Each month our CLC Board of Missions updates us with the latest news from various mission fields.
In a September call meeting of the Board of Missions chaired by our CLC President, Michael Eichstadt, a call was issued to Pastor Todd Ohlmann to become our CLC Visiting Missionary. After six weeks of prayerful deliberation, Pastor Ohlmann accepted that call. For this we give praise and thanks to the Lord of the harvest. Pastor Ohlmann will begin his service as a CLC missionary on January 1, 2017. A commissioning service for Missionary Ohlmann will be held at Messiah Lutheran Church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Monday, January 2, 2017, at 7:00 P.M. He will fill the position vacated by Missionary Matthew Ude, who has accepted a call to serve Faith Lutheran Church in Markesan, Wisconsin. Missionary Ude served as our CLC missionary for over nine years; he was based primarily in India, but also served West and Central Africa. We thank the Lord for Missionary Ude’s service during these past years.
As presented to our CLC Convention this summer, this call is unlike previous CLC missionary calls. Missionary Ohlmann will be stationed here in the United States, but will spend approximately six months each year in overseas travel as he conducts regular visitations to our sister church bodies as well as developing contacts in foreign fields.
The CLC is currently in fellowship with church bodies in the following foreign fields, where we have conducted and plan to continue regular visitations:
• Asia (India, Nepal, Myanmar)
• East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda)
•Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo,
Zambia, Zimbabwe)
• West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Togo)
Special visitations may also be necessary as the Lord provides opportunities through new contacts. Liberia, Haiti, Japan, Rome, and Argentina are examples of locations where we are currently carrying on correspondence with individuals who are interested in fellowship with the CLC.
In the months that he is stateside, Missionary Ohlmann’s duties will include visits to domestic subsidized congregations, correspondence with foreign affiliates and new contacts, continuing development of the Online Theological Studies website, assisting with the CLC Mission Helper Program, attending Board of Missions meetings in an advisory capacity, guest preaching, attending area delegate conferences, and any other opportunities that the Board of Missions deems appropriate and necessary.
The Board of Missions will be holding a special meeting on January 2-3, 2017, and working through Pastor Ohlmann’s transition as chairman of the Board of Missions to serving the Board in an advisory capacity. We rejoice in the opportunities that are before us as a church body, and give thanks to the Lord for providing this new worker in the harvest of souls. We ask for your prayers on behalf of Missionary Ohlmann and his family as they continue their service to their Lord and ours in this new way. May the Lord’s name be hallowed, His Kingdom come, and His will done!
Nathanael Mayhew is pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, and a member of the Board of Missions of the CLC.