriage preparing for medical mission service, including taking specialty courses in tropical medicine. They also had four children along the way. Altogether, the family — including grandparents, both sets of parents, siblings

and children — has served more than 150 years with the LCMS in PNG, India and Côte d’Ivoire.

In PNG, Steve was often the only doctor available at Immanuel Lutheran District Hospital. Yet, “his heart was always over the next hill. Who are the people who can’t get to medical care?” Julie recalled.

“During the ’90s, we conducted medical patrols. We’d fly in to remote villages and then walk to the different villages, five to 10 hours away from each other, to give vaccinations and basic medical care. That was very rewarding and fulfilling work, but occasional patrols are not the permanent solution to provide health care for underserved people groups. The focus changed to building infrastructure.”

In the early 2000s, Steve oversaw the construction of a health center and school at Wanakipa for the Hewa people and an airstrip and community health post at Kaiam for the Penale people. The Kaiam airstrip was later completed by Steve and Julie’s oldest son,

Anton, who served with the LCMS from 2004 to 2021.

Although Julie’s official position title was mission service coordinator, she called herself “the hole filler” and did whatever was needed to facilitate the ministry. Over the years, she provided support as a wife, mother, teacher and listener, as well as a host for volunteers, medical students, new missionaries and others. “If you have people visiting, they have to eat, they have to sleep,” she said. “It’s a life calling.”

She also assisted with patrol and construction logistics, communication by radio, and mission team administration. In addition, she had what she called an unofficial “backstoop ministry” listening to local pastors and others who were frustrated or discouraged.

The ministry hasn’t always been easy. The Lutzes have provided education and care to the community through crises like HIV/AIDS, the COVID-19 pandemic and sanguma, a superstition that has arisen in the last decade. According to sanguma beliefs,

when a person unexpectedly dies, one or more people — mostly women — are blamed for the death, accused of witchcraft and tortured or killed. In recent years, Anton has rescued those accused of sanguma from their captors or buried the bodies when help arrived too late.

Over the years, the Lutz family came to view the Kalipinjiwan as much more than just an interesting native bird. It symbolized their 36 years of service in the PNG Highlands. Early on, they named their house on the hospital property after the bird. When Steve passed away in 2010, Julie had the bird carved on his headstone.

Now, as Julie retires from missionary service, she trusts that God has used the Lutz family’s service to bless others even when she could not see it, just as He uses the humble Kalipinjiwan to feed His creation. “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people,” Julie says, quoting Galations 6:10. “God is the one who’s at work.”

The Rev. James H. Rockey (center), president of the LCMS FloridaGeorgia District, prays with the Rev. Jim and Lisa Kress and the Rev. Dr. Ross Johnson, director of LCMS Disaster Response, at the Kress family’s damaged home in Port Charlotte, Fla., on Oct. 2.

LERT volunteer Mark Nielsen helps muck out a home damaged by Hurricane Ian in North Fort Myers, Fla., on Oct. 18.

Steve and Peggy Stark, Lutheran Early Response Team (LERT) volunteers from Immanuel Lutheran Church, Seymour, Ind., clear hurricane debris at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School, Sarasota, Fla.

Piles of hurricane-damaged furniture and household goods line the street in Cape Coral, Fla., on Oct. 18.

‘There in the Name of Jesus Christ’

“What really hit us the most [was when] we had to go down to the local Home Depot to get some supplies, and we [took] a back road. On one side was the woods, on the other side was a trailer park. On the woods side, it looked just like snow on the ground, all of the insulation and the fiberglass. It was just white. And then you turned around to look at the homes…” Robert Holmes paused for a moment. “There was just no way to describe the unbelievable damage.”

When Holmes and his wife, Cynthia, members of Lakeside Lutheran Church in Venice, Fla., first ventured out of their house after Hurricane Ian made landfall on Sept. 28, they were met with a scene of utter devastation, unprecedented in the memory of many seasoned Floridians. Hurricane Ian was one of the strongest recorded hurricanes ever to hit the contiguous United States. It was also the second deadliest, trailing only Hurricane Katrina in 2005, with a death toll of 135. The Category 4 storm left millions without power, wrecked thousands of homes and even broke apart the Sanibel Causeway.

“Most people have never seen a storm like this,” Holmes said. Ian’s incredibly destructive storm surge set it apart

from previous hurricanes.

“[The flood surge] is what has made most of the difference as far as people actually losing their entire homes, their cars, everything they own completely gone,” said the Rev. Curtis Deterding, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Fort Myers, Fla. “Just within my congregation alone, we’ve had quite a number of people who have lost absolutely everything.”

