LCMS World Mission Blog

Learn + Pray + Give + Tell + Send + Go + Celebrate

You get off the plane in Chicago, head for the baggage claim, and see someone holding a sign: LCMS Missionaries. You collect your bag, take a deep breath, and move toward the sign. You are a new missionary. You are excited, nervous, and passionate about sharing your faith. You join 26 other new career and GEO missionaries, learning about culture shock, missiology, support-raising, and health insurance overseas. And so your journey begins.

Rev. Bob Hedtke remembers the beginning of his journey well. He, along with his wife, Diane, was a career missionary in Thailand from 2006 until March 2009. He shares his memories of missionary orientation, insights from the mission field, and thoughts about sharing the mission story with congregations in the United States.

What are your fondest memories of missionary orientation?

Getting to meet the other missionaries! We served with them for three years, and we really enjoyed it. It was also great talking with experienced missionaries. They gave us good ideas how to approach cultural struggles.

How well did orientation prepare you for service in Thailand?

As good as it could have. The orientation team was training people who were going all over the world. They were bombarding us with cultural things. I think we were seeing the word “culture” in our sleep! But when we got over (to Thailand), it made sense. They gave us the tools so we knew where to go with any questions.

You know, I’ve been a pastor for many years. It’s one thing to stand in the pulpit and support missions; it’s another to see how it all works!

Tell me about your experience serving as LCMS missionaries. What was the best part?

Just having the backing. The staff in Saint Louis always responded quickly to any issue we had. I had a little heart issue, and we were about to go on furlough. My wife called to ask that we come home a bit sooner. Travis (personnel care manager) called back in a few hours, and it was taken care of. I didn’t always know what they were doing behind the scenes, but I would talk to them, then they would get results!

I have some friends that have gone overseas with another mission organization, and they were totally dissatisfied. The network of support wasn’t there. But we had a great deal of support. It was a real-live demonstration of how it works… thousands of people networking and making mission work.

Overseas, the best part was sharing the Gospel and just seeing it change lives. We did a lot of work with the Hmong. One man called a few weeks after we visited and said they needed to build a church. They had been just meeting in his house. I asked how many were coming, thinking it was about 10. He said 100. He meant 100 families. There were over 200 people meeting in this man’s house just to hear the Gospel!

What would you say to someone interested in missionary service?

Do it! I thought about doing it for years, and sometimes I wish we would have started earlier!

Any final thoughts?

It’s so fun to say, “Look what’s happening, what you’re (the LCMS) is doing over there!” That’s the part we really enjoy. People’s hearts just need to be lifted a bit, and then the floodgates open!

• Celebrate that more LCMS missionaries are answering God’s call!
• Pray for the 27 new missionaries as they prepare for their fields of service.
• Go to www.lcmsworldmission.org/prayercards to learn more about specific missionaries.
• Give where needed most to support the missionaries.