September 2010 - Lutheran Society for Missiology

Volume 15, Issue 2 September 2010
The Purpose of LSFM:
To be an instrument for communicating
God's Mission to seek and to save lost
people (Luke 19:10).
A Time of Restructuring
—Bob Scudieri
The Mission of LSFM:
To provide a proactive forum for
missiological research and critical
reflection from a Lutheran perspective.
The Vision of LSFM:
That the Lutheran contribution to
missiology (Ephesians 2:8-10) impact
God's worldwide mission.
Inside This Issue:
World Seminaries Conference ................2–3
The Bumper Sticker ....................................4
PhD Studies Continue to bring insight
into Foreign Mission Fields ........................5
Donors Make it Possible for
Foreign Students to Attend
Concordia Theological Seminary................5
Membership of Lutheran Churches
Rises to Nearly 74 Million............................6
Loum Wins “Cutting Edge” Award ..........6
Dr. Eugene and Bernice Bunkowske,
Pioneers in West African Bible
Translation, Honored with
LBT Lifetime Achievement Award ............7
Lutheran Hour Ministries Names
New Director of International
Ministries ......................................................8
Roger Zieger is New SELK
Mission Director ..........................................8
Concordia Seminary Graduate School
Launches International Adopt-A-Student
Program ........................................................9
International Partner Church
Adopt-A-Student Program ..........................9
Bishop Waesa Called Home ......................10
ELC Discusses Neighborhood Mission ....10
The time we live in is a time of great
transition for publishers of all
stripes, not least the "stripe" called
"The Lutheran Society for Missiology."
The organization's goal has always been to
bridge the gap between those who study
and write about mission and those actually
involved in the work (sometimes the two
are the same!). Like other publishers
LSFM is being challenged to rework its
model for this "bridgework."
A recent article in the NY Times
caught my eye: “USA Today To
Restructure.” USA Today has been known
as an innovative newspaper - according to
the article it was the first general interest
national paper of its kind, the first to use
color widely and photographs. It was also
once first in number of copies printed - but
that is no longer the case. What does it
mean for USA Today to "restructure"? Of
course you know the answer: the paper
will from now on focus on its digital
operations - emphasizing breaking news on
its web site; it will shift its resources to
make more content more available in
digital form.
LSFM and the editorial committee of
Missio Aposolica have taken note. Already
anyone can access the names of all
overseas missionaries who ever served
sharing the gospel through LCMS World
Mission by going to the LSFM wiki site
(www.lsfmissiology.org/wiki). Some of
those listed already have descriptions of
their overseas ministry - but anyone can
register on the site to add or change
content, upload pictures, share stories. Dr.
John Lautenschlager is overseeing the site
as our Wiki editor.
But more is possible. What if all
issues of the journal were easily accessible
on line right away? What if short videos,
based on articles in Missio Apostolica,
were available for download? What if the
Communicator could be available for any
one wanting to reach Lutheran Mission
Leaders with current requests or news via
Facebook and mobile phone aps?
Communication has changed greatly
over the years - from writing on stone, to
animal skins, to paper, to mechanical
printing - and now it is moving to more
visual and electronic media. Please - pray
that the LSFM can move quickly and
wisely to using these new means - and,
share with us any ideas you may have by
sending them to BScudieri@aol.com or,
sharing them on our LSFM Facebook
group page http://www.facebook.com/#!/
group.php?gid=309082233095
One final word. When you receive
this a new Executive Director for the
LSFM will have been hired. I want to
thank everyone who gave me support
during the eight months I have been
privileged to serve as the interim director.
It was a distinct joy for me to be able to
serve this wonderful, God blessed,
organization.
First Bishop of Cambodian Church
Ordained......................................................10
From the New LSFM
Executive Director......................................11
Wanted: Director of Program
Ministries ....................................................11
Articles of Mission News and Reflection Needed
The Communicator is published twice yearly. Please remember to submit articles,
mission news items, announcements, or other pieces appropriate to the purpose of
the Lutheran Society for Missiology to the editor. Photos are always welcomed.
–The editor

Lutheran Society for Missiology
World Seminaries Conference of the
International Lutheran Council Discusses
Lutheran Idenity in a Changing World
—Dr. Allan R. Buckman
Participants of the ILC Seminaries Conference at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Some 65 seminary professors and representatives from 24
countries gathered on the campus of Concordia
Theological Seminary (CTS), Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
from 3 to 6 June 2010 as part of a world seminaries
conference. A representative from the Ethiopian Evangelical
Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) attended this conference as a
guest.
The conference, sponsored by the International Lutheran
Council (ILC), was meeting for the fourth time under the
theme “Confessional Lutheran Identity in the Light of
Changing Christian Demographics.”
