LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 22

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

22

SYNOD REPORTS

serving in partner church seminaries in Japan, Taiwan, and Papua
New Guinea. There are seven partner church seminaries in the region.
Training for students in Southeast Asian countries is provided
for pastors in cooperation through Luther Institute Southeast Asia
(LISA). LCMS missionary Dr. Gerhard Michael serves as the executive director of LISA, which serves students from four countries.
LCMS missionaries and partner church leaders serve as country coordinators for the LISA training program.
The LCMS mission effort for Southeast Asian students is being
enhanced by cooperation with Concordia Theological Seminary,
Hong Kong. This seminary of the Lutheran Church—Hong Kong
Synod will help provide a BTh equivalent for students who plan to
continue their studies at a master’s level.
Human Care Ministries

The people of the LCMS respond generously to the physical needs
of people left in difficult and even hopeless situations. The church
generously gave over $2.3 million to help the victims of the 2011
Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. These funds helped to rebuild community centers and give relief to children who live in the Fukushima
prefecture and are dosed with high levels of radiation.
In the Philippines, disaster relief has come from the LCMS to help
the Lutheran Church in the Philippines as they cope with many of the
typhoons that can so quickly ravage their country.
A disaster relief training was sponsored by LCMS Disaster Relief
in Hong Kong in 2012 to provide training to partner church leaders
with more than 50 participants.
In Papua New Guinea, an airstrip in the Penale region is almost
finished. Missionaries working side by side with nationals have
provided ample opportunity for building relationships and Gospel
witness.
The Gutnius Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea operates
Immanuel Lutheran Hospital in Mambisanda, in the Highlands of
the country.
In Cambodia, Community Health Education (CHE) provides the
opportunity for Lutheran congregations to provide not only best practices for their physical health, but also the opportunity to talk about
Jesus.
By the grace of God, an NGO has been registered in China, providing the opportunity for God’s service and witness.
Partners

Lutheran partners in mission work together to provide for a unified effort to establish congregations and build up indigenous synods.
Some of the partners in the region include the Lutheran Women’s
Missionary League, Lutheran Hour Ministries, Lutheran Heritage
Foundation, Garuna Foundation, Lutheran Bible Translators (three
families), Christian Children’s Concern Society, LCMS seminaries, Grace Place Retreats, MOST, Wheat Ridge Ministries, Bethesda
Lutheran Communities, members of the Concordia University
System, as well as districts, congregations and individuals.
Eurasia Region

Consistent with the stated mission of the LCMS and by the
power of the Holy Spirit, the LCMS in Eurasia is engaged in sharing
the Good News of Jesus with unreached and uncommitted people,
with an emphasis on church planting by reconnecting the people to
their Christian heritage as we approach the 500th anniversary of the
Reformation in 2017.
The population of Eurasia has surpassed one billion people.
Currently, 40 percent of the population identifies itself as Muslim, with
Muslims being the majority in countries such as Turkey, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, and Pakistan. The LCMS in Eurasia currently supports mission initiatives in Germany, England, Czech Republic,
2013 Convention Workbook

Belgium, France, Portugal, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Georgia,
Mongolia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Turkey, and
Pakistan.
Personnel

The Eurasia missionary team currently has 19 career, 6 contracted,
and 4 alliance missionaries; also 12 GEOs and 55 accompanying
spouses and children. The team includes 18 clergy, 2 deaconesses,
one director of Christian education, and 3 rostered teachers. Of the
existing personnel, 7 clergy are focused on church planting and 6 on
theological education, with additional personnel such as an agronomist, Lutheran educators, physical therapists, and church musicians
serving in roles of witness and mercy. GEOs serving in nine locations raise the Lutheran identity and impact at least 3,000 students
on a regular basis. During the triennium, coordinators mobilized over
30 short-term teams into 25 locations across Central Europe and an
additional 30 teams in other areas.
Church Planting, Heritage, Renaissance, and Development

This triennium saw The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria
in Russia celebrate 400 years (in 2011) since its establishment in
the Russian Empire. New witness efforts led to the completion of
10 Lutheran church construction or renovation projects such as in
Klaipeda, Lithuania; Minusinsk, Russia; and St. Michael Lutheran
in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of England celebrated a milestone in 2012 of 50 years of theological education through Westfield
House in Cambridge. Expansion of outreach efforts led to the launch
of Lutheran Radio UK (lutheranradio.co.uk) by Alliance Missionary
Rev. Jaime Kriger of Brazil. Church planting efforts in a number of
locations were supported by a host of Lutherans working in various vocations. For example, the agriculture work of Dr. Mike Wade
in Central Asia saw an improvement in production on 800 acres of
wheat, barley, sunflower, corn, and finally soybean crops. Yields
on soybeans hit 55 bushels per acre, and corn hit 115 bushels per
acre. Through this community development partnership, seeds of
the Gospel were sown among the agriculture administration. The
work of Lutheran educators and a physical therapist with retired
LCMS pastors led to a Divine Service establishing the International
Lutheran Church of Ankara, Turkey. All nations outreach continues in
church planting locations such as Brussels, Belgium; Prague, Czech
Republic; Dublin, Ireland; and Leipzig, Germany. The first Mandarin
Chinese-speaking alliance missionary is scheduled to be ordained and
deployed into Europe in 2013.
Theological Education

Theological education trained an average of 250 students in collaboration with seven seminaries in the region: Westfield House in
Cambridge, England; The Lutherische Theologische Hochschule in
Frankfurt am Main/Oberusel, Germany; The Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Ingria in Russia Theological Institute near St. Petersburg,
Russia; Concordia Theological Seminary in Novosibirsk, Russia; the
Central Asia Lutheran Seminary in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and Almaty,
Kazakhstan; and The Luther Academy in Riga, Latvia.
Human Care

LCMS continued to partner in a number of initiatives, such as with
the Lutheran Church Concordia in Kyrgyzstan to operate a mobile
medical van, which treated 36,000 women and children and distributed 7,500 eyeglasses in close proximity to Word and Sacrament
ministry. The programs of Hope Halfway House in Siberia and Hope
Center in St. Petersburg expanded prison ministry and pro-life ministries, respectively.