‘Remember, Repent, Rejoice’: Celebrating 125 years of mission work in Latin America

Missionaries from the LCMS Latin America and the Caribbean region gathered Aug. 7 for an all-Spanish service at the LCMS International Center in St. Louis. The event was one part of a yearlong observance celebrating 125 years of LCMS mission work in Latin America. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

By Sarah Hjulberg and Brianna Dehn

One hundred and twenty-five years ago, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) sent its first missionary to Latin America. German Lutherans who had immigrated to Brazil needed pastors.

From its earliest days, the Lord has blessed this work: Today, 10 church bodies in Latin America are in altar and pulpit fellowship with the LCMS, and over 45 LCMS missionaries and their families serve the Lord in 10 countries in the LCMS Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region.

Earlier this year, LAC kicked off a yearlong celebration of the 125th anniversary of mission work in the region (May 2025–May 2026) under the theme “Remember, Repent, Rejoice.” As the Synod remembers all the missionaries who have proclaimed the Gospel and planted Lutheran churches in Latin America for the past 125 years, it also repents of the times it has failed to nurture the proclamation of God’s Word and rejoices that, by God’s mercy, He has sustained His church — and the continued work of proclaiming the Gospel and administering the Sacraments in the LAC, the U.S. and beyond.

God’s faithfulness

In May, the annual symposium of Concordia the Reformer Seminary in Palmar Arriba, Dominican Republic (DR), focused on the history of mission work in the LAC region.

Seminarians, professors, pastors, church body presidents and others gathered at the seminary for several days of discussion and presentations on the history of mission work in Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela.

“What I’ve learned is how despite … a lot of errors, a lot of low points, God’s faithfulness is constant. He preserves the church and sustains her with the Gospel and with the Sacraments,” said Kairo Juarez, a seminarian from Guatemala. “Many times, the government, or people, or the culture try to diminish the mission, but thanks be to God, He keeps sending workers.”

“It has been very helpful to know the history of where we come from because we ourselves are all part of that history also,” said Francisco Orostegui, a seminarian from Chile. “What impressed me most is to see that [though] pastors have made many errors, have been wrong many times, God has always sustained His church and always keeps the remnant faithful.”

Joyful and lighthearted memories were shared in the presentations as well. The Rev. Dr. Jonathan Naumann, LCMS missionary to the DR, presented on the history of LCMS mission work in Cuba, where his grandfather, the Rev. Henry Immanuel Naumann, served on Cuba’s Isle of Pines.

“One of the first things that happened to Pastor Naumann was that he fell in love with a Cayman Islander named Alida Jackson,” said Naumann. “My father never tired of telling the story of how it was love at first sight, as she brought him breakfast to the back room of the church where he would wake up the morning after his arrival.”

Other common themes were the courage of early missionaries despite harsh living conditions and personal tragedies; God’s mercy in the wake of everything from conflict among missionaries to political upheaval to natural disasters; and the importance of seminary education for preserving pure doctrine and establishing a local church body.

“Establishing seminaries to prepare ministers to take over the local ministries, instead of continuing to send missionaries, was very crucial to keep the Lutheran theology sound,” observed the Rev. Dr. Ely Prieto, director of the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis (CSL).

“The Lord keeps His promises, and the church will endure,” said the Rev. Dr. Brian Gauthier, managing director of global mission operations for LCMS International Mission. “It’s a long history of mission work in Latin America, and it’s great to see churches come into maturity, forming their own pastors, sending out their own missionaries.”

Looking back

In early August, the celebration continued as LAC missionaries and their families gathered in St. Louis. A total of 111 missionaries (including family members) attended, comprising 35 of the 38 missionary families currently serving in the LAC region (four additional LAC families recently completed missionary orientation).

They began the week by holding their annual regional conference on the CSL campus. Later in the week, on Aug. 7, they took part in chapel at the LCMS International Center, leading a Spanish-only Matins service accompanied by LAC musicians with the Rev. Benjamin Flores, LCMS alliance missionary to Belize, preaching, and the Rev. Sergio Fritzler, director of Concordia the Reformer Seminary, serving as liturgist.

The next day, the missionaries returned to the seminary, where they were joined by approximately 45 LAC alumni missionaries for a day of presentations, fellowship and reminiscing.

During the presentations, both missionaries and missionary alumni presented on the work in various LAC countries. All presentations were offered in English and Spanish, with a Portuguese translator interpreting for the Rev. Geraldo Walmir Schüler, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB). Additionally, a Spanish-only Divine Service was celebrated in the seminary’s Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus.

The Rev. Peter Kirby was one of the many alumni in attendance. He and his family spent eight years in Jamaica, where Kirby served as a church planter. Kirby said The Lutheran Hour was key to his work.

“It was very instrumental in us planting Lutheran churches because it had been there since the 1950s, so people were familiar with [it],” said Kirby. “A lot of people came to us because they listened to the radio program.” Kirby’s church would use the radio program to announce Bible studies and events happening at the church.

The Rev. Henry Witte, another LAC alum, served 23 years in Venezuela and four years in Panama, ministering particularly in rural areas. He is thankful for his years in the mission field, knowing his work was not done in vain. “After I left, the ministry continued on,” he said. “Two of the little boys I taught [in church] went on to become pastors.” Today, Witte is semi-retired in Sioux City, Iowa, where he is still reaching out to the Spanish-speaking community by offering a Spanish service and English classes.

The Rev. Herb Burch and his wife, Markie, began their missionary journey in Guatemala, where they served for six years before being called back to the United States. They later they took a call to Peru, where they served for three years, and then (eight years ago) to Belize, where they still reside. When they arrived in Belize, there were no Lutheran churches in the country. The Burches helped establish a central ministry hub to support mission work throughout the area.

“I think really the very best thing about being a missionary is that people are praying for you all over the world … and to know there is this body of believers that are putting up missionaries in prayer is humbling,” said Markie. “It is also humbling to recognize the sacrifices that people make in order to keep missionaries on the field. … I hope that we are always good stewards of the gifts that people have sacrificed to make it possible for missionaries to [spread the Gospel].”

“If you’re looking to serve the Lord, there’s no better way than to go out and share the love of God to the people and there’s no better opportunity to do that than to be on the mission field,” said Herb.

The celebration continues

In observance of the LAC region’s 125th anniversary, Concordia Historical Institute (CHI) has gathered extensive information about LCMS mission work there. The IELB, in collaboration with CHI, is producing a movie and a website to display historical information, documents and photos. In addition, the Rev. Albert Lehenbauer’s account of his first 20 years of missionary work in Brazil, Roughing It for Christ, has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese and will be published by Concordia Publisher in Brazil.

To learn more about the history of LCMS mission work in Latin America and the Caribbean, listen to CHI Executive Director Rev. Dr. Daniel Harmelink on a recent broadcast of The Coffee Hour.

Posted Aug. 29, 2025