The keynote speaker, Dr. Philip Jenkins of Pennsylvania
State University, who has written several books on the state
and future of Christianity, including The Next Christendom:
The Coming of Global Christianity and The New Faces of
Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South, set the
2
scene by predicting trends in a global north to south shift in the
center of gravity of Christianity. Dr. Jenkins sees this trend
continuing to shape a very different picture of world
Christianity from that which we currently recognize.
The second keynote speaker was Dr. Erní Seibert, a
Lutheran pastor and theologian from Brazil, now serving as the
Director for Communications for the Brazil Bible Society. He
spoke on the topic of “Confessional Lutheran Identity in the
Light of the Changing Christian Demographics.”
Presenters from five continents addressed the topic from
the perspective of their own continental experience. The aim of
sharing this information was to help regions on each side of the
demographic shift to prepare for, and to collaborate in, the
training of pastors and church workers in light of their
developing situation.
continued on page 3

continued from previous page
“This timely meeting brought together theological
educators from all continents to start working together to
propose strategies for meeting this great challenge,” said Dr.
Douglas L. Rutt, associate professor of Pastoral Ministry and
Missions at CTS, chairman of the seminary relations
committee of the ILC, and conference organizer.
In view of the interest in the topics being discussed at the
ILC conference, two other groups asked to share in the keynote
presentations and some of the subsequent discussions. The
groups participating were the faculties of the two Lutheran
Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) seminaries and the theology
departments of the Concordia University System, as well as a
conference of church leaders from ILC and non-ILC countries
who were meeting for consultations including preparations for
celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran
Reformation.
The seminary provided an ideal venue for this
international meeting with its state-of-the-art facilities, pleasant
surroundings and multilingual team providing simultaneous
translation. In addition to participating in lively debate,
delegates also had the opportunity to worship together in the
Saarinen-designed Kramer Chapel on the seminary campus and
to attend in Sunday services in several of the LCMS churches
in Fort Wayne.
“In my opinion, it was a very successful conference and
accomplished the purpose of the ILC in sponsoring these
conferences - namely to promote confessional Lutheran
theology and practice centering in Jesus Christ, both among
member churches and throughout the world,” said Dr. Samuel
Nafzger, ILC executive director.
The conference was made possible by a grant from the
Marvin M. Schwan Charitable Foundation to the ILC.
The International Lutheran Council (www.ilc-online.org)
is a worldwide association of 34 established confessional
Lutheran Churches united around the commitment to proclaim
the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the basis of an unconditional
commitment to the Holy Scriptures as the inspired and
infallible Word of God and to the Lutheran Confessions
contained in the Book of Concord as the true and faithful
exposition of the Word of God.
World Seminaries Conference: Opening Service (top left); Dr. Dean O. Wenthe, Dr. Douglas Rutt, Dr. Nafzger, Dr. Gerald Kieschnick (top right);
Rev. Daniel Watato, Dr. Bunkowske, Mr. Apeke Taso (bottom left); Dr. Philip Jenkins (bottom right).
3

Lutheran Society for Missiology
The Bumper Sticker
—Chaplain Mark Schreiber
There is was! A true epiphany! A transcendental
transformation! A cosmic worldview on fast forward to
the highest universal aspirations for all mankind.
Peaceful co-existence at last! Why hadn’t I thought of it first?!!!
Perhaps Rodney King was right. . . now we can all get along.
And to think I saw it first as a bumper sticker. . .just before
impact. . . .mental impact, that is. Wow! I’ve been transformed!
In case you haven’t seen the bumper sticker or you’ve been
downrange too long or you’re just out of step with the universal
dance, let me explain the witticism of the bumper sticker. Each
letter symbolizes a major religion and worldview: C---the
crescent moon for Islam, O---for the Wicca pentagram, E---for
all intersexual activities, X---for the Star of David, i---for the
Karma wheel dotting the “I” for Buddhism, S---for the Tao
symbol of Taoism and T---
for Christianity.
The Germans invented
the word, they called it
“Weltanschauung,”
meaning simply,
“worldview.” There is no
denying this reality and the
power of perspective. We
all have it. We all live with it. We just may not be aware of all
the implications that go along with it. A worldview defined
would go something like this; it is a constellation of beliefs that
harmonize the world around us and make ordered sense out of
life. Worldviews are plausible structures that give us answers to
the ultimate questions of life. The worldview that we personally
hold gives us emotional security in a capricious and dangerous
world. Our worldview validates what we believe to be right and
discards what we believe to be wrong. Within our own
American culture, our particular worldview helps us to integrate
into the surrounding culture where we find themes and counterthemes
in the domain of our daily experience.
