Thirty-two new missionaries wereencouraged and equipped for servingas they attended the 11-day New Missionary Orientation in St. Louis,Mo., in July. Alissa Asmus, the Rev.Tony and Connie Booker and the Rev.Alan Ludwig were among those whowere was commissioned for globalservice. Asmus is serving in Macau, the Bookers will serve in the CzechRepublic and Ludwig will continue his ministry in Russia. Many new missionaries are still preparing for their overseas moves and visiting with supporting individuals and congregations.

Ludwig will soon return to serving inRussia, where he teaches at theLutheran Theological Seminary inNovosibirsk, Siberia. He said, “Ourgoal is straightforward: to ground future pastors in the Scriptures andsound Lutheran theology, so that theymay be sent by the Lord through Hischurch to preach and administer thepure Gospel and Sacraments. Missionsmeans planting churches. For manyreasons, this can better be done bytrained Russians than by outsiders. It is better to equip 10 Russian pastorsthan to send 10 pastors from the LCMS. Long after foreigners have left, the church will have strong, confessional leaders.”

LCMS missionaries fill a variety of roles: some build relationships through teaching English as a ForeignLanguage; others gather new believersinto new communities of faith and

plant churches; while others trainevangelists, pastors, deaconesses and other leaders for sharing theGospel and carrying out ministryamong their people.

As the Bookers visit with LCMSmembers and congregations, and prepare for their move to the CzechRepublic, Rev. Booker noted, “I lookforward to engaging people in a different culture with the challengethat comes to us through God’s Word.I am currently enjoying the encourage-ment I can bring to brother pastorsand church workers as I visit themduring our support-raising time andtalk about the mission field to whichwe are called.”

In Christ, for the church and the world!

From Hong Kong to Hungary, new missionariesdeploy for international service

Concordia Historical InstituteIn 1895, the Rev. Theodore Naether and family began serving in India—they were the first overseas missionaries sent out by the LCMS.

LCMS Communications/Al DowbniaIn July 2011, the next generation of LCMS missionaries gathered for orientation—preparing tobe sent out to 16 countries!

New missionaries are grateful for theprayers, encouragement and financialsupport. Asmus said, “Prayer and financial support is so important to me—without it, I could not be here. Not onlydo my supporters help fund my timehere, but they are praying for me. This isso encouraging for me, to know thatthere are people praying for me everyday. It is also encouraging to receiveemails from them, as they help exciteme for the work that I am doing here.It’s hard to explain the value of prayerfulsupport—but I am so thankful for it!”

Join in the LCMS mission-sending tradition today:

• Adopt a new missionary: www.lcms.org/missionaryorientation 800-433-3954.

• Commit to praying for our LCMS missionaries:www.lcms.org/prayercards.

• Serve alongside LCMS missionaries on a short-term team: www.lcms.org/service.

• Celebrate October as Mission Month in your congregation: www.lcms.org/missionmonth.

1

A Supplement to REPORTER October 2011 — prepared by LCMS World Mission—Office of International Mission

Q. Did you know that October is Mission Month in the LCMS?

LCMS World Mission invites all individuals, congregations and mission-minded organizations to join in celebrating our mission sending tradition. Celebrate what God is doing today through the global Lutheran missionary family to reach out with God’s love and the Good News of Jesus.

Q. What resources from LCMS World Mission can helpyou learn and celebrate?

Visit www.lcms.org/missionmonth to access these resources andmany more.

1. Include a mission video as a “mission update” during your Sunday services, Sunday school hour or Bible study group. The latest videos include:

• an update on the opening of Concordia International School Hanoi;

• interviews with new LCMS missionaries Rev. Tony Booker (below) and Rev. Alan Ludwig; and

• Malagasy ministry and partnership expansions in Brussels, Belgium.

2. Hold a mission worship service, prayer and praisemeeting or mission fair.

• Include mission hymns and Bible readings used during daily chapel services at the LCMS International Center during new LCMS missionary orientation in July 2011.

• During a worship service, read John 3:16 in many languages. Locate members in the congregation who are able to read the“Gospel in a nutshell” in their heart language.

• Share mission highlight stories called “Good News from the Field” found on our blog and Facebook page.

• Get the word out through ourposters. Download the PDF format Mission Month 2011“Join in the Tradition” poster,“God is Calling” poster and the “Where We Work” mapand poster.

• Help people learn more about the global Gospel outreach of the LCMS through the “At a Glance” info sheetincluding the latest missionary, international educator and chaplainstatistics and maps colorized to show the 90-plus countries wherethe LCMS has work and relationships.

