Unleashing New Leaders in International Mission
I recently returned from a trip to our Taiwan field. As I visited with our missionaries, with pastors and leaders of the Chinese Lutheran Brethren Church (CLBC) of Taiwan, and with lay people within the congregations, a beautiful and encouraging reality became clear: God is raising up and unleashing new leaders from the Taiwanese Lutheran Brethren Church. Some churches are sending mission teams to places like Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan, while others are supporting ministries to immigrants who come into Taiwan from these same places. There is clearly a growing momentum and passion for cross-cultural missions.
There is a growing desire and conviction from the younger generation to serve in mission―to proclaim and share the love of Jesus among all peoples. During my time in Taiwan, I had multiple meetings with individuals and couples. They all wanted to discuss their desire to be used by God to share the gospel through missions. Several couples were interested in being sent by the CLBC, partnering with our missionaries, whether in Chad, Japan, or alongside our Taiwan field missionaries. CLBC leadership is exploring the possibility of starting their own missionary sending organization, and is inviting Lutheran Brethren International Mission (LBIM) into that process.
In my role as director of LBIM, I enjoy encouraging and developing inter-dependent mission partnerships with our sister Churches around the world. Collaboration serves the mission better than if we were to each work independently. It has been exciting to observe God work through these efforts.
I also had the joy of visiting with Daniel and Nancy Wen, and David and Janice Kuan―two couples who have been sent by the CLBC as partner missionaries with LBIM in Chad. The Wens are currently on home assignment in Taiwan, actively mobilizing the CLBC churches in support of international mission work. They plan to return to Chad in March. The Kuans are in Taiwan for an indeterminate time as Janice receives cancer treatment. They are currently concentrating on Janice’s health, so their ongoing mission vocation details are vague, but their heart to serve is unwavering. They are resting in God’s sovereignty as to next steps. God is indeed unleashing new leaders in Taiwan!
In Japan, a young man named Kei was baptized last April at Minami Yoshinari LB church in Sendai. Prior to coming to faith through the ministry of the church, he was isolated, depressed, lonely, and suicidal. He felt unloved by God and fellow man. The gospel transformed him. His friendship and acceptance by Pastor Zeniya, LBIM missionaries Paul and Alexa Fraser, and other believers has brought to life a new person in Kei. He bubbles over in joy and is bold in his witness of the gospel. He is eager to serve in ministry, and will be joining Paul and Alexa as part of a team from Minami Yoshinari Church that will plant a second campus in a different part of the city of Sendai. God is indeed unleashing new leaders in Japan!
In Chad, we have recently brought on to our missionary team a young couple named Anatole and Celine. Anatole has served as a high school teacher, most recently at College Marcos, our mission school in Bokoro. We saw a passion in him for missions, so we sent him and Celine to study for a year under the Szobodys at our missionary training school in Adere. They will join our team working among the Bilala, moving to a town northeast of Bokoro called Abourdah. There, they will learn the Naba language, and develop relationships with the community. Anatole will use his teaching skills to help young Bilala people learn French, the official language of the country, which will help them succeed educationally and economically. Their desire and hope is that God would provide opportunities for them to share the gospel with young Bilala Muslims. God is indeed unleashing new leaders in Chad!
I am full of anticipation to see how God will use the global Lutheran Brethren Church to raise up laborers for his harvest fields around the world. As I reflect on this, my mind is drawn to the hope of Isaiah 61:11, “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”
May it be so!
Dan Venberg is the Director of Lutheran Brethren International Mission.