“So what?” you say, “What difference does it make if we
have a particular point of view?” It makes all the difference in
the world if the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to be effective at the
cultural level. Hiebert writes in “Transforming Worldviews,”
We become conscious of our worldviews when they are
challenged by outside events (that the worldview) cannot
explain. Immigrants, refugees, bicultural children, and others
caught between conflicting worldviews are also made conscious
of their own deep assumptions. Worldviews can also be made
visible by consciously examining what lies below the surface of
ordinary thought. As we will see, this surfacing of worldview
assumptions is an important part in discipling new converts.
This is true for converts seeking to live Christlike lives in a
modern-postmodern world as well as for converts from
Hinduism and Islam. . . Too often conversion takes place at the
surface levels of behavior and beliefs; but if worldviews are not
transformed, the gospel is interpreted in terms of pagan
worldviews, and the result is Christo-paganism.
Paul G. Hiebert. Transforming Worldviews. (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Baker Academic, 2008) 47, 69. All Christians have a
“Weltanschauung.” For most of us raised in the bosom of the
church, we are hardly aware of how deep our Christian
worldview is rooted and all of the concomitant corollaries,
ethics and truths that go along with it. Christians are hardly
united on a universal paradigm within which one discovers a
seamless, harmonious worldview. Worldviews compete for
attention, dominance and the right to exist. The myriad
“subsets” of worldviews
within the Christian house
predicts that short of the
Parousia the Christian house
is and will remain divided.
Paul asserted the same
(1 Cor. 11: 19).
We will be gathering
together in the next four
Lutheran chaplain conferences with our ELCA chaplains. I
predict that the camaraderie will be substantial, the prayers
sincere, and the fellowship warm, friendly and funny. However,
we do have serious issues that divide the Lutheran household of
faith. Issues exacerbated by the last ELCA convention.
We will discuss amongst ourselves the issue of gay clergy
serving openly in the pulpit. We will do so in an open forum at
each conference through next Spring, 2010. This will be a nonattribution
event. No note taking, no veiled letters or emails will
be sent to third parties for recrimination. Let us seek to
understand each other’s worldview and the source of such
yawning biblical differences and to do so in the spirit of
congeniality. It is still our firm hope that the truth of His Word
that unites us will also enlighten us and guide us together on the
way forward, by the grace of God.
Coexistence as advertised by the bumper sticker does not
exist in the mind of God. Light excludes darkness. Light
exposes all darkness and the true light already shines in Jesus
Christ. Nevertheless, this side of heaven, “coexistence” is the
operating reality for all. The glue that holds any given
worldview together is the apparent harmony that exists in the
heart of the observer between all the relationships within the
belief system that he or she holds. How are the dots connected?
Is the harmony real or only imagined? We must dig deeper. . . if
there is to be. . . a way forward with the ELCA.
4

PhD Studies Continue to Bring
Insight into Foreign Mission Fields
The PhD program at Concordia Theological Seminary,
Fort Wayne, Indiana, continues to bring new insight into
the field of foreign missions through the research work
of it students. One example of this work is a recent
dissertation by the Revered Robert H. Bennett, which focuses
on the growth of the Lutheran Church of Madagascar. The
dissertation is titled, From Darkness Into The Light, A
Phenomenological Study of the Events Surrounding Exorcism
and Conversion As Found in the Fifohazana Movement of the
Malagasy Lutheran Church.
The central research issues covered in this dissertation
include an exploration of the phenomenology surrounding
conversion and exorcism as found within the Malagasy
Lutheran Church. This research provides an insider
prospective in to “lived experiences” of those who have
underwent a conversion event leading them to Christianity,
specifically, Malagasy Lutheran Christianity. The data
collection occurred through phenomenological methods of
interviewing. The sampling comprised of members of the
Fifohazana movement found within the Malagasy Lutheran
Church.
The findings of this research seek to illumine the inner
workings of the traditional Malagasy psyche by expressing the
experiences of those who have undergone a conversion into the
Christian Faith. The majority of those interviewed described
either a spiritual struggle with the demonic or full body
possessions at sometime during their lives. The overwhelming
response expressed by the converts was an experience of peace
and freedom. The majority described their longing for peace
and their recognition of the ability of the mpiandry to provide
an answer to their quest. The research also demonstrates a
strong evangelical character within the Malagasy Lutheran
Church. Other considerations uncovered are the strong
catechesis model used by the church and the communal nature
of its members.
