missionaryMAC

​I recently had the chance to accompany a new-ish ministry activity: Thursday evening devotions for a middle school girls' volleyball team. Fourth-year seminarian Oscar (Mexico) is spearheading the project. It's the latest component of a much wider effort to bring the Gospel to young athletes through the "Chamos" NGO founded by Victor, a member at Iglesia Luterana Pueblo Nuevo. By day, Victor sells heavy-duty hand cleanser (the gritty orange stuff); by night, he coaches volleyball at various municipal parks and does his best to instill good sportsmanship, good values, and good Lutheran theology in the players. He also recently began his studies in the seminary's online pastoral formation program.  Around 5:15, Oscar and my fiancé Josh brave rush hour traffic to arrive in Villa Olga, an upper middle class neighborhood full of trendy restaurants, by the time practice ends. An older boys' basketball team takes over the court, so they meet just outside it, adjacen...

I've been eating up the Olympics all month. Case in point: I went to a Superbowl party...and watched figure skating and speed skating. Walking past me on the couch, covered in a blanket with his iPad on my lap, Josh told me he'd never seen me so engrossed in a screen.  The competitive dramatics aren't limited to Milan and Cortina, though. Josh invited me to help support the "Foreign Language Olympics" at the public school adjacent to my church in Licey al Medio, DR, where he teaches catechism twice per week. Said event was just the latest in a lineup of observations that take the place of regular classes (at least for selected students). I figured the morning would go somewhat like October's spelling bee , and I wasn't wrong.  Josh & I sat at a table in the back and off to one side, with wine glasses (for the water & juice we were later served?!) at each place setting, as well as agendas. A Ministry of Education (MINERD) official sat to my left, ev...

​As we do twice every year, the LAC regional leadership came together at the end of January to update one another on our various areas of responsibility and strategize about how we can more effectively Spread the Gospel, Plant Lutheran Churches, and Show Mercy. On this particular occasion, we were privileged to have all three members of the St. Louis-based missionary recruitment team join us. Their keen insights helped us hone in on precisely which human resources are necessary for said work, and how best to seek out, vet, and care for interested individuals.  We met in Palmar Arriba, joining the seminary community for Matins each morning and a delicious Dominican buffet lunch when classes ended around midday.  I got to host my former coworker from the short-term unit, Anne. It would have been a travesty for her to come all the way to the DR for the first time and see nothing but the inside of a conference room (her words, not mine), so I had  to take her to the botanical...

​I recognized the name "Schneeberger" from fulfilling my regional role in support of coworker Ashley Lehr, the "me" of Puerto Rico. She'd hosted the team from Fergus Falls, MN, twice previously, so I was excited for my turn to spend a week with the four couples plus Pastor Bill who escaped subzero temps for Panama earlier this month.  Knowing my prep would involve grocery shopping AND a marathon of hardware stores, I arrived two days before the team. My go-to hostel is permanently closed and I don't have a new one yet, so we stayed in the Bella Vista area; I took full advantage of its walkability and Google's ability to find "coffee shops near me" :) I had the same acai bowl from AMARA coffee & flowers (left) for breakfast two days in a row.  A first for me was that the team landed in-country before I did for a few days of solo sightseeing; we met up for orientation over lunch on a Saturday. Later that afternoon, I Uber-ed to the airport to...

With a new year came a new focus for me and a team of five volunteers from Trinity in Henrico, VA : youth. Contrary to what the gushing words of praise and thanksgiving on my Facebook wall might indicate, though, we had very little to do with organizing an overnight retreat for preteens through twenty-somethings; rather, we came alongside the Rev. Rafael Milagres, a handful of new deaconess grads, and a few key members of the youth group itself.  As soon as most businesses returned to regular operating hours on January 2, we, too, returned to work mode. A morning shopping trip yielded the raw materials for LOTS of prep: posters (Nicole), plastic wrap balls (Andrea and Isaiah, pictured), and marshmallow cereal treats (Jessica).  So that the team could get the lay of the land and do any necessary onsite setup, we made the hourlong drive to Cieneguilla ahead of the Peruvian contingent, on Friday afternoon. With the sun starting to set behind the mountains, it was too cold for the...