Grace Lutheran Church - Mission Partners
     Missionary for a Day supports the 5 global mission partners of Grace Lutheran Church. Your gift to Missionary for a Day provides much needed support to these vital mission partners around the world.
COLOMBIA CHILDREN’S VISION INTERNATIONAL ORPHANAGE
The Children’s Vision International Orphanage is Bogota, Colombia
  • 2 Homes (Genesis House and Exodus House).
  • Over 100 children.
  • Most children under age 4.
  • Leviticus House used as a school.
  • Licensed by the Colombian Government as an orphanage.
  • Mountain Mission to the homeless south of Bogota.

The Exodus House in Bogota Shirts donated by Grace Lutheran Church

Link:
Children’s Vision International: http://www.childrensvision.org

EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN COLOMBIA
     The Lutheran church in Colombia is a companion synod with our Southeastern Minnesota Synod. The Lutheran church in dates from 1938 and the mission work of Myrtle Nordin of Lake Lillian, Minnesota.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Colombia

  • 11 congregations
  • 27 mission points
  • 8 pastors
  • 5 elementary schools
  • 1 secondary school
  • 1 agriculture school

Current Mission Projects

  • Proyecto Liderazgo Misionero Sigio XXI (21st Century Missionary Leadership Project)
  • The Lutheran School of Theology ELT (Colombia)
  • Colombian Scholarship Fund and Leadership Initiative
  • SOLMICOL—Lutheran Missionary Society of Colombia

Worship at a Lutheran Church in Bogota

Link:
ELCA Colombia Packet: http://www.elca.org/countrypackets/colombia/church.html

SAINT CATHERINE LUTHERAN CHURCH, VALKA, LATVIA
     Grace Lutheran began its relationship its sister congregation in the late 1980’s, while Latvia was still part of the communist Soviet Union. The late John Polis, a member of Grace Lutheran, grew up in Valka, Latvia, and Saint Catherine.

     The Saint Catherine congregation began in 1477 and the present church building dates from the early 1700’s. Valka is a city of about 2,000 in northern Latvia right on the border with Estonia. The congregation is about 100 members.

Saint Catherine Lutheran Church

Links:
ELCA Latvia Packet: http://www.elca.org/countrypackets/latvia/church.html

EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SEMINARY NOVOSARATOVKA, SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
     The Novosaratovka Seminary is the seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia (ELCROS). It opened in 1997 and enrollment is about 15 students. The seminary is located about 10 miles outside central Saint Petersburg on the Neva River.

     The seminary is funded by gifts from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (EKD), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and the Lutheran Endowment for Novosaratovka Seminary (LENS). Pastor Bradn Buerkle is an ELCA missionary pastor serving on the faculty.

Grace Lutheran supports the seminary through gifts to LENS

Students and Staff at the seminary during a year end celebration Front of the Novosaratovka Seminary main Building, opened fall of 1997

Links:
Novosaratovka http://en.novosaratovka.org
LENS http://www.lensfoundation.org
ELCA Russia Packet http://www.elca.org/countrypackets/russia/elcros.html

CENTRAL DIOCESE OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURUCH OF TANZANIA, INTERNATIONAL HEALTH PARTNERS TANZANIA, AND THE MOROGORO MISSION DISTRICT
     The Central Diocese and the Morogoro Mission District are a companion synod of our Southeastern Minnesota Synod. Mission work within the Central Diocese focuses on the Iambi Hospital and the Kiomboi Institute, a school that trains pastors, evangelists and administrators for the Lutheran church in Tanzania.

     International Health Partners supports the medical mission work of Dr. Denny and Paula Loftstrom. IHP raises funds for the construction and operation of a Lutheran hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania, on the south shore of Lake Victoria.

     Support to the Morogoro Mission District focuses on the work of Pastor Herb Haferman and his team of evangelists working in primarily Muslim and indigenous religion areas around Morogoro working out of the Morogoro Lutheran Junior Seminary.

Pastor Herb Haferman baptizing a Masai warrior in December of 2004

Links:
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania http://www.elct.org
ELCA Tanzania Packet http://www.elca.org/countrypackets/tanzania/church.html