A Faithful Servant Retires

Missionaries Mark, Lorenzo, Larry, Roger, & Ernie (1977)

Professor Larry and his wife Marlene began serving souls in world mission fields in 1977. Prof. Larry, Marlene, and their three children moved to Colombia where Larry led theological education and evangelism/church planting in the formative years of the mission work until 1983.

The family relocated to El Paso, Texas to train ministry leaders in Mexico from 1983 to 1990, with seminary students studying there as well as traveling into Mexico approximately ten days out of every month.

In 1990, Professor Larry accepted a call to Nigeria help establish a seminary for the national church, teach nine students, and train a national pastor to take over the direction of the seminary. He and Marlene served in Africa for three years.

Preaching in Mexico (2011)

They moved back to Latin America in 1993, when Prof. Larry accepted a call to train seminary students and assist with local ministries in Mexico until 2004. In 1995, he was additionally called to serve as field counselor for Mexico.

Mexico (2009)

Mission Team (2010)

Mission Team with Seminary Students (Christmas - 2010)

Mission Team (2012)


Serving Together (always)

For the past 11 years, Prof. Larry served as coordinator of LATTE, Latin American Traveling Theological Educators, based out of Mexico. He trained students in Bolivia, the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Some of the training took place during onsite teaching trips, while others were taught through online courses through the Internet. Prof. Larry also participated in several exploratory trips to visit contacts and research new mission starts.

Professor Lorenzo shares, "Larry has been zealous to train our national workers to 'rightly divide the Word of Truth' -- 2 Timothy 2:15."

Seminary Students from the Dominican Republic and Haiti (2008)

Pastoral Workshop in Mexico (2011)

Fellowship at a Pastoral Retreat in Mexico (2012)

Teaching in Colombia (2014)

We thank our gracious God for allowing Missionary Larry and Marlene to serve him faithfully in world missions for 37 years and wish them the Lord's richest blessings in retirement.

Sharing the joy!

When I was recently in the Dominican Republic I get to meet Tiny (Chiquito - below, on the right). Chiquito is the leader of a small group of Christians in Licey, just outside of Santiago. He was a member of Pastor Alex in Moca (in red shirt) who had taught him Bible Institute courses and trained him to serve the Lord's church. Alex's joy and enthusiasm is evident to all. And Chiquito has been infected with that same attitude. They are both evidence that Jesus' promises to be with us with his power and grace are being fulfilled. LATTE's goal of preparing pastors and leaders for the national churches we serve so that they can function independently is being met with people like Alex and Chiquito. Soli Deo gloria!

(Posted by Professor Larry)

Blessings experienced

In the lower photo are Pastor Freddy (right) of Santiago in the Dominican Republic and Juan. Juan is the leader of a small group of Christians (whose chapel is in the upper image) who were looking for someone to help them understand the Bible and to grow in their knowledge of God's Word and promises for them. Juan contacted Pastor Freddy and he agreed to study with Juan and his group. Juan and his group are nearly ready to join our Santiago congregation. Pastor Freddy is an example of what LATTE is trying to accomplish with our work of training nationals to be pastors and leaders of their churches. He has been trained by us so that he is now anxious and able to go out and teach and train others. God be praised.

LATTE continues training in the Dominican Republic

On Wednesday and Thursday of last week I traveled to the Dominican Republic with Pastor Robert Smith, the new chairman of the Administrative Committee for Latin America. We met with Missionary Professor Phil and the men with whom he is working there, training them for ministry. As you will have seen from previous blogs, the budget crunch in the WELS almost lost us Phil's position and we wanted to speak with him and his students to assure them of our continued support and of their professor's continued presence with them to finish their seminary training. The second picture shows student-pastor Alex speaking with Prof. Philip about the progress on the work on their new church property. Look for more pictures of this trip in the coming days.

(Posted by Larry)

By God's grace and power, LATTE is spared from a cut in manpower

The LATTE team has some very good news to report today. During the last two days our administrative committee for Latin America has been meeting to deal with the effect of the budgetary cuts that are effecting our Synod. I had previously blogged that Prof. Philip was being withdrawn from our team and from his work in the Dominican Republic. While that was the official news from headquarters, it apparently was premature. We have just been informed by our committee that our Latin American mission work will continue to focus on theological education (the preparation of national workers) in our mission churches and sister churches in Latin America. Therefore LATTE will be able to continue with our four remaining professors. We are indeed grateful to a loving and all-powerful God.

To be able to make this work, the committee has had to withdraw our last missionary from Brazil. We know how difficult this will be for the Brazilian national church, and pray God to strengthen them to continue to teach and preach His word there. LATTE will be helping them as we are able with occasional visits to teach and encourage.

We are comforted and strenghtened by the fact that although human plans falter and change, our good Lord's plan for our eternal salvation never changes. He is good indeed.

