Sharing the Good News

While visiting various countries when traveling with work of LATTE, there are many opportunities to share news from other mission fields. 

Much of this is informal like the included picture taken after a delicious dinner given to the professor and his wife in the home of one of the members. Conversation had touched on what other places WELS is sharing the gospel besides here in Colombia. We talked of the work in Latin America, Africa and then Asia. These Colombians are looking at pictures of a tour the chairman of World Missions of WELS is taking of work in Asia. 

You may be sure that these members are enthused and encouraged by the continued spread of the gospel. They will have these distant fellow believers in their thoughts and prayers.

Teaching Together

One of the joys of being on-site at a mission is to serve with the local ministry as needed.  Last January, the mission congregation in México asked me (Julia) to teach Sunday School to the 7-13 year-old children.  Since that time, our attendance has grown from one to six students.

This semester, there is a change in the classroom. Seminarian Dan and I are serving as a team to teach Sunday School class. Dan is currently studying to be a pastor at the IELC Mexican seminary.

 

The first couple months, I taught the majority of the class while Dan observed and helped as needed with projects and Spanish. Once in a while I stumble on a word that I just can't pronounce correctly or give a good explanation of something.  Dan swoops in and tells the children exactly what I am trying to say.

This month, we've reached the next teaching phase, where we divide the classroom activities into parts. I begin the class by introducing the theme for the day and teaching the Bible story interactively with the children using finger puppets. Then Dan reviews the Bible story with worksheets, projects, and memory work, taking attendance, and closing with prayer.  He's watched the way I do these things and now he is doing most of the things, but in his own way.  It is wonderful to see him teach the key points of the Bible stories and then apply it to our lives, especially the students' lives.

Next week, we will switch activities. Dan will begin the class by introducing the theme and teaching the Bible story with the finger puppets and I will lead the other activities. The following month, Dan will teach the entire class period, and I will be his helper.

Seminarian Luis is currently teaching the children ages 3-6 with Missionary Mike. Dan and Luis will switch classrooms next semester to gain experience working with a different age group.  They are both doing an excellent job and the children love them!

Macedonian Giving

 Brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able,  and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 

(2 Corinthians 8:1-4)

On our recent visit to Bolivia, where LATTE Professor Philip is located, we found an example of this type of giving. LATTE Professor Larry, Ernie Latorre, and I were visiting Bolivia. We attended a worship service together with the national congregation. After the service, the members insisted on sending the offering along with us. Our first thought was that they were as much in need of this offering as anyone, but we thought it was very important to honor the spirit in which they offered this, as well as their desire to assist in world missions, so we accepted.

May God bless their spirit of mission giving and promote it among us as well!

Pastor Robert Smith serves as the liaison for LATTE and as the chairman for the WELS Administrative Committee for Latin America.

A Growing Mission

This Sunday, the mission Cristo Resucitado -- Resurrected Christ in México; received its first two members with over 50 people in attendance.  These two new confirmands,  Javier and Victor, have been studying the Bible and its teachings with local  Missionary Brad for the past year.

It has been amazing to watch the Holy Spirit work in their hearts.  Both began attending weekly Bible studies, then worship services regularly, and bringing their families to church activities.  Listening to their initial questions about God's Word transform into concrete affirmations of faith has been heart-warming.  Tears flowed down my face as I witnessed Javier and Victor confess their faith and take Holy Communion with our mission team.

This joyous event has also served as an encouragement to others who are taking instruction classes with Missionary Brad. Several expressed their excitement to become members of the congregation and want to continue to learn more about the Bible and its teachings.

It is neat to watch our church family grow and become active. Some invite friends and family to worship services, Bible studies, and fellowship activities. Some take ownership by providing snacks for after the worship service, cleaning and building maintenance, or donating items as needed.  Last week, a man brought a Christmas tree, this week someone else brought a stand for it, and this Sunday, multiple families brought Christmas decorations.

Being part of the congregation is one of the abundant blessings of serving on the LATTE team. The opportunity to share my faith and build relationships with fellow believers is an awesome privilege I will always cherish.

May God continue to bless the mission efforts in México and around the world.

Cristo Resucitado is located in México and began regular worship services in July, 2010.  The Lord has blessed the efforts of this mission in countless ways as mission workers share the good news of the Savior Jesus Christ with the souls in Léon.  Go to www.luteranosmexicanos.net and www.lutheransinmexico.com for more information on this mission.

Fall Update - 2011

The LATTE professors are continuing to carry out the teaching according to its established plan and schedule. Trips to Bolivia, Colombia and the Caribbean have been made. National churches were encouraged in their evangelism efforts and were provided with the theological education that they had requested.

A plan for finalizing the seminary training of a pastor in Santiago in the Dominican Republic still needs to be worked out, so that he can continue the training of future students in that country.