Piles of debris — tangled brush, sodden furniture, ruined possessions — fenced in house after house on neighborhood streets. An estimated 1.8-million cubic yards of storm debris would need to be cleared away. Cars that weren’t totaled by the sheer force of the flood were ruined by its corrosive saltwater. For

After Hurricane Ian hit Florida in September, LCMS Disaster Response and its volunteers and partners were quick to provide helping hands and the Gospel to those in need.

A statue depicting Jesus Christ on the grounds of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School, Sarasota.

Kaye and Jim Hartzell, members of Zion Lutheran Church, Fort Myers, go through items donated for hurricane relief.

weeks, out-of-state tow trucks filed in, slowly clearing the piles away. The days of no electricity, no water and no cell service that followed the storm were harrowing for many.

“When you see destruction as widespread as this, it really impacts you mentally and spiritually,” Deterding said.

Seasoned LERT Volunteers Spread the Gospel

“I always keep an eye on the Gulf. When Ian took a turn, I notified my team and told them to make time, make their arrangements, do whatever you can do to get off,” said Steve Harris, the leader of a Lutheran Early Response Team (LERT) based out of Zion Lutheran Church in Pasadena, Texas. Nicknamed Z-LERT, Harris’ team was just one part of the response coordinated by LCMS World Relief and Human Care’s Disaster Response unit, in conjunction with the affected districts, district disaster response coordinators and the Synod’s LERT volunteer network.

Harris’ team formed in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and has deployed for disaster relief on the Gulf Coast several times since.

“We thought we could do more after Hurricane Harvey,” said Harris. “We said, you know, we ought to organize. … All the years of living on the Gulf Coast told me I needed to be LERT-trained, and even more so chainsaw-trained.”

Many on Harris’ team received their LERT and chainsaw training from the Rev. Ed Brashier, volunteer team leader at Shepherd’s Heart Ministry and district disaster response coordinator for the LCMS Southern District. A former lineman for Alabama Power Company, Brashier brings years of experience with tree removal, plus heavy equipment, to the job. His trusty Bobcat compact skid steer, purchased years ago with a grant from LCMS Disaster Response, has made his work possible through many disasters.

Brashier joined forces with Harris’ group of LERT volunteers at Good Shepherd

Lutheran Church and School in Sarasota, Fla., where there were over 30 trees down on 16 acres of land.

“If this church and school had to pay for this, I’m guessing they would be paying somewhere in the neighborhood of $60,000 to $70,000 to do this,” said Brashier.

“With the Synod’s help and the Florida-Georgia District’s help, we’re able come in here for only a small fraction of that cost to be able to clean this up.”

In the first week alone, over three dozen LERT volunteers from across the United States participated in the response. Two teams, hosted at Zion Lutheran Church in Fort Myers and Lakeside Lutheran Church in Venice, Fla., served nine different LCMS congregations, cleaning up church property, school classrooms and church workers’ homes, logging over 4,600 volunteer hours as of Nov. 1. Volunteers

The Rev. Keith Lingsch, senior pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Naples, Fla., surveys his home on Oct. 1. Lingsch’s home was severely damaged during Hurricane Ian. Church members from a nearby LCMS congregation gutted the home shortly after the waters receded to help mitigate the spread of mold.

Damaged furniture piles up outside a home in southwest Florida.

Ed Boerman, Lutheran Church Charities chainsaw trainer and LERT member, clears debris from Hurricane Ian at a North Port, Fla., home.

intend to stay through Christmastime to continue to help other congregation members and those in the greater Fort Myers and Venice areas.

Five volunteers from Forged by Fire, led by the Rev. Paul Ernewein, joined the LERT camp at Zion, with a mobile kitchen and enormous cast iron pots in tow. The team cooked huge batches of jambalaya and shrimp pasta, giving out 6,000 hot meals to people in need in the greater Fort Myers community.

“The thing about LERT is it’s not just about chainsaws or mucking out. We have people who cook, we have people who just listen to people talk, because after your house has been ripped to shreds or flooded to the ceiling, you just have to talk to somebody,” said Harris.

Resilience in the Body of Christ

“We were thoroughly amazed at the degree of help. We’re used to the Lutherans sticking together and helping each other, but when they came in, they took over the place,” said Robert Holmes.

“And they took the fear out of us, and the apprehension,” said Cynthia Holmes, finishing his sentence.

The Holmes family and several others at Lakeside Lutheran Church were served by LERT volunteers in the weeks following

the storm. After a disaster such as Hurricane Ian, LERT meets a tremendous need, not just for the skilled know-how of chainsaw work, but also for the comfort of the Gospel.

