Open windows, open doors
One night, a few of us were playing board games with some new Bible study friends. It was a beautiful spring night in East Asia, and we had all the […]
About Mara Rugen
This author has not written his bio yet.
But we are proud to say that Mara Rugen contributed 57 entries already.
Entries by Mara Rugen
Evolving styles of ministry in Africa
/in Africa, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsDo you like looking at old photographs? Probably you do. And probably you don’t. On the one hand, how heartwarming it can be to see those happy photos of your […]
A unique outreach approach
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsLast Spring, a representative of American Legion Post 4 in Clinton Township reached out to me with a request. He asked if I would be willing and able to lead […]
New Latin America mission team member
/in Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsElise Gross, the newest member of the Latin America mission team, was commissioned as the new Dean of Women for Academia Cristo at the WELS Center for Mission and Ministry […]
Planting seeds of the gospel through Joint Missions
/in Joint Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsTom Metzger is a member at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Livonia, Mich., and serves on the Michigan District Mission Board and the WELS Joint Mission Council. In this week’s […]
Merry Christmas from WELS Missions!
/in Home Missions, Joint Missions, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsDear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and he will […]
Comfort food of the gospel
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsMost people think of barbecue as comfort food. For me, it’s always been more. It could be that I was born in Texas, but I think it’s more than that. […]
Where there is no boom
/in Asia, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World Missions“There is no boom,” said a Lutheran pastor recently in East Asia. We were talking about the challenges of mission work in East Asia. Between culture, religions, hostile governments, pestilence, […]
Surviving the holidays
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsPostcards ordered? Check. Christmas Eve service planned? Check. Decoration team all on board? Check. Congregational Christmas party on the calendar? Check. Elf costume for the vicar tailored? Check. (Ok, maybe […]
A new start in a mission reset
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsFarmington, New Mexico? What could possibly lead a pastor to move from a congregation where we had served for 18 years to a home mission church that’s kickstarting outreach efforts […]
Growing in faith
/in Apache Reservations, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsAutumn is a time to be thankful for the plentiful harvest and the journey of growth in our faith throughout the year. At the beginning of the year with the […]
The wonders of God in their own tongue
/in Latin America, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsOn the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit worked a miracle to make sure people heard the good news about Jesus. In an instant, he enabled the disciples to speak […]
The Word perseveres
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsArriving to Iowa in July, I could tell the members of Good Shepherd had a lot on their minds. They had been through a lot the past few years. In […]
From Theirs to Mine: A Friend’s Journey to Baptism
/in Faces of Faith, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsAs a lay evangelist in East Asia, new believers often introduced us to their friends. That was how we met Tom. To get to know Tom, we invited him to […]
Campus Ministry – Helping parents one worry at a time
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsMy wife and I are blessed with three daughters. They are all in college this year! They attend Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind., and […]
Bridging the gap to the Philippines
/in Joint Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsMaricel considers herself blessed that God has given her three children. Maricel considers herself blessed that God arranged it so that she met and married Robb after the death of […]
Different mission field, same mission
/in Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsLast year, my husband and I decided to emigrate from Hong Kong to England after much discussion and prayers. One of my struggles is that I must leave the Hong […]
Starting a mission church
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsThe 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
/in Europe, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsDavid 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)
/in Africa, World MissionsOriginally 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
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsIn 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
/in Faces of FaithDiosnel 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
/in Faces of FaithIrina 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
/in Faces of FaithWhen 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
/in Faces of FaithAli 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
/in Faces of FaithAn 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
/in Faces of FaithLevi 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
/in Faces of FaithOne 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
/in Faces of FaithMost 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
/in Faces of Faith“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 […]
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