The final donor newsletter and a statistical final report sharing the results of the Synod-wide Fan into Flame campaign are now available for download.

“More than $67 million in gifts and pledges for mission work were received under the banner of Fan into Flame,” wrote Mark Hofman, executive director of Mission Advancement for the LCMS, in a recent email to LCMS pastors. “When combined with the regular, annual missions-focused gifts provided by donors during campaign’s five-year active phase, the total amount offered to initiate or sustain LCMS mission work at home and abroad exceeded $150 million. I want to again publicly thank God for His faithfulness and for instilling a marvelous spirit of generosity in those who wish to proclaim Christ as sole savior of the world.”

Click here to read a Reporter story about the conclusion of the Fan into Flame campaign.

Click here to download the Fan into Flame final newsletter and the final report.

Photo: The full-time residency deaconess students at Lutheran Theological Seminary recently met with the part-time intensive course deaconess students and instructors Deaconess Grace Rao and Deaconess Deborah Rockrohr.

This update was shared by LCMS missionaries Rev. Dr. Carl and Deaconess Deborah Rockrohr, who live and serve in South Africa.

“We have reached the midpoint of the first semester at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane (LTS). The first quarter (Q1) of studies at LTS closed on March 23. Our classes continue through Q2 with final exams in June, but the mid-term break suggests we pause and reflect on what we have done, what has kept us busy since classes started on February 7, and the blessing of the Lord’s mercy and grace that has been woven throughout.

“Carl has been teaching Early Church History and Theological Orientation this semester. Both of these courses correspond to courses at the University of Pretoria (UP) and are offered for UP credit to students who qualify for UP admission under the joint partnership agreement between LTS and UP. Challenges for Carl in Q1 have included aligning his courses with UP outcomes, access to sufficient research/library resources for lecture preparation, and helping the two new students catch up with the class. On the whole, Carl reports that the students have engaged well with the material and he has enjoyed lively conversations with them on the subject matter.

“Carl has also been the assigned preacher for Matins on Fridays and enjoys the discipline of regular sermon preparation. As we worship together in daily chapel and on Sundays, we are becoming accustomed to hearing worshipers sing nearly everything in rich harmony, but the experience is no less joyful or inspiring even as it becomes familiar to our ears.

“As director of the Deaconess Programme at LTS, Deborah will readily tell anyone who is interested to hear, ‘I am for the women.’ Her interest and her responsibilities extend to all aspects of the living and learning environment as it impacts the deaconess students. Deborah has been teaching two courses for the deaconess students: Introduction to Deaconess Ministry and Theology of Lutheran Worship/Altar Guild. She also provides ‘Supervised Prep’ for the deaconess students twice per week after lunch. The prep period encourages a regular discipline of study in addition to providing opportunities for students to ask questions as they study. Students have regularly used this time wisely and also have asked questions in nearly every prep period. The arrangement seems to be meeting its intended goal of supporting the academic endeavors of the deaconess students.”

• Learn more about the Rockrohrs’ ministry and how you can support them.
• Learn more about LCMS witness and mercy work in South Africa.

Photo: LCMS representatives meet with Bishop Amos Bolay, far right, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia outside a Lutheran congregation in Monrovia, Liberia.

LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison declared fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia (ELCL) May 10. This declaration followed the Commission on Theology and Church Relations’ (CTCR) action on April 26 in which recognition of full agreement between the LCMS and ELCL was approved.

“To its great joy, the CTCR discovered that doctrinal agreement exists with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia,” said the Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast, CTCR chairman and president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. “It was our privilege to recommend that President Harrison declare fellowship with these fellow Christians.”

In his official letter to ELCL Bishop Amos Bolay, Harrison wrote, “Church fellowship is not something created by us, but it is a gift from our Lord Jesus that our Lord uses to mutually encourage each of us.”

Read the rest of this Reporter online story.

Learn more about LCMS witness and mercy work in Liberia.

Photo: The Rev. Jose Pfaffenzeller, right, of Concordia Seminary, Argentina, faculty, communes the Rev. Egon Kopereck, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil, during the school’s 70th anniversary service on May 1.

Nearly 1,000 Lutherans gathered May 1 on the campus of Concordia Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to celebrate and thank God for its 70 years of preparing pastors and other church workers.

