01/12/26
God sent another REAL MIRACLE to take place on this special day! Totally out of the blue the honorable missionaries Jason Schleis of Fremont Nebraska and his dear daughter Beniah came for a special, special tour of this MIRACLE PLACE. Jason and his family attend “Stonebridge” in Fremont, Nebraska, and they were so excited about bringing a bus…
12/28/25
December 25th, 2025 will be a Christmas day old Missionary Gary will never forget, because he was able to spend time with the Honorable Missionary Family of Rev. Merle F. Mahnken, Senior Pastor of the famous Immanuel Lutheran Church of Schleswig, Iowa!!! Here you see this special family in their home, with Pastor Mahnken, his dear wife Chris,…
12/21/25
Yes, what a blessing to welcome our amazing missionary Chelsea Irwin from the Czech Republic, where she is telling so, so, so many people in darkness about our dear Savior Jesus! As usual Chelsea gave a wonderful report with special pictures. A great group of people came from Sioux City, Iowa, Wakefield, Nebraska and from Kansas! They all…
12/15/25
Always remember that the Lord Jesus only sends truly NOT NORMAL PEOPLE TO VISIT HIS MISSION CENTRAL! Yes, here in the hills of Western Iowa God calls HIS PEOPLE TO COME EVEN IN A WINTER STORM. Who would come to visit when all night and morning on Saturday the 13th of December it snowed and snowed!!! But, yet the honorable…
12/11/25
December 10th, 2025 was a special day at the world-famous Mission Central, when Mike Mettenbrink came to present the “SERVANT LEADERSHIP AWARD” that was awarded to Old Missionary Gary Thies! It was truly an honor to be given such a special honorary award! This award will have a special place on the desk of Gary! Over the years…
11/24/25
What a blessing to welcome Rev. Matthew Wood and his dear family to the world-famous Mission Central on Saturday the 22nd of November to a large crowd of people. This was truly a special day when so many dear Pastors also came from area churches. Here you see the large group of people as Paster Wood was presenting,…
11/24/25
Yes, what a blessing to have the Honorable Missionaries Rev. Charles and Laura Adams return to the Mapleton, Iowa area, where these dear friends served so faithfully for many years at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Mapleton, Iowa! These dear friends came to Mission Central on Saturday the 22nd, 2025, to see some dear friends Rev. Matthew Wood…
11/18/25
On Monday, November 17th, Kris Boyles and her son, Hunter, came all the way from Newhall, Iowa to have their personal full tour of the facilities at this MIRACLE PLACE! They were reminded once again that we are ALL missionaries who can tell others about our dear Jesus, and Hunter was so delighted to have the opportunity for the first…
11/18/25
Each day here at the Lord’s Mission Central we see MANY, MANY REAL MIRACLES! That’s what happened on November 17th, 2025! The telephone call came in the morning and the voices of our dear, dear long time friends Billy and Alice Revell from Ireton, Iowa, said, “Missionary Gary, are you going to be around the office today as we…
11/17/25
As time passes, we see more and more real MIRACLES HAPPEN AT THE LORD’S MISSION CENTRAL. Our Lord Jesus is still doing amazing miracles and people just don’t hear about them, so today we are sending a real MIRACLE STORY ABOUT 2 YOUNG missionaries! On the 2nd of November, a Sunday down at Trinity Lutheran Church in Manilla, Iowa,…
11/17/25
Here at the Lord’s Mission Central we just send out ONE MAILING A YEAR! We do this at Thanksgiving Time, in order to let people know how much we love them and appreciate their love, prayers and support here at this “miracle place”. The number one complaint we have heard over the last 32 years is “Don’t be sending…
11/17/25
What a special blessing to welcome our Monona County Home School members and parents to come and visit the world-famous MISSION CENTRAL on a warm Friday afternoon. The Lord provided such a special day so we were able to give a complete tour of the entire facilities here at Mission Central! A wonderful tour was provided by…
11/14/25
What a wonderful missionary family arrived on Thursday the 13th of November 2025, as this truly NOT NORMAL COUPLE THAT HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES TO THE JUNGLES OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA! Yes, in 1973 they were called to bring Jesus to one of the most primitive countries in the entire world! Yes, the Honorable Missionaries Rev. Ron and Mary Anne…
