Tag Archive for: Called to Proclaim 2018

Sharing God’s message with Spanish speakers

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Jackson (pictured), a new Lutheran living in Venezuela, can’t keep the peace he found in the gospel to himself.

“You fill them up with the gospel and this hope and peace and comfort, and it starts to spill out,” says Missionary Mike Hartman, field coordinator for Latin America. 

What’s amazing is that less than a year ago, Jackson didn’t have that peace. Living in a country that economically and socially is falling apart—and where there aren’t any churches that faithfully share God’s true Word—Jackson was looking for hope. He saw a Facebook post from Academia Cristo that shared the gospel message and invited him to join a Whatsapp (texting) group that discusses a daily devotion. As he learned more, Jackson began peppering group leader Henry Herrera, pastor at Most Holy Trinity, Medillín, Colombia, with questions. Herrera invited Jackson to take an online class that he was leading through Academia Cristo. Jackson joined all Herrera’s classes, went through Bible information class, worshiped online with Most Holy Trinity, and within months was confirmed. 

But that wasn’t enough for Jackson. He began inviting people into his home in Venezuela and teaching them what he had learned. He also started offering weekly worship, using the WELS website Iglesia Luterana Cristo for worship resources. 

Jackson is just one example of the people Academia Cristo is reaching. Since its launch three years ago, Academia Cristo has reached Spanish-speaking people in every Spanish-speaking country with the life-saving message of Jesus. And some of those people, people like Jackson, are sharing that message with others. 

Did you know? Academia Cristo (Christ Academy) is a joint effort between World Missions’ One Latin America Team and Multi-Language Publications that offers Christ-centered resources for Spanish speakers around the world.

Vietnam

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“We thank you for the WELS training for the past three years. Now, we believe that we have salvation. Without that, today we would still be living in the darkness of Satan. We believe that God already answered our prayers through the WELS.”

This is just a snippet of the letter written to WELS from the Hmong Fellowship Church in Vietnam, after members of the Global Hmong Committee and the Pastoral Studies Institute conducted pastoral training in Hanoi. Pastor Bounkeo Lor (pictured teaching), coordinator of the Hmong Asia Ministry, and members of the Pastoral Studies Institute Team have been consistently visiting Vietnam to conduct training since 2015. In just three years, the Hmong Fellowship Church has grown from 65,000 to 100,000 members and formed 53 new churches. The Hmong pastors in Vietnam are yearning for the gospel and eager to grow in a faith that centers around the free grace received from Jesus Christ.

Learn more about Hmong Ministry. 

Ethiopia

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Missionaries and the Administrative Committee for Africa have organized a new operational team for all of Africa, the One Africa Team. With new requests for gospel teaching coming from seven additional African countries, the One Africa Team is prepared to share resources and increase partnerships with national pastors and missionaries to meet this growing cry for outreach. Some of these new outreach fields include South Sudanese refugee camps in Kenya, Ethiopia (pictured), and Liberia as well as Mozambique, where the national church of Malawi is in the process of registering with the government to conduct mission work.

Read Missions blog “Africa Awaits! One Africa Team Assembles for Action.”

Read Missions blog “Expansion of Christ’s Kingdom: Kakuma Refugee Camp.”

Outreach to Native Americans

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Our Savior, Bylas, Ariz., used a community garden to reach out to its members and the community. Our Savior is part of the Apache mission, which was established as the first WELS world mission in 1893. In 2018, the Native American mission is celebrating the 125th anniversary of Lutheran mission work on the reservation. To learn more about the anniversary, visit nativechristians.org.

Read Missions blog “Not a Bite Left, but a Hunger for More .“

Building relationships

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The Vine, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is a second site ministry begun by St. Matthew, Spokane, Wash. The congregation held its launch service on Oct. 1, 2017. Twenty-five members of St. Matthew volunteered to serve as a launch team for the new mission and have been busy reaching out in Couer d’Alene. Members of the Vine have been volunteering in the community and hosting community events (pictured: left) as a way to be involved in the community, show kindness in action, and demonstrate the love of Jesus to their neighbors. They and their pastor, Rev. Kevin Schultz, are also building relationships with unchurched families so that they can share the gospel with them. 

As Schultz shares, “Shortly after moving to Coeur d’Alene, I met a lady at a local hotel who was making the arrangements for our church to have a meeting there. She mentioned to me that her dad died a few days prior and she was feeling kind of down and depressed. I listened to her talk about her dad for a little while and how she was hurting inside, and then I shared with her some words of comfort from God’s Word. A few days later, I followed up by sending her a sympathy card in the mail just to show her that I cared. She called me to say thank you for thinking of her and for sharing words of comfort and encouragement with her. About a week after that, she called me again and started asking me questions about our new mission church and what ‘kind’ of church is it going to be. I shared with her information about The Vine and asked if I could stay in contact, so that she would know what we’re doing at The Vine and I could invite her to be a part of it. She said, ‘I would love that. Thank you for caring.’ God is using our efforts to build his church here—one relationship at a time.”

Did you know? Home Missions oversees 115 congregations, 87 of which are subsidized and 28 of which are unsubsidized. These congregations are located in 33 states, Canada, and two islands in the West Indies.

Santo Tomas, Phoenix, Ariz.

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On Nov. 25, Santo Tomas, Phoenix, Ariz., celebrated its 20th anniversary. This Spanish-speaking mission congregation averages four baptisms per month and has confirmed more than 18 adults and 13 youth this year (pictured: youth confirmation in April 2017). Each month, the congregation welcomes an average of 23 first-time visitors. 

“Friendship evangelism is a key part of our growth,” says Rev. Tom Zimdars (pictured: far right), one of Santo Tomas’s two pastors. “Most of our members enter the congregation via special celebrations like baptisms, weddings, and quinceañeras.”

Zimdars notes that as visitors encounter the gospel, “they receive the joy and peace of knowing that their sins are forgiven through faith in Christ, and this message continues to work in their lives as they grow in their faith and share their faith with their family and friends.”

Santo Tomas was formed in 1997 by St. Thomas, an English-speaking congregation that saw the growing Latino community and need for a Spanish-speaking ministry. Santo Tomas now has 169 communicants and 360 baptized members. In addition to Zimdars, the congregation has a second pastor, Rev. Frank Cossio (pictured: far left), who was born in Cuba. WELS Home Missions and WELS Church Extension Fund, Inc., help support this cross-cultural mission. 

Encouraging discipleship

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Peace, Aiken, S.C., won one of two ministry grants awarded by Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2017. The grant is helping fund the discipleship program at Peace. As Jonathan Bourman, Peace’s pastor, explains, “We have three levels of discipleship here. Peace 101 is our membership course. Peace Academy is regular and ongoing doctrinal study. And Peace Lutheran Institute is our inaugural program to raise up the next group of leaders to work, minister, and lead in our church. This year we are piloting the program to see what works best and grow it into a sustainable ministry that year in and year out is producing leaders at Peace.”

Pictured is a Peace Kidz class, which is Peace’s spiritual component for kids, equivalent to Sunday school. 

“Peace aims to be a place where the whole family can grow!” notes Bourman.