Participants included pastors and other congregation members from across the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina (IELA), partner church leaders, delegations from five South American countries and several LCMS representatives.

Taking advantage of a two-day national labor holiday, the IELA and Concordia Seminary, Argentina, organized a full day of events for this significant anniversary in their life together. Meetings May 2 focused on the future of the Lutheran Church in the southern cone of South America, where Argentina and other represented countries are located.

Read the rest of this Reporter online article.

Learn more about LCMS witness and mercy work in Argentina.

Rev. David Mahsman gives an introduction outside the "Old Latin School."

This post was shared Rev. David Mahsman, director of special assignments in Eurasia. 

“One thing that has me excited about our new plans for Wittenberg’s “Old Latin School” is that we will have our own education program there. The school building, dedicated in 1564, in the last 100 years has been a publishing plant, a clothing factory, and an eyesore.

“Now it has a future once again as an attractive building in the heart of old Wittenberg where the Christian faith is taught and upheld. This won’t be only a place where students can stay during study-abroad programs, but it will be a place where we will welcome people from all walks of life and help them learn about the Christian faith, grow in their own
faith, and gain appreciation for what God did in this very town to restore the Gospel through Martin Luther some 500 years ago.

“I’m also excited about the people who are working on the education program for Wittenberg—some of the top education people in the Synod! Convening this special committee is Dr. Jack Preus, former president of Concordia University, Irvine, Calif., and currently executive vice president for mission advancement with Bethesda Lutheran Communities. Two current university presidents also are on the committee: Dr. Patrick Ferry of Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, and Dr. Brian Friedrich of Concordia University Nebraska, Seward.

“After these three met in January to lay the ground work for the committee, they recruited others to join them: Dr. Cameron MacKenzie, professor and chairman of historical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana; Dr. Timothy Quill, director of international theological education for the LCMS; Rev. Greg Seltz, speaker for The Lutheran Hour who also has speaker for The Lutheran Hour who also has significant experience with academic programs; and Dr. Lisa Keyne, executive director at North Carolina Campus Compact, an expert in education management and an LCMS director of Christian education.

“Subcommittees are being recruited now to prepare programs for a broad audience, from scholars and university students, to lay people and pilgrims, as well as those who may not be Christian but who want to learn about this man Martin Luther, who is so famous and important for Germany and the world.

“We hope to have some programs in place by this fall. But we will be going full tilt and seeing our greatest contribution once our building is renovated and fully operational. So, there’s much more to come!”

• Read more about Wittenberg and plans to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
• Support Rev. David Mahsman’s work with the Wittenberg Project.

Photo: A short-term missionary talks with students at the Concordia English Center in Macau.

Current service opportunity: Urgent need for English-as-a-Foreign Language teacher: June 30 – Aug. 14, 2012

Concordia English Center in Macau urgently needs short-term missionaries to serve by helping teach English classes to professional adults and students who are preparing to study abroad. The center is focused on using English as a way to form relationships and through those friendships, share the hope of Jesus. Short-term missionaries will live in a furnished apartment, teach classes, be involved in fellowship activities and help support resident mission staff. Teaching in Macau is a wonderful way to experience life in the mission field and help spread the Gospel in a place that needs it desperately. Many LCMS missionaries will be home this summer for home service. If we are unable to find short-term missionaries to fill their teaching assignments, classes will need to be canceled. Please prayerfully consider filling this critical need!

• For more information, contact the Office of International Mission at 888-843-5267 or mission.recruitment@lcms.org.
• To learn about how you can serve the Lord around the world, visit http://servenow.lcms.org.
• Learn more about LCMS witness and mercy work in Macau.

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God knows us and what we need. He sent his Son, Jesus, to earth, so that we may have life, and have it to the full. Through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, our relationship with God is restored and we have life. LCMS World Mission’s GEO and short-term missionary programs focus on building relationships and sharing the Gospel with people through those relationships, as well as connecting locals to career missionaries and national churches to continue building relationships. The people touched by GEO and short-term missionaries need the same thing we all do: true life in Christ.  By serving for 1-2 years or even two weeks, you can help our missionaries and national churches in their efforts to introduce people to a true life in Christ.

Photo: Darin Storkson, left, LCMS regional director for Southern Asia, meets with Bishop Aladin Sitio of the Indonesian Lutheran Christian Church.

The Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver III, LCMS director of Church Relations, and Darin Storkson, LCMS regional director for Southern Asia and Oceania, recently visited with officials from the Indonesian Lutheran Christian Church (ILCC) to discuss potential church fellowship between the two church bodies.

Collver said that the talks in Indonesia “forge[d] stronger connections between the LCMS and other Lutheran churches” in the area. The Rev. Jon Albert Saragih, secretary general for the ILCC, captured the ILCC’s enthusiasm by noting that fellowship discussions between the two churches took place on a “historic day that will remembered 100 years from now.”

Originally a part of the Protestant Christian Batak Church, the ILCC separated from it in 1965 after the Rev. J. Sinaga raised issues of concern. After attending Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., Sinaga returned home with a heightened awareness of the doctrinal discord in his own church and spoke openly about the issues adversely affecting the church’s ability to remain orthodox.

Click here to continue reading this Reporter online story.

Learn more about LCMS witness and mercy work in Indonesia.

Photo: Andrea Herman

This update was shared by LCMS missionary Andrea Herman, who serves in Guinea, West Africa.

“‘Kay,’ the wife of one of our church leaders, has always resisted her husband’s invitations to church and my invitations to a women’s Bible study — until recently. As the result of dreams, Kay went from having zero interest in Jesus to chasing me down asking when I can teach her about Baptism so she can be baptized! She is also now the one in the household insisting that she and her husband pray together before bed. It has been a wonderful and somewhat shocking turn of events, but we praise God for what He’s doing!

“Please keep this family in your prayers, especially Kay and her children. Even though her desire for Jesus is strong, she has lived a long time without knowing His ways, and her harsh treatment of her children has even forced unbelieving neighbors to confront her about how violently she disciplines them. Please pray that as she and others seek to walk the ‘Jesus road,’ that God would quickly teach them His gentle ways, that their children and neighbors would see this change and desire to follow Jesus too.”

• Learn more about LCMS witness and mercy work in Guinea.
• Learn more about how you can support Andrea Herman and her ministry in West Africa.

Lutherans in Kyrgyzstan receive the short version of Luther’s Small Catechism translated into the Kyrgyz language.

With the cooperation of the Lutheran Heritage Foundation, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) recently printed the short version of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism in the Georgian language. There is a dearth of Lutheran literature in the country of Georgia and this is an important first step in providing parishioners and Bible study groups with the spiritual knowledge necessary for living the Christian life. The translated Book of Concord is also being edited at this moment with hopes that it will be printed soon also.

Luther’s Small Catechism booklet translated into Georgian.

In Kyrgyzstan, the LCMS also partnered in the printing of a newly translated short version of the Small Catechism in the Kyrgyz language. It is currently being distributed within Kyrgyzstan. The larger, more extensive version of the Small Catechism with explanation is still being translated. The Lutheran Church-Concordia in Kyrgyzstan expressed their thanks at the printing and those who supported the project.

• Read about the work of the LCMS in Kyrgyzstan and Georgia.
• Pray for projects that translate Bibles and Lutheran literature into heart languages.

Photo: High school youth dive into God’s Word at their youth camp in Xinzhu, Taiwan.

This update was shared by Graham Guenther, who serves as a GEO missionary in Taiwan. (GEO missionaries serve for one- to two-year terms in locations around the world.)

“This month, we helped out with a youth camp for churches from around Taiwan [that belong to the China Evangelical Lutheran Church, the LCMS partner church in Taiwan]. The youth were invited to meet in Xinzhu for a weekend of worshiping and learning more about God. This youth camp was especially powerful because this time, college students took on responsibilities and were leaders for each of the small groups. Last year, when us North American missionaries helped, we were the leaders of the small groups. It is much easier to relate and share answers when you are able to speak in your native language with people who have likely encountered similar situations. The college students were amazing witnesses to the power of Christ’s love. When I was their age, I would not have been comfortable helping in the same way that they were able to do.

“The theme for the weekend was John 14:6, which says that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Some of the activities that we did were games, songs and crafts. Overall, it was a great experience for the students to meet peers from other parts of the island that share the same faith that they do. I am already looking forward to the next time that we are able to organize an event like this!”

• Learn more about how you can support GEO missionary Graham Guenther with prayers and offerings.
• Learn more about LCMS witness and mercy work in Taiwan.