Latin America
The primary focus of the One Latin America Team is Academia Cristo. Academia Cristo is a multi-faceted effort which seeks to 1) make disciples in Latin America by sharing the message of God’s grace with as many people as possible, 2) identify and train potential church planters, and 3) encourage those church planters to make disciples who plant even more churches. The One Latin America Team uses social media to promote Academia Cristo throughout Latin America.
The Academia Cristo training program is divided into three tiers:
- Self-Study Level: Academia Cristo offers four self-guided courses at the Bible information class level of study. The courses are delivered via WhatsApp. The last course in this level focuses on training students to share what they’ve learned with others. Students must complete all four courses before they are able to sign up for the Discipleship Level.
- Discipleship Level: Students work through 13 Bible institute level courses that are taught live online by a WELS missionary or national partner. Professors emphasize gathering a group of people to share the gospel message. The goal is that students who finish this level are in doctrinal agreement with WELS and are prepared to start gathering others around the Word.
- Church Planting Level: Students who complete the Discipleship Level then move onto the Church Planting Level, where they take ten advanced Bible institute level courses. These courses are also taught live online by a WELS missionary or national partner. Students at this level are actively sharing the gospel message with a group of people and are in doctrinal agreement with WELS. They are also paired with a WELS missionary or national partner who serves as their mission counselor and conducts in-person visits.
After the Church Planting Level, students are invited to plant a church (Grupos Sembrador) with support from their mission counselor. After two years of following this process (Ruta Cristo), these church plants are welcomed into fellowship with Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional.
Fast facts
- Academia Cristo reaches an average of 1.78 million people weekly on social media
- 50,800+ students have enrolled in the Self-Study Level of courses
- 3,700+ students have completed the Self-Study Level of courses
- 1,400+ students have completed one Discipleship Level live course
- 160+ students have completed the Discipleship Level (13 live courses)
- 54 students have completed the Church Planting Level (ten live courses)
- 45 Academia Cristo students are actively leading church plants (Grupos Sembrador)
Meet the missionaries
Rev. Luis Acosta - U.S.
Missionary Luis Acosta has served the northern portion of Latin America as a multiplication missionary for the One Latin America Team since 2022. He provides theological training and support to people that are connected to WELS through Academia Cristo and want to establish house churches.
Acosta was born in Colombia and lived there for nine years before moving to Venezuela and living there for 32 years. He married his wife Carolina in 2008, and they moved to Miami, Fla., in 2009. Acosta used to work in the advertising/marketing industry as a market manager for Latin America. In Miami he was connected to WELS through Pastor Carl Leyrer as he was starting the mission that would become Divine Savior in Doral, Fla.
In 2003, Acosta completed the Congregational Assistant program and began his pastoral training through Cristo Palabra de Vida, a program of the Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI). He served as a staff minister at Divine Savior from 2003-2007 and then moved to Milwaukee, Wis., to enroll at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. During that time, he served as deacon at Christ in Milwaukee (2007-2011) and vicar at St. Peter in Milwaukee (2011-2012). He graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2013 and was assigned to Risen Savior in Milwaukee to lead their Hispanic ministry. He served there for nine years before taking the call to the One Latin America Team.
He and his wife, Carolina, reside in Doral, Fla. Carolina currently works for Christian Family Solutions as a Mental Health Counselor. They have been blessed with two children, Andrea and Caleb.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
Rev. Matt Behmer - Mexico City
Missionary Matt Behmer has served on the One Latin America Team since December 2020. He serves as a multiplication missionary, teaching Academia Cristo courses and helping students start and lead groups that gather around God’s Word.
Before joining the One Latin America Team, Behmer served as pastor at Christ the King in Los Angeles, Calif. (Evangelical Lutheran Synod). He has a Master of Divinity from Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary and a Master of Science in Global Technology and Development from Arizona State University. He is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in Mission, Leadership, and Development in the Global Context.
