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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 21

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

SYNODICAL REPORTS 21

* The LCMS can be grateful for new outreach. New outreach dur-
ing the past triennium includes new work in Kyrgyzstan; new
outreach to the Malinke people group in Guinea; the ordination
of Sudanese pastors in Sudan; new work in southeastern Asia:
Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar; and the formation of the
Tagakaulo Lutheran Church of Christ in the Philippines.

Thank the Lord for partner churches with 50-year anniver-
saries—Japan, Hong Kong, and Papua New Guinea—and for the
100th anniversary being observed by the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Brazil.

We thank God for the launching of Pentecost 2000 in the LCMS
and its effect on creating prayer warriors on behalf of the
church’s mission in North America.

¢ We thank God for new ways of keeping LCMS members better
informed about the opportunities and progress being made by
LCMS World Mission. We note the new mission Web site at
www.lIcmsworldmission.org. The new publication “Harvest
News,” in its first year of life, is a beautiful monthly newsletter to
inform LCMS Christians about and involve them in God’s mis-
sion. Missionary prayer cards, global links, mission devotionals.
mission worship services, other mission resources, and news sto-
ries are also available on the LCMS World Mission Web site.

The new dedicated team of area directors under God’s blessing
will do much to enhance and expand the work of LCMS World
Mission. The guidelines for their work flow out of a “Theological
Preface to Mission,” which is firmly anchored in commitment to
the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions.

“ For more information download the “Theological Preface to
Mission” at www.Icmsworldmission.org/report. Or call the LCMS
fax back service, 1-888-LCMSFAX, request #58.

¢ Concordia International School Shanghai (CISS) opened Sept. 7,
1998, with 22 students and has grown to its current enrollment
of 132 students. CISS is the only Christian school in Shanghai.
LCMS World Mission continues to provide large numbers of
LCMS volunteers to teach English as a second language in
China.

¢ The Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) began the Arthur
C. Haake World Ministry Fund in honor of the late LCEF presi-
dent. This fund enables partner churches around the world to fi-
nance immediate, short-term needs and begin new ministries

through loans no greater than about $10,000 and not exceeding
five years in length.

God Continues to Lead His Mission

LCMS World Mission is in the process of preparing a missiol-
ogy document, which will outline and explain the missiological
principles that guide strategy-setting and how mission work is
carried out.

LCMS World Mission continues to work closely with partner
churches around the world. A growing number of these partners
are leading in mission expansion, such as the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Argentina’s outreach to Spain in 1999.

As each LCMS mission field prepares its strategy statement, exit
strategies are being included. These exit strategies guide mission
planning so that national Christians are intentionally given lead-
ership roles enabling the planting of a strong church that is not
dependent on missionary personnel or resources.

LCMS World Mission's use of consultants will continue to grow
in fields with little or no career missionary presence. Present on
the field for no more than a month or two at a time, these highly
skilled people—often recruited from retirement—focus on a sin-
gle key ministry. They normally seek out a counterpart in the na-
tional church, working through that person and those within the
ministry network.

Since its beginning in 1998, the Beautiful Feet mission confer-
ence for university and seminary students has continued to grow.
It helps campus mission programs exchange information to help
improve mission involvement and helps individual students un-
derstand mission challenges and their own role in fulfilling the
Great Commission.
The Christian Blind Institute (CBI) began in 1999, with the goal
of training lay leaders and pastors from among the blind com-
munities in Africa, Asia, Europe. and North America. Through
the CBI blind and visually impaired people will be trained to be
missionaries to people in their own communities who do not
know Jesus as their Savior.
James P. Johnson, Chairman
Glenn O’Shoney, Executive Director

2001 Convention Workbook