LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 47

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SYNODICAL REPORTS 47

Partner Church Bodies

* In 2002, in partnership with LCMS World Mission, The Lutheran
Church of Nigeria sent Rev. Samuel Essien, its first foreign mis-
sionary, to The Gambia to work with a group of Christians who
had requested LCMS assistance in church planting and leadership
development. (The group used an Internet Café to find the LCMS
via the LCMS Web site.) By 2003, The Lutheran Church in The
Gambia had seven preaching stations with a total of about 280
worshippers, as well as a nursery school and a primary
school. Five lay preachers trained by Rev. Essien are serving the
stations. One Gambian candidate has been chosen by the Gam-
bian church to be trained at the Jonathon Ekong Memorial
Lutheran Seminary in Nigeria.

In 2000, when a Lutheran family in Toledo, Spain, laid the foun-
dation for a Lutheran mission in Spain to be established, the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina (IELA) responded by
sending a missionary to plant a congregation and extend outreach
into other areas of Spain. By 2003, members of the growing
church body came from Madrid, Seville, Cantabria, Andalucia,
and Asturias. LCMS World Mission partners with the IELA by
providing financial support for the mission. It also enlisted the
expertise of Dr. Arthur Just of Concordia Theological Seminary,
Fort Wayne, Ind., to assist with missionary training for three
months in 2002.

Balanced Focus Plan—Mission Responders Focus

Educate, encourage, and equip LCMS individuals, congregations,
Districts, and other entities to actively build the capacity of tbe
LCMS to be a partner in reaching 100 million people.

The third focus of the Balanced Focus Plan is the mission re-
sponders’ focus. Mission responders are Christians who respond to
God’s grace by involvement in His mission through one or more
of the Seven Mission Responses—Go, Pray, Learn, Give, Tell,
Send, and Celebrate. Through Ablaze! LCMS World Mission is
inviting every member of every LCMS congregation to be person-
ally involved and to “own” the mission in one or more of these
ways. ,

This type of mission involvement is a win/win/win/win! It is a
win for the LCMS as congregations, groups, and individuals are
meaningfully involved; it’s a win for the mission fields that are re-
ceiving needed personnel, funding, and support, based on their
strategies; it’s a win for LCMS World Mission staff, including re-
gional directors who need help to support missionary efforts; and
it’s a win for the lost as God’s mission is done more effectively.

Current and ongoing work includes the development of a na-
tional Mission Responders’ Network to engage various segments
of the LCMS in mission response. A new model for short-term
mission assignments utilizing small-group principles is also in de-
velopment to create more “Go” opportunities for LCMS members
to be strategically involved in LCMS mission fields. Both national
and international sites for short-term mission teams are being iden-
tified. Participants will become part of the Mission Responders’
Network and commit to training new groups in the model.

Balanced Focus Plan—People Focus

Identify and develop people who have the expertise and capacity to
link partners, mission responders, and resources to mission
opportunities in a creative and innovative manner.

This focus pertains to LCMS World Mission staff, missionar-
ies, volunteers, and those who minister on behalf of LCMS World
Mission. LCMS World Mission desires to raise up people who
have the ability to do mission and ministry in all settings in cre-
ative and innovative ways. By training people and empowering
them to do their work more effectively, we move toward accom-
plishing the goal of sharing the Good News of Jesus with 100 mil-
lion unreached or uncommitted people by the year 2017.

T.E.A.M.—Together Everyone Achieves More

Following the downsizing of 50 percent of the St. Louis admin-
istrative staff (from 64 full-time equivalent staff members to 32),
which was precipitated by budget challenges in 2002 and 2003, the
St. Louis staff was restructured in 2003 into new work teams.
Through this realignment, work teams are not only committed in-
dividually to what they do separately, but are also committed to
what their teammates are doing on a daily basis. Every work team
is assigned a specific area to “own’”—administration, communica-
tion, personnel, Ministry to the Armed Forces, international, and
national missions—but ownership doesn’t end with each team’s
specific area of responsibility and expertise. The entire mission
staff owns and is committed to the success of the whole mission
and to all team members.

Synod budget challenges in 2002-03 also brought about the dif-
ficult decision to downsize overseas missionaries from 105 career
units to 74 career units. (See “Funding Trends for the Triennium,”
below.) LCMS World Mission utilizes long- and short-term volun-
teer missionaries, who significantly aid the work of career mis-
sionaries and partner churches. Budget cuts did not significantly
impact the work of these volunteer missionaries. In the future,
LCMS World Mission plans to make greater use of the gifts and
talents God has given His church by using volunteers on a scale
never envisioned before. LCMS World Mission will substantially
increase the opportunities for both long- and short-term volunteer
missionary involvement in LCMS and partner church mission
fields in a strategic, collaborative, and helpful way.

Personnel Statistics for the Triennium

¢ Prior to 2003, there were 105 career missionary units (a family,
couple, or single person).

* Prior to 2003, the number of staff members based at the LCMS
World Mission headquarters at the International Center in St.
Louis, Mo., was 64 full-time equivalents.

° As of Jan. 2004, 74 career units are serving in 32 countries.

* As of Jan. 2004, the number of staff based in St. Louis is 32 full-
time equivalents.

¢ In 2004, 128 long-term volunteer missionaries are serving in 28
countries.

¢ In 2004, 130 international educators are serving schools in seven
countries.

¢ In 2003, 52 short-term volunteer missionaries served in LCMS
fields.

«In 2003, 344 “guests” traveled to LCMS fields for short-term,
specialized individual or group assignments in areas such as the-
ological education, English-as-a-second language teaching, and
medical missions.

¢ LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces currently endorses 85 ac-
tive-duty chaplains, 115 reserve and National Guard chaplains,
25 in Veterans Affairs ministry (10 full-time), and 25 Civil Air
Patrol chaplains.

Balanced Focus Plan—Leadership Focus

Establish and put into practice a culture of leadership, accountable
for fostering ideas, stretching people, and successfully achieving the
Balanced Focus Plan.

To further streamline the administrative structure—matching
staffing needs to the new strategic plan—LCMS World Mission
eliminated a dozen area-director positions in 2003 and replaced

‘them with “regional directors” for four world areas: Africa, Asia,

Eurasia, and Latin America. Eliminated, effective Nov. 30, were
the posts of six full-time and three part-time area directors, plus
three vacant positions. The area directors, most of who were based
overseas, were among those considered for the four regional direc-
tor positions. The new directors, also deployed, will coordinate
strategies, search out new mission opportunities, and work together

2004 Convention Workbook