This research is helpful to Lutheran churches because it
demonstrates the effectiveness of Confessional Lutheranism
within an animistic context. This research adds to the
scholarship of by Hans Austnaberg and Cynthia Holder-Rich
by providing an even greater insight into the exorcistic
phenomenon occurring within the Malagasy Lutheran Church.
This is accomplished by describing the experiences of those
who have undergone this phenomenon. Recommendations
include further research in the area of contextualization and the
use of Luther’s Small Catechism in the catecheses of those
who have entered the Church through exorcisms.
Donors Make it Possible for Foreign Students
to Attend Concordia Theological Seminary
In March Dr. Klaus Detlev Schulz, Dean of Graduate
Studies, spent two weeks (March 1-12, 2010) at the
Tshwane seminary in Pretoria South Africa. There he
taught a two-week Theology of Missions course to students
and pastors of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa,
Kenya and Ghana. Dr. Schulz was walking familiar
territory having grown up further south at Enhlanhleni
Mission station where the seminary’s location had
originally been before it was relocated to Pretoria. In
fact one of his students who attended the course was a
former vicar of his, Lawrence Mogoshane, who is now
a pastor near Rustenburg.
Outreach to the Zulu and Batswana people is as
complicated and challenging as it is in any other
Western country. Pastors have few resources available
to launch outreach to people around them and people
are approached by all kinds of religious groups and
sects. Most pastors have no access to Graduate level
education. For this reason, it is gives us great joy over
the fact that donors in the LCMS have come forward to
make it possible that three foreign students from Africa
will now attend Concordia Theological Seminary in the
academic year 2010–2011: Moses Obare, Kenya (STM); John
Halake, Kenya (M.A.) and Solomon Ayagri, Ghana (M. Div.).
Dr. Schulz with seminary students in Pretoria, South Africa
5

Lutheran Society for Missiology
Membership of Lutheran Churches
Rises to Nearly 74 Million
According to the 2009 annual statistical survey
conducted by the Lutheran World Federation Office for
Communication Services (OCS), the total membership
of Lutheran churches worldwide rose over the past year by
1,784,556 to just under 73.8 million (73,758,126), representing
an increase of 2.5 percent. The total number of members in
churches belonging to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
last year rose by 1,589,225 to just over 70 million
(70,053,316). While membership of Lutheran churches in
Africa and Asia increased, churches in Latin America and the
Caribbean as well as North America once again experienced a
slight decline.
Extension of LWF membership to the newly formed
Evangelical Church in Central Germany, resulting from the
January 2009 merger of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Thuringia and the Evangelical Church of the Church Province
of Saxony, led to a slight increase in the membership of LWF
churches in Europe.
In 2008, all Lutheran churches worldwide counted some
72 million members, compared to 71.8 million in 2007. The
number of Lutherans belonging to non-LWF Lutheran churches
rose by 195,331 to reach 3,704,810, an increase of 5.6 percent.
This increase is principally due to the inclusion of Lutheran
churches worldwide that had not previously been taken into
account. The OCS survey identified an additional seven
Lutheran churches in Africa and one in Europe.
Membership in churches belonging to the LWF in Africa
over the past year rose by 7.1 percent to a total of 18,520,690.
The membership of non-LWF Lutheran churches on the
continent was 196,989, an increase of around 142,774 due to
the inclusion of data from the seven churches.
The total number of Lutherans in Asia rose by 200,955 in
2009 to 8,746,434, representing an increase of 2.35 percent.
Lutheran churches in Asia that do not belong to the LWF
reported 189,653 new members, corresponding to an increase
of 6,732 or 3.68 percent.
Last year the total membership of LWF member churches
in Europe increased slightly, by 250,062, or approximately 0.7
percent, to a current total of 37,164,411. Inclusion in the data
of the 40,450 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church on
the Faroe Islands, which formerly belonged to the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Denmark, doubled the membership figure
of non-LWF member churches in Europe, which now stands at
79,778.
The total membership in LWF member churches in Latin
America and the Caribbean decreased by a mere 198 to a total
of 837,692. Membership in non-LWF churches in the region
counted 285,331, a decline of 49.
In 2009, total membership in LWF member churches in
North American fell by 95,007 or 1.95 percent to 4,784,089.
Membership in non-LWF Lutheran churches rose by 5,963 or
0.2 percent to 2,953,059.
Full details of the 2009 LWF statistics can be found at:
http://www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/LWF-
Statistics-2009.pdf.
Loum Wins “Cutting Edge” Award
Rev. John Loum, director of the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology (EIIT) on the campus
of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, recently received the “Cutting Edge” award from the
Lutheran Society for Missiology (LSFM).
“As St. Paul was truly a missionary of his day,” Loum commented, “this award has given me
real zeal and momentum for mission work and the spread of the Gospel among all nations and
peoples just like St. Paul did.”
