A house of prayer for all the nations

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries The Ernst’s (Serving in La Caramuca, Venezuela)

José Miguel Albarran Pumar was baptized on on August 16, 2020, the 10th Sunday after Trinity. Since 2005, 23 people have been baptized at our mission. Of those baptized, 11 have received their first communion here.

Distribution of food from LeadaChild

That same Sunday we distributed foodstuffs to 27 families, thanks to support from LeadaChild, a mission society based in Olathe, Kansas and dedicated to supporting Christian education around the world. We have received financial support from LeadaChild since 2006. In the past, we have distributed donations from LeadaChild as “scholarships” for students in our preschool and Luz Maria’s afterschool tutoring sessions. That is to say, as cash for the families to buy school supplies, clothing and food. This time around we purchased food items in bulk, in order to get better value for our rapidly devaluing Venezuelan currency. Dividing the currency among the families would mean each household would get less than if we bought the food in one purchase. We were able to do this because of the automobile that we purchased with other donations this past year. Thanks to the car, we drove to the food distribution point and brought the food back to the mission.

Nury de Milian

On Saturday, August 8, we participated in a Zoom videoconference with Nury de Millian, LeadaChild director for Latin America. We listened to presentations on how to reopen Christian schools during the pandemic, testimony from a COVID-19 survivor, and advice from the Rev. Abdiel Orozco Aguirre, the pastor of Castillo Fuerte (Mighty Fortress) Lutheran Church in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and a immunohematologist.

Luz Maria and Phil Frusti

I had heard of the Jorns’ mission work in the 1980s, when I was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Topeka, Kansas, the congregation in which Edie was raised. Luz Maria and I were privileged to meet Jim and Edie in 2006. Last fall we met Dr. Philip J. Frusti, the current executive director of LeadaChild, in the Dominican Republic. Dr. Frusti, a Lutheran teacher and former school principal, graduated from Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Pray for recovery

We praise the Lord that Yepci Santana, Luz Maria’s daughter, is recovering from COVID-19 in Lima, Peru. Other members of Luz Maria’s family, with who we have not had face-to-face contact are recovering as well. Also in Peru, Kalen Yolanda Incata Fernández, wife of Martin Osmel Soliz Bernal, a pastor with the LCMS Mission in Lima, was diagnosed with COVID-19 after giving birth to her first child.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Ernst’s

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Being the Church in Action!

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Jim and Liisa Tino (Serving in Santiago, Chile)

JOIN US IN PRAISING GOD for completion of several projects despite the challenges of Covid-19 restrictions! The apartment over the garage at the back of the mission property is complete. It is a cute studio apartment with an open living space and a good-sized laundry/bathroom combo.

Domenico and Corali Loturco are renting this space while serving as the new coordinators of the Immigrant Ministry! Continue reading to find out more:

FOOD  BANK…We continue using donations of money and food items to put together “food baskets”. Many people contact us weekly and schedule a time to come and pick up a bag of groceries. People also have access to our “Resale Shop” where we have clothing and household items for purchase at very low prices. As quarantine is lowered, we hope to open to the public.

OLLA COMUNITARIA

Although this name literally means, “Community Soup Pot”, the concept is more like a Soup Kitchen. Through donations, we purchase ingredients to make a delicious hot meal. Domenico directs the volunteers at church in the cooking, and then we take our kettles and distribute hot food to people downtown.

HOUSE OF REFUGE

We continue to welcome more people into the house we have at Amapolas. We have room for about 3 more immigrants. This community is a place to find security, support and hope as we share God’s Word as well as His love.

Travel Plans – YES!

We have been given the green light to travel to the United States!  Because things are “not quite” back to normal in the US, we decided to adjust our plans and will NOT be visiting congregations.  Rather than our scheduled furlough, this will be a shorter “vacation trip” – mainly to see family. We plan to reschedule our 3-month furlough for 2021. We are thankful that our “substitutes”, Rev. Paul and Barb Brink, have agreed to adjust their plans as well, and they look forward to coming to Chile sometime next year to fill in for us when we go on furlough.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Tino!

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Back Together again!

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Tim and Beth (Serving in Africa)

Well the isolation updates are officially over!! I was finally able to get back to Guinea and home to my sweet last week. It was not an easy or uneventful trip, and we’ll be writing more about that in our upcoming newsletter…cancelled flight, long drive, almost not making it over the border…all the ingredients of a great thriller novel. Isn’t that the story of us? God’s hand was on me every step of the way. You know, we often try and avoid trouble and pain, and so we should. But when it comes, what better way for God to show off Who He is and what He can do?? Then it’s up to us to give Him all the glory and praise, strengthening our brothers and sisters through our experiences. I definitely feel like God had a message through all this: “I am in control best when the situation looks out of control!”

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Coronavirs crowns health care crisis

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries The Ernst’s (Serving in La Caramuca, Venezuela)

During the last week in July, we received and distributed another shipment of medications from Global Lutheran Outreach and the Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile.

The medicine is purchased in Chile with the cooperation of a local pharmacy and packaged by volunteers (many of them expatriate Venezuelans) at the Lutheran mission congregation in Providencia, Santiago, Chile. Requests for medicine are coordinated through Lutheran congregations in Venezuela.