Behmer and his wife, Elizabeth, have four children: Emma, Nora, Raymond, and James. They spent several years living in Quito, Ecuador. The Behmer family recently relocated to Mexico City, Mexico, to be closer to a growing number of Academia Cristo students and groups in the region.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
Mr. Luke Beilke - Ecuador
Missionary Luke Beilke serves as Dean of Students for Academia Cristo, an online academy that teaches God’s Word to adult students throughout Latin America. Missionary Beilke teaches Bible classes online, mentors leaders throughout Latin America (with a special focus in Colombia), and encourages them as they start their own Bible study groups. As Dean of Students, he takes care of the Academia Cristo student body by welcoming new students into the program and building strong connections with them as they go through live classes.
The Beilke family arrived in Quito, Ecuador, in 2022. Both Beilke and his wife Rachel previously taught English at a WELS-affiliated school in Bogotá, Colombia. After that, he served as a teacher at St. Marcus in Milwaukee, Wis., from 2012-2015 and principal at Ascension in Sarasota, Fla., from 2015-2022.
Beilke has been married to Rachel (Steinbrenner) since 2010. They have three children: Mabel, Otis, and Havalah.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
Rev. Abe Degner - Paraguay
Missionary Abe Degner is multiplication missionary on the One Latin America Team stationed in Asunción, Paraguay. He teaches online classes through Academia Cristo but focuses especially on counseling students who are trying to plant churches. He travels a lot to meet with those students and their groups, especially students in southern South America (Perú, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay).
Before joining the One Latin America Team, Degner served as a tutor at Martin Luther College from 2010-2012 and as pastor of Christ the Lord (Cristo el Señor), a bilingual church in Houston, Tex., from 2012-2019. He accepted the call to serve as Latin American missionary in 2019 and has been living in Asunción ever since.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
Mrs. Elise Gross - Ecuador
Missionary Elise Gross serves on the One Latin America Team as the Director of Women’s Ministry for Academia Cristo, an online training program that equips people throughout Latin America to reach others in their own communities with the gospel. Gross teaches online courses, advises women Christian leaders, and oversees the development of Women’s Ministry in Latin America together with the Academia Cristo multiplication and instruction teams.
Gross joined the Latin America mission team in 2021. Previously she served with Kingdom Workers in Linares, Chile, from 2015-2021. Prior to that, she taught at St. Marcus and Hope High School in Milwaukee, Wis., for a combined four years after graduating from Wisconsin Lutheran College with degrees in Secondary Education, History, and Social Sciences.
Gross has been married to her husband, Jon, since 2012. Jon currently serves as the Multi-Language Productions Producer with the One Latin America Team. The Gross’ have one child, Moses, and reside in Quito, Ecuador.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
Mr. Luis Herrera - U.S.
Missionary Luis Herrera Pardo has served as a part-time missionary on the One Latin America Team since October 2022. He oversees the promotions and production function on the team and primarily serves as liaison with Multi-Language Productions (MLP) to share Academia Cristo in Latin America.
Herrera was born in Colombia, moved to the U.S. in 2002, and has been living in Miami metro area since 2004. He has been in the steel industry since 1998 and has run his own business since 2018. Herrera, his wife, Adriana Moreno, and their son Sebastian have been members of Divine Savior in Doral, Fla., since 2013. Herrera has served on the church council since 2018 and has started his studies at Martin Luther College to obtain a Teaching Ministry Certification.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
Rev. Andrew Johnston - U.S.
Missionary Andrew Johnston serves as team leader for the One Latin America Team and president of Academia Cristo, the team’s primary ministry. Besides leading general outreach efforts, Johnston also teaches online courses and supports those who are planting churches (grupos sembrador) in their own communities.
Johnston has served on the One Latin America Team since 2016. He began this work based in the city of Leon, Mexico, for three years before moving to Doral, Fla. Prior to this, Johnston served for ten years on the island of Antigua as pastor/missionary as well as principal and administrator of the school. Before graduating Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2006, he served as a vicar in Torreon, Mexico, and spent a year as an English teacher in the Dominican Republic.
Andrew and his wife, Cindy, have been married since 2002 and have five children, three girls and two boys. Their first four were born during their years in Antigua and their youngest during their time in Mexico. The Johnston family currently lives in Doral, Fla., just outside of Miami.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
Mr. Ángel Otero - U.S.
