Mission Churches, Part III

Deaconess Diary

888-THE LCMS www.lcms.org infocenter@lcms.org

October-November

2015 (special note on page 2)

News from Gail Ludvigson, serving the Lord in the Dominican Republic │ gail.ludvigson@lcmsintl.org

Church entrance

Altar and font

Church entrance

Licey Finding a New Rhythm

Strangely, one of the biggest challenges as a new missionary on

the field hasn’t been learning Spanish or adjusting to Dominican

culture. Rather, it’s been finding a new rhythm for my Christian

life. Just as my daily routine has changed from my life in the U.S.,

so the routine of my worship and devotions has changed.

After over 7 months, praise God, I can

participate more fully in Sunday

worship (even saying the Lord’s

Prayer in Spanish by heart). However,

setting a daily routine has been hard.

My schedule is still very irregular. The

new chairs on the front porch invite

me to sit in the morning, drink coffee

and read the Psalms. This has been

such a joy that I hope to make it a

habit. Memory work is hard for me,

but I’ve also set myself to learning

Luther’s prayers in Spanish. Here’s

the evening prayer—you may

recognize some of the words: Te doy

gracias, Padre celestial, por medio de

Yban, a church leader, is studying

to be a pastor. Meanwhile, Pastors

Maita and Krey conduct worship,

assisted by Vicars Massey and

Fritz. Licey has a thriving

preschool, and U.S. short-term

teams are helping to construct a

new church building on nearby

land.

Congregation at worship

Front porch devotions

Three solas on altar parament

Jesucristo, tu amado Hijo, porque me has protegido durante esta noche

de todo mal y peligro, y te ruego que también durante este día me

guardes de pecados y de todo mal, para que te agrade todo mi obrar y

vivir; pues en tus manos me encomiendo a mí mismo, mi cuerpo y mi

alma y todo lo que tengo. Tu santo ángel me acompañe para que el

maligno no tenga ningún poder sobre mí. Amén.

Memorial Day for Christians

November 1 was All Saints Day, when we

remember those

who’ve gone before

us and look forward

to seeing them again

at the resurrection.

The time is near—

come, Lord Jesus!

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Grace Lutheran Church, Muncie, Indiana,

has given a special gift to the DR Lutheran

mission—six brass candlesticks. We’re

hoping to find places for them in three of

our congregations. Getting them here was

a bit complicated but worth it. They will

greatly enhance worship, calling to mind

the candlesticks in Solomon’s Temple

(1 Kings 7) and the heavenly throne room

in Revelation 1.

Special Gift

Left to right: Pr. Mackey, Dcs. Mitchell, me, and 2 members

of Mission Committee

In the Dominican Mountains Visit to Jarabacoa

Rio Yaque del Norte

Road through the woods

Pena home on Avenida La Poza

When formal Spanish classes ended

in July, I wanted another way to

practice speaking. My teacher’s

friends live in this mountain town,

and she helped arrange a “personal

immersion experience” in their

home. I stayed with the Pena family

for 2 weeks in August, eating meals

with them and talking about all

kinds of subjects in Spanish. It was

much greener and cooler than

Santiago. I can’t wait to go back.

Missed Date: Trying to move the newsletter to a new format led

to a glitch. August-September was omitted to get back on track.

This issue has 3 pages to make up for it. Sorry for the mix-up!

Everything should be fixed in December.

My Duties Have Grown

„Mis funciones han crecido.‟ You’ve

often asked what I’m working on. All

the deaconesses meet every 2 weeks

in Pr. Krey’s office in Santiago, and I

take minutes in English. We’re

working on the very first Latin

America-Caribbean deaconess

conference scheduled for May 5-8,

2016. Women from 5 countries will

be invited to attend. At the

conference we’ll offer the very first

course in a new LAC deaconess training program. After much reflection, I’ve decided to write

Spanish materials for “An Introduction to Paul’s Letters,” to be

taught by a Spanish-speaking instructor. The class will be the

foundation for longer courses on the books of Moses and Romans.

Women of the early church

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Give thanks to God for…

Ask God to…

Learn about mission work

together with your children or

grandchildren. Pay a visit to

missionfriends.lcms.org and

check out Mission Friends.

There are games, fun recipes,

coloring sheets, and more...and

it's free!

Rom.15:4 says: “…whatever was written in former days was

written for our instruction, that through endurance and…encour-

agement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” So I searched the

Bible for help. In Galatians Paul tells how he became a missionary.

After his conversion, he spent 3 years in Arabia before going to

Jerusalem for the first time and then on to Antioch where the

church called him to serve as a missionary. Paul’s example shows

that what seems to be a long time of waiting is God’s plan. A pastor

counseled me to see this time of “limbo” with fresh eyes, watching

for times when the Lord uses me for His kingdom in some

unexpected way. This can reassure me that I’m serving in my

missionary vocation even when my feelings tell me otherwise.

Here are addresses to send gifts in support of my work—you may send

to either:

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

P.O. Box 66861

St. Louis, MO 63166-6861

OR Mission Central

40718 Highway E 16

Mapleton, IA 51034

Make checks payable to “The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod” or

“LCMS” and write “Ludvigson-Dominican Republic” in the memo line.

You can also give a gift securely online at www.lcms.org/ludvigson.

A Missionary Lament

This morning I awoke with an

inexpressible sadness. Whenever I

write this newsletter, I strive to find

positive things to share, but this

time I could think only of the

psalms of lamentation—where the

psalmist complains to God. It’s hard

to point to just one thing that’s

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to

everyone, and especially to those who are of the

household of faith.” (Gal 6:10 ESV)

bothering me—the devil’s machinations, culture shock,

homesickness, extremely hot weather, physical ailments that I’ve

never faced before, slow progress in understanding the language,

loneliness, disappointment, discouragement, envy, delays getting

residency papers—the list goes on.

Slough of Despair

(from Pilgrim's Progress)

Thanksgiving Day is November 26.

So let’s focus our prayers on giving

thanks to God for…

(1) all faithful, confessional

Lutheran pastors serving

churches in the U.S. and

abroad.

(2) the peaceful death of Nancy,

my “mom” for 20 years, who

fell asleep in Christ on

October 19.

(3) sixty-five years of blessing (I

was born on October 16 and

baptized on November 5).

(4) continuing recovery for Pr.

Richard Schuller of the Puerto

Rico mission.

(5) 10 years of loving service in

the DR mission by Dcs.

Danelle Putnam.

(6) the November visit of the

Bethesda Lutheran Ministries

team and their work for us in

the Santiago area and Santo

Domingo.

(7) my successful visit to

Michigan, Indiana and Ontario,

Canada in July and August.

(8) the anticipated arrival of the

Preus family in the DR in

December.

(9) the abundant spiritual gifts of

the LAC team (I Cor. 12),

especially Blake Warren’s gift

of administration.

(10) the launch of the VDMA

Spanish Lutheran digital

pastoral library in Paraguay.

Help Us!

We’re always on the lookout for no-cost theological materials in

Spanish. I’ve had requests for the writings of the church fathers,

Luther on I Corinthians, and the Small Catechism in Spanish in

Braille. If you know of such materials, please get in touch with me.

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