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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 11, 1999

LUTHERAN CHURCH SENDS MISSIONARIES INTO THE WORLD
99-205-LS

     CHICAGO (ELCA)   After finishing a three-week orientation session
Aug. 2, 33 missionaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) will depart for 17 countries on four continents, said the Rev. Y.
Franklin Ishida, director for international communications, ELCA
Division for Global Mission.  An additional 15 missionaries will be
deployed in August and September, he said.
     Missionaries spent the first two weeks at the Lutheran School of
Theology at Chicago as part of an ecumenical missionary orientation.
More than 120 new missionaries from the ELCA, the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), The Episcopal Church and other denominations attended the
joint orientation that celebrated its 10th anniversary this year.
     The final week of training was done in conjunction with the annual
ELCA missionary conference held this summer in Lincoln, Neb. Past,
present and future missionaries taught and learned from each other,
Ishida said.
     "Meeting other missionaries makes me feel humble compared to what
they went through," said Janna Haug, Minneapolis, who left for
Lithuania.
     Missionaries will serve in Argentina, Cameroon, the Central
African Republic, Chile, Germany, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Liberia,
Lithuania, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Slovakia, Tanzania and
Thailand. Teachers will also be sent to China.
     Ishida said missionaries will teach English, teach at seminaries,
practice medicine, minister in parishes and work in community
development.
     Chris and Helen Repp, Chicago, will teach at two seminaries in St.
Petersburg, Russia. They share a passion for Russia and a sense of call,
Helen Repp said.
     "The Church is calling us and if we believe the Church is the Body
of Christ, then God is calling us," Chris Repp said.
     Amanda Grell, Runnells, Iowa, will go to Slovakia for a second
time. Grell was a Global Mission Volunteer in Slovakia in 1996-97.
     "I felt so good about it (serving in Slovakia), I'm going back,"
Grell said.
     Missionaries are called to long- or short-term service, Ishida
said. Long-term missionaries may stay seven to eight years, while 
short-term programs are two years, he said. Global Mission Volunteers may
serve two months to two years and are financially self-supported, Ishida
said.
     "The growth of the volunteer program is significant. They're not
just volunteers, they are a significant part of the church," Ishida
said.
     This year there are more than 80 volunteers, compared to "a mere
handful" 10 years ago, he said.
     Ishida said the ELCA Division for Global Mission works carefully
to match missionaries to countries.
     "We put a lot of effort into making opportunities available to
people. We match the needs of the country to the resources and gifts
that people have," he said.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html