Víctor and Belén Rivas share exciting updates from their ministry in Guyana, highlighting progress in music ministry, home visits, and even evangelism at funerals.
Growing through music
The Rivas report steady progress in their music lessons. At Nazarene Church, children are preparing for an upcoming performance, playing “God is So Good” on the recorder.
Meanwhile, the girls at New Testament Church are learning their first songs and beginning to play together as a group.
Strengthening the community
At Guyanese Outreach, weekly devotionals with the staff continue to be a source of encouragement, bringing the team closer together. Home visits with members of Saint Philips and Emmanuel churches take place twice a week, and the impact is growing—more people are joining every week.
Evangelism at funerals remains an important part of their ministry. Interestingly, they note that many people in Guyana, regardless of their religion, prefer Hindu weddings but Christian funerals —a unique cultural insight.
Guyanese Lutheran hymnal app
Another exciting development is the progress of the Guyanese Lutheran Hymnal app.
“With the help of Taeshiko Fraser, we have already written 143 of the 486 hymns, and we hope to complete the project by the end of April,” Víctor shares.
Once finished, the app will be available on the Google Play Store, making these hymns accessible to more people.
“We are deeply grateful for all your support—this wouldn’t be possible without you! Once this project is complete, I also plan to start working on the hymnals used in Guatemala,” Víctor adds.
The deaconess training program in Venezuela continues to grow with the introduction of a new course: “Luke-Acts: A Window on the New Testament.”
This course delves into two central books of the Bible that articulate the narrative of Christ’s redemptive work and the origins of the Christian Church. “The study of these two books will help to understand the main doctrines of the New Testament,” explains missionary David Ernst in his latest newsletter.
Luz María, a missionary and the wife of David Ernst, continues to mentor the Venezuelan women enrolled in this program, which is developed by Concordia El Reformador Seminary in the Dominican Republic and locally presented by the Juan de Frías Theological Institute.
In addition to deepening their understanding of biblical doctrines, “Luke-Acts: A Window on the New Testament” also offers participants the opportunity to practice essential principles of biblical interpretation.
Currently, around 50 women are participating in this course, eager to deepen their faith and understanding of God’s Word.
Shary and pastor Ravy with Taros Village Hope Lutheran Church in the backround when it was being built in early 2024. On the right, that same church building today.
At 59 years of age, George and Shary Frahm went to Indonesia. George, an engineer, was offered a job teaching at a university while both George and Shary served as dorm parents. There, they felt the Lord calling them to be missionaries in Asia.
When Indonesia did not renew their work visas, the Frahms accepted a call by LCMS World Mission as missionaries in Cambodia, serving as consultants for a construction project. Focused on their ministry in Cambodia, they were unaware of the tensions boiling beneath the surface between the LCMS and the project leaders. After 20 months on the job, the LCMS decided to no longer support the project and terminated the Frahm’s missionary call.
Heartbroken, George and Shary returned to the USA, determined to find another way to serve as missionaries in Cambodia. They knocked on every door, chasing down leads to return to the country and the people that they loved. Nothing worked. They felt defeated. They began to question their call – was the Lord really calling them to serve as missionaries?
They didn’t know it, but in their darkest hour, God was working. GLO director Jim Tino was invited to speak at a church in Palatine, Illinois, where the Frahms were living with family. By divine appointment, they attended the same church that Sunday and learned about the ministry of Global Lutheran Outreach. Could this be the answer they were looking for?
The Frahms invited Jim to meet with them the next day. They learned that GLO removes the roadblocks so that missionaries can follow God’s call on their lives, wherever it may lead. Finally, an organization that would allow them to be who God wanted them to be! Six months later, they were back in Cambodia serving as missionaries!
Returning to Cambodia
After 7 years, God called George home to heaven. Without her lifelong partner, Shary wondered what God had in store for her. She could not imagine returning to Cambodia without George, but neither could she stop thinking about the country and the people that she loved. When pastor Ravy from Cambodia called her and asked her to return, she knew her answer. Three years ago, at age 73 and with full confidence in the Lord’s provision and care for her, Shary returned to Cambodia as a GLO missionary!
Today, Shary serves alongside pastor Ravy in Siem Reap, Cambodia six months out of the year, and spends the rest of the year living in the USA with her children and grandchildren. She is helping to plant Taros Village Hope Lutheran Church by serving people in their needs and teaching English, and she loves it! Everyone calls her “mama” or “grandma”. Recently, a volunteer team from Poland visited Siem Reap and was so impressed by the service of such a “senior” missionary that they made videos of her!
Thank you for helping Shary follow her call. Your faithful support makes it possible for Global Lutheran Outreach to help people like Shary pursue their calling as missionaries, walking alongside them, and providing the essential tools, training, and support missionaries need to step into their calling with confidence.
Christiana Gbeanquois is facing many challenges as a teacher. About 75% of the parents of the kids in her class are on drugs or involved in one criminal activity or the other.
She is a third-grade teacher who cares for students and teachers with a Spiritual Care and Counseling degree at Unity Lutheran Elementary School, East St. Louis, United States. Teaching there, one of Illinois and Missouri’s most troubled and dangerous communities, comes with many challenges.
“Most of these kids are from single households, and some of the kids’ parents are serving jail time. For two of the kids in Christiana’s class, one father was convicted recently and will be serving four years of jail time, while the other kid’s father is on parole,” shares in his latest newsletter missionary Dixon Gbeanquois, Christiana’s husband.
The teacher was heartbroken and disappointed to learn that one of the kids’ fathers, whom she had met personally, expressed sadness over missing the next four years of his daughter’s life. “By the time he is out, he will have missed a crucial part of his daughter’s teenage years,” Dixon explains.
These daily realities weigh heavily on Christiana. However, they have made her “strong and have given her many reasons to pray for these kids daily, many of whom she has come to love as her kids,” Dixon says.
Let’s join in prayer, thanking God for Christiana and the impact she has on her students, especially those facing the pain of having a parent in prison.
What does the work of a teacher who has studied theology look like? Is it just teaching—or something more? In their latest newsletter, the Gbeanquois family shares reflections on Christiana’s role as a teacher at an elementary school in Illinois, located in a troubled community. “As someone who studied theology, Christiana sees herself not just […]
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