The Lutheran Society for Missiology is a society of Lutherans who are interested in the
Apostolic mission of God in today’s world. The Society began in 1991 out of a concern to promote
biblical attitudes for missions and currently boasts over 5,000 members worldwide.
The Society provides a forum for missiological research and critical reflection from a Lutheran
perspective; publishes books and articles, especially case studies, which treat issues related to the
study and practice of mission work; serves as a portal for accessing information from other Lutheran,
and also evangelical, mission societies; and promotes cutting-edge approaches to mission efforts
through publications, recognition, and awards.
Rev. John Loum poses with his
“Cutting Edge” award given by the
Lutheran Society for Missiology in
May 2010.
6

Dr. Eugene and Bernice Bunkowske, Pioneers
in West African Bible Translation, Honored
with LBT Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Eugene and Bernice Bunkowske, pioneering
missionaries in West African Bible translation and in
mission service around the world, were given the
Lutheran Bible Translators (LBT) Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award was presented to them in recognition of their
more than 50 years of Bible translation, linguistics,
communications, mission, outreach, volunteer and education
service to Christ around the world as well as in the U.S. Dr.
Bunkowske is currently Professor of Christian Outreach at
Concordia University, Saint
Paul, MN.
Throughout their lives of
Christian mission, outreach
and service, they have been,
and remain active and
involved in Bible translation
efforts, teaching, volunteering,
and missionary service with
the LCMS-World Mission,
with the United Bible
Societies and as LBT founders
and as Board Members.
“Dr. and Bernice.
Bunkowske have shared,
lived, and acted on their
passion for reaching out and
spreading God’s Word to the whole world over half a century…
so far,” Rev. Dr. Douglas Rutt, LBT Board Chairman said as he
presented the award to the Bunkowskes at LBT’s Annual
Dinner.
“God has always showed us the way and blessed our efforts
in His time. The glory is His”, Dr. Bunkowske said. “In 1960,
after graduation from Concordia Theological Seminary and
feeling called to the mission field, we started our first overseas
evangelistic and hospital mission efforts in the Ogoja province
of Nigeria”, he said. “There, Bernice and I joined with LCMS
World Mission missionaries Rev. Morrie and Lois Watkins,
helping to train local evangelists, and establish a Bible school.”
Those early efforts, developments, mission needs, ideas,
potential solutions and organizational efforts, helped lead to the
1964 formation of Messengers of Christ, Inc. Rev. Watkins
became the first executive director of the organization, which
later became Lutheran Bible Translators.
Through the 1960s, 70s and early 80s Dr. Bunkowske and
Bernice identified and worked on many early Bible translation
and language projects in Nigeria, including Yala, Boki, Yachi
and Kukelle language translations. During this time they were
instrumental in expanding LBT efforts, working with
missionaries in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Dr. Bunkowske and Bernice also served with the United
Dr. Rutt presents the Bunkowkes with their LBT Lifetime Acheivement
Award
7
—Don Ruhter
Bible Societies (UBS) in Africa. He eventually had
responsibilities for 60 African countries. Bernice served as
UBS secretary from 1974 to 1980.
Returning to the U.S. in 1982, Dr. Bunkowske served as a
professor at Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN.
There he founded and directed the PhD Program in Missiology
as well as the Lutheran Society for Missiology (LSFM). The
LSFM publishes Missio Apostolica as well its Communicator
newsletter.
Bernice finished her BA
in education from – at that
time – Concordia Teachers
College, River Forest in 1984,
and served as editor of the
Communicator. She was also
active in the Lutheran
Women’s Missionary League
(LWML) serving at Ft. Wayne
in the Indiana District as well
as on the national LWML
Christian Outreach Committee
Dr. Bunkowske also
served as an LCMS vice
president from 1989 to 1998.
He earned a PhD in
Linguistics with minors in
Cross-cultural studies, Anthropology/Sociology and
Communication from the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA).
In 2002 he became Professor of Christian Outreach at
Concordia University, St. Paul, MN, occupying the Fiechtner
Endowed Chair of Christian Outreach at the Hoffmann Institute
of Christian Outreach.
“Without God given experts like Dr. and Bernice
Bunkowkse, who combine a life time fervor for mission
outreach overseas through Bible translation with practical hands
on and technical experience, LBT’s efforts would not be nearly
as successful,” Dr. Marshall Gillam, LBT executive director
said.