• Allow each Sunday school class to exhibit a specific country, typeof mission work, missionary family or world people group. Servedifferent foods from other countries. Use the “Mission Friends” curriculum for kids and the accompanying resources like passports,maps and more.

3. Commit to praying for LCMS missionaries each day of October.

• Download 31 of the more than 150 available missionary prayercards from the online database, searchable by world region, country and missionary last name. Pray for one missionary familyeach day.

• Pray for God’s mission each day following the October 2011 “Prayfor Us” prayer calendar from LCMS World Mission. Pray for theolog-ical education initiatives across the globe, as well as missionariesand chaplains celebrating birthdays in October.

Mission Month resources for you and your congregation

Mission Month Resourceswww.lcms.org/missionmonth

Through LCMS Mission Senders, individuals and families can

prayerfully and financially support specific LCMS missionaries.

Through Together in Mission, congregations can commit to prayerfully

and financially support specific LCMS missionaries.

Learn more today, call 888-843-5267 or email mission.giving@lcms.org.

Meet your LCMS missionaries, human care workers and international educators,

visit www.lcms.org/prayercards.

Support your LCMS missionaries

2

Rev. Mark and Sandi Eisold, LCMS missionaries in Peru, shared this update fromthe field, as the entire LCMS mission team celebrated holding the first worship service in Spanish on Wednesday, July 6.

“Praise God! We held our first worship service with Peruvians this month. Our team of missionaries has been worshiping togetherin English in our homes since we arrived inJanuary. We had been looking forward to July, when we would transition over to having the entire service in Spanish, including[Rev. Mark Eisold’s] sermon!

“On Sunday, July 3, our team held our firstworship service in Spanish. This provided a great opportunity to practice for our firstworship service with the Peruvians. Yesterday,our family along with [GEO missionaries]Jamie, Katie and Anthony drove a few hourssouth to Lunahuaná to lead children’s activities

in two locations, as well as an adult BibleStudy and worship service. [GEO missionariesare globally engaged in outreach and serve forone- to two-year terms in locations around theworld.] We left Lima at 7:00 a.m. and arrivedback home after 11:00 p.m.

“We updated our blog with more informationabout our day in Lunahuaná. Since we will be going there twice a month, we know wewill have lots of pictures and lots of stories toshare in the future.

“Please pray for safety for our trips down to Lunahuaná (we will go the first and thirdWednesday of each month) and for the people there, as well as for wisdom and guid-ance for our future worship services in Lima.The Lord is doing awesome work here in Peru!Praise be to God.” To learn more about LCMSwork and missionaries in Peru, visitwww.lcms.org/peru.

LCMS Peru mission team celebrates first Spanish worship service

Expanding Lutheran mission in Belgium welcomes Malagasy congregationRev. Matthias Tepper, a German Lutheran

pastor, celebrated the inauguration of a newMalagasy-speaking congregation, The MalagasyLutheran Church in Brussels, Belgium, on Aug.28. The Malagasy people come from Madagas-car, an island nation off the southeastern coastof Africa. The church members come from theLutheran Church of Madagascar.

More than 120 people gathered to celebrateand welcome the new congregation, includingDr. Habberstad Rakotondrazaka, who led the liturgical service and is president of the European Malagasy Synod of the LutheranChurch of Madagascar. Rev. Brent Smith, regional director of Eurasia for Office of LCMS Inernational Mission, and Gijsbertus van Hattem, president of the EvangelicalLutheran Church in Belgium (ELKB), also attended and gave welcome speeches.

Tepper identified this outreach and churchplant as closely tied to his mission work inBrussels. He sees the opening of the MalagasyLutheran Church in Brussels as another way to bring Lutherans together in worship, and away for Lutherans to spread the Gospel tothose who don’t know Jesus. While the English-speaking congregation serves a largeinternational population, Tepper hopes theFrench-speaking Malagasy congregation will be able to reach out to the local community as well.

“For the Malagasy church, the advantage isthat they speak French. Most of the Brusselspopulation speaks French, so that might be the spark we need for growth. We’ll be morestable with a French-speaking congregation.We hope that it grows to be a large ministry

and good outreach to the people and community,” Tepper said.

While Rakotondrazaka led this inaugurationservice, Tepper regularly leads the services inFrench, in addition to his pastoral role at theEnglish-speaking All Lutheran Church of Brus-sels (ALCB). The event was co-hosted by theALCB and the Lutheran Church of Madagascar.

Tepper has been serving in his current ministry since 2007 and works with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Belgium and is an alliance missionary, sent through a partnership between the LCMS and the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany (SELK). Read more about the Teppers and the work in Belgium atwww.lcms.org/belgium.

