Mission and Ministry work in Latin America & the Caribbean
Pastors and seminary students throughout the Latin America and Caribbean Region (LAC) are receiving a treat today in the form of a new Spanish translation of Good News magazine: The Healing Medicine of God for You. Distributed electronically by the VMDA Project, this magazine comes close on the heels of Your Good Shepherd, another new Spanish issue of Good News sent out earlier in September.
Rudy Carbajal was ordained and installed at Cristo Rey (Christ the King) Lutheran Church in Guatemala City, Guatemala on Sunday September 26, 2021. Pastor David Rodriguez, Senior Pastor at Cristo Rey led the liturgy; Pastor Byron Paz, Vice President and Director of CLET program for the Lutheran Church in Guatemala certified Rudy’s completion of requirements for ordination and preached at the service; Pastor Ignacio Chan, president of the Lutheran Church in Guatemala ordained and installed Carbajal at Cristo Rey; Pastor Herb Burch, Area Facilitator for Guatemala, represented the Latin American and Caribbean Region of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod.
Today Deaconess Cheryl Naumann, Director of the VDMA Project, announced the publication of Spanish translations for two more volumes of the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics Series: The Lord’s Supper by Dr. John Stephenson and Law and Gospel and the Means of Grace by Dr. David Scaer.
The Latin America and Caribbean Region had a special visitor this week. Deaconess Tiffany Manor, Director of LCMS Life Ministry, arrived in Santiago, Dominican Republic, to meet with the region’s Life Coordinator, Jamielynn Tinkey Flores, and other regional team members.
Eager to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Concordia Deaconess Conference (CDC) – which should have taken place in 2020 – CDC members and guests “met” together through an ingenious combination of individual participation and group “hubs.” Initiated due to varying Covid 19 pandemic restrictions, the Zoom (internet based) conference was attended by 160 people.
Suffering is a common theme in today’s world, whether it be in the church, in the community, in our own lives or that of our relatives. In the midst of suffering, conversation about situations can be difficult. Both church workers and caregivers need encouragement and reminders of how God is with us and cares for us.
We are grateful to God for his protection and guidance through the last school year at Parade Gardens Lutheran School (PGLS) in Kingston, Jamaica. Just before the close of the last term, the school organized a sports day event in which the children participated in many races and won several awards and prizes. Now we look forward to God’s blessing for the new term that began on April 12 and will continue into early July.
“Christ for all! That is how we can define the Alliance Project. From February 28 to March 14, 2021, on a trip to the Dominican Republic, I had the great opportunity to accompany eight IELB pastors and their families in language, culture and mission training. What a challenge! What learning! More than a special moment, as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB) and The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) joined forces in this project to bring the love of Jesus to different peoples and cultures.
In 1984, Dr. Robert Preus, president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, initiated the creation of the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics series, to supplement Francis Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics. The 13-volume series was then produced by Luther Academy, an organization that promotes confessional Lutheran theology and research through conferences and publications designed to assist the church in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
Four letters – VDMA, a Latin acronym which translates “The Word of the Lord endures forever” – united Reformation-era Lutherans in solidarity against their adversaries. Today, for Lutheran pastors and seminary students across 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), VDMA refers to the Project that is providing them with a digital library of Lutheran books, to assist in carrying out their work in accord with God’s Word and the Lutheran Confessions.
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