A final trip to Puerto Rico (PR) to finish the class work with a seminary student is still planned for January 2012. After that no trips will be planned except at the express request for continuing education by the Puerto Rican church and the CICR liaison to PR.

In Mexico, the last full-time seminary student has resigned. A recruitment effort is planned with the national church, with the hope of beginning a new class of seminary students in July of 2012. Meanwhile the two LATTE professors residing in Mexico are using the unexpected time to do course work, increase the number of hours taught over the internet to various students, and make several teaching trips during this time period. This time may also give LATTE the ability to help Colombia with the training of two new pastoral students.

LATTE Mission Kits

Great news! Three updated LATTE Mission Information Kits are available for use in your congregation, school, LWMS, OWLS, WKW, and other WELS-related groups.

LATTE Kit - Some Sample Items

What is a Mission Information Kit?

Each display kit provides information on a specific WELS mission field.  As LATTE works with missions in North America, The Caribbean, and South America, each LATTE kit includes handicrafts, flags, musical instruments, and other materials from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and the Caribbean; including a book that reveals details of LATTE's work in ten countries of Latin America.  

How do I use a Mission Information Kit?

These display kits give WELS members a hands-on experience to items available on a mission field, giving a little insight into the lives of the people we are serving in that mission. The mission kits are used at congregational mission festivals, Christian day school, high school, college and Sunday school quarterly projects, LWMS rallies and conventions, WKW workshops, ladies group outings, OWLS, and other WELS-related events.  Groups normally use a kit for two - four weeks. 

How can I access a LATTE Mission Information Kit?

The mission kits are stored at a centralized location called WELS Mission Information Center (MIC). A LATTE kit can be ordered online or by telephone 414/771-6848 or 1-800-466-9357 or fax 414/771-6130.  It is recommended to order your kit as soon as possible as orders are processed on a first come, first served basis.  Allow 2 weeks prior to your event for shipping.

How much does it cost?

The group requesting a kit is responsible for shipping costs to return the kit to the MIC.  A $10 donation is suggested for the shipping from the MIC. 

You can also request a mission speaker on LATTE at www.wels.net/speaker-request-form.

Teaching Sunday School

One of the many joys of being a missionary's wife is to help out with local ministry on the mission field.  In the past several months, when the regular Sunday school leader was out of town, I have served as back-up. What an important and fun role in sharing precious Bible stories with children!  It is a great way to review the stories for my own spiritual growth, but also develop creative ways to teach the stories along with simple project ideas for future leaders to continue. Often, missionaries struggle to find the balance of doing enough, but not too much. Modeling, assisting, and introducing ministry ideas, yet not establishing something that the national church leaders and members will not be able to maintain.

This Sunday, one of the Sunday school students was so excited to recite a Bible passage to me that she had memorized throughout the week.  A priceless moment I will continue to treasure!

May God bless your service, as you find opportunities to share God's Word with others!

Registering a Car - Part 2

The following are the steps we had to take to purchase our car here in Bolivia and get it registered:

- Francisco returned to La Paz and gave me his report.  We then went back to the third floor of the Motor Vehicle department, got another order for a telegram to be sent, this time to Santa Cruz.

- Then we went back to the SENATER office, paid another fee and had the second telegram sent to the Santa Cruz Motor Vehicle office.  They said they would call us when they received a reply.

- We waited over a week for the reply which never came.

- Right at that time I had a scheduled trip to Santa Cruz to visit the congregation of FIEL that is located there.  Francisco was designated to accompany us.  We decided that while we were there we would personally visit the Santa Cruz Motor Vehicle office to see what had happened with the telegram that had been sent.

- When we got to Santa Cruz we were able to find the Motor Vehicle building there and first went to the telegram office.  They told us they had not received the telegram that supposedly had been sent. 

- Next we went to the vehicle registration window.  They found a file folder on our car, but it simply had a note about the crime that had taken place in 2007.  There was also a document in that file indicating that the vehicle was actually registered in La Paz!  The lady at the window told us that we would have to go to the Motor Vehicle department in La Paz in order to obtain the document we needed.

- When we got back to La Paz, tired of all the run around we were getting, we hired a lawyer to look into the matter and try to get the document we needed.  The lawyer was successful in getting the document.

- With the final required document in hand, we went back to the Motor Vehicle office in order to submit all the papers.  After waiting four hours in line, when we got up to the window, they told us that the previous person in line was the last one they were going to attend to that day.

- We went back the next day early in the morning.  This time we only had to wait three hours and finally were able to submit all the documents for getting the vehicle registered in my name.

- Now there were only three more steps to take before everything would finally be finalized.  First we had to take the vehicle transfer papers from the Motor Vehicle department to a notary in order to have the signatures both of the former owner and the new owner notarized.