“The LCMS has been wonderful at helping people … in a time where they just don’t know where to turn, don’t know what to do, don’t know how to act,” said Brashier. “You see it all the time, in every disaster — there is the same type of hopelessness. … Churches make such a bold difference. We come in bringing the Gospel, being the hands and the feet of Jesus Christ, and even the voice of Jesus Christ. I’m never going to leave a home without saying that we are there in the name

of Jesus Christ and asking if we could pray with them.”

The Rev. James Rockey, president of the LCMS FloridaGeorgia District, upon visiting the LCMS congregations affected by the storm, said that even in the midst of great loss and devastation, “I saw thankfulness, resilience and joy. … And [the joy] didn’t just come from the fact that [the people affected] and those they love are still alive, but … from a God who indeed is real and alive and ever present with them — no matter what they may face in this life.”

Sarah Reinsel is a staff writer and editor for LCMS Communications.

| LEARN MORE | lcms.org/disaster

“We said, you know, we ought to organize. … All the years of living on the Gulf Coast told me I needed to be LERT-trained, and even more so chainsaw-trained.”

STEVE HARRIS

Steve Harris, a LERT volunteer from Zion Lutheran Church, Pasadena, Texas, cuts up a fallen tree on the grounds of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School, Sarasota.

LERT volunteers Mark Nielsen (center) and the Rev. Ed Grant help muck out a home in North Fort Myers.

Jim Hartzell, a member of Zion Lutheran Church, Fort Myers, distributes donated items outside of the church on Oct. 18.

Water damage caused by Hurricane Ian in the sanctuary of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Englewood, Fla.

BY CHERYL MAGNESS

Deaconess Diana Rice works with a student at St. Martin Lutheran School for the Deaf in Dearborn, Mich.

ST. MARTIN LUTHERAN SCHOOL IN DEARBORN, MICH., SHARES THE GOSPEL THROUGH DEAF MINISTRY.

In a classroom in Dearborn, Mich., Deaconess Diana Rice teaches a small group of elementary students. The classroom appears, at first glance, like any other: There are books, pencils, paper and other teaching tools. Students work on their assignments, raise their hands and get called on by the teacher.

But something about this classroom is different. While Rice uses a variety of gestures, visual aids and facial expressions to teach, no words pass her lips. Her students respond in kind, answering her questions with signs rather than voices. When another student arrives a few minutes into the lesson, he is joyfully welcomed by his classmates, one of whom runs to greet him with a hug. Still, no words are spoken.

This scene takes place in a small school where Rice is the only full-time teacher. St. Martin Lutheran School for the Deaf — a program of Ephphatha Lutheran Mission Society, an LCMS Recognized Service Organization — opened in 2016 inside Emmanuel Lutheran Church and School in Dearborn. St. Martin accepts students from preschool through eighth grade and currently has six students enrolled — three full-time and three part-time. The students of St. Martin and Emmanuel interact regularly during lunch, recess and other activities, and all students and staff, deaf and hearing alike, learn American Sign Language (ASL).

Rice, who has been deaf since the age of 5, was born in Fujian, China. When she was 13 years old, her family moved to Macau, China, to access the city’s more extensive

educational resources for the deaf. In Macau, Rice attended Concordia School for Special Education and met the Rev. Thomas Dunseth, who was then serving as an LCMS missionary. “It was pretty clear when I first met her,” said Dunseth, “that she was already an exceptional student — naturally bright, with an inquisitive mind.”

Dunseth baptized and catechized Rice and encouraged her to consider church work. After graduating from Macau University with a degree in elementary education, she moved to the United States. She studied English and ASL at Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C., and theology at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. She then entered the deaconess program at Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, Ill., graduating in 2018.

When she began teaching at St. Martin that same year, Rice — who homeschooled her four children — used her own materials. She continues to write and adapt curriculum as needed to serve her students. She advocates a classical Christian approach because “while we learn subjects, we also learn that God is in each of these subjects.”

She says the best thing about her work is seeing a student who has not previously been taught ASL begin to develop a vocabulary for talking about God’s creation and learning about Jesus — perhaps for the first time.

The parents of Tavia Hardesty said they chose St. Martin for their daughter because the school holds the deaf students to the same standards as the hearing

students. “[Tavia] is reading and writing at the same level that any normal 6-year-old is,” said Justin Hardesty. “She is exactly where she needs to be.”

