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. At this level, a large emphasis is placed on gathering a group of people to share the gospel message. The goal is that students who finish the Discipleship Level are in doctrinal agreement with WELS.
- 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.
Fast Facts
- Academia Cristo reaches an average of 1.75 million people weekly on social media
- A total of 25,800 students have enrolled in the Self-Study Level of courses
- 3,791 students have completed the Self-Study Level of courses
- 1,132 students have completed one Discipleship Level live course
- 105 students have completed the Discipleship Level (13 live courses)
- 45 students have completed the Church Planting Level (ten live courses)
- 35 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 - Ecuador
Missionary Matt Behmer focuses on the One Latin America Team’s multiplication efforts by identifying students who are passionate about the gospel and eager to share it with others. He works closely with these students, meeting with them one-on-one to help them form groups that gather around God’s Word. The goal is for these groups to multiply, reaching more people across Latin America with the good news of eternal life through Christ.
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 is married to Elizabeth, and they have four children: Emma, Nora, Raymond, and James. The Behmer family resides in Quito, Ecuador.
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 and encourages them as they start their own Bible study groups, and takes care of the Academia Cristo student body by building connections with the students and making sure students have mentors and are progressing through 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. Abram 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 - Team Leader
Missionary Andrew Johnston currently serves as team leader for the One Latin America Team. The team’s primary work is Academia Cristo, an online training program that trains many people in every country in Latin America so that they can reach many more with the gospel. Johnston teaches online courses and follows up with those who have advanced in their courses and are planting churches.
Johnston has been on the Latin America mission 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, Missionary 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 was a vicar in Torreon, Mexico, for a year and served for eight months as an English teacher in the Dominican Republic.
Johnston has been married to his wife, Cindy, since 2002. They have five children: three girls and two boys. The oldest four were born while they lived and served on the island of Antigua. The last one was born 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. Nathan Schulte - Ecuador
Missionary Nathan Schulte was assigned to serve the One Latin America Team after his graduation from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2017. He spent his first year of ministry in Mexico as the team prepared to relocate missionaries to Quito, Ecuador, in 2018.
Schulte’s work is divided into three categories: 1) teaching classes online to students who are learning and preparing to start groups and congregations where they live, 2) mentoring advanced students who have taken steps to start groups, 3) and serving as the Academic Dean of Academia Cristo to make sure students are getting the classes they need and are signing up regularly for them.
Schulte married Alyssa (Stuebs) in 2023. They enjoy making Quito, Ecuador, their home.
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 Gregorio Vivar Gomez 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. He currently teaches online classes and follows up and mentors Academia Cristo students throughout Latin America who want to plant churches.
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.
Download and read more biographies at wels.net/missionarybios.
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National Church Partners
WELS Missions also partners with sister synods and independent churches throughout Peru and Chile. Synods in both of these countries are directly supported by our mission partners in the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) and are thereby in fellowship with WELS through the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC), a worldwide fellowship of confessional Lutherans. Visit ELS world outreach page to learn more about work in Peru and Chile. To learn more about the CELC and other mission partners, visit celc.info.
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PICTURES OF LATIN AMERICA
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