A look at the past and the future

Dear friends in Christ,

My favorite holiday of the year is Easter. It is a time for us to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ after He paid the price for our sins at the cross. This joyous message has been the driving force behind the spread of the Christian faith for two thousand years. The forgiveness of sins and the new life that is ours in Christ is the source of our greatest joy, and it is this message that the students at Lutera Akadēmija are equipped to share with the world.

This semester, I have been once again teaching the Homiletics class, which is the class that students take to prepare and equip them for preaching. We have looked at and examined different sermons, and we have gone through the process of writing a sermon. I make clear to the students that this is an art and not a science. I can only give them the tools and teach them how to use them, but they must do the work. One of my students recently told me that the process helped the ideas to flow for him. I am also pleased to say that the sermon he turned in was quite good.

Being able to be at and teach for Lutera Akadēmija continues to be a source of great joy for me. In three years, I have carried on the initial work of establishing the program that was started by faithful LCMS missionaries before me, and we now have a firmly-planted program that, by God’s grace, will carry on for years to come. I have been a part of shaping the 25 current students in the program in addition to others. We have been a resource to other Lutherans throughout Europe, from presenting at monthly pastors’ meetings to doing pastors’ conferences. I was also able to serve as a visiting instructor at a sister institution in India. I am proud of the work that we have accomplished thus far, and I see that there is so much further to go.

Sadly, I must leave the continuation of that work for others. This was not an easy decision to make by any stretch. I love being a missionary and serving in this way of preparing pastors. I trust that many of you will appreciate that some of the hardest things we must do in life are the things that we know are right but are not easy. This is one such occasion. Needs in our family have arisen that require us to go back to the United States, and so we are preparing to leave the foreign mission field in June after the completion of the Summer Intensive class for students. But I will not be leaving mission behind! I have been called to serve with the Office of National Mission, and I am looking forward to bringing back the amount of experience and knowledge that I have accumulated here to the United States, which is the third-largest mission field in the world.

The Office of International Mission has been a great help so far in helping us navigate the transition back to the US, and we are grateful for their care. Thank you very much to everyone who has been a part of this work over the past three years, and I pray that walking alongside us has been as meaningful for you as it has been for us. And more, I would encourage you to please consider continuing to support the important work of mission in Europe, as the Gospel is sorely needed by many here. In particular, theological education is the place where we can really shine and be a partner to others here. For this work to continue, we need people like you who are willing to walk alongside missionaries to see the work done. In this way, the joyous Easter message of Jesus will continue to go out to all the earth as our Lord has bid us to do.

May our Lord graciously bless you and give you a share of the peace and joy that you have been instrumental in bringing to others throughout the world by your connection with mission. This is a wonderful thing to do, and you are all individually blessings to us.

In Christ’s service,

Pastor Cundiff