Equipped for ministry – Seminary graduation in India
Dear Friends in Christ, Greetings from Christ Evangelical Lutheran Ministries (CELM) of India. We have a Lutheran seminary in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India to teach God’s Word and to train […]
About Mara Rugen
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But we are proud to say that Mara Rugen contributed 135 entries already.
Entries by Mara Rugen
Home mission milestones – Spring 2022
/in Missions Update news, NewsletterJoin with us in celebrating and praising God for the major church milestones that these home mission congregations experienced in Spring 2022: Good Shepherd – North Liberty, Iowa Good Shepherd […]
Little pastor
/in Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsForty years ago, his pastor called him “Xiao Mushi” (little pastor). He was planting seeds in this young boy’s heart. Michael was just a second grader. He lived in a […]
Mission mysteries
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsThe wick was missing. Five or six weeks in a row. A member would light one of two oil candles on our cafeteria table altar and then discover . . […]
If those doors could talk
/in Apache Reservations, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World Missions“Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in” (Psalm 24:7). Psalm 24 paints an interesting picture for us. […]
Prayers for a church
/in Europe, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsIn 2010, Caroline McCatty prayed that God would help her and her husband Lawrence to find a really good church. At the time, the couple was in the process of […]
Opportunities for Hispanic outreach
/in Joint Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsMore than 2,000 WELS members in North America report that Spanish is their first language. They worship in well over 100 congregations, with almost 20 of those having regular services […]
One day makes an eternal difference
/in Faces of Faith, Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsAlthough our first encounter took place over six months ago, I remember it like it was yesterday. Last year was The Vine’s first time hosting a booth at Joplin, Mo.’s, […]
Strawberry fields forever in Vietnam
/in Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsPsalm 119:103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey (strawberries?) to my mouth! Despite COVID-19 restrictions and obstacles, our mission to the Hmong people in Vietnam […]
Mission exploration in an unlikely place
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsWhen you think of places that are ripe for the harvest and logical locations to begin mission exploration, you probably start thinking big cities and highly populated suburban areas, right? […]
Our first church
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsOften mission churches start out by meeting in their pastor’s living room. That’s how The Vine, in Coeur d’Alene got started. A small number of us met for Bible study […]
Reflection in the water
/in Faces of Faith, Joint Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsIt was a long year of online learning for Brenda. The plans to attend a university in San Diego in person were altered by the pandemic. Brenda chose to return […]
World missionary commissioned to London
/in Europe, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsMissionary Michael Hartman was commissioned as a new missionary to London, and Rev. Dr. Jonathan Bare and Rev. David Bivens were installed as part of the Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI) […]
It felt like home
/in Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsIt had been over a year since we first invited this family to join us for one of our community events and worship. It was over a year before they […]
Opportunities for women’s ministry in Latin America
/in Latin America, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsWe praise God for blessing the work of Academia Cristo! Currently, more than a million people have liked the Academia Cristo Facebook page, more than 500,000 people have downloaded the […]
Home mission church milestones – Fall 2021/Winter 2022
/in Missions Update news, NewsletterDuring the past few months, many home mission congregations have been blessed in a variety of ways. The following five congregations have either held a groundbreaking, launched public worship, purchased […]
African outreach trips – Fall 2021
/in Africa, World MissionsDuring 2021, missionaries from the One Africa Team were able to make several trips to visit various church groups throughout Africa. Many of these trips were originally delayed due to […]
Working together for future results
/in Faces of Faith, Home Missions, Missions Blog, WELS BlogsEvents like our Trunk and Treat in October can be wonderful team-building/fellowship events. Ours was clearly that. Our volunteer participation grew from a mere handful when we first launched the […]
Open windows, open doors
/in Asia, Faces of Faith, Missions Blog, WELS Blogs, World MissionsOne 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 […]
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 […]
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