- Next we had to take all the papers back to the Mayor’s office in order to get an ownership card from them.

- The final step was to take a copy of all the papers to the police department in order to get a certificate of ownership from them.

- Finally, after a month and a half of running around, the car is now legally ours.  We thank the Lord that He has granted us success in this endeavor.

Colorblind

Retired Missionary Charlie and Beth Flunker share details on returning home to Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul where they serving Igreja Luterana Brasileira – The Brazilian Lutheran Church as active volunteers.

When was the last time you thought about the color of your skin? I'm guessing that most of you live in places where one skin color predominates, and people of another race and skin color are few. You might have some in your congregation or neighborhood, but they are the minority. As you might well imagine, different colors of skin are the rule in mission work, and often it is the missionary who is the minority.

Charlie and I just returned from our annual visit to the US. The trip was very interesting! In the Chicago airport, waiting for our flight, we observed the people. That airport has many international flights, and we began to see people of many different nationalities. When we finally decided to sit down in the gate area of our flight, we begin to interact with the many Brazilians, who are returning home from the US. This interaction continues on the plane. The Brazilians often take us for Germans, who are the light-skinned and light-haired people living in Brazil, so we always have a ready-made conversation starter.

Once in the bus station we see a wider variety of skin colors. Everyone uses the efficient and comfortable bus system in Brazil. There are business people, students, store owners with huge sacks of merchandise going back to their small towns after the buying trip to the big city, old people going visiting, whole families, and actually people moving all their belongings in large feed sacks. We can pick out the Bolivians, who have noticeable facial characteristics, and who are returning to their homes just across the frontier from Brazil. Here, as well as in the 15 hour bus trip home, we see all skin tones and walks of life.

This all happened from Wednesday to Friday of last week. So it was rather unique that Gilberto, our evangelist, preached a sermon on Sunday that was based on Peter's vision of the sheet full of unclean animals, and the lesson that Peter learned from it. God does not look at people's skin color, He just wants to find faith in their hearts. So it is important for us to accept one another, and to reach out to all people, because if God doesn't see any difference in skin color or social level, neither should we. Wonderful reminder to get back to work here in the mission field in Brazil!!

We pray that you have also learned this lesson, that a soul is a soul, no matter the external covering, and all souls are tainted with sin and need a Savior. May the Lord bless your mission spirit!

Trip to Santa Cruz

When the national church here in Bolivia asked us to come to live in Bolivia and work with them, they had a number of purposes in mind for us.  One was to help them become a truly confessional church body.  Another thing they want me to do is visit some of the outlying areas where there are congregations that are part of the national church.  

During these visits our intention is to see how these congregations are doing doctrinally and also see if there might be some potential students who could be trained for ministry.

Recently we made our first trip to one of these congregations that is located in the city of Santa Cruz.  We found that the congregation has a fairly large property, but the congregation itself is quite small.  

It is made up of women and children and is led by a woman named Margarita.  Margarita welcomed us warmly and was very appreciative of the doctrine we had come to share with her.

She told us that she wishes the national church could send a pastor who could work full time at evangelism and teaching the Word to those whom the Holy Spirit gathers.  That is something the national church will be considering in the near future.

Arroz con Coco - Coconut Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice (Arroz Sella Jojo-PR)
• 5 1/2 cups water
• 8 oz coconut milk (Coco Lopez-PR)
• 6 sticks cinnamon
• 1 small piece crushed ginger
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 small snack size boxes raisins
• Ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

1. Soak rice for one hour
2. Boil water mixed with coconut milk, cinnamon, & ginger for 30 min
3. Remove cinnamon & ginger
4. Add rice & cook on low for 40 min
5. Add sugar & raisins & cook on low
6. Turn rice occasionally & scape bottom
7. Spoon rice onto serving platter
8. Sprinkle with cinnamon
9. Allow to cool at room temperature

Makes 12 servings.

This recipe is from Puerto Rico (PR).

Bible Passages & Hymns - Spanish

Por tanto, id, y haced discípulos a todas las naciones, bautizándolos en el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo;

- Mateo 28:19 (Matthew 28:19)

Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo, que ha dado a su Hijo unigénito, para que todo aquel que en él cree, no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna. 

- Juan 3:16 (John 3:16)


Jesus Me Ama 

(Jesus Loves Me)



Cristo me ama, bien lo se
Su palabra me hace ver
Que los ninos son de aquel
Quien es nuestro amigo fiel

Si, Cristo me ama

Si, Cristo me ama

Si, Cristo me ama

La Biblia dice asi

Cristo me ama, me salvo
En la cruz por mi murio;
Mi pecado perdono;
Vida eterna me dono

Si, Cristo me ama

Si, Cristo me ama

Si, Cristo me ama 
La Biblia dice asi

http://lyricstranslate.com

Classroom Activities

Activities to help understand the work of LATTE professors

LATTE Professors must be flexible as they exchange places and homes.

