Volunteering with … Farming? Accounting? English? Yes!

Every year, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod sends short-term volunteers to international locations, and the volunteers serve alongside LCMS missionaries and local mission hosts.

Many hosts request practical help that people don’t always think of as “mission work.” Here are three recent stories of how “ordinary” skills of volunteers have been put to use to further God’s kingdom around the world.

Farming

LCMS volunteers Lisa and Dale Wehmeyer and interpreter Pastor Okeri, right, show the corn growth stage to apply fertilizer. (Photo submitted by Jacque Breman)

Dale Wehmeyer served in Kenya on an agricultural mission team in January and February. He and his wife, Lisa, operate a seed business and farm in Illinois.

He writes: “The need and desire of the local people to improve the productivity of their land and storage abilities was evident as we taught and visited with local congregations. It was a great opportunity to also share God’s Word in a community of Christians. All were engaged in the message, and both the presenters and the audience grew in their knowledge of culture and practices.”

Accounting

Will Folger served in the LCMS Asia Region business office in October and helped with accounting work.

He says: “The most rewarding aspect of my experience in Taiwan was the opportunity to clearly see how our work would improve mission work in Asia, through a more accurate and understandable system to view and track donations and expenses. While my work was on the administrative side of the mission field, I was able to quickly see the value in an improved ability to budget and track resources that provide a platform for missionaries to spread the gospel.”

English

Volunteer team members from Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Mequon, Wis., teach English classes in San Borja, Peru. (Photo submitted by Barbara Brink)

A team from Beautiful Savior in Mequon, Wis., spent a week teaching English classes in Peru in early January 2019. Pastor Brink, serving in Peru, reports that the evening English as Second Language (ESL) classes have already borne fruit.

“This ministry resulted in new contacts for evangelistic follow-up,” he said. “Already, six of the students have studied the Bible with us since the team left Lima.”

These are just three examples of the types of skills that have been used to further God’s kingdom around the world. We would love to talk with you about how your gifts might assist the church internationally.

Visit servenow.lcms.org for more information, or send us an email to see how your skills might be suited to volunteering internationally.