LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 20

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20

SYNOD REPORTS

Office of International Mission (OIM)

The Office of International Mission (OIM) plans, coordinates, and
executes international Lutheran mission and mercy work in order to
grow the global confessional Lutheran community.
“Thank God, a seven-year-old child knows what the church
is, namely, holy believers and sheep who hear the voice of their
Shepherd” (SA XII “The Church”). Luther’s explanation of Christ’s
Church underscores the core work of the Synod and her international
missionary arm, OIM. The Church is Christ’s instrument to repeat His
voice to everyone who has ears to hear, for faith in Him is the triune
God’s missionary desire. The boundary to be crossed then is the one
from unbelief to faith—worked, of course, by the Spirit through the
Means of Grace. The mission is His, even as is the Church.
OIM—the workers deployed and onsite, called, appointed, and
contracted—works aggressively to let His Word have free course.
Fundamentally, the Lutheran Church works to plant Lutheran
churches by doing Lutheran missions. His doctrine saves (1 Tim.
4:16). What a privilege to be a part of this!
The Church therefore works with confidence, no matter the
contrary voices inside or out. His mission will be accomplished.
Therefore, we
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work with absolute confidence, trusting in the real and ongoing presence of the historical and living Lord and God;
work with absolute confidence that there is only one true religion in
the world, which unveils and proclaims the reality of the triune God’s
witness in His Son on the cross;
work with absolute confidence that we have His sure and certain witness, namely, His Holy Scripture, which speaks with thematic unity,
both in the Old and New Testaments, of the God who justifies sinners
(Rom. 4:5);
work with absolute confidence that His Word is not ineffective but has
an operative power to do as He says;
work with absolute confidence because we are given the inner testimony of the Spirit, because the divinely and baptismally worked faith
trusts alone in God’s Son (“Whoever believes in the Son of God has
the testimony in himself” [1 John 5:10]). This inner testimony by the
Spirit is never worked apart but through the hearing and reading of
God’s Word;
work with absolute confidence because God works the mission through
His Church. The mission of the Church is nothing but the mission of
the triune God, now extended to the world. God is coming to the world
through His Church, namely, through His voice repeated with fidelity into the ears of all who have ears to hear, inside and outside the
Church. God in sending His Church into the world is sending Christ
into the world;
work with absolute confidence because the Church cannot do otherwise, as in the Spirit she is taken up to do the deeds done through her
by Christ Himself;
work with absolute confidence because Christ’s sacrifice is both intensively and extensively perfect, covering each and every sinner’s sins
for all time.

Absolutely needed right now are workers, missionaries, for
Christ’s work. We need preachers, and we need laity such as teachers to teach children overseas the Shepherd’s voice! Please consider
Matthew 28:16–20; Romans 10:14–17; Titus 1:5; and 1 Peter 3:15.
The Lord’s pattern for reaching the lost is the Word proclaimed
through preachers and that same Word repeated through the laity in
their vocations. In other words, the Church plants churches through
the repetition of God’s Voice, His Word, through the vocational calling of His people.
The Office of International Mission divides the world into five
regions: Eurasia, Latin America, Southern Asia and Oceania, Africa,
and Asia Pacific. Each of these areas has a regional director. Please
pray for each of these brothers: Pastors Brent Smith, John Mehl, and
2013 Convention Workbook

Ted Krey; Dr. Michael Rodewald, and Mr. Darin Storkson. These
brothers oversee the triune God’s mission in their region. It’s a big job,
but with prayer and God’s Word, they do it faithfully. Each of their
areas is divided into area facilitators, including a business manager.
The Lord’s mission requires oversight (nurture and admonishment)
and support from the Church.
In order to meet funding requirements, the Synod’s missions
department created a network-support funding model. In the past,
congregations and districts gave direct support for all missionary
support. Now the support for most of the missionaries and the laity
(GEOs, that is, Globally Engaged for Outreach) is accomplished
through networks of donors who generously support our missionaries and GEOs.
This funding model is remarkably successful. Dr. David Birner,
who spent 25 years in international missions, shares that the new
model has not only saved the mission program from the consequences
of decreasing unrestricted funding through the offering plate, but it
has also enabled missions to grow to the current deployed numbers
of servants in the field: 63 career missionaries and 46 GEOs! The triune God’s mission has not changed. Should we ever doubt that He
will supply the mission with the necessary resources to get it done?
O, you of little faith, why do you doubt, Missouri!
Enjoy the reports of the five regional directors and the Director
of Missionary Services, Dr. Edward Grimenstein, whose work,
along with his staff, surrounds the missionary with care and support. Included also are the reports regarding the very important work
of mercy.
Africa Region

The emerging Lutheran mission picture in Africa is one of
much opportunity tempered by challenge. The number of Lutheran
Christians in Africa is fast approaching an estimated 20 million on
a continent three and a half times the size of the continental United
States. The tremendous growth of the Lutheran Church in Africa is not
only the result of faithful proclamation from western Lutheran missionaries from the U.S. and Europe, but increasingly mission efforts
from African Lutheran Christians planting churches. In addition, refugees displaced by conflict have come in contact with Lutherans in
their places of refuge and returned to their homes with the Gospel and
a faith formed in relationship with Lutherans. All the above efforts
have resulted in numerous new Lutheran church bodies.
Resolutions on same-sex marriage by Western Lutheran churches
have caused these emerging African Lutheran churches to turn to
the LCMS, known for its reputation for biblical fidelity and confessional Lutheran integrity. The two needs most often expressed
by these emerging churches are (1) help to more fully understand
themselves as Lutheran Christians, and (2) assistance with theological education to train pastors where congregations vastly outnumber
those ordained for Word and Sacrament ministry. OIM—Africa
Region currently supports mission initiatives in varying degrees
of cooperation in Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea,
Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Republic of
Congo, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo,
and Uganda. It has pending requests from Malawi and Zambia, as
well as a dormant relationship because of political issues in Eritrea.
The challenge remains that of adequate financing and placement of
personnel to keep pace with mission opportunities presented by the
many existing and potential partners.
Theological Education

OIM supports the training of pastors through grants or scholarships to students for partner-operated seminaries: Neemae Lutheran
Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (est. 50