Official Workbook PDF page source text

2026 Convention Workbook 22

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

C. Eurasia Region The Eurasia region of the Office of International Mission remains, geographically, the largest of the four global regions, encompassing 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 Lutheran 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 Gospel, plant Lutheran churches, and show mercy. Church planting remains 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 approach 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 liturgy, catechisms, and hymnody are available online (nurezendegi.

org) and are used even inside Iran. Ukrainian refugees (over 1 million 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” congregations, 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, Hebrew, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Greek, Czech, and other languages continues at an accelerated pace, placing the unique message 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 development 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 coursework, biannual residential intensives in Riga and Wittenberg, and on-field mentoring by LCMS missionaries—now serves 44 pastoral 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, fellowship, 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 partnered 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 accreditation 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 workshops 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 people with disabilities, and help out at soup kitchens and any other places where the marginalized are found.

Mercy houses in Belize, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, 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 government in place. Our Haitian Lutheran Church continues to serve its people in dire circumstances, and LCMS Mission strives financially 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 support the faithful work of its partner church in Venezuela by forming pastors, preparing deaconesses, and working with the board of directors of the Iglesia Luterana Venezuela (ILV) in its ministry and mission needs through the FORO in Venezuela. We strive to connect 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.