Ministries and Events :: Global Mission

We are committed to living out our faith in the world, and we actively support mission initiatives in Tanzania and Guatemala.

Over eighteen years ago Augustana began a Global Mission Emphasis. Since then, we celebrate Global Mission two Sundays in the spring. To date, over $650,000 has been shared with our sister congregations in Tanzania and Guatemala.

At least once each year groups from Augustana travel to Tanzania and Guatemala to strengthen our relationships with our brothers and sisters around the world.

Tanzania

Augustana has had a companion congregation relationship with Ipogoro parish since 1990. It is located just outside of the city of Iringa. In addition to the main church, Ipogoro congregation has 9 preaching points served by the one pastor. There is an evangelist at each preaching point. In addition to our companion congregation relationship, Augustana has been instrumental in the development of Tumaini University in Iringa. Pastor Aune served as a Pastor Teacher on the Theology faculty for the winter term in 1999. For additional information, please visit www.tumaini.ac.tz.

One of the biggest challenges facing our companion congregations in the Iringa Region of Tanzania is adequte food production. In 2008, Tumaini University Insitute of Agriculture initiated ten small agricultual demonstration plots supported by the St. paul Area Synod companion congregations. The objective of establishing these plots was to demonstrate improved farming practices to local Tanzanian farmers so they could increase crop yields and improve the quality of the food that is porduced on their land. Click here to view photos of the plot Augustana is sponsoring.

Selian Lutheran Hospital in Arusha, under the leadership of Dr. Mark Jacobson, serves the Maasi people in the northern part of Tanzania. Augustana has been a strong supporter of this Gospel centered healing ministry.

We also provide financial support in the form of scholarships to theology students at Tumaini University, secondary school students as well as financial support for the Huruma Center, an orphanage that provides a home for children whose parents have died of AIDS. For more information on Tanzania, please contact Pastor Aune.

For more information on how the St. Paul Area Synod is involved in Tanzania, click here.

Guatemala

Augustana has had a companion congregation relationship with San Agustin Lutheran Church in the village of La Esmeralda, Guatemala, since 2002.

We have also been instrumental in establishing the companion synod relationship between the Saint Paul Area Synod, ELCA, and the Augustinian Lutheran Church of Guatemala (ILAG), in which we are hoping to have each of the 17 ILAG congregations matched with a St. Paul congregation in the coming years.

We make annual visits to Guatemala, and we occasionally send youth delegations to build relationships of mutual support and learning. We also provide financial support to the ministries in Guatemala, including educational scholarships, support for youth ministry, support for women's ministry, and support for a variety of building programs.

For more information on our Guatemala connection, please contact Janet Metcalfe.

Augustana member and ordained pastor, Andrea Metcalfe and her husband, Luke are serving as ELCA missionaries in Mexico. Their work includes serving as Country Coordinators for the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission program, as well as support for the Lutheran Center in Mexico City and accompanying delegations on immersion trips. Mexico. Click here to learn more.