A mission within a mission

Dear friends in Christ, 

What a busy month February has been! I began the month by making a 36-hour journey from Riga, Latvia, to Nagercoil, India. I have been here teaching at Concordia Theological Seminary, Nagercoil. I was asked to come as an opportunity to make the partnership between the LCMS and the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC) more visible to the students and the faculty. 

It has been a very good and eye-opening month. I have been teaching a course on Luther’s Theological Writings and Letters, which has been well-received by the 3rd and 4th year students I am teaching. In addition to this, I have preached at three different congregations in the region, and I have also gotten to see some of the sights in the area. Finally, I was also able to meet the new President of the IELC and enjoyed talking with him and accompanying him to the dedication of the site of the new central offices of their Synod. 

Truly, you would not be out of line for being surprised at how much this month has held for me. If you are on our Facebook page, you’ve seen some of the things I’ve been up to. It has been a wonderful opportunity not only to teach but, more importantly, to learn. As a result, I have a better understanding of the culture of India, the theological and social setting that these brothers in the faith minister in, and the people they serve. This is the kind of thing that we expect mission work to be, right? 

So why aren’t our newsletters this packed full of items every month? Because this is the nature of a short-term mission engagement. The missionary and their hosts try to pack as much as possible into the short time the missionary is present. You may have experienced this yourself if you’ve ever gone on a mission trip. But the full-time mission service that I and my family are called to is quite different. We are called to be in a place. We are in Latvia to be the salt of the earth that Jesus speaks about.

This means that, often, our work is done by doing our normal routine of getting work done, accomplishing tasks, and completing projects. It is done through small daily conversations that we with people that we meet. It is done through the interactions I have via Zoom with the students of Luther Academy. The reality is that both of these things are good. The short-term, intense mission experiences of things like spending a month in another country teaching and meeting people can be exhilarating and rewarding. However, the long-term, slow-burn mission that most of our missionaries are engaged in often pay far larger dividends and have even longer-lasting impacts because we spend the time to build relationships and to live with the people that we are working alongside. 

I hope this is a helpful distinction for those of you who so graciously support this work and those who are interested in what we are doing. In truth, the mission work of the LCMS couldn’t happen without you. And believe me when I say that the work of the LCMS is deeply appreciated by many in the world, and not only are their lives changed by the impact you have, but their eternities are changed as well. Thanks be to God for his graciousness in working through his people in this incredible way! 
 

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Cundiff