• Have each student exchange desks for (can be an hour, or a morning or for a day) and the student must use what is in each other's desks.  They may not go to their own desk to take anything out.  May change classrooms, also.

LATTE members exchange houses with other LATTE members.

• What did you observe when you changed desks with your friends? Problems? Advantages?  Care of one another's property. 

• Did you know where everything was in the desk?  Did you miss some of your own things? 

LATTE members exchange countries.  Each country may do things quite differently than the next country.  One example is when they eat.  Lunch(dinner) is served at 2pm and dinner (supper) is served at 8pm or later.  When you get a parking ticket, the police takes your license plate and you don't get it back until you pay your ticket.

• What would happen if you went to stay at someone's (not your best friend's house) house?  What if you didn't like the food?  Would you know where things were in the house - towels, etc?  What if you didn't like their schedule - the time you had to get up in the morning and the times that they ate their meals?  Can you think of other things that might be hard or might be good?

The LATTE members are introduced to a lot of different foods.  When they are guests at other homes it would be offensive not to eat the food put in front of you.

• Have everyone bring a lunch in a brown bag.  Do not put any names on them.  At lunch each one chooses a bag.  Do you think everyone will get what they like to eat?  How should we respond to the food in the bag- should we eat it gladly or should we complain and make someone feel bad?

The LATTE members travel around to the different schools to teach the students so that the students do not have the same teacher for all the subjects. 

• How would you like to have the same teacher for every subject plus all your sports?   What problems do you see with that?  Are there advantages?

Arroz Amarillo

Arroz Amarillo (Yellow Rice) in the Dominican Republic

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil - 2 Tbsp
• Rice - 1 cup
• Water - 3 cups 
• Yellow onion, finely chopped - 1/2
• Green pepper, finely chopped - 1/4 
• Tomatoes, finely chopped - 1 1/2
• Chicken Bouillon Cubes - 1 packet or more (as you like)
• Parsley - Optional

Directions:

1. Bring 3 cups water to a boil 
2. Turn off heat and let stand
3. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat
4. Add onions and peppers
5. Cook 5 to 8 minutes or until soft and translucent 
6. Mix tomatoes, chicken broth, and seasoning and cook until hot
7. Pour the rice into the pot and stir
8. Cook the rice for 1 minute
9. Pour hot water and stir
10. Bring rice mixture to a boil. 
11. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes or until rice is tender an water is completely absorbed
12. Fluff rice with a fork
13. Cover, let stand for 5 minutes before serving
14. Top with parsley if desired

Questions & Answers

What is LATTE? 
 


What do you think of when you hear the word "latte"?  In this case it is not a special coffee.  It is short for the Latin American Traveling Theological Educators.  It is a team of missionaries (professors) who travel to the WELS missions in South America, the Caribbean and Mexico to teach and prepare men to be pastors.  Instead of everyone coming to a school in one place like is done in the US to prepare our pastors, the professors go to the students.

Where do the professors travel and teach? 

León, Puebla, and Torreón, Mexico; Bogota and Medellín, Colombia; Santiago, Dominican Republic; Humacao, Puerto Rico; Dourados, Gravatai, and Presidente Prudente, Brazil; La Paz, Bolivia;  and online courses in Temuco, Chile; Quibdó and Santa Marta, Colombia, and Guatemala.

Who are the missionary professors?



Lorenzo, Larry, Phil, and Natán.

Do the professors teach in English? 

No, all their work is in Spanish, but Professor Natán also teaches in Portuguese when he works in Brazil.

Do the missionaries who travel take their families with them?

On short trips (2 or 3 weeks) they travel alone.  However on longer trips they bring along their wives.  All the children of LATTE professors are away at school or grown and no longer live at home.

Where do members of the LATTE team live?   

One lives in US, two in Mexico and one in Bolivia.

How many seminary students study with the LATTE professors?

Currently there are 22 seminary students and 35 Bible institute students.

What are some of the blessings and challenges of serving as a LATTE professor?

Blessings:

Getting to serve God in many different places, seeing God work in different cultures with different peoples, making friends in different countries.

Challenges:

Remembering differences in Spanish dialects in the different countries, finding good medical care outside of the United States, being far away from parents, children and grandchildren due to living in a foreign country, coordinating the work of four seminary professors who live in three different countries.

What are some of the blessings and challenges for being a student in the program? 



Blessings: 

Preparing for serving the Lord and his church.  Friendships with various traveling professors as well as the opportunity to have courses with missionaries with different talents and expertise. 



Challenges: 

Studying while handling their many other responsibilities such as working to support their families (often children, wives and even the single students have special responsibility for their parents and siblings in Latin America).  There are tremendous financial pressures on most of the families studying in the LATTE program.