With four newly consecrated national deaconesses and the rest of the church planting team behind her, Deaconess Clarion Fritsche has big things in mind for Iglesia Luterana Pueblo Nuevo: monthly family nights. These low-threshold, outreach-focused gatherings invite members to not only bring their unchurched families and friends but spend time growing together as a faith family. The first two, in September and October, were health education workshops featuring short-term volunteer vocational skills: a Community Health Evangelism lesson on “Preventing Diseases” with nurse Melanie, then “Fit for Life” with retired physical therapist Kristin. The latter saw MK Andrei and fellow short-term volunteer Marty demonstrating leg raises and doing crunches on the floor! Ideas for the months ahead include movies, crafts, dominoes, and the like – always concluding with ample time for snacks and fellowship.
Spotlight: Education
Concordia the Reformer Seminary is blessed to have – count ’em – five fourth year students for the 2022-2023 academic year. These men have now been shadowing their professors, who double as church planters, for three years and have an intentionally light course load, so it’s time for them to step up to the plate: each is developing and executing an evangelism project based out of his fieldwork congregation that will run through graduation. The fourth-years began by submitting written abstracts to a committee including Regional Director and adjunct professor Rev. Ted Krey and are currently hard at work. Carlos (Pueblo Nuevo) is transforming youth from a local volleyball league into contacts, Luis (Cordero de Dios) is building bridges between the church and the school that rents its adjacent classroom space, and Kevin (Pan de Vida) is narrowing in on a Scout troop currently meeting in a public park, to name a few.
Spotlight: Mercy
It’s beginning to look a lot like Navidad at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Homes group home. Halloween and Thanksgiving aren’t observed in the Dominican, so signs of Christmas generally begin popping up in mid-October. The six chicos were itching to get in on the action on 10/25, and Director Dra. Marisol Martínez quickly consented. Decking the halls was all-hands-on-deck: Junior’s height came in handy for swapping turquoise curtains for red and white ones, shy Randy “floofed” artificial tree branches from the comfort of his corner bedroom, and Estefani serenaded the crew with holiday tunes. The finished product is a cheerful reminder of how we as the Church adorn our hearts to receive the Christ child at this time of year.
Spotlight: Daily Life
No, Spanish isn’t spoken in Kenya, but that’s precisely why Rev. Sergio Maita went. International Lutheran Council leadership invited Maita (standing, right) to serve as an interpreter at September 2022’s biennial World Conference in Kisumu, Kenya. He graciously accepted the honor with the full support of the DRLM. At 55 nations represented, Maita’s gift of languages was invaluable to the LAC church body leaders present. He capably navigated between English and Spanish as ICEL (Bolivia) was accepted as a full member and IELPA (Panama) as an associate member. While on the other side of the pond, Maita extended his trip to visit former DR missionary Rev. Dr. David Preus and family in their new field of service (Romania) and CMSCR graduate Rev. Isaac Machado in Madrid, Spain.
We invite you to join us on field in the Dominican Republic in the following ways:
