The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod entered into a partnership in 2004 with Bethesda Lutheran Homes and Services, Inc., and the Central American Lutheran Mission Society (CALMS). The D.R. mission has since planted four churches, two adjacent Lutheran church-schools, and established a seminary for forming pastors. Concordia The Reformer Seminary was opened in 2010 in Palmar Arriba, Santiago, and serves all of the Caribbean, Latin America and Northern South America with ten residential students from seven countries. The seminary supports the formation of pastors to spread the Word, plant churches, and show mercy. An emphasis of mercy work in the Dominican Republic is ministry to people with developmental disabilities through Hogares Luteranos el Buen Pastor, a group home for several young adults. This ministry serves as a beacon to the community as an example of Christian care giving, and has led to positive change within numerous government institutions.
“As unthinkable as it might sound, in the Dominican Republic, a Roman Catholic country heavily influenced by Pentecostalism, people are thirsty for the Gospel,” shared Rev. Sergio Maita, a Lutheran missionary pastor from Venezuela.
The Lord has provided a much-needed Associate Regional Director for the Latin America and Caribbean region, Rev. Jonah Burakowski. Pastor Burakowski will work alongside Regional Director, Rev. Ted Krey, to provide leadership for the Latin America and Caribbean missionary team. Together
The 2020 graduating class had their formal graduation ceremony postponed until May 2021, due to the pandemic. These outstanding men have completed all coursework and requirements for graduation, so even though they must wait a bit longer to don their caps and gowns, they are being ordained and installed as pastors in various countries across Latin America.
Isaac Neftali García Guevara, a graduate of Concordia the Reformer Seminary in the Dominican Republic, was ordained and installed as Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Mexico City this past Sunday. Neftali is a native of Rio Bravo and the son of Rev. Isaac García, President of the Lutheran Synod of Mexico.
New career missionaries are coming to Latin America! We are excited to announce that John and Erica Tape and their baby daughter, Sophie, are preparing to serve the Latin America & Caribbean region, based in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
Since 2008 the Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF) has been producing materials in Spanish for the Latin America and Caribbean region.
Our Dominican seminary’s fourth academic year is well underway with its fall classes. Pandemic restrictions are still in place, so classes are being taught via Zoom. With 11 residential students and 24 online students representing 12 countries, the enrollment for pastoral formation is holding steady.
Regional Director and Missionary Pastor Ted Krey spoke to the 2019 LCMS Convention on the afternoon of July 21, 2019. The convention theme was “Joyfully Lutheran.” In this video, Rev. Krey shares stories from his 20 years of missionary service across the region and how the Church is growing day by day.
Concordia the Reformer Seminary in the Dominican Republic hosts an annual symposium drawing an increasingly large crowd each year. The draw is two-fold: It is currently the only Lutheran theological symposium in Spanish, and the quality of the presenters and presentations is top-notch. It was the overflowing crowd at last year’s conference that prompted the organizers to reluctantly establish the by-invitation-only rule for the 2020 symposium scheduled to take place next week.
People come here to survive—not voluntarily. Waves of Venezuelans, including nurses, dentists, engineers, teachers, students, and others, reluctantly take the short, ninety-minute flight to the Dominican Republic, and embark on a life vastly different from what they are accustomed to. Having left behind family and friends, home, and everything familiar, they begin life again, from scratch. They leave the country that they love, not because they want to, but because they have no other option if they want to live.
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