11/07/25
On the morning of November 6th, the Lord sent Pastor Greg Volzke and his wife, Peg, to visit us here at Mission Central. Pastor Volzke serves at Trinity Lutheran Church in Campbell, NE. They both stopped by to see what the Lord has done out here in “the hills of western Iowa.” It was such a huge blessing to have…
11/07/25
Yes, God puts the right people at just the right place at “just the right time”. The long, long time friends of nearly 50 years have been a part of the life of old Missionary Gary. Yes, the family of Eugene Sukup the founder of Sukup Manufacturing Company, the world famous grain bin builders….have been such wonderful Christian Friends! Dear…
10/31/25
What a huge blessing and JOY to have one of our veteran missionaries, the Honorable Kim Bueltmann, from Leipzig, Germany come and report on how the Lord Jesus is using her gifts and abilities to reach out to the Muslim people who have been FLOODING INTO GERMANY! Yes, now over 3000 Muslim Mosques are in Germany and over five…
10/29/25
Pictured in our Ministry Center, with the statue of our dear Jesus in the background are these special guests that came to spend the day on October 29th, 2025! Yes, they also had their pictures taken in our office with the pictures of our Boss in the background and in that trademark photo you will see from left…
10/28/25
The Honorable Dr. Perry Miller, Esquire came all the way with the 7th and 8th grade students from First Lutheran School at Glencoe, Minnesota for a complete day tour, which was a 4.5 hour trip by school bus! Nearly every year Dr. Miller has brought his students, and what a JOY to welcome this new Principal and his students, so…
10/23/25
A VERY, VERY SPECIAL “CLEANING DAY” AT THE WORLD-FAMOUS MISSION CENTRAL ON OCTOBER 23RD, 2025! WHAT A BLESSING! Yes, it was one of those special days, where the Lord called some very special people to help clean the barn museum! At 9:00AM the group arrived and Jesus called Ruth and Pat from Seward, Nebraska and 7 youth from Denison…
10/22/25
Sometimes we forget that the Lord Jesus truly is in charge of all of our schedules in this journey called life! Old Missionary Gary was SUPPOSED to be in his office on October 16th, 2025! Yes, special friends pictured in our office, from left to right, Dean, Pam, Lynda and Paul Heiden came all the way from Lincoln,…
10/15/25
Yes, on Wednesday the 15th of October a full day’s training session was scheduled for the World-Famous Mission Central! The Lord called some new Seminary Students that were pictured next to our sign on the grounds of these facilities. Here you will see the staff member at our Concordia Seminary who brought the students, the Honorable Rev. Kevin Golden…
10/14/25
God is continuing to call “brand new missionaries”…to come to spend time at this MIRACLE PLACE for training! Yes, on Tuesday the 14th of October the Lord Jesus send five (5) new missionary families for a full day of training! Pictured here in the Ministry Center at Mission Central you see our newest missionaries that are starting out to gain…
10/13/25
The Lord Jesus truly, truly has HIS schedule and always “puts the right people at the right place at just the right time”. From the very, very first time Old Missionary Gary met Rev. Ott Cloeter and his family up in Minnesota he knew that they were truly NOT NORMAL! What an encouraging wonderful family! Rev. Cloeter encouraged this…
10/10/25
What a blessing to welcome the Honorable Missionary Rev. Michael Moreno who was kind enough to stop to see what God has done at the MIRACLE PLACE CALLED MISSION CENTRAL! Yes, Pastor Moreno was on a “mission trip” to Sioux City, Iowa and when he realized that he could take a few minutes and stop and see for the…
10/08/25
The Lord has all of our schedules at “just the right time” What an absolute JOY and BLESSING to welcome special long, long, long time friends….that the Lord arranged to stop at the world famous MISSION CENTRAL. The Lord’s schedule allowed us to spend time together and for Ron and Glenda Gruenhagen from Blue Grass, Iowa. They wanted to…
10/08/25
On October 7th, 2025 what a blessing to welcome dear Missionaries Dave and Mary Forney for a day tour here at the Lord’s Mission Central. It was so great to have this family spend the entire afternoon and evening for an extended tour throughout the entire facilities! What a true blessing to spend a great deal of time here….