At present, more than 70 LBT missionaries are serving in
15 countries on 5 continents currently working on more than 80
Bible Translation and Scripture engagement projects. Through
the efforts of these missionaries, supported by the prayers and
financial donations of tens of thousands of supporters,
Scripture has been translated into 33 different languages. This
provides the opportunity for more than 7 million people to read
the word of God and to learn about His grace and promise, in
their heart language.
The Bunkowskes have four children and eleven
grandchildren. They live in Maplewood, MN.

Dr. Douglas L. Rutt of Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been
named Director of the International Ministries division
at Lutheran Hour Ministries. He will begin his new
position on July 30, 2010 and will oversee the International
Ministries division in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as the staff
of more than 30 ministry centers worldwide.
He will be responsible for setting the division’s vision and
planning; evaluating programming and training; stimulating
healthy growth of local support in each country where LHM
has an office; maintaining productive working relationships
with local board and partner church leadership; and
maximizing the number of responses and congregation
referrals around the world by directing, coaching, and
supervising area counselors to prepare and empower the
ministry centers to proclaim the Gospel message appropriately
to their local populations.
Until accepting the position with Lutheran Hour
Ministries, Dr. Rutt served as Associate Professor of Pastoral
Ministry and Missions and Dean for Distance Learning for
Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He
was on the faculty of Concordia Theological Seminary for two
years (1995-97) before returning in June 2000.
He has previously served as a missionary to Guatemala,
Central America, where he was involved in church planting
and theological education, and as a parish Pastor at St. John
Evangelical Lutheran Church in St. James, Minnesota and St.
Lutheran Society for Missiology
Lutheran Hour Ministries Names New
Director of International Ministries
8
John Evangelical Lutheran Church
in Truman, Minnesota. He was also
the Area Secretary for Latin
America/Caribbean with LCMS
World Mission.
He has written several articles
on mission history and practice and
is currently the editor of the
Communicator, the regular
newsletter of the Lutheran Society
for Missiology. He is called upon
regularly to consult and speak on Dr. Douglas L. Rutt
mission issues throughout the United
States and Latin America. Currently he is the Chairman of the
Board for Lutheran Bible Translators and Chairman of the
Seminary Relations Committee of the International Lutheran
Council.
He is a graduate of Bethany Lutheran College (A.A),
Minnesota State University (B.S.), and Concordia Theological
Seminary (M.Div. and Ph.D.). Dr. Rutt’s wife, Deborah, is Vice
President for Advancement of LCMS National Housing
Support Corporation, and is the founding president of A&D
Global Business Relations. He and Mrs. Rutt have five
children and six grandsons.
Lutheran Hour Ministries is a Christian outreach ministry
supporting churches worldwide in its mission of Bringing
Christ to the Nations—and the Nations to the Church. LHM
produces Christian radio and TV programming for broadcast,
as well as Internet and print communications, dramas, music,
and outreach materials, to reach the unchurched in more than
30 countries. LHM’s flagship program, The Lutheran Hour, is
the world’s longest-running Christian outreach radio program.
It airs weekly on more than 1,350 stations. For more
information about Lutheran Hour Ministries, visit
www.lhm.org.
Roger Zieger is New SELK Mission Director
Roger Zieger is the new director of the Lutheran
Church Mission (LCM), the mission arm of the
Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) in
Germany. The 50-years old theologian was elected in
Bergen-Bleckmar, the seat of the LCM, by its Mission Board
on 10 March 2010. After accepting the election result,
Zieger immediately became the leader of the LCM. His
installation will follow at a later date.
The election of a new director had become necessary as
the term of office of the previous director, Rev. Markus
Nietzke, had come to an end and he did not make himself
available for another term. He has already accepted a call as
parish pastor.
Until his election, the new Mission Director was pastor
of a SELK congregation in Berlin-Spandau and also the
Superintendent of the SELK Berlin-Brandenburg district.
Zieger is married and has two children.

Concordia Seminary Graduate School Launches
International Adopt-A-Student Program
—Krista Whittenburg
As part of its global mission effort,
the Graduate School of Concordia
Seminary works with partner
churches throughout the world in an effort
to train those who will serve as pastors,
missionaries, teachers, and leaders.
Concordia Seminary has established an
International Adopt-A-Student program to
secure the funds to pay for the annual living
expenses of these partner-church graduate
students. The seminary itself has committed
to covering 100% of their tuition costs.
At this summer’s ILC World
Seminaries Conference, Dean Bruce
Schuchard and Director Reed Lessing of the
Graduate School at Concordia Seminary
met with leaders from countries around the
world who were anxious to send their best
candidates to St. Louis to earn graduate
degrees. These candidates have begun to
submit applications in hope of being placed
on a list waiting for an “adoption” so they
can begin their graduate studies. In an effort
to support the studies of these students,
PhD students Tom Omolo and Sam
Thompson are the first to study at
Concordia Seminary as a result of the
International Adopt-A-Student program.
