The Venezuelan Lutheran church was founded in the early 1950s. Over 70 LCMS missionaries served in Venezuela until 2008. There are 16 congregations with several missions and 16 pastors. She has three parochial Lutheran schools. The devastating humanitarian crisis which exceeds that of the Syrian for mass exodus of peoples has led the LCMS to support her sister church. Currently the LCMS supports in partnership with Disaster Response food baskets, medicines and pastoral care. A FORO or partnership circle has been formed in support of the ministry of the Venezuelan church seeking to assist her in her continued mission. Juan de Frias is the bible Institute of the ILV and trains men for the pastorate. The ILV is in full altar and pulpit fellowship with the LCMS.
The Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF) is a great help for the mission work in Latin America. We are grateful for their excellent work and congratulate them on thirty years of service to the Lord’s Church worldwide.
Concordia the Reformer Seminary’s deaconess program provides training for women in five Latin American countries: the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela.
Since 2008 the Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF) has been producing materials in Spanish for the Latin America and Caribbean region.
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.
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.
Throw together some cornmeal, a little bit of meat, a few plantains, and a lot of oil and you’ve got yourself an empanada!
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