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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Back in Action

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Joe and Viya Stoltenow (Serving in Cambodia):

We are very happy to announce that Ray of Hope is back to normal operations, well, mostly back to normal. We have re-opened our mission center and the kids are back on a structured schedule of education, meals, and Gospel. As with the rest of the world we are certainly using Zoom Meetings more than usual. But thankfully it is helping our students to continue their school work and they’re all on track to graduate their current grade levels.

The kids and staff were so happy to return to our center and get our lives a little bit back to normal. Our schedule has changed a little and we fortunately still get to sleep in a little as our kids Zoom classes don’t begin until 11:30 am. We pick the kids up around 7 am each day and bring them to our center for baths, breakfast, and Bible before we give them some break time where we help the kids prepare for their classes. Then, when classes begin, we spread the kids out and get them setup on computers and they begin their classes. After class we help the kids with homework, feed them lunch, and give them another break before its time to go home.

To  visit our Facebook page, click here!

Student Spotlight

Srey Sok Saát (Khmer for “Beautiful Hair)

To protect the privacy of these street children and their families, we will not be providing the actual names of our students online.

Srey Sok Saát is ten years old and was one of our original five students, along with her younger sister, back when we started Ray of Hope three years ago. She was very shy when she first came to our center but over time she really opened up and showed us just how fun and happy she really could be. She has a strong desire to go to school and she especially enjoys studying Khmer (the Cambodian language). She also loves listening to our Bible lessons everyday and her favorite Bible story is Father Abraham.

She is currently doing very well in her online classes as she prepares to start 4th grade next year. She also very much enjoys learning new Bible stories and frequently asks questions during our lessons.

Srey Sok Saát lives in a slum near the Sangker River here in Battambang. She lives with her large family of aunts, uncles, and  cousins, but spends most of her time with her mother and younger sisters. Unfortunately, Srey Sok Saát was born with a blood disease that causes Anemia and requires frequent trips to children’s hospital in Siem Reap to receive treatment.

Through the generous donations made by Srey Sok Saát’s sponsors, we have been able to personally oversee and help the family with these trips to Siem Reap. We are incredibly thankful to her sponsors and to all of our supporters who are making it possible for us to help these children.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Stoltenow!

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Preparing for Nigeria

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionary Joshua Wareham (Preparing to serve in Jos, Nigeria) :

With the virus still prevalent, Hillcrest will be beginning the school year online. This is great because I am still in the states! I wish I was overseas, but this will have to do until the Nigerian consulates open. I have been working on my orientation for working at an international Christian school while at home.

We will learn of the strength God provides us when life is tough. It is good to know that God guides us through situations we don’t want to be in, or even signed up for, yet we somehow always get through them and look back saying, “Wow, how did I make it to the other side?”

We will learn how special we and the people we serve are. Each one of us has a unique and special relationship with Him that no one else can truly understand. We are individualistic. Our experiences in life are all different; and how they impact us, impact our relationship with Christ whether it be positive or negative. But! Learning how special each person is and what their personal relationship with Christ is, can open up conversations that Christ can work through to water a seed that has been planted by you.

Update of What is Happening

As I said before, I am still in Georgia until the Nigerian consulates open. I have been preparing for Hillcrest through this orientation. I am only about half way through it, and it is definitely eye opening. I have been reading the novels I will teach the middle schoolers. I have finished a few of them: The Hobbit, Iqbal, War Horse, and When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (This one is funny so far. I am about half way through it.) School starts August 5th! It is exciting and a little nerve wracking, but Christ will see me through.

As a teacher, I am always excited to share my knowledge about what I know. I would be ecstatic to share, explain, and talk about my call to Jos, Nigeria. If you, someone you know, or bible study groups, home groups, or churches want to hear more about my mission please contact me through my dedicated missions email: warehamj72@gmail.com.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from Joshua!

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Visitation and Godspeed

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries David and Luz Maria Ernst (Serving in La Caramuca, Venezuela):

On Thursday, July 2, 2020, we organized a small graduation ceremony for the six students of our preschool who will advance to first grade in the next school year. At this point, it is not certain whether the next school year will begin in September or in January 2021. We have not had the preschool meet on site since the COVID-19 crisis began about four months ago, but every weekday morning our teachers have distributed food and homework assignments to the families of the preschool children. The children completed the work required for their promotion to first grade at home and submitted the results on-line or by telephone. Our graduating students include:

Leonanyelis Milano; Thamar Cárdenas; Melany Torrealba; Cristofer Aldana; Elimelek Valero; and José Ayala.

