The mission of the church has always been the faithful preservation of the means of grace to edify the church and to proclaim the Gospel to the world. Our work centers on people, speaking with them, preaching to them, teaching them, and having mercy for them. We invite you to partner with us in this work. Click on a project that interests you. Learn more about it from the stories and updates. And then partner with us through your prayers and financial support.
The Venezuelan Lutheran Church faces many challenges due to that country’s continued socio-political crisis. For the fifteen Lutheran pastors in Venezuela who serve their countrymen, life is “complicated.” Millions have migrated to other Latin countries, including many well-educated and professional Lutherans.
The project, named VDMA, or Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum (Latin for “ The Word of the Lord Endures Forever, Isaiah 40:8,” and a classic reformation motto) has provided pastors in Latin America with more than a dozen core theological books available in Spanish with plans to translate five more per year over the next three years
to eventually total 25 titles.
The South American nation of Uruguay is an important mission field,
being the most atheist nation in the western hemisphere, and
home to one of the highest depression and suicide rates in the
world. The extremely secular nation has been the home of a single
Lutheran congregation for nearly 100 years, and joint mission
efforts between Brazilian, Uruguayan, and American Lutherans are
working to reach the population of this country.
With the 500th Anniversary of Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses, the Lutheran Mission in Spain pursues a unique second chance to bring the truth, freedom and joy of the pure Gospel to Spain, five centuries after the first Lutheran Reformation in Spain was snuffed
out by the Spanish Inquisition.
In the past five years, missionary efforts have led to planting 40 churches
across 10 Latin American countries. As the Lord blesses the planting of
churches through the preaching of the Gospel, there is a need to prepare
pastors.
The work of showing Christ’s mercy, spreading the Gospel and planting churches in Puerto Rico is both a national and international effort of our Synod. As of the summer of 2019, there are seven LCMS and alliance missionaries serving in the cities of Mayaguez and Ponce. Both Principe de Paz (Prince of Peace), the congregation in Mayaguez, and Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) in Ponce have regular Sunday services.
LCMS involvement in Peru began with flood relief in 1997. Ten years later, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake reinvigorated the LCMS’s disaster response efforts and opened the door to something more.
The Lutheran Church of Panama (IELPA) bears vestiges of
congregations founded during the U.S. ownership and
operation of the Panama Canal as well as congregations
planted by LCMS missionaries working throughout the
country.
The Sinodo Luterano Mexico (SLM) is over 75 years old and is a partner
church of the LCMS founded by LCMS missionaries in 1940. While the
SLM is an active and self supporting church-body, developments over the
last few decades have left them without a route to ordination in Mexico,
and with stalled church-planting efforts.
Through the offering of more than 50 theological conferences in
the past 5 years, Luther Academy encourages national pastors
throughout Latin America. Each year ten conferences, taught by
pastors and professors from Latin America and the U.S., are
held in countries like Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala,
Panama and Paraguay that cover a variety of topics depending
on the needs of the local pastors.
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