They have invested much, including
leaving their families behind in Kenya and
India for the sake of their studies. Tom
and Sam plan to teach at seminaries in
their home countries when they complete
their degrees. The Graduate School hopes
that Tom and Sam will be the first in a
long line of international students from
every region of the world to study at
Concordia Seminary .
It was a difficult blow to the
evangelical mission of our Synod when at
the end of 2008, the Committee
Responsible for International Scholarship
Programs (CRISP) announced that its
scholarship fund had been exhausted due
to a downturn in the economy. Since its
formation in 1985, CRISP provided $4.5
million to train 153 leaders from 31
countries. The recipients of these
scholarships have had a significant impact
on their home churches, returning to serve
as bishops, seminary professors and
presidents, and even a synodical president.
Concordia Seminary hopes that its
International Adopt-A-Student program
will continue this task of preparing leaders
for its partner churches.
International Partner Church Adopt-A-Student Program
Your Mission Opportunity to Contribute to the Next Generation of
Worldwide Leaders and Teachers through the Graduate School of
Concordia Seminary
Increasingly, foreign countries do not welcome missionaries and many even
bar them. Our LCMS partner churches around the world hope to grow both
spiritually and numerically so that ultimately they can reach more of the lost
with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some even aspire to carry the Gospel beyond
their own borders into neighboring countries.
Unfortunately these brothers and sisters in Christ suffer from a lack of
theologically prepared leaders. LCMS partner churches are pleading with
Concordia Seminary’s Graduate School for the opportunity to select candidates
to come to Saint Louis so they can be formed as pastors, leaders, and teachers.
You can experience the joy of being a partner in equipping them with the highest level of theological formation and
scholarship. Upon graduation they will return to their countries to guide, lead, serve, teach, and prepare others to share the
message of salvation in Jesus with all the world.
Fore questions or more information: 1-800-822-5287 or adoptastudent@csl.edu
9

Lutheran Society for Missiology
Bishop Waesa Called Home
Dr. Waima Waesa,
former president and
bishop of the Gutnius
Lutheran Church –Papua New
Guinea, died on 2 July 2010.
He was born around 1935,
probably at Aipinimanda in
the Ambum Valley of Enga
Province, Papua New Guinea.
When the Lutheran
mission began work at Irelya
in 1949, Waesa’s community
leader brought him to Irelya
and enrolled him in the newly opened school. In the following
years Waesa worked with missionary families at Irelya as a
domestic helper and became a language tutor, translator, and
assistant in the outreach and catechetical instruction programs.
Waesa received Holy Baptism at Irelya together with his
family in January, 1957. During the 1960s he attended the
Birip Lutheran School for Church Workers (now Timothy
Lutheran Seminary).
In 1961 Waesa was elected as first president of the newlyformed
Wabag Lutheran Church (WLC). He worked with the
missionaries to give strong leadership to the outward expansion
and inner growth and unity of the WLC throughout the
following years.
In 1978 the Wabag Lutheran Church gave its president the
title of bishop, and changed its own name to Gutnius Lutheran
Church – Papua New Guinea.
Waesa served as bishop until 1982 and retired from active
ministry in 1994.
He will be remembered for his energy, his knowledge and
wisdom, his courage and dignity, and his love of God’s Word,
God’s people, and the Gutnius Lutheran Church.
ELC Discusses
Neighborhood Mission
The outreach initiative of a congregation
and especially the contacts of its
members within their neighborhood
was the focal point of the consultations of the
European Lutheran Conference (ELC), which
followed the conference of the European ILC
Churches and also took place in Porto,
Portugal from 3 to 6 June this year.
Under the leadership of Rev. Jean
Thiébaut Haessig, president of the ELC,
pastors and laymembers of confessional
Lutheran churches from Belgium, Denmark,
Germany, England, France, Portugal and
Spain talked about the unique possibilities
and challenges of mission work within the
neighborhood of a congregation, and of
outreach through witnessing to children and
young people. Possibilities of using art and
architecture to establish starting points were
also discussed.
The conference closed with the
ratification of “Recommendations on
Missionary Existence” for the congregations
of the ELC churches, and by worshiping with
the local Emmanuel congregation in Porto.
First Bishop of Cambodian
Church Ordained
—LCC news
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Cambodia (ELCC) ordained its first
bishop during a service in the town of
Sihanoukville on 14 May this year.
Dr. Leonard Harms, Lutheran Church-
Canada (LCC) volunteer missionary
representing Rev. Robert Bugbee, president
of LCC, ordained Rev. Vanarith Chhin
during a service in this small coastal town,
located halfway between Thailand and
Vietnam.
