Concordia Lutheran Mission Society | Ministry and Projects Report 2010

2010 Adopted Mission Projects

1001: Vacation Bible School, Nicaragua
1002: Seminary Training, Odessa, Ukraine
1003: Professor Travel, Ukraine Seminary
1004: Missionary Rev. Suchat Chujit, Thailand
1005: Outreach to Women and Children, Cambodia
1006: Children's Christian Education, Nicaragua
1007: Deaconess Support, Nicaragua
1008: Mission Rental, Costa Rica
1009: School Desks for Children's Christian Education Schools, Nicaragua
1010: New Mission Rental in Sabaco, Nicaragua
1011: Children's Outreach, Thailand
1012: Mission Rental in Cartago, Costa Rica
1013: New Mission Rental in Rivas, Nicaragua
1014: Member Transportation, Takuapa, Thailand
1015: Van for a Mission to Oromos, Winnipeg
1016: Orphanage Ministry, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine
1017: Agricultural Project, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
1018: Summer Youth and Adult Camps, Ukraine
1019: Construction of a Church, Pervomaisk, Ukraine

1001 – Vacation Bible School, Nicaragua – $6,000

During the school holidays in January, the children of the villages have little to do to avoid boredom and trouble. Thus, the Lutheran church in Nicaragua has been offering a Vacation Bible School experience in every community where it has a congregation or an outreach ministry. There the children have the opportunity to learn Bible stories and be educated by Christian deaconesses and teachers who share God's love through the message of the Gospel. Currently about 1,000 children are involved annually in this program at a cost of $6 per child. Canadian Sunday Schools, VBS's or other groups may provide for one or more children. The total needed is $6,000.

1002 – Seminary Training, Odessa, Ukraine – $12,000

As a result of the generous support of Canadian Lutherans in 2009, the seminary building which will house Concordia Theological Seminary, Odessa is scheduled to be dedicated in August 2010. The seminary's academic program is scheduled to resume immediately thereafter. Funds are needed for food, heating, translation services and other expenses which will be required for the seminary to operate. The cost for the first semester of operation is expected to be $12,000.

1003 – Professor Travel, Ukraine Seminary – $2,500

For the past several years, the preparation of pastors for the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine was halted pending the completion of the new seminary building near Odessa. With the building now nearing completion, the decision has been made to resume theological training in September 2010. The synod has asked that Dr. Threinen launch the new seminary program and for the time being continue to recruit professors and pastors from Canada who will travel to Ukraine to conduct classes. At the same time, Oleg Schewchenko, who has been studying in Canada and expects to earn a recognized degree from the University of London in England, will become the pastor in Odessa and eventually to take over this work. In 2010, funds are needed to bring one professor to teach at the Ukraine Seminary at a cost of $2,500.

1004 – Missionary Rev. Suchat Chujit, Thailand – $8,500

The call of Missionary Suchat Chujit is to reach out with the Gospel in Phang Nga province in South Thailand. Since the tsunami a few years ago, more and more people are open to listen as he visits in their homes and businesses. Because of the limited resources of the Sahatay Lutheran Church, external funds are needed if this ministry is to continue. The cost for salary, benefits and materials for this mission in 2010 is $8,500.

1005 – Outreach to Women and Children, Cambodia – $15,000

The ten deaconesses who will graduate from the theological program of Luther Institute Southeast Asia (LISA) in Cambodia in 2010 are phenomenal evangelists who work under very difficult and often dangerous circumstances. In several instances, a single deaconess has several locations where she works with up to 50 children in each location. The CLMS has provided funds over the past two years to enable them to purchase supplies for their work which would otherwise not be available to them. To support these women in their work with women and children, it is necessary to provide $15,000 in 2010.

1006 – Children's Christian Education, Nicaragua – $7,500

Because families in Nicaragua often struggle to earn enough money to buy the essential food and clothing to survive, many children do not receive any formal education. To address this situation, the mission in Nicaragua has a program to provide tuition and tutoring by a Lutheran Christian deaconess or teachers, who also provides a thorough education in Lutheran doctrine. It is one of the most important and effective outreach tool of the LCC mission program in Central America. While other Lutheran agencies also provide funds for this project, CLMS has been consistently supportive of it and hopes to provide for 60 children in 2010. The cost per child is $125 for a total of $7,500.

1007 – Deaconess Support, Nicaragua – $4,500

Deaconesses in Nicaragua generally receive very minimal support for the work which they do. This imposes a hardship on them, especially if they are single or if they must travel as they carry out their ministries. A grant of $4,500 is requested to enable the church to provide for them on the basis of need.

1008 – Mission Rental, Heredia, Costa Rica – $7,200

Missionary Pedro Adolfo Quintero was called five years ago to share the Gospel in the Heredia area south of the capital city of San Jose. Since that time he has also reached out to other surrounding communities, including San Miquel where he lives. In San Miquel a number of believers have rented a facility for worship and study. Rent and utilities for the facility for 2010 amounts to $7,200.

1009 – School Desks for Children's Christian Education Schools, Nicaragua – $2,300

For many years, pastors and deaconesses in Nicaragua have used the Children's Christian Education program as a primary outreach approach to children. Many of the first children who enrolled have now graduated and have continued on to University or are involved in the life of the church. In many locations desks were never purchased or the original desks have worn out. To begin to respond to this need, we hope to purchase 100 desks at a cost of $23 per desk with priority being given to schools that presently do not have any. The cost for 100 desks will total $2,300.