News from the Mission FieldKeep up to date with the latest mission news at blog.lcmsworldmission.org

3

LCMS Office of International Mission/Stephanie JonesFounding members of the Malagasy Lutheran Church of Brussels are recognized during the worship service.

LCMS Office of International Mission/Stephanie JonesPastor Edmond Raharijaonarivelo, left, and Rev.Matthias Tepper. Raharijaonarivelo is president ofthe district of Paris and serves on the foundingcommittee of the Malagasy Lutheran Church ofBrussels. Tepper is an LCMS alliance missionary,serving in Belgium through a partnership betweenthe LCMS and the Independent Evangelical—Lutheran Church (SELK) in Germany.

LCMS Office of International Mission/James NeuendorfLCMS missionaries and local Peruvians worship together inthe first Spanish-language worship service led by the team inLunahuaná, Peru on July 6.

LCMS Office of International Mission/James NeuendorfThe LCMS Peru Mission Team poses for a groupphoto. From left, front, are GEO missionary JamieEndorf; Sandi Eisold, holding daughter Annalise;Erik Eisold; and Sarah Wall, holding daughterStephanie. From left, top, are DCE Anthony DiLiberto, mercy outreach specialist; Rev. Ted Krey, regional director for Latin America and theCaribbean; Rev. Mark Eisold, strategic missionplanter; Bruce Wall, area facilitator for theCaribbean and Peru, holding son Benjamin; Regional Business Manager Christel Neuendorf;and GEO missionary Katie Lane.

LCM

S O

ffic

e of

Inte

rnat

iona

l Mis

sion

/San

di E

isol

d

Missionaries Anthony DiLiberto and KatieLane lead children in Lunahuaná during Biblestudy, which is held every other Wednesdaybefore the worship service.

God has blessed the LCMS to play a significant role in His global mission since 1895. Today, through the digital camera lenses of missionariesand international educators, we are blessed to “see for ourselves” the international ministry happening around the world—including Vietnam,Togo and Papua New Guinea. View and download hundreds of additional photos from http://picasa.webalbums.com/lcmsworldmissionand view the latest videos from http://www.youtube.com/lcmsworldmission.

Pictures are worth a thousand words—LCMS global ministry highlights in pictures

Togo

Vietnam

Papua New Guinea

Concordia Hanoi/Lia Garcia HalpinStudents arrive at Concordia Hanoi onAug. 24—the school’s inaugural day ofclasses. Concordia’s K-7 enrollment is approximately 50 students.

Concordia Hanoi/Lia Garcia HalpinDavid Shear, United States ambassadorto Vietnam, addressed the crowd at theopening ceremony for Concordia Hanoi,which was held on Sept. 9.

Concordia Hanoi/Lia Garcia Halpin

LCMS educator Karen Markin smiles with

some of her first-grade students on the

first day of school.Concordia Hanoi/Lia Garcia Halpin

Ambassador Shear, middle, joins Head of

School Steve Winkelman, standing to his right,

and the Rev. Dr. David Birner, co-interim execu-

tive director of the LCMS Office of International

Mission, standing to his left, in the ribbon-cut-

ting ceremony on Sept. 9.

LCMS Office of International Mission/Anton Lutz

The Rev. Ron Rall, the Rev. John Mehl and

the Rev. Dr. Timothy Quill join in a worship

procession in Andokoe, Papua New Guinea.

Andokoe is a village south of Kandep in the

Enga Highlands, where the LCMS has supported

mission work since 1948.

LCMS Office of International Mission/Anton LutzMehl baptizes a young man in Andokoe.Mehl, Quill and Rall were present for theBaptisms of 47 children and five adults;21 junior confirmations; and 60 reaffirmations of faith.

LCMS Office of International Mission/Anton LutzLeaders from the LCMS and the GutniusLutheran Church stand together at TimothyLutheran Seminary in Birip, Papua New Guinea.Left to right: Rall; the Rev. Nicodemus Aiyen,bishop of the Gutnius Lutheran Church, theLCMS partner/sister church in Papua NewGuinea; Mehl; Ezekiel Peter; and Quill.

LCMS Office of International Mission/Glenn Fluegge

The Lutheran Center for Theological Studies

(CLET) students gather with faculty and visitors

on their graduation day, June 17, in Dapaong,

Togo, West Africa. Four students finished their

vicarages and received their “diplomas” and rec-

ommendations for ordination. Thirteen students

received approval to begin their vicarages.

LCMS Office of International Mission/Glenn FlueggeAt the CLET’s June 2011 graduation service, thewives of pastoral students stood and performedskits describing their determination to “take upthe cross” and support their husbands’ min-istries. About 20 women received certificates for completion of the Women’s School that theCLET inaugurated two years ago.

4