Following his ordination, Chhin
celebrated Holy Communion with pastors
and students who are members of the Luther
Seminary-Cambodia (LSC).
During a second service, the Luther Institute Southeast Asia (LISA) and
the ELCC granted diplomas to seminary students.
The new bishop of ELCC then conducted the service of Commissioning
of the Pastoral Candidates and Deaconess Candidate into the Service of the
Gospel in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cambodia. More than 25
pastoral and deaconess candidates were commissioned into the church.
Friends and members of other churches attended the services which
marked the first graduation and commission for the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Cambodia.
10

From the New LSFM
Executive Director
—Dr. Paul Mueller
Executive Director
Greetings to you from the desk (actually, sitting on the
floor of a hotel near a free wi-fi café in Chicago) of
your new Lutheran Society for Missiology Executive
Director. Just writing that line seems very strange to me. The
request to consider the nomination came out of the blue –
didn’t realize there was an on-going search. The note that
indicated I was one of several candidates left in the process
was a surprise. And finally, I received an email which had a
subject line: “Welcome on Board!” God works in mysterious
ways – always surprising us with His amazing grace and with
His decisions. So – here we go!
Let me quickly introduce myself to those of you who may
not know me (I expect there are many)! I come to the LSFM
via the Liberian mission field. In 1991, after we returned from
the field, I began my PhD in Missiology at Concordia
Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN. During a mission
conference, a meeting was held at which the LSFM began. I
was present – and because I had a computer and was taking
some notes, they elected me secretary of the infant
organization. I held that position while serving as Professor of
Mission and Director of the Oswald Hoffmann Institute of
Christian Outreach at Concordia University, St. Paul, MN.,
until 2005 when I returned to Africa as Regional Director –
Africa, LCMS World Mission. Both my wife and I returned in
2009 and reconnected with the LSFM as a member – just like
many of you. Presently, I serve as Associate Executive Director
of LINC-Twin Cities (that is, Minneapolis-St. Paul).
So, we begin this new journey together. I am excited about
the leadership team in place – some excellent missiological
thinkers. I am excited about the membership – there are some
great folks with wonderful ministries, practices, and a
willingness to share those insights with others through our
journal and Communicator. I am also excited what the LSFM
continues to offer to Lutheran missiological thinking and
practice. We have a theological understanding of Scripture
which injects into the missiological conversation our
understanding of justification by grace through faith. It
permeates our missiological thinking and practice. It is the
centerpiece of our relationship with Christ and our
proclamation to the world. –Dr. Paul Mueller
Thanks for welcoming me on board (again). I am looking
forward to connecting with many of you as together we join
Christ in His mission – to seek and save those who are lost.
Wanted: Director of Program Ministries
Lutheran Bible Translators (www.LBT.org) seeks an experienced Director of Program Ministries to provide leadership
to Program Ministries, its staff and missionaries and to liaison with
partner organizations.
The successful candidate will have a strong background in
administration and strategic planning, as well as being a team leader
handling sensitive issues. Essential duties and responsibilities include
being a relationship builder, especially with staff, missionaries, co-workers
and partners both international and domestic. This relationship building is
to ensure understanding of issues impacting the mission of the
organization. Candidates must be good in networking with other agencies
involved in Bible translation activities and have 7+ years experience,
especially as a Bible translation missionary in a cross cultural setting.
Candidate must hold a graduate degree (theological or academic) in a field
related to the position. Salary is negotiable.
Please submit cover letter with salary history and resume soon, but no
later than Sept. 15, to DMehl@LBT.org or mail to: Dean Mehl, Human
Resources Manager, Lutheran Bible Translators, 303 N. Lake St., Aurora,
IL 60507.
11

The Lutheran Society for Missiology (LSFM) is a society of Lutheran who are interested in the
Apostolic mission of God in today's world. The Society was born on October 25, 1991, out of concern
to promote Biblical attitudes for Missions. Among other things, the Society publishes a modest but
very significant journal, MISSIO APOSTOLICA. To join or receive further information, please
contact:
The Lutheran Society for Missiology
Concordia Seminary
880 Seminary Place
St. Louis, MO 63105
The Communicator is published twice yearly. Your mission news and announcements are welcome.
Please send them one month in advance to:
Dr. Douglas L. Rutt, Editor
Lutheran Hour Ministries
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, MO 63141-8557
Douglas.Rutt@LHM.org
Website:
www.LSFMissiology.org
The Lutheran Society for Missiology
Concordia Seminary
880 Seminary Place
St. Louis, MO 63105