What will be our new normal?

Our preschool program is subject to regulations by the secular government’s Ministry of Education. Over the years we have had to adapt to changing rules and requirements. When we reopen the preschool, there may be more modifications in store. There is a growing need for the care of children under two years of age, and we are being asked to shift the emphasis of our program in that direction. One proposal is that we limit our enrollment to children under three years of age. Another is that we convert entirely to nursery care of infants. In any event, we would have to purchase additional equipment and make other adjustments in our program. Thanks be to God, we just received a donation from the LeadaChild organization that will help us make a start in that direction.

Luz Maria’s afterschool tutoring program technically is on hold, due to the closing of schools, but we continue to meet with young people in the program for Bible studies and English classes.

Pushing pedal power

We thank Ruth Carpenter for the suggestion and plans for building a pedal-powered generator for running our water pumps during prolonged blackouts. We are looking to gather all the needed parts. Once I regularly went on long bicycle rides, but it is too risky to wander alone on the streets and roads of Venezuela today. This would provide me, at least, with the opportunity for exercise, as well as additional electrical power.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Ernst!

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Perseverance

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Eric and Linda Funke

The Newest U.S. Citizens!

Early in June we submitted the lease agreement, school enrollment, and bills necessary to prove residency to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. On July 3rd, we received the best 4th of July presents ever— Michael and Julia’s Certificates of U.S. Citizenship! They are now officially Tanzanian Americans. Praise the Lord! Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, encouraged us, and donated to the Funke Kids’ Citizenship fund during this long journey. We couldn’t have done this without you. 🙂 

Joys This Month

This month we had the joy of camping with Linda’s immediate family over Father’s Day weekend. Our kids greatly enjoyed Vacation Bible School at home with kits and videos from Messiah Lutheran Church in Plano. We also fulfilled our promise to our kids that they would get swimming lessons this summer, they are doing wonderfully! Our kids also enjoyed their first 4th of July in the U.S. as we were able to see fireworks from our front yard.

News From Tanzania

As the president of Tanzania has declared that there are no longer cases of COVID-19 in the country, Tanzania has begun reopening schools and other sectors in society. Meanwhile, we hear from doctor friends there that they are still seeing several deaths from COVID-19 daily. They have asked for prayers as they anticipate a large number of new cases with schools now reopening. Mwadui Lutheran Secondary School started classes again on Monday June 29. Please pray with us that none of the students and teachers who returned to campus brought COVID-19 with them. GLO missionary Cheryl Kruckemeyer is currently co-teaching English classes, helping youth connect by email with penpals in the U.S., and enjoying time with students on the basketball court. Sadly, we found out a few weeks ago that Cheryl’s first work permit application was denied. Diocese General Secretary Happiness Yorum Gefi traveled to Dodoma on Friday, July 3 to file an appeal. Please pray for a successful and smooth appeal process. If you want to read the newsletter from Cheryl, click here!

GLO missionaries Dixon and Christy Gbeanquoi are continuing to serve their church community in Mwanza. Dixon has also begun teaching classes again at the Lutheran Bible school. Many of the other missionaries from Europe returned to their home countries, so Dixon is now teaching four different classes. We praise God that they received about $3,000 this past month. That being said, they still need $3,500 to continue their ministry through December. They are particularly in need of monthly donors. By the end of August, Eric will begin receiving a paycheck. Therefore, if you have been a monthly donor, we ask that you consider transferring your monthly donations to the Gbeanquoi family at that time. They are a wonderful family, and we would love for them to be able to continue their amazing ministry in Mwanza. You can see their most recent newsletter by clicking here.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Funkes!

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Isolation Update #7

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Tim and Beth Heiney (ed. note: Because of the complications caused by the pandemic, Beth remains in the US with no prospect of returning to Guinea, while Tim remains on the field):

From Beth in the USA: Boy if you’d have told us in March I’d still be here in July I think Tim would have put the kabosh on the trip instantly. What am I doing with myself during this time? Moving around a lot mostly. Since I landed in Colorado almost 4 months ago now I’ve been in Kansas City, Idaho Falls, back to Colorado, Las Vegas, and now this month we flew up to Tacoma, Washington. While there I was able to touch base with our dear friends, Dan and Ella Kunkel who we’ve known since moving to Ghana in 1985 as well as their son Kris and his lovely family.