The Rev. Tyler Walworth, senior pastor at Emmanuel and sole pastor at Our Savior Lutheran Church of the Deaf in Beverly Hills, Mich., is a daily presence at St. Martin, where he teaches Bible stories, English and Latin. He also teaches confirmation class to Emmanuel students and leads weekly chapel, which — for St. Martin students — alternates between a shared, interpreted chapel with Emmanuel students and St. Martin’s own ASL chapel. Walworth, who is fluent in ASL, first worked with the deaf community when he was on vicarage in 2013. He has continued working in deaf ministry because “there is a major gap in the education of deaf children. … But the even greater gap is the number of

deaf children who don’t have access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Both of these needs constantly come to my mind as I continue to think of how to serve this community that our dear Lord Jesus loves so much.”

Rice says that, while technology has opened up many new avenues in deaf

education, the need for deaf mission is not going away because “the number of deaf people around the world is not declining.” She quotes Romans 10: “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? … So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (14, 17).

Cheryl Magness is managing editor of Reporter and a staff writer for LCMS Communications.

| LEARN MORE |

St. Martin is pursuing accreditation as a classical Lutheran school and hopes to add a high school in the future. Learn more at smlid.org.

The Rev. Tyler Walworth works with a student at St. Martin Lutheran School for the Deaf.

Encouraging the Church’s Young People

FOR 42 YEARS, the LCMS Youth Gathering has strengthened teenagers in the faith while also raising up young adults for service to the church and world.

Torrential downpours.

Hurricanes. Pandemics. The LCMS Youth Gathering has weathered these situations and many others during its 42-year history as the Synod’s premiere event for teenagers. Every three years, church groups from around the United States — and even from a few other countries — head to the Gathering city for several days of worship, learning, fellowship and service.

The first Gathering was held on a college campus in Fort Collins, Colo., in 1980 under the theme “Rejoice in His Presence.” It replaced a prior pan-Lutheran event that included young people from several

Lutheran church bodies.

After that first year, the Gathering moved to bigger cities to accommodate its rapidly increasing attendance. Since then, it has been held in San Antonio; Washington, D.C.; Denver; New Orleans; Atlanta; Orlando; Minneapolis; and Houston. The largest Gathering was in Orlando in 2004, when some 30,000 youth and adult leaders attended.

Director of Christian Education (DCE) Jim Lohman, associate director of LCMS Youth Ministry, has been involved in the Gathering since 1986, when he first brought a group of youth from his church. Over the years, he

became more and more involved in the planning process until, eventually, he joined the LCMS Youth Ministry department full time in 2002.

One often-overlooked part of the Gathering, according to Lohman, is how it gives younger people the opportunity to strengthen their skills and gain confidence in serving the church. This includes the 200-plus planners, as well as the young adults who volunteer either with their home congregations or as part of the Gathering team. Although the roles have changed names over the years, those from age 19 to 25 can currently serve as Young Adult Volunteers (YAVs) and

those 25 and older can serve as Gathering Ambassadors or as part of Team Flex. At the 2022 Gathering, held in Houston this past July, there were some 500 YAVs and more than 200 Ambassadors.

“I was a young leader who was mentored and raised up. People took a risk with me,” Lohman recalls. “And the Gathering continues to do that. We recognize young adults, younger DCEs or pastors or deaconesses or even young people who are working other jobs. We invest in them and give them an opportunity to grow and use their talents. The Gathering builds strong churchmen and women wherever they might be serving.”

Cindy Twillman, DCE at King of Kings Lutheran Church in Kansas City, Mo., is one such example. She attended the 1980 Gathering as a youth and was “amazed by worshiping with the thousands of youth and adults that were there.”

The experience had a lasting impact on her desire to be

2022 Youth Gathering in Houston

1980 Youth Gathering in Fort Collins, Colo.

PHOTOS: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD; LCMS YOUTH MINISTRY; JIM LOHMAN

involved in youth ministry. Even after graduating from college and becoming an accountant, she continued to encourage the youth at her congregation to attend the Gathering. While volunteering at the 1992 Gathering in New Orleans, she finally decided to follow her passion by returning to school to become a DCE — a position she has now held for more than 25 years.

“Through my years of experience with Youth Gatherings, I have seen countless youth tremendously impacted in their faith life. It is an opportunity for them to join with thousands of others in prayer, Bible study, worship and fellowship,” she says. “The Gathering also provides our youth [with the opportunity] to step out of their comfort zones and be involved in service and leadership opportunities.” The next Gathering will be held in New Orleans in 2025. Learn more at lcmsgathering.com.

2016 Youth Gathering in New Orleans

DCEs Jim Lohman and Brian Amey at the 2022 Youth Gathering in Houston 1983 Youth Gathering in San Antonio

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