The Foreign Mission Board of our synod is awed and honored by its opportunities to serve. The God who saved us in Christ is allowing us to oversee mission fields that already have about as many Lutheran souls as the ELS. And the opportunities for gathering a greater harvest are as broad as God’s heart is gracious. Here is an overview of our current mission fields:

PERU

The ELS has been carrying on Gospel work in Peru for almost four decades. We currently have 49 congregations and preaching stations with about 1,400 members. Twelve Peruvian pastors serve these congregations. The prime centers of work are in Lima, at Tarapoto in the rain forest, and around Huarez (?) in the Andes Mountains. Three Lutheran schools are in operation, two in Lima and one in the Amazon jungle. Peruvians are now responsible for pre-seminary instruction and for assisting in seminary teaching.

The goal of the Board for Foreign Missions is to assist the Peruvian Lutheran Church in reaching maturity. The Church is making good progress toward becoming, self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propogating. At some point in time it is hoped that the Peru field will be able to be completely on its own. One bench mark is to examine those goals by the year 2010. Pray for the maturing of the national of Peru.

CHILE

After thirteen years of work in Chile, our mission has four congregations with about 300 members. Our work centers in the Santiago area and Linares about 200 miles from Santiago. Two missionaries oversee the work. Our long-term goal in Chile is to reach the middle-class with the Gospel and to establish a national pastorate. Our current focus is on using the teaching of English as a means for reaching more people. The Board recently commissioned a Lutheran teacher fluent in Spanish to Chile to oversee English as a Second Language work. In an even more recent development, our San Bernardo congregation began operating a school for people with Down’s syndrome. It is the only school of its kind in Chile. That school will also enable more contacts to be made to share the Good News of Jesus.

INDIA

The Lutheran Mission of Salvation-India (LMSI) was adopted as a mission of the ELS at its 2005 convention. The two ordained Indian clergy report that the LMSI now has over 20,000 members. They are being served by over 200 “Gospel workers.” The Indian mission is funded entirely through annual subsidy from a charitable foundation. The work is overseen by our Board For Foreign Missions.

The Board’s current focus in India is the seminary training of additional national clergy. Visiting professors from the USA are continuing to teach seminary-level courses to twenty-five Indians. Classes are conducted in Hyderabad and Rajahmundry. In January 2007 two students from India having good English skills will begin their studies at Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary in Mankato, Minnesota.

KOREA

At our convention last June, Korea became an official mission field of our synod. Rev. Young Ha Kim serves about one hundred members at the steadily growing East Seoul Canaan Church. More are enrolled in instruction classes. The mission has recently secured a license for operating a Lutheran school in Seoul.

Thirty-four Korean young students associated with our mission are studying at Lutheran high schools in the USA. A long-term goal is to carry on Gospel work in China with our Korean church as a base.

God be praised for fields He has set before us! May we all pray to God for the ability to make the most of our opportunities for advancing his Kingdom!

Adolph Harstad is a professor at Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary in Mankato, Minnesota and is the chairman of the ELS Board for Foreign Missions.