Flu Slowdown

The flu has caused many small changes to life in Mexico in the last week and a half. Many people of nearly all professions are worried and have been wearing surgical masks when they go out of their homes. But while many businesses, all schools, most government offices were closed in the Mexican government's attempt to stop the new flu strain from spreading, seminary classes continued almost normally here in Torreon. Our only concession to the flu scare was to start classes an hour late so the students didn't have to take the city buses during rush hour when they would be crowded. God has been good to us, so far no flu, and not even any confirmed cases here in Torreon yet.

The Pain and Loss of Budget Cuts

Missionaries are not immune to a difficulty afflicting many kinds of people all over the world today -- the economic crisis. But it has affected us in a drastic way. Ten years ago we were 15 WELS missionaries working in Latin America. At the end of February we were eight. LATTE has gone from five to six, then back to five. Last November our team was cut again when Prof. Ralph Martens (top) was called to serve in Mexico with no replacement on our team.


Now we have just received word that Prof. Philip  (bottom) will be cut and sent back to the United States. And depending on how our Synod votes in its biennial convention in July, Latin America could lose yet another missionary.

The pain comes from saying goodbye to friends and co-workers of many years. The loss to God's kingdom comes from losing two valued, experienced missionary-professors, both of whom have decades of experience serving His church in Latin America. They will both be sorely missed in the training and preparation of future church workers all over Latin America.

We are grateful to God that he has seen fit to call Prof. Ralph to Mexico so that is expertise is not lost to our mission effort in Mexico. And we pray to our Sovereign Lord for Prof. Philip to receive a call at the opportune moment so his service to the church may continue, all according to His will. To Him alone be the glory and honor.

New Bible Institute

Bolivian church leaders of F.I.E.L. (Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Bolivia) are making plans to begin their own Bible Institute starting with the first classes in January. While there on this trip we were asked to help them set up a curriculum to train their church leaders in Biblical doctrine as well as the practical aspects of Christian ministry.


The F.I.E.L. is unique among the Lutheran churches with whom we work in Latin America. It is a bilingual church with services and church work and evangelism being carried out in both the Spanish and the Aymara languages. In the photo Pastor Fructuoso, one of their bilingual pastors, is speaking with Prof. Lorenzo.

(Posted by Professor Larry)

Appreciation

On Wednesday evening, Nov. 12, I taught my last class in La Paz before flying out early the next morning. The participants in our short seminar showed their appreciation to Professor Lorenzo, me and LATTE with gifts, a letter of appreciation and many warm hugs of farewell. While they may still have a lot to learn to become fully confessional Lutherans, their zeal and desire to learn and follow what God's word really says is evident and a joy to witness. Professor Lorenzo remains in La Paz for the final week of the seminar. We hope, with God's help, to continue with these teaching visits to help the F.I.E.L (Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Bolivia) and to strengthen these new brothers.

(posted by Professor Larry)

Classes in La Paz, Bolivia

Missionary Lorenzo is in the middle of another two week teaching trip to work with Lutheran leaders in Bolivia who want to be more confessional. In the accompanying picture we see him talking with one of our students, dressed in traditional dress, during a break between classes. On this trip Missionary Larry is sharing some of the teaching load. Between us we teach 11 hours per day. The load is heavy, but it is a joy to work with these people who are so anxious to become more firmly grounded in God's word.

(Posted by Professor Larry)

Prayer for LATTE and long distance education

Lord of the living harvest, bless the labors of the LATTE team, a team of missionaries aiding in the seminary training and continuing theological education of national pastors throughout Latin America.  

Bless especially their efforts to use modern technology and the internet to offer their classes in various countries at once in the near future, even as rising travel costs make it difficult to be present personally and teach their students face to face.  Thank you for giving us modern technology to be used as a tool in the spread of your saving gospel. Amen.

LATTE Continuing Education

Today the LATTE team is meeting at Milwaukee. Part of our agenda is some training in some new computer software for long distance learning. We have been working on getting ready to do some long distance education without having to do so much physical travel. The picture shows some of our professors getting some instruction from Martin Spriggs, the WELS tech expert. Thank you Martin.

Mexican Seminary Christmas Party

Seminary faculty and students, a local pastor and the president of the national church and their families all enjoyed traditional Mexican tamales during their Christmas party on Friday evening. A balmy evening added to the enjoyment of our outdoor celebration. The photo captures the two students, Carlos and Jorge in the foreground, with Vicar Lehmann from WLS in Mequon and Pastor Sanchez of the El Redentor congregation here in Torreon. Santa's cutest little helper is Trinity, daughter of Missionary Mike and his wife Rachel.

(Posted by Professor Larry)

Back Home

With the end of November two of our LATTE professors are back home again. Professor Ralph  is back home in Caguas, PR after having spent nearly three months teaching at the Mexican Confessional Lutheran Seminary in Torreón. And Professor Larry is now back in Torreón after his three months of teaching in Puerto Rico. The two professors and their wives swapped houses for their teaching trips. Both made good progress in their course instruction. Prof. Ralph was teaching dogmatics and early church history as well as some review of homiletics and pedagogy. Prof. Larry concentrated on teaching Hebrew grammar, trying to get as much of the normal six-month course taught as possible during the three month stay. He also taught the course of Romans exegesis.

