# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S20 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 20 MISSIONS of the folks back home are understanding it that way.” Thus writes Rev. Kenneth Mahler, president of the Lutheran Council of Central America and Panama. His words deserve earnest and prayerful consideration. Some areas of Latin America are of course more critical than others; but our general theme during the next few years needs to be: “Eyes southward.” b. Countries South of the Border 1) Mexico. In April 1968 the new Lutheran Synod of Mexico was officially organized with a total membership of 1,200 and with Rev. Tomas Guzman as its president. In January 1965 a joint Lutheran seminary called Centro Augsburgo opened its doors in Mexico City to serve the countries of northern Latin America. The school will have its first graduating class in 1969, consist- ing of two men from Guatemala and one from Colombia. A total of 20 students are now enrolled. Four students have been vicaring this year in Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama. Early in 1967 a pastor of the Missouri Synod, Rev. Robert Hoeferkamp, became seminary president. To be allowed to teach, a professor must have at least the equivalent of a master’s degree and must pass a rigorous examination on Scriptural knowledge and confessional loyalty. 2) Middle America. During the past biennium the Lutheran Council of Central America and Panama was constituted. Among the projects being initiated in Central America and Panama are in-service training retreats for missionaries and evangelists, the most recent of which was held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in February 1969. About a dozen pastors and evangelists serve approxi- mately 2,000 souls. The number of national clergy is increasing, and a lay-training program directed by Rev. Edgar Keller continues to bear fruit. In January 1969 Mr. William Keil, an American Peace Corps volunteer formerly employed in Chile, arrived in Zacapa, Guatemala, to continue the agricultural min- istry there: teaching the farmers to drill wells for irriga- tion and personal use; improving the grade of poultry, hogs, and cattle; providing medicines against animal diseases; introducing good varieties of corn, etc. The Zacapa congregation has also constructed boarding- school facilities that permit children from rural areas to receive an education that includes home economies and farming. The church’s medical dispensary serves up to 700 persons a month with the assistance of Lutheran World Relief. A similar medical program is carried on by Dr. Erich Knoetsch in Guatemala City. 3) Venezuela. Another Lutheran Council organized since the last convention is that of Venezuela, with Rev. Robert Huebner as president. Two 1968 seminary graduates arrived in Venezuela early in 1969, joining the four pastors serving there. Missionary Harold Deye is working in eastern Venezuela, and Rev. Barry Hughey replaced Pastor Hector Lazos in Caracas. In January 1969 Pastor Lazos became di- rector of the lay-training program in Venezuela. He writes: “More is required than programs of limited, local dimensions; more is required than an ordained ministry and other dependent or semiclerical ministries. It is evident that our parish-clergy-centered structure and strategy needs a total reexamination and reappraisal.” Pastor Lazos will also serve as coordinator of the Lu- theran Hour’s communications conference scheduled for Caracas in August 1969. The conference will bring to- gether Lutheran Hour branch office managers in all of Latin America. An LWML grant of $75,000 to the Venezuela Church Extension Fund is making it possible for two congrega- tions (one in Caracas, another in Ciudad Guayana) to proceed with long-planned building projects. During the 1966—68 biennium, students at Concordia Seminary, Springfield, IIl., sponsored the work of Vicar John Durkovie in Caracas. Three Prince of Peace Vol- unteers arrived in Caracas in 1968 to work in agricultural and campus ministries. 4) Argentina. The Argentine District includes two stations in Chile, five in Paraguay, and two in Uruguay in addition to congregations in Argentina itself. Forty- five pastors serve about 22,000 members. The shortage of pastors has made difficult the deepening of the faith and an adequate growth in stewardship on the part of our Argentine Lutherans. During the past year Semi- nario Concordia near Buenos Aires sent six vicars and seven candidates into the field. However, at the same time several workers have retired because of age and illness, and classes at the seminary are very small. Re- cruitment of seminary students has been slow, partly because of the poor salaries paid pastors. Both former District President Edgar Kroeger and newly elected President J. P. Horn have shown a keen interest in the establishment of Lutheran elementary schools in areas where they would be effective. None now operate in Argentina, but Chile has two, and Para- guay and Uruguay each have one. A donation of $12,000 from the Minnesota South District LWML will help establish a parochial school in Cordoba, Argentina. 5) Brazil. The Brazil District, numbering 136,000 members, also suffers from an acute shortage of pastors and the effects of crippling inflation. At the same time it faces unparalleled opportunities as new cities are born in the interior. To alleviate situations in which one pastor must serve as many as 20 congregations, our Synod has erected a new preseminary training school in Sao Leopoldo, with present capacity of about 250 students and room for future expansion. The seminary itself, in nearby Porto Alegre, has an enrollment of 52. Ten candidates grad- uated last year. For the first time in nearly 15 years the Synod has also sent North American pastors to Brazil (Robert Alsleben, Dennis Maaske, and Merrell Wetzstein). They are engaged in study of the Portuguese language and are reaching out to the native Brazilians in Campina Grande, Taguatinga, and Belem. Social-welfare programs, including several orphan- ages and classes for the deaf, are also carried on by the members of the District.