New world mission fields

More than 7,000 people groups in the world live without access to the good news of Jesus Christ. With these unreached people groups and the Great Commission in mind, the Board for World Missions is looking to approve new locations to plant world mission fields.

Senegal

The Board for World Missions has approved two missionaries to Senegal to learn the culture and language in preparation for sharing the gospel and gathering a congregation.

The country of Senegal in Western Africa has a population of almost 19 million people. The Wolof tribe makes up about 40 to 43 percent of the total population and is less than 0.01 percent Christian. Despite the fact that Senegal is an overwhelmingly Muslim country, the constitution staunchly defends freedom of religion and is a relatively peaceful and stable place.

The missionaries’ work will begin with a six-month immersion experience living with a Wolof family in order to learn the language and culture and build relationships. After that experience, a more specific plan for outreach can be developed. It is the prayer that this unique experience working in the Muslim culture may help inform other WELS Muslim outreach efforts. View photos from initial exploratory trips.

Australia

Missionaries Matthew Doebler and Peter Janke from the Asia-Oceania Team relocated from Chiang Mai, Thailand, to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in 2024. The purpose of this relocation was two-fold – to reach out to the native Australian population with the gospel in conjunction with two of WELS’ partner churches and expand outreach to a large Chinese population that has immigrated to the area. Members from WELS’ sister church in Hong Kong who also immigrated have already started gathering family and friends around the gospel message. Learn more at wels.net/asiaoceania.

New Zealand

A few years back, a few South Asian Lutheran Evangelical Mission (SALEM) members who immigrated from Hong Kong to New Zealand began meeting online with SALEM leadership for Bible Study and fellowship. This group, located in Auckland, began monthly worship in January 2023, and they continued to meet every week online and in person.

Rev. Titus Tse, retired SALEM chairman from Hong Kong, was commissioned as a missionary to establish the church in Auckland in March 2025. Eleven people were welcomed into membership as founding members in October 2026. These brothers and sisters welcome all newcomers to their church with open arms. They want to see many more Chinese-speaking people brought to faith and strengthened in Christ, and there are countless opportunities to do just that. Chinese people already make up five percent of the population of New Zealand, and experts predict that this number will grow to ten percent in the next 20-30 years. WELS is excited to continue assisting our sister church SALEM as they foster this new mission in New Zealand. Learn more at wels.net/asiaoceania.

Support exploratory mission work in these new world mission field. Your gift will support exploratory trips and initial outreach to these locations, and future exploratory work to even more locations. Select “New World Mission Fields” from the drop-down menu.

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