Five Missouri Synod career missionaries conclude overseas service
Special recognition service planned, Monday, July 23 

ST. LOUIS, July 20, 2012—Five career missionaries with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) will be ending their service with a special celebration service set for 10 a.m. CT Monday, July 23, at the chapel at the LCMS International Center, 1333 S. Kirkwood Road, St. Louis, Mo. A reception will follow the service.

The retiring missionaries have served a total of 33 years and are returning home from various posts on the continent of Africa. Those being honored are:

• Rev. Glenn and Susan Fluegge, of Valley Center, Calif., who have served as LCMS missionaries since 1998, most recently in Tshwane (Pretoria) South Africa. Fluegge served as an instructor and curriculum developer at Lutheran Theological Seminary, which trains pastors for Lutheran churches in South Africa and throughout Africa. He also collaborated with Lutheran churches and seminaries throughout French-speaking Africa to help develop their pastoral training programs and teach courses. The Fluegges previously served in Togo, West Africa, where Fluegge taught at the Lutheran Center for Theological Studies, a seminary that trains pastors for Lutheran churches throughout French-speaking Africa. The Fluegges have five children.
• Andrea Herman, of Anoka, Minn., who has served as an evangelistic trainer in Guinea, West Africa, since 2006. As a missionary, Herman worked to identify women among the Maninka people group who have been moved to learn about God’s Word and prepared them to teach others about the Gospel.
• Tim Norton, a director of Christian education from Long Beach, Calif., and Heidi Norton, of Lodi, Calif., who have served as LCMS missionaries since 1999. Most recently, the Nortons have been evangelistic missionaries to the Maninka people in Guinea, West Africa. They previously served in the Ivory Coast, West Africa. The Nortons have two children.