Mara Rugen – WELS

About Mara Rugen

This author has not written his bio yet.
But we are proud to say that Mara Rugen contributed 40 entries already.

Entries by Mara Rugen

Starting a mission church

2021/09/16 in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs /by Mara Rugen

The prospect of starting a new mission church, while certainly exciting, can also lead to a lot of questions, not the least of which is simply how? That’s what we […]

Finding a way to gather

2021/09/09 in Europe, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World Missions /by Mara Rugen

David works in a sausage factory in Finland. Ingvar delivers the mail in Sweden. Artur teaches history in the local university in Portugal. Not only are the European CELC (Confessional […]

Pakuwa Pakhawa (Hope Realized)

2021/09/09 in Africa, World Missions /by Mara Rugen

Originally appears in the One Africa Team blog, from September 7, 2021. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end so that what you […]

A ripe mission field right next door

2021/09/02 in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs /by Mara Rugen

In Racine and Milwaukee, Wis., the school voucher program has opened many new and exciting opportunities to connect children and families to Means of Grace ministry. WELS Home Missions and […]

Faces of Faith – Diosnel

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

Diosnel Castro Perez is from Curuguaty, a small town in rural Paraguay. He works as a security guard in a ceramic factory just outside of the capital, Asunción. Like many […]

Faces of Faith – Irina, Olga, and Alisa

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

Irina Yevpak was shocked. She was a young girl growing up in the Soviet Union when she first learned that people die. “Why? Surely science can cure old age and […]

Faces of Faith – Mike

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

When Mike first commented “Good morning!” in the Facebook comment section, none of us knew who he was. It was the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic when we were doing […]

Faces of Faith – Ali

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

Ali was the imam at a mosque for a village in a Muslim nation. He chanted the Koran (the Muslim holy book) for the five daily calls to prayer over […]

Faces of Faith – Allen and Rosalind

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

An invitation to blueberry pancakes. That is all it took. A friendly gesture, the simplest thing, led my wife and I down a path to God that we never knew […]

Faces of Faith – Levi, Jennifer, and Cameron

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

Levi is a young, single dad living in urban Milwaukee who wanted nothing more than for his young son Cameron to get a good education. So, he enrolled Cameron in […]

Faces of Faith – Greg

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

One Sunday after church Steve asked me, “Hey Pastor, will you visit Greg?” I said, “Sure! Who’s Greg?” Turns out, Steve had come from New York and had become a member of Greg’s […]

Faces of Faith – Bruce

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

Most people move to the South Carolina low country to slow down. They move to escape the snow and find the famed hospitality of the south. They move to escape […]

Faces of Faith – Christopher

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

“I was literally upside-down.” Christopher wasn’t exaggerating. He was talking about a time when he was driving to visit his girlfriend. The combination of slick roads, high speeds, and a […]

Faces of Faith – Emma

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

Outwardly, the most dramatic moment in Emma’s coming-to-faith experience might have been the water splashing in the bowl at her baptism. Being raised on an Apache reservation, spending her early […]

Faces of Faith – Luke

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

By God’s grace, Luke was born into a Christian family in East Asia. His grandparents were Christian missionaries, and both his parents were involved in gospel ministry. Luke looks back […]

Faces of Faith – Belachew

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

I am Belachew Ensermu from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I believed in our Lord, Jesus Christ, as my Savior when I was in high school. After I graduated from the university […]

Faces of Faith – Brother Liu

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

Jonathan Liu was once a blackbelt in Taekwondo and a master with the num-chuks. He was so good at it that he ran his own dojang (Taekwondo school) and taught […]

Faces of Faith – Kue

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

In 2002, Kue heard from a villager that there was a God who was more powerful than the shaman and any other gods. She had so many questions and wanted […]

Faces of Faith – Marietta

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

Marietta Chapman is the lead Kindergarten teacher at Peridot-Our Savior’s Lutheran School located on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. She grew up in Bylas, Ariz., and attended the East Fork […]

Faces of Faith – Julius

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

Civil unrest between the English-speaking regions and the French-speaking government in Cameroon has caused chaos the past four years. Many churches have closed as members have run from their homes […]

Faces of Faith – Tsamzo

2021/08/27 in Faces of Faith /by Mara Rugen

Tsamzo Lubwe has served as a maintenance worker at Mwalaulomwe clinic in Malawi since 2011. He was born into a Christian family in 1980 in a village near Lilongwe, Malawi. […]

Mission Journey to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

2021/08/26 in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs /by Mara Rugen

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I […]

Growing God’s children

2021/08/26 in Apache Reservations, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World Missions /by Mara Rugen

I blame Adam and Eve. Among all the problems that sprung up when they just HAD to listen to Satan instead of God were thorns, literally. The ground was cursed. […]

Beyond the dinosaur phase

2021/08/19 in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs /by Mara Rugen

Many little children go through a dinosaur phase. Even before they can read, they have that ability to pronounce and identify dinosaurs that are skipped over by many of us […]

With great joy!

2021/08/05 in Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World Missions /by Mara Rugen

“Come in, come in! I want to show you something!” His pride and joy Pastor Willard Chipembere emphatically invited us into the parsonage at Chisomo, Thyolo. He was excited. He […]

What to do when they’re knocking at your door

2021/07/29 in Joint Missions, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs /by Mara Rugen

Nearly every day, somewhere in the world, a pastor from another denomination contacts a WELS pastor. Usually the pastors from other denominations are looking for some kind of collaboration. You […]

While we were waiting

2021/07/22 in Asia, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World Missions /by Mara Rugen

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7a Missionaries are doers. We thrive on rolling up the proverbial sleeves and getting stuff done. We like to […]

God’s work across the globe

2021/07/15 in Latin America, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World Missions /by Mara Rugen

Things are slowly starting to get back to normal. There are less restrictions on social gatherings. There are more opportunities to return to usual activities. This is also true in […]

Out of your comfort zone

2021/07/08 in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs /by Mara Rugen

How do you feel about talking with a complete stranger? How do you feel about sharing the joy of the gospel with a complete stranger? How do you feel about […]

Faces of Faith – Roy

2021/07/01 in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs /by Mara Rugen

Roy Mendoza was born in Detroit, one of 10 children. From an early age, his parents tried to get rid of him. Twice they took him to Mexico and left […]