New lay missionaries prepare to deploy

(From left) New missionaries Aaron Reith, Hannah Hester and Abigail Young hold their certificates after completing missionary orientation at the LCMS International Center in St. Louis on Nov. 15, 2024. (LCMS/Frank Kohn)

By Sarah Hjulberg

On Nov. 15, 2024, three new LCMS missionaries officially completed their missionary orientation and were recognized after chapel at The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) International Center in St. Louis.

All three new missionaries are young laypeople. Hannah Hester will serve as a business administrator for the LCMS Asia region; Aaron Reith as technology administrator for Concordia the Reformer Seminary in Santiago, Dominican Republic; and Abigail Young as an English-as-a-Second-Language and music teacher, also in Santiago.

Hester was set to deploy to Taiwan in December. Reith and Young will depart for the Dominican Republic in March.

Lay missionaries, by taking on administrative and support work, play a key role in the mission of spreading the Gospel, planting churches and showing mercy.

“The leaders are doing everything … [but they] can’t do everything, and so [they] need to be able to delegate out certain things … so that … pastors [can] really focus on pastoral duties,” said Young.

“The main thing is relieving stress,” said Hester. “We want to keep missionaries on the field, so [we can] help them to stay there and not feel disheartened or stressed about things.”

Young, Hester and Reith have all known for quite some time that they wanted to some day serve in the international mission field.

Young said she knew she wanted to be a missionary since she was a child, but the LCMS Youth Gathering provided the real kickstart for her. Hester and Reith both felt called to mission work after going on short-term mission trips.

As a technology administrator, Reith will especially support Concordia the Reformer Seminary’s online programs as well as the mission team throughout the LCMS Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region.

“Being given the opportunity to do missions with what I studied in college is just … the best thing ever,” said Reith, who earned his bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary computing.

In addition to teaching at a Lutheran school and at the local public school in Santiago, Young will help teach guitar to seminarians. Since guitars are the most common instrument used in worship throughout the LAC, and since Himnario Luterano (the Spanish Lutheran hymnal) provides guitar chords with each hymn, it’s helpful for pastors to know how to play the guitar.

Hester has already taught for nine years at a Lutheran school in Taiwan. She is excited to return and continue building the relationships she already has there, in addition to her new role as business administrator for the LCMS Asia region. In this role, she will assist the Asia region business manager with supporting LCMS missionaries behind the scenes.

“We’re a Synod, and we’re all walking together. … There are all these little parts in the Body of Christ, and we all have our own part in spreading the Gospel,” said Hester.

The three new missionaries are excited to get started, knowing that the Body of Christ will support them every step of their missionary journey.

“[From orientation we know] that we have a team, a network, that God has already built and that He has graciously given to us,” said Young. “And this network includes our family and friends, our new co-workers, the church at large and our future co-workers.”

“[Sharing the Gospel] is what we’re called to do,” continued Young. “One of the things we’ve been talking about … is that resilient people understand their calling … and God put our calling [in the Bible] very clearly — it’s to share the Gospel with whoever [is] in front of us.”

Sharing the Good News of Christ: Learn more about LCMS International Mission — and how you can be a part of that mission — at lcms.org/international.

Posted Jan. 8, 2025