# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S432
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

482 MISSIONS

have a flourishing seminary for future pastors and teachers. Itg
present enrollment is more than 130 students. *

The preparatory school, which for many years was conduct
at Crespo, Argentina, is now consolidated with the seminary ‘
Villa Ballester, a suburb of Buenos Aires. This move has help
achieve greater efficiency and greater economy. 3

It must always remain our aim to build an indigenous Ch
self-supporting and self-propagating, also in South America, fom
only then can we hope to build solidly and to insure an expansi
of our work in the future. Our churches are gradually bei
nationalized: The youth is rapidly adopting the language and thi
customs of the country in which they live. At the present tin
_there are comparatively few workers in South American fiel
who were trained in our seminaries in North America.

Extraterritorial Missions

Prior to the convention in 1947 our missions in Central Amerit
Mexico, and other extraterritorial areas were supervised by. fo)
different District Mission Boards. Since. most of these missiong
are conducted among Spanish-speaking people, and since mo
of these missions have very much in common, it was deem
advisable that they all be brought under the supervision of 0)
department. The conduct of these missions was therefore al
entrusted. to the Board for Missions in North and South Ameri
During the past triennium excellent progress was made in bo
the Spanish- and English-speaking groups in Mexico City. O
English-speaking group, the Lutheran Church of the Good She
herd, was permitted to dedicate the first unit of its church building
in December, 1948. Also in Monterrey splendid progress has be
recorded. Our congregation in this large city, “the Chicago of
Mexico,” will soon dedicate its new church edifice, erected with%
funds contributed by the L. W. M. L.

Our Instituto Concordia de Mexico, where we are traini
a native Mexican clergy, continues to enjoy divine benedictio:
Our first graduate of this school was graduated in 1949 and is no
doing mission work in Torreon.

In Guatemala the extent of our work has been limited
a shortage of manpower. One open door after another has pre
sented itself to us, but not all could be entered. By this fall 4
hope to have added two or three more men to our staff in Guat
mala. In few fields do we have brighter prospects.

Work on the Isle of Pines and in Cuba is progressing slowl:
against great difficulties. With the increase in our manpower
these islands we have every reason to-hope for a larger measur
of success. a