Missionary Ángel M. Otero has served part-time on the One Latin America Team since July 2024. He assists with Academia Cristo outreach and training specifically in the United States. He tracks, encourages, and follows up with Academia Cristo students in the U.S. and its territories who have advanced in their courses and are called to assist or develop a Hispanic ministry in their local congregations.
Otero also serves his local congregation, Good Shepherd in Deltona, Fla., as the Hispanic Ministry Coordinator. He started this ministry after studying with Academia Cristo himself. He is also active in missionary work with WELS sister churches in Puerto Rico through the WELS Mission Journeys program. The Hispanic ministry at Good Shepherd, started in November 2023, was the first Academia Cristo church plant in the U.S. Otero is continuing his studies with Seminario Cristo, the seminary-level training program created for Academia Cristo church planters.
Otero was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a bachelor’s degree in labor relations and joined the U.S. Army in 1991. He retired from the U.S. Army in 2016, after 25 years of military service in the Human Resources field. He has been married to his wife, Maribel, since 1990, and they are blessed with two sons: Emmanuel and Ángel Gabriel. They were all confirmed as WELS members at Risen Savior in Orlando, Fla., in 2014.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
Rev. Zach Satorius - U.S.
Missionary Zachary Satorius serves as a multiplication missionary on the One Latin America Team, focusing on on-the-ground support for Academia Cristo students who are reaching out to their communities with the gospel. He and his wife, Ava, are based in Doral, Fla.
Satorius was born on the mission field and spent his first ten years in Puerto Rico and Antigua before his family moved to the Washington, D.C. area. After graduating from Martin Luther College in 2018, Satorius spent a year teaching English in Lima, Peru, before starting at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. He served his vicar year in Medellín, Colombia, working under Colombian national pastor Henry Herrera. Satorius graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2023 and was assigned as a tutor at Luther Preparatory School in Watertown, Wis., where he met his wife, Tutor Ava Steinbrenner. After two years of service, he was reassigned to the One Latin America Team in May 2025.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
Rev. Joel Sutton - Paraguay
Missionary Joel Sutton has been a member of the One Latin America Team since December 2015. He now serves as Theological Director of Academia Cristo, an online academy that teaches God’s Word to adult students throughout Latin America. Sutton previously served for over seven years on the Native American mission field in Arizona.
Sutton and his wife, Priscila, have three boys: Mateo, Moises, and Abram. After four years in central Mexico, the Suttons moved to Asunción, Paraguay, in December 2019.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
Rev. Nixon Vivar - Ecuador
Missionary Nixon Vivar began his work on the One Latin America Team for a one-year call in December 2021. He accepted a permanent call that included a move to Quito, Ecuador, in December 2022. His current ministry focuses on using online education and personal mentorship to equip Academia Cristo students with the tools to plant and grow new churches across Latin America. Vivar teaches 12 online courses per year that make theological education accessible to students regardless of their location, but his true joy lies in the close connection he makes with students. While online teaching is foundational, Nixon’s true passion is his one-on-one mentorship. He mentors Academia Cristo students through weekly Zoom meetings, regular check-ins, and in-person visits.
Vivar was born in San Antonio, Cañar, Ecuador. He was confirmed at St. Peter’s in Milwaukee, Wis., in 2001. Vivar wanted to continue his theological studies, but there weren’t materials available in Spanish to become a pastor. Due to Vivar’s interest and other prospects, the Pastoral Studies Institute started a Hispanic branch. Vivar immediately started his studies with teachers who knew Spanish, and materials were created along the way. It took him 15 years to become a WELS pastor. During those years he served as a pastoral assistant in Milwaukee, Wis., at churches that were part of the Palabra de Vida Ministries at the time, including Gethsemane, St. Peter’s, Christ, and Risen Savior. Vivar graduated from the Pastoral Studies Institute in 2017 and then served at Christ in Milwaukee, Wis., from 2017-2021.
He and his wife Carla, née Falkner, were married in 2008. God has blessed them with two children, Lucas and Samuel. The Vivar family currently lives in Cumbayá, Ecuador, a suburb of Quito.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
Red = Mission Partners: National church partners in fellowship with WELS and partnering in outreach; Includes Academia Cristo church plants that have declared fellowship with Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional.
Blue = Academia Cristo church plants
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