As of Sunday, August 2, 2020, the number of COVID-19 cases in Venezuela had surpassed 20,000, with Caracas replacing the western city of Maracaibo as the epicenter of infection. But even before the COVID-19 crisis, Venezuela was in the middle of a health care crisis. Hospitals have closed or are operating at a fraction of their capacity, many without regular access to electricity or water. The public health infrastructure is so weak that in 2019, Venezuela had the world’s steepest rise in malaria cases. Venezuela is ranked among the least prepared countries to respond to a pandemic, as it lacks basic supplies needed to prevent infection and treat illness.

Food and medicine both are in short supply. But even when both are available, hyperinflation (more than 50% per month) and rising unemployment mean Venezuelans often have to choose between the two. Thanks be to God, the coronavirus has not reached La Caramuca yet, and we still are in the least restricted zone for COVID-19. However, members of our mission and our community suffer from such infirmities as schizophrenia; bipolar disorder; osteoarthritis; lupus; severe generalized arthrosis; toxoplasmosis; and epilepsy. Thanks to our partnership wih Global Lutheran Outreach, they have been able to receive the medications that they need.

A delayed diploma

In July 2020, I, David, marked 17 years since my arrival in Venezuela for three years of service as a long-term volunteer for Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) World Missions. I had hoped to celebrate this milestone by traveling to the Dominican Republic to receive my Specific Ministry Program (SMP) certificate from Concordia The Reformer Seminary, but, of course, that trip was cancelled.

Since 2015 I have taken online courses offered through the Dominican seminary in cooperation with Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the Lutheran Church of Venezuela’s Juan de Frias Theological Institute. The curriculum, Formación Pastoral Hispanoamérica, was developed by the Fort Wayne Seminary as part of the Specific Ministry Program for training bilingual pastors in the United States has been adapted for use in Latin American nations. I have completed the requirements of the four-year program as part of my commitment to continuing education as a pastor. Someday I hope to have that document to hang on my wall.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Ernst’s

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Peace and Blessings in the Midst of Chaos!

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Dixon and Christy Gbeanquoi (Serving in Tanzania):

Some Progress on our Finances
We are so grateful to many of you who have helped us raise $3,300 of the $6,500 we need. We know how hard-hit everyone is due to COVID-19, but thank you and you and you for all your support.

We still have a balance of $3,200 to take us to the end of this year. Please visit: wwww.globallutheranoutreach.com/blog/gbeanquoi to make your contribution to our ministry or you can see instructions at the bottom of this page.

In the Midst of our Challenges We still have Something to Celebrate
We took time to Celebrate Milcah’s 5th Birthday on June 29th. It was a very wonderful day to see how fast and tall our beautiful daughter is growing. We did the cutting of the cake on Sunday afternoon with few families and friends.

Youth End of Year Celebration in our Diocese and Congregation
One of the activities the youth had planned was to educate some youths on self-sustenance, since many youths who either finished High School and are waiting admission into colleges and universities are ideal and have no personal source of income. They decided to learn how to make liquid soap that is use for deep cleaning, especially now that we are plague with COVID-19. It was also a wonderful day to see the youths conducting worship service and having the opportunity to listen to the youth as they preach.

Progress on Replacing our Plastic Chairs to Benches
We are thankful that members in our congregation can raise money locally to replace the plastics chairs to wooden benches. Looking at the benches in the church, you can see that we have come a long way and indeed our congregation is growing very fast and there are possibilities that we might be looking to expanding the building to accommodate more people, or we might result to having two(2) services on a given day to accommodate everyone.

Our Son’s Baptism and the Bishop’s Visit to our Congregation
Our son Uri was born in February and when we got to the month of March, everywhere was in chaos due to the Corona virus and Tanzania. We decided to wait until there was a bit of calm before we can begin the process of Holy Baptism for Uri. We also requested the assistance of the bishop to do the baptism we scheduled 9th of August. We had Three(3) children and Two(2) adults baptized that day. The bishop used the occasion to also officially opened the Children’s Sunday School building that is about 85% completed and we are making gradual progress on completing the building fully.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Gbeanquoi!

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In times of stress, listen to good music!

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionarie Ben Tino (Serving in Zacapa, Guatemala) write:

The above picture is of some of the musicians from the church here in Zacapa that participated with me the last 2 months in our online musical offerings I mentioned in my previous newsletter. They are all students of mine, and have greatly developed in their musical ability since my time as their teacher. I hope this picture brings as much joy to you as it does to me.

Click here to watch all the videos that we made!

More still learning!

Hopefully as the COVID hype relaxes, more students will resume music lessons. I continue to teach a handful of lessons each week, and use my gift of music to share with them God’s love, even in their homes.

(Pictured left is me with my student Manuel, serenading his mother with the trumpet on Mother’s Day.)

Instruments needed!

As a musician and a music teacher, I am always looking out for instruments to purchase, or to receive as a gift. Here in Zacapa, I make my rounds at a few secondhand stores where every once in a while they will have instruments.

Recently, I came across a trumpet with its case and a set of bongo drums. As a trumpeter, I can tell you that it is in good condition and is priced at $57.00. It’s a very good price, and another trumpet means another trumpet student! The bongos sound and feel solid, and are priced at $130.00. Bongos would be a great addition to my percussion selection which I constantly use with the younger kids and older students that want to play drums.

If you would like to support my ministry by making a specific donation to purchase an instrument I would be thrilled to receive your gift! Your donation will be greatly appreciated by me and all the future students who will benefit from it. Do you want to donate? Click here!

Click here to read the latest newsletter from Ben!

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