Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 57

2026 Convention Workbook
22 
OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
C. Eurasia Region
The Eurasia region of the Office of International Mission re-
mains, geographically, the largest of the four global regions, encom-
passing all of Europe, the Middle East, the countries of the former 
Soviet Union, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Israel. In 2025, the region 
was served by 28 missionary families (up from 25 in 2024), two 
alliance missionaries, and a growing network of indigenous pastors 
and deaconesses working with 14 sister church bodies in altar and 
pulpit fellowship and numerous emerging confessional Lutheran 
groups. Key long-standing sister churches include the Independent 
Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Germany, the Evangelical Luther-
an Church of England (ELCE), the Evangelical Lutheran Church 
of Latvia (LELB), the EvangelicA.2 al Lutheran Mission Diocese 
of Finland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church–Synod of France, and 
several others. The LCMS enjoys a mutually productive partner -
ship with sister churches in theological education, church planting, 
and mercy.
The strategic plan continues to be shaped by the three pillars 
that have guided the work for more than a decade: spread the Gos-
pel, plant Lutheran churches, and show mercy. Church planting re-
mains the keystone, for the planted congregation is the place where 
the Word is preached in its purity and the Sacraments are faithfully 
administered and from which mercy flows to the neighbor. This ap-
proach ensures that efforts are rooted in the Lutheran Confessions, 
as churches address challenges like sanctions, refugee crises, and 
restricted access while advancing proclamation.
C.1. Spread the Gospel
The Lord is fulfilling this promise in dramatic ways across 
Eurasia. Over 2,000 Persian (Iranian and Afghan) converts have 
been baptized in Germany in recent years, with Trinity Lutheran 
Church in Berlin-Steglitz now numbering approximately 1,600 
members, 80 percent of whom worship in Farsi. Complete Farsi lit-
urgy, catechisms, and hymnody are available online (nurezendegi.
org) and are used even inside Iran. Ukrainian refugees (over 1 mil-
lion in Germany alone since 2022) receive Word and Sacrament 
care in Wittenberg and other cities, with services and catechesis 
in Ukrainian and Russian. English-language “expat project” con-
gregations, or “home missions abroad,” serve military communi -
ties and internationals while reaching locals, particularly near U.S. 
bases in Frankfurt, Kaiserslautern, Spangdahlem, and new plants. 
In restricted access Central Asia and the Middle East, dedicated 
missionaries proclaim Christ at some personal risk, using relational 
approaches like English classes and other aids to communicate the 
Gospel.
C.1.a. Theological Education
Translation of confessional Lutheran resources into Farsi, He-
brew, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Greek, Czech, and other lan-
guages continues at an accelerated pace, placing the unique mes-
sage of Christ crucified and raised for our justification into the 
hands and hearts of people who have never before had access to 
it. Missionaries of the Eurasia region are collaborating in the de-
velopment of a software index system for translations of the Book 
of Concord and other Lutheran resources across 21 languages. The 
Riga Luther Academy (in partnership with the LELB) serves as the 
primary engine for pastoral education. Its hybrid English-language 
Bachelor of Theology (BTh) program—combining online course-
work, biannual residential intensives in Riga and Wittenberg, and 
on-field mentoring by LCMS missionaries—now serves 44 pasto-
ral candidates from more than a dozen countries. This program is 
In this past triennium, we graduated 50 deaconess students from 
our second cohort, bringing our total to 146 graduates from the 
three-year program. Sixty-nine diaconal students from 11 countries 
have completed their first year of studies.
This year, we launched our Phoebe Academy in three countries, 
which focuses on encouraging deaconesses in the Word, fellow-
ship, and diaconal work. The goal is yearly to offer courses, Bible 
studies, workshops, and special studies as requested in different 
church bodies and mission fields.
A Lutheran teacher program is being built and, Lord willing, 
will be launched in this next triennium to bolster Lutheran identity 
in our schools across the region.
LCMS Mission and the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, in 
coordination with Rev. Kevin Robson and Rev. Bart Day, have part-
nered with Concordia Seminary, Argentina, to remodel a portion of 
their seminary to expand their capacity to receive students and to 
rent a portion of their property, enabling the seminary to support 
an additional professor. Currently, the LCMS Mission endorses the 
salary of one professor at Concordia Seminary, Argentina. These 
remodels will contribute toward the seminary’s goal to pursue ac-
creditation for its pastoral students for the first time.
B.3. Show Mercy
Our Mercy Center in the Dominican Republic (an institute of 
CMSCR) offers 10 workshops for the laity. New workshops are on 
Stewardship, Marriage, and the Himnario Luterano. These work-
shops are taught across the region and in 15 countries, as requested 
by pastors or partner churches, with an average of 15 workshops 
offered each year. These are meant to help laypeople be a force for 
mercy in their homes, workplaces, and communities.
Our deaconess graduates work with Lutheran Hour Ministries, 
Sunday School, Lutheran schools, after-school programs, Vacation 
Bible School, and youth programs. They also work at hospitals, 
conduct home visits with elderly people, visit group homes for peo-
ple with disabilities, and help out at soup kitchens and any other 
places where the marginalized are found.
Mercy houses in Belize, the Dominican Republic, Hondu-
ras, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela include Lutheran 
schools, group homes, after-school programs, food kitchens, and 
disaster-relief centers. In each of these areas, the Gospel is offered 
alongside bodily care.
Haiti continues to be a challenging situation with a weak gov-
ernment in place. Our Haitian Lutheran Church continues to serve 
its people in dire circumstances, and LCMS Mission strives finan-
cially to support the six districts there twice a year.
The Venezuelan exile now exceeds 8 million people and is the 
single largest exodus of people from one country in the Western 
hemisphere since World War II. LCMS Mission continues to sup-
port the faithful work of its partner church in Venezuela by forming 
pastors, preparing deaconesses, and working with the board of di-
rectors of the Iglesia Luterana Venezuela (ILV) in its ministry and 
mission needs through the FORO in Venezuela. We strive to con-
nect Lutheran immigrants with our LCMS missions around LAC 
and assist these refugees as they settle in their new countries. We 
continue to work with our partner church in Chile to send tens of 
thousands of dollars in medicine to Venezuela through Lutheran 
communities and their neighbors throughout the year.