By the way, check back here soon for the latest news on the last trip into Bolivia to work with a small Lutheran church body there.

(Posted by Professor Larry)

New Pastor in Puerto Rico

On Sunday, November 18, 2007, Puerto Rican LATTE seminary student Eligio Rodríguez was installed as student-pastor of Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God) Lutheran Church of Humacao, PR. Pastor Manuel Monroig performed the installation. As mentioned here, Pastor Eligio is a police sergeant in Humacao. He has been doing pastoral studies with our LATTE professors for over two years and helping the pastor of his congregation in the regular preaching and teaching rotation. He and his wife, Noemí, also run a small care facility for the elderly where the residents can enjoy the warmth and comfort of living with a caring family. They also have two children, Noemí and Natanael, at home. We ask for your prayers for Eligio as he begins this new phase of his service to our forgiving Lord Jesus.

(Posted by Professor Larry)

The prayer of a righteous man ( James 5:16)

The following is a copy of a letter I just got from my compadre, Missionary Mike from Torreon, Mexico. I ask for you all to pray to our Lord Jesus, trusting in his many promises to answer our prayers, for Rachel's prompt healing and full recovery from Dengue fever. Missionary Mike is not strictly a part of LATTE, but he teaches seminary classes with us at the seminary in Torreon, Mexico. He is our field coordinator for the WELS mission effort in that country. He and Rachel are very dear friends and their little Trinity is a real sweety.



Hi everyone. I just thought I should send out a quick email to let you know that Rachel was hospitalized Thursday night with what appears to be a severe case of Dengue Fever. Fortunately, the doctors seem to have everything under control. As many of you already know, Dengue Fever is not usually life threatening. Her fever actually started on Monday.
At first we just thought it was a bad cold or flu. But, on Thursday morning she woke up with a rash. So, we took her in to see her doctor and he almost immediately diagnosed her with Dengue Fever. (Apparently there is a lot of Dengue going around Torreón this year.) Dengue is not contagious. Rather you get it from mosquito bites. Also, there's not much you can do other than let it run its course. So, the doctor sent Rachel home to rest. (It lasts between 5-14 days.) But he told us to call him if she got worse. Thursday evening she delirious and started
to bleed from her nose. I called the doctor and he wanted her brought in to the emergency room right away. (Hemorrhaging Dengue Fever is much more serious.) Thankfully, it doesn't appear that Rachel has had any more bleeding since that incident. She may be able to return home today, depending on how her blood tests return. The doctors aren't sure why she appears to have bled just that one time. But her platelet (Is that the English word for plaqueta?) count has been very low and the doctors want to make sure it is back at a safe level before she goes home. Both Trinity and I are doing ok. I am in the process of fumigating our house in order to try and prevent any mosquitos from biting Rachel and then infecting others. Anyway... I just wanted to let you know what's going on with us. Please pray for a complete and speedy recovery.


(Posted by Professor Larry)

Hearing the Word

Recently we had the privilege of hearing God’s Word from Pastor Sergio in Guayama, PR. We heard about faithfulness from St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy. He tells us how he wants to see his friend and student “so that I may be filled with joy.” Faithfulness does that. It fills others with joy. There is joy in a laborer for the Lord when he sees faithfulness demonstrated in one of his spiritual children. There is even greater joy when we see the faithfulness demonstrated by our loving Savior in his redemptive work and in his precious promises to us. “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

Pastor Sergio (on the right) was just installed as the president of the IELC (Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church) of Puerto Rico. We pray that God grand him faithfulness in this new opportunity for service in God’s kingdom.

(Posted by Professor Larry)

Weekend Family Retreat in Yauco

This past weekend Marlene and I were privileged to attend the Puerto Rican national church's annual retreat. It was a very spiritually uplifting time for both of us. We participated in four very good Bible studies (shown in photo), two given by our LATTE students here. The worship service on Sunday was a delight. I especially like all the hymn-singing we did. Our thanks to the Evangelical Confessional Lutheran Church of Puerto Rico for the invitation. Fellowship is another of the great blessings we enjoy from our loving Lord Jesus.


(Posted by Professor Larry)

excuses with apology

Sorry to be so long between blogs. The internet has been off at the apartment here in Puerto Rico for the last three days. But I guess "having to" go to Starbucks to use the internet isn't all bad. :-)

Tropical Classroom

Latte professors not only teach in many different countries, but also in many different kinds of classrooms. Here Eligio receives instruction on the book of Romans in his back roofed-over patio. The heat normally doesn't get too bad until the third and fourth hours of our studies. But I haven't yet resorted to the hammock.

(Posted by Professor Larry)