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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 20

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

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.