For a number of years, members of St. Michael Lutheran Church, an LCMS congregation in Fort Myers, Fla., served on mission trips to its Dominican sister city, Santiago. Upon returning home, they raised awareness of the needs in the Caribbean country, which lead to a formal partnership in 2004 that includes LCMS World Mission, LCMS World Relief and Human Care, Bethesda Lutheran Homes and Services, Inc., and the Central American Lutheran Mission Society (CALMS). The partners support the Dominican Republic Lutheran Mission team, which works to plant the first congregation and address the plight of people with developmental disabilities.

Many Dominican young people and adults have already been baptized and confirmed in this emerging Lutheran church body, and one major task of the missionaries is to train local Dominicans to serve as lay leaders and pastors. A new seminary was established outside Santo Domingo in 2010, which will serve all of the Caribbean, Latin America and Northern South America.

Another emphasis of Lutheran mission work in the Dominican Republic is ministry to people with developmental disabilities and to their families. One LCMS missionary has worked with the Dominican government to open doors for Dominican Lutherans to care for these families and children with developmental disabilities. A dedicated care facility for these children, Good Shepherd Lutheran Home, opened in December 2010.

LCMS World Mission supports the day-to-day operations and costs at various worship sites throughout the country. LCMS World Relief and Human Care has given specific grants to support music ministry in the Dominican Republic, to purchase property and build a church.

• Ted and Rebecca Krey
• James and Christel Neuendorf
• Danelle Putnam
• Arthur and Eva Rickman
• Walter and Ana Ries
• Katie Ziegler

LCMS World Mission works with LCMS World Relief and Human Care and other partners, including Bethesda and the LCMS South Wisconsin District, in the Dominican Republic to carry out various outreach ministries. Many Dominican young people and adults have already been baptized and confirmed in this emerging Lutheran church body, and one major task of the missionaries is to train local Dominicans to serve as lay leaders and pastors. The emerging church is in a critical stage of its growth. Theological education for future pastors is a major emphasis for the Lutheran mission team in the Dominican Republic. The pastors of the Lutheran missionary team are working extensively to train national leaders to lead the church in mission and ministry.

LCMS World Mission also supports the day-to-day operations and costs at various worship sites throughout the country, such as Palmar Arriba, Santiago and Santo Domingo.

Another emphasis of Lutheran mission work in the Dominican Republic is outreach through developmental disability ministry. Missionary Danelle Putnam’s work in focused on this ministry—she works with Dominican leaders to find ways to care for families of children with developmental disabilities by training them how to care for their children, educate them and share the Gospel with them. She has also been instrumental in the process of opening a dedicated care facility for these children, Good Shepherd Lutheran Home, which opened in December 2010.

Your support of mission projects in the Dominican Republic will also contribute towards the general costs of maintaining a Lutheran mission presence there, so that Lutheran missionaries are equipped to respond to the needs around them, maintain a loving presence in the communities as God presents unexpected opportunities and travel on a weekly basis to the various worship sites throughout the country.

Music Ministry
Music is important in Hispanic communities. Donations to LCMS World Relief and Human Care are making it possible for the Dominican Republic Lutheran Mission to provide guitars and music lessons to members of emerging Lutheran churches in the Dominican Republic to enhance worship services.

Building of a Church
The Dominican Republic Lutheran Mission is building a new church in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, thanks to donations to LCMS World Relief and Human Care. The mission will purchase property and erect a tent. The space will be used to hold worship, Sunday school, confirmation classes, classes for illiterate people, and for a dental clinic. The community will donate time, labor and materials to construct a more permanent facility.

Property in Palmar Arriba
The Dominican Republic Lutheran Mission holds worship, confirmation, Bible studies, and school chapel devotions in the small Dominican town of Palmar Arriba on property it does not own. With a development grant from LCMS World Relief and Human Care, the mission will purchase property to gain stability in the neighborhood and maintain oversight of all activities that occur in the building.

Dominican Republic Mission Project Support 2009-2010
Many people in the Dominican Republic who have developmental disabilities are undernourished and restrained because their families lack knowledge to care for them. LCMS World Relief and Human Care continues its partnership with Bethesda Lutheran Communities and LCMS World Mission to support the Dominican Republic Lutheran Mission as it reaches out physically, emotionally and spiritually to people with developmental disabilities, their families and communities. This project enables a Dominican outreach worker to support and offer training in effective and human techniques to improve the quality of life for those with developmental disabilities and their caregivers.

For more information on mercy work in the LCMS, contact us at 888-THE-LCMS (888-843-5267) or infocenter@lcms.org.

Field Office Address:
Apartado 1356
Santiago, Dominican Republic

(Please do NOT send packages to this address)