Ready. Set. Go! LCMS sends 38 new missionaries to the four corners

Contact: Vicki Biggs
@theLCMS
314-996-1236/314-556-3829 (cell)
@VickiBiggs2

Media Advisory

Missouri Synod “sends” new missionaries in special service set for Friday, June 14

What: Special “sending service” for 38 new Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) missionaries being sent to the four corners of the globe.

The “sending service” is a special Divine Service with Holy Communion at the LCMS International Center in St. Louis. The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, president of the LCMS, will officiate and musicians – including an organist, pianist and a high-school brass ensemble – will perform specially selected music.

Who: The LCMS 2013 career and GEO (Globally Engaged in Outreach serving one- to two-year terms) missionaries range in age and experience and include recent college graduates, mid-career couples and retirees from 15 states. Among the places where the new missionaries will serve are the Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Germany, Guinea, Hong Kong, Kenya, Macau, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Singapore, Southern Asia, Taiwan and Togo. These missionaries join a global mission team of some 1,000, which includes short-term missionaries, military chaplains, international educators and other career and GEO personnel.

When: 2 p.m., Friday, June 14 Where: LCMS International Center, 1333 S. Kirkwood Road, St. Louis, Mo., 63122

Why: “An isolated Church is the devil’s delight,” said the Rev. Randall Golter, executive director of the LCMS’ Office of International Mission, the missionary sending and support arm of the church. “Missionaries serve to bridge the ‘Gospel gaps’ in bringing God’s Word to where it has not been preached.” The LCMS has been involved in mission and outreach since 1851, when it established its first mission board. In the early years, the church focused domestically on mission outreach among Native Americans. The LCMS’ first overseas missionary was sent in 1895 to India. Today, the LCMS trains, sends and supports called and appointed, career, long-term GEO and short-term missionaries throughout the United States and in various countries around the world where there are mission stations, partner churches, schools and other mission relationships.

For more information, visit www.lcms.org/missionaryorientation.

About The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) is a biblical, confessional, witness-oriented Christian denomination with 2.3 million members in 6,200 congregations. Through acts of witness and mercy, the church strives to make known the love of Jesus Christ around the world. Learn more at www.lcms.org.

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