The Mission Phoenix

       Rev. Alfred and Nancy Ebel served as missionaries in New Guinea from 1968 – 1978. Rev. Ebel taught at Papyulu Lutheran School, Highlands Lutheran School and Balob Teachers College in New Guinea. Here are some of their observations and recollections of their mission service.

       What does one do with one hundred 100-watt bulbs that only go “pop” when put in a socket? Fortunately,...

       I was serving on some church committee or other, and we were debating whether or not to proceed with a particular course of action. One of the members of the committee, a Lutheran lawyer, opined: “For me, that doesn’t pass the squirm test.”  What - I asked - is the squirm test? He said something like this: “If all of the details of this decision became public knowledge, would you be OK with your part in it? Or would it make you...

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. – I Peter 5:7

       God is interested in your well-being. Did you ever think of that? He is. He wants you to be healthy, free from worry, confident about the future, and in good spirits. He wants your marriage to be wonderful, your children to be a blessing to you, and your single-ness to be satisfying. If you are not well – spiritually, emotionally, phy...

       "What do you think of LCMS World Mission?"

       Don't you find that to be a hard question to answer? I know I do. I think that most LCMS missionaries have a love/hate relationship with our denominational mission organization. It goes with the territory.

       The way a missionary feels about their sending agency has a lot to do with the reason why a missionary goes overseas...

The following is a portion of a post by David Ernst in the "General Discussion", "Should we still be sending missionaries overseas?" David Ernst arrived in Venezuela as a volunteer missionary. He is now an ordained pastor of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela and lives and works in Venezuela. See his blog at: http://venezuelaview.blogspot.com

       "One of the reasons I volunt...

Everyone loves a good missionary story. Heck, I love a good missionary story, and I've lived dozens of them! The story we love to hear is the one where the precious Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ is shared with someone who - in all likelihood - would never have heard that old, old story if the missionary had never come. If we, as the Church, had not sent that person. If we had not supported him or her. We love the missionary story, because we - all of us
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As I mentioned in the "Who I Am" page, I served as an evangelistic missionary to Venezuela from 1988 - 2001.  It was my intention to continue serving as a missionary until God called me home.  In 2000, I accepted the call to serve as LCMS WM Area Director for Venezuela and the Caribbean.  At that time, Dr. Glenn OShoney was the executive director of LCMS WM, and he spearheaded a reorganizion of LCMS World Mission.  The idea was to decentralize missions - to move ...