1010 – New Mission Rental, Sébaco, Nicaragua – $4,500

Through the missionary activities of Hector Morales, two congregations have been established with their own worship centres and their own pastor in Mategalpa and Jinotega in Matagalpa province. Missionary Morales has now begun new outreach efforts in other communities in the province. The center of this activity is the community of Sebaco which serves as a commercial centre for the agriculture business. The community of believers which is beginning to form will need a place for worship and study. To provide for this need, a facility will be rented at a cost of $4,500 in 2010.

1011 – Children's Outreach, Thailand – $10,000

Northeast of Bangkok, Satit and Rattana Kantatiam devote all of their energy and the profits of their family food packaging company to reaching to neglected and malnourished children in Phum Sa Tueng and Ban-Choke-Nia villages near Surin. Their outreach also involves young girls who would normally drop out of school and be sent by their parents to earn money in the sex trade. At present, 40 children are provided with meals and are taught the Christian faith by Rattana's sister. Three girls are also supported with accommodations at a boarding school which the couple is running in Prao in North-east Thailand. A grant of $10,000 will continue to support this vital work in 2010.

1012 – Mission Rental, Cartago, Costa Rica – $6,000

Missionary Edmundo Retana, a Costa Rican national, has begun his ministry in the community of Cartago where he has gathered a community of believers which meet regularly for Bible study, outreach and worship. The missionary serves as a worker priest and needs assistance to rent a facility for worship and outreach in the region of Cartago. The cost to rent such a facility is $6,000.

1013 – New Mission Rental, Rivas, Nicaragua – $4,500

Missionary Rufino and his wife Marianne have proven to be able missionaries through their work in the city of Granada. In April of 2009, they were called to begin evangelistic outreach work in the city of Rivas, 50 km south of Granada. They have gathered a small community of believers which is presently meeting in the home of one of the members. If this nascent congregation is to continue to grow it will need a place where the missionary can lead worship and conduct educational classes. To provide for this need, a facility will be rented at a cost of $4,500 in 2010.

1014 – Member Transportation, Takuapa, Thailand – $4,000

Mobility is a problem for Christians in Thailand who are too poor to afford a motorcycle and are too far from church to walk to worship. To accommodate such people, the church rents a Songtheo, a pickup truck with two benches, one on each side, to transport members to worship and for certain evangelistic events. The cost to rent such transportation for a year is $4,000.

1015 – Van for a Mission to Oromos, Winnipeg – $18,000

Getting to church is very difficult for an immigrant community when most people do not own their own vehicles. In Winnipeg, an Oromo community has gathered, many of them from a Lutheran background in Ethiopia and Kenya, which is requesting assistance in providing transportation for their members to get to church. They have located a second-hand van in good condition which would serve as a positive missional purpose for outreach to the Oromo community in general and ask for assistance to purchase it. The cost for this vehicle is $18,000.

1016 – Orphanage Ministry, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine – $1,500

Missionary Alexey Novrotsky is anxious to reach out to orphans in various orphanages around the city of Dnepropetrovsk. For the past couple of years, he has had the opportunity to reach out to a particular orphanage and has developed a program whereby he takes along with him a team of Christian students who are eager to share Christ with the orphans there. Funds are needed for transportation, craft supplies, snacks and special outreach materials. The cost for 2010 is $1,500.

1017 – Agricultural Project, Phnom Penh, Cambodia – $2,000

In Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh, one of the deaconesses of the LISA program is working alongside of her husband, Vanarith Chhim, the president of the new Lutheran Church in Cambodia, to reach out to children and adults who eke out a modest living collecting recyclables in the city dump. To buy educational materials and to help carry out a social ministry to the poor in the church and the immediate community, she has developed a two-pronged project consisting of a fish farm and a watercress plantation. The income will provide income for the congregation as well as help for the poor. The cost of this project is $2,000.

1018 – Summer Youth and Adult Camps, Ukraine – $8,000

Helping young people and adults get a clearer understanding of the Christian message and life is very difficult when they are caught up in an anti-Christian environment such as Ukraine. Christian summer camps provide the opportunity to get away from one's regular routine and be part of an environment with Christian teaching, fellowship and fun for a period of time. The cost of these camps is however prohibitive for poor children and orphans who have been touched by the ministry of Missionary Alexey Novrotsky and who could most benefit from such an experience. A similar opportunity is also of great value for the pastors of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine and their families. A grant of $8,000 is needed to enable these two groups to experience Christian summer camps in Ukraine.

1019 – Construction of a Church, Pervomaisk, Ukraine – $5,000

About an hour south of the mother congregation in Krasnoperekopsk in North Crimea, a struggling Lutheran congregation has come into being in the small city of Pervomaisk. It is being served by Zenja Frank, a recent graduate of our seminary program, who lives in the community. Two years ago, the CLMS provided a grant to enable this congregation to purchase an old building in the center of town. This building has been demolished and a church is under construction which will serve as a visible sign that the Lutheran Church is not simply a sect in the community. The estimate cost of building materials and labor for the work planned for 2010 is $5,000.

Printable Response Form »

There are no upcoming events at this time.

All on line donations are forwarded weekly to CLMS. A receipt will be issued for your donation by CanadaHelps, a not for profit organization, which deducts a 3.9% service fee from every donation. CLMS will also issue an acknowledgement for your gift.

CLMS is a founding member of CLAIM