10/07/25
What a blessing to welcome a very, very special group from Christ Lutheran Church at Norfolk, Nebraska! This group of truly NOT NORMAL people came under the leadership of the Honorable Rev. James Carretto and his dear wife Rebecca. They started this new special senior group called the Golden Group and they so much enjoyed their full tour of…
10/01/25
The more we travel, the more we see here at Mission Central, the more we are aware of the Lord being in charge of every little thing that happens in our lives and that sure “includes” the right time for the people that come here. The Lord arranged for Rev. Schulz to be here to meet this family…
09/29/25
What a surprise and blessing to have two “family members” stop at the world-famous Mission Central! Yes, after a long, long trip to the West Coast the Honorable Rev. Kurt Kaiser and his dear sister Ann from Michigan came to make a SUPRISE visit to make a first time visit for Ann to see Mission Central. It was so kind…
09/29/25
What a blessing to welcome Rev. Steve and Martha Mahlburg to the world-famous Mission Central! Yes, on this special Saturday the Lord sent our only missionaries to give a wonderful report! We had the privilege of learning so much of what is currently underway in this land of darkness that is located just off the tip of India. …
09/29/25
What a JOY and BLESSING to welcome nearly 40 students and staff to the Lord’s Mission Central on September 25th, 2025. These young missionaries were officially “sworn in” as missionaries for the rest of their lives on this wonderful day! Here by our sign this group of young students will begin their personal lives as special people who…
09/22/25
A wonderful group of people gathered at Mission Central for the LWML Fall Rally of 2025! Here you will see the special crowd of folks. We had two wonderful missionaries, Rev. James Neuendorf from Puerto Rico and Deaconess Sandra Rhein from Taiwan and other countries in Asia. Here you see them together in our Ministry Center, and see the many…
09/22/25
What a blessing to welcome Rev. Robert Zellmer, his family and members of the church at Bethel Lutheran Church in Lawton, Iowa. They came to hear 2 of our missionaries speak, and then had a special guided tour of the facilities. Here you see this dear and special group of people down in our little “Wayside Prayer Chapel”! It…
09/22/25
It was a perfect day for the Lutheran School from Madison, Nebraska to visit the world-famous Mission Central on September 19th, 2050. The students were able to fill up the little wayside prayer chapel as you can see from the picture. Also, right by the Mission Central sign, the entire group was “sworn in” as missionaries for the…
09/17/25
It truly was a very, very, very special day on September 17th, 2025! Yes, the honorable Missionary Principal Nick Onnen, and his teachers, staff and 45 total visitors came to Mission Central for a day of training and touring. The bus was loaded and the tour was from 10:20AM to 1:12PM…and the group was so well behaved and the…
09/15/25
It truly was a very, very special day on September 13th, 2025, when the Lord sent some very, very NOT NORMAL folks for a full day tour at Mission Central. The Honorable Missionary Rev. Tom Batchelder, his dear wife and their four little Missionary Children came and brought some VERY, VERY SPECIAL MEMBERS TO THIS MIRACLE PLACE. The…
08/18/25
What a true JOY AND BLESSING to welcome our God sent Volunteers to come for our Annual Appreciation Special catered meal at Mission Central! It was indeed a wonderful way that we can thank our volunteers for all the work that they do to help us here at this MIRACLE PLACE. It’s the BEST way we can show our thankfulness…
08/12/25
Another example of a REAL, REAL MIRACLE! Who would drive all the way from Glen Carbon, Illinois, and NOT HAVE AN APPOINTMENT, AT MISSION CENTRAL….WHY WOULD WE BE HERE ON THIS SPECIAL DAY OF AUGUST 12TH AND OUT OF THE BLUE THIS SPECIAL “NOT NORMAL” COUPLE CAME HERE? Because God had this appointment all prepared in advance to happen. …
