Mission and Ministry work in Latin America & the Caribbean
LCMS efforts in Puerto Rico began with the work of the Ohio District in the 1990s. Since the hurricanes in 2017, LCMS Disaster Response has continued to provide critical support for the missions and outreach efforts with each successive disaster.
The Lutheran Mission of Peru, established in 2010, is the umbrella organization for church planting in the country. The mission sports two graduates of Concordia the Reformer Seminary, a seasoned Alliance Missionary Pastor from Paraguay and another from Brazil. Together they serve three growing church plants in Los Olivos, La Victoria, and San Borja, as well as a preaching station. In addition, two more men are in the pastoral formation pipeline.
LCMS mission work in Panama began with service to military personnel during the Canal Zone era, as early as 1941. The ministry expanded and led to the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Panama (IELPA). Together, the LCMS and the IELPA maintain their commitment to Spreading the Gospel, Planting Lutheran Churches, and Showing Mercy, now in five church plants across the country.
In 1968, the Lutheran Synod of Mexico (LSM) entered altar and pulpit fellowship with the LCMS; the relationship has only strengthened, particularly since 2013.
The Luther Academy mission statement is as follows: Luther Academy promotes genuine, confessional Lutheran theology and research through conferences, scholarly exchanges, and publications that assist the Church both to preserve and to proclaim to the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only saving faith.
Lutheran Hour Ministries radio contacts in the 1990s helped begin LCMS efforts in Jamaica. Alliance Missionary Pastor Obot Ite, from Nigeria, has faithfully served the missions since 2007.
The Honduras Mission is served by a Nicaraguan missionary pastor, Junior Martinez. In La Paz, he and his family hosted a small community of believers in his garage. The congregation grew to the point that it needed a larger worship space. As a result, a building program began that included a multi-purpose building, worship facility, and parsonage. The facility was dedicated in February 2022.
Rev. Obot Ite is a church planter in Jamaica and is the longest-serving Alliance Missionary on the LCMS mission field. He grew up with a missionary pastor, later received his theological education, and became a pastor in the Lutheran Church of Nigeria (LCN). Since Jamaica has a substantial population with African heritage, partnering with the Lutheran Church of Nigeria (LCN) to call Rev. Ite to Jamaica in October 2007 as an Alliance Missionary pastor was logical and has borne much fruit.
The rapidly growing Dominican Republic Lutheran Mission (DRLM) is the hub for mission work in the Latin America & Caribbean region (LAC). Church plants in the country’s two largest cities are moving toward self-sufficiency as they identify leaders, reach out to local and immigrant communities, and sow daughter preaching stations.
Twenty-five ladies from five countries gathered for Latin America & the Caribbean’s pilot deaconess intensive in 2016. Afterward, they were excited to promote Concordia the Reformer Seminary’s three-year diaconal formation program. As a result, nearly a hundred deaconesses recently graduated, and 70 more are enrolled in the current cohort. The program has expanded to nine countries.
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