From Tim in Guinea: I feel compelled to write an update again, but things are changing so fast here, going up and down, that it may sound like something I already wrote twice before or something like that.

In Beth’s last update, before John’s son died, I was happy because it looked like things were going to open up. But then they didn’t, and I was a little down. Well, I was quickly back up again, because news came out that on Sunday June 28th churches and mosques would open, and on Monday schools would open.

I was up again! This was it! I believed the big breakthrough had begun! Even better, one of our DMM groups confirmed that they were ready to open again, and on Wed. the 24th, we met. It went really well for having been off for so long. I couldn’t believe how well one of the older guys told the story from our last meeting.

Then things started to go south.

We heard that churches could open, but only for fifteen minutes. (This is fine for mosques because that is all the time they need.) Our services are usually at least 2 hours long. So, no Easter celebration, no sermon. We could barely have a song and pray for everyone. We would continue to follow scripture readings in home groups. But it was a start.

Then we heard only some classes in the school were opening – but only the ones that needed to take exams to be promoted to the next levels like from grade school to middle school and middle school to high school.

In the end, I had to concede, one day before I had hoped to break out. We had church for fifteen minutes on Sunday. It was great to be together, but it was over in a flash. We hope that will kind of loosen up in coming weeks.

Last of all news just came out of more extended airport closures in our area, even while other parts of West Africa are opening, meaning Beth will not be home anytime soon.

Thanks for all your prayers. That one class did happen, and we did have church, and we are planning one reopening another DMM group. May God be with you all!

Blessings and love, Tim and beth ><>

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Intro. and Outro

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Aaron and Yeni Farrow (Serving in Valparaiso, Chile):

This month, I will as usual tell you about the last few weeks, but I will also be speaking about the much more important transition for myself and family.  In addition, I will be introducing you to Axel Eliel Farrow.

My 2-year commitment will be over at the end of August.  This means I will be coordinating all the logistics, documentation, fundraising to get my family back to Texas, safe and secure.

I want to thank you all for walking with me for the last two and a half years of this journey from the discovery period, language school, and my time here in Chile.

Introducing Axel Eliel Farrow

May 28th, 2020 Axel was born here at around 5 a.m. at Van Buren hospital here in Valparaiso, Chile.  He weighed in around 3260 grams which if you are an ‘mercan like me means absolutely nothing (7 lbs. 2 oz).  He is healthy, active, and strong willed.

Yenifer is doing good as well.  She had a C-section which has its own challenges. Her pregnancy was not easy, with her on bed rest going back to February. As you might expect the last month has been a journey. My wife and I are learning and finding our rhythm.

I used to wonder what people meant when they said it changes your life.  I’ll be honest, I haven’t laughed much in the last 20 years.  I find myself looking in his eyes and doing so for no reason.  He probably thinks I am a jerk for laughing while he wines.

Yeni and I are truly thankful for everyone’s support in Facebook, the kind messages we received, and support for our family and mission.

Participation Integration and Collaboration

Back in March when I was setting up our individual workshops to develop the professors, I created an accompanying document titled P.I.C. as a document that clearly defined the broader vision of our Faith Formation programming.

A brief synopsis of P.I.C. Participation, Integration, and Collaboration) Participation, has to do with our pedagogy.  Participatory lesson planning revolves around creating activities exercises that involves students in the learning process.  Instead of question and answer sessions, students are challenged to synthesize their learning into a poem, song, or a diagram that correctly proves their level of understanding.  It is a great way to show ourselves and our community that we are learning.

Integration on the other hand is how we share our resources and creativity. This occurs during planning for the most part. In our context, becoming acclimated with using a cloud drive with shared documents, using forms and rubrics etc. Furthermore, knowing how to navigate and interpret them.

Finally, Collaboration is the goal of connecting the Church and our Pastors directly with our families at the school.

Thanks to a gift from one our partners, (James K). we were able to get a good camera and Pastor Juan Pablo is producing videos like this to include in our home study curriculum.  The mission of our church is to deliver people to the altar so that they can know the Sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  This is not going  to happen if our students haven’t familiarized themselves with their Pastor. Having a system where the team can Integrate and collaborate digitally makes it all possible.  This might seem like second nature to many of you. Here, this was a dramatic shift in thinking.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Arrow!

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