08/11/25
On August 11th, 2025, we were blessed to have the family of Missionary John Wolf and family come and show pictures and tell of how the Lord Jesus is using this family to touch the lives of people in Kenya and surrounding countries in Africa with the Good, Good News of our dear Lord Jesus! Here you see…
08/06/25
What a JOY to welcome some friends for the last 30 years from Nebraska. Here you see two very special couples that are pictured in front of our Boss here at the Lord’s Mission Central on August 6th, 2025! Yes, pictured from left to right, The Honorable Verlyn Luebbe from Aurora, Nebraska and his dear wife, Marcia, and…
08/04/25
What a blessing to welcome a large group of folks from all over Iowa and Nebraska that came to the Lord’s Mission Central on Saturday the 2nd of August 2025 for a day tour, meal, and presentation. Yes, the family of Rev. Tyler McMiller from Italy was able to come on this special Saturday event! They were able to tell…
07/30/25
What a special blessing on July 30th, 2025, to welcome Veteran Missionaries, Darwyn and Pat Glover from Hope Lutheran Church in South Sioux City, Nebraska and their special family friends who came all the way from Washington State to visit the world-famous Mission Central. We had a very, very special tour for them for the afternoon of that…
07/28/25
What a blessing to welcome Rev. Michael Paul and his dear wife Irene, to the hills of Western Iowa to a place called Mission Central. For over 30 years we have had the privilege and honor of working with the Paul family from Asia! We had a wonderful group of people from Holstein, Iowa and from Council Bluffs,…
07/24/25
Yes, what a blessing on July 23rd, 2025, to welcome some very, very special “Missionary Grandparents”. What a JOY that Armin and Dawn Christiansen from rural Early, Iowa brought their grandsons Owen and Garrett from Colorado, who were staying with them for some time for a special visit. They wanted these dear grandsons to see this MIRACLE PLACE…
07/22/25
What a special JOY AND BLESSING to welcome Missionary Teachers Andrew and Noel Schaff veteran missionaries to Mission Central, who have served the Lord Jesus at our wonderful Concordia Middle School in Taiwan for 21 years, and they have told the students about our Jesus with about 1% of the students are Christian! Yes, in that school they have…
07/21/25
Yes, yes, here at the Lord’s Mission Central we get to see special NOT NORMAL people and wonderful Christian Friends. It doesn’t seem possible, but the Lord sends special people to this MIRACLE PLACE. For over 30 years the Lord has placed Rev. Kurt Kaiser, Rev. Larry Lemke, and Rev. Merle Mahnken into our lives, and here you see…
07/17/25
On the afternoon of July 17th, 2025, the Lord sent the new pastor at Zion Lutheran Church at Denison, Iowa to come and see what the Lord has done at the World-Famous Mission Central. It was such a HUGE, HUGE blessing to have Rev. Jeff Wade be willing to come and see Mission Central in person! In his…
07/11/25
There was no question that Friday July 11th, 2025 was another example of the Lord’s DIVINE INTERVENTION! First, to think that a father and his son would drive all the way to a place in the middle of nowhere in the hills of Western Iowa from Payton, Colorado to make sure that a son, named Tim Skrastins, would have…
07/08/25
It was another one of those VERY SPECIAL DAYS at the Lord’s Mission Central! On this Tuesday we had some special guests from Grand Island, Nebraska that came for a tour and then to hear of the work of our dear missionary couple from the Cayman Islands! Yes, pictured here at Mission Central are Rev. Gerald and Heidi…
07/08/25
Yes, what a JOY and BLESSING to welcome from left to right a special family who came for a tour, being Branden, Kent, Dorcus and Brooke. One of the things that this family all had on their “BUCKET LIST” was having the opportunity to see the world-famous MISSION CENTRAL!!! On July 8th, 2025, this family group came to…