Project ID: A16156-20701-447
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. Take Elvis Carrera for example. Elvis Carrera of Lima, Peru is
from a new church plant in Los Olivos. As there was no seminary for him
to study in Lima, he stepped out in faith to contemplate studying at
Concordia Seminary, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The decision was not
easy. It meant that he and his young wife and daughter needed to leave
Peru for the first time ever in order to go and study to become a pastor in
a foreign country and culture.
Elvis and others like him have been offered scholarships to study abroad,
having no residential seminary in their respective countries. The Lord of
the Harvest has blessed this effort.
Even with the enormous progress being made through current
scholarships, the need for additional scholarships to support seminary
students is critical. Even now the new residential seminary in the
Dominican Republic is preparing men throughout the Caribbean,
Central, and South America so that the Gospel might continue to be
carried to even more of Latin America.
Not only is a need for more scholarships to meet the needs of students a
factor, but the need for well trained pastors is overwhelming. In
Paraguay alone, some 65 congregations are served by only 12 pastors! In
Mexico, the largest Spanish speaking country in the world, no pastor has
been ordained for 15 years. Through seminary scholarships, the Lord has
blessed the Lutheran Synod of Mexico with 4 future pastors, currently
two are in residence studying at the new Dominican Seminary.
Today the LCMS Office of International Mission intentionally partners
with Lutheran churches through the seminary in Mexico, Bolivia,
Venezuela, Guatemala and Chile in order to provide scholarships to
assist in expenses such as residence, tuition and food. The scholarships
enable the seminaries to support larger class sizes and professors in
order to further enrich the value of the theological education being
offered. The students’ home churches provide the costs of transportation
and a monthly stipend for each student.
SEMINARY SCHOLARSHIPS
Checks should be made out to Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod or LCMS
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod Mission Advancement
P.O. Box 66861
St. Louis, MO 63166-6861
FORO Contact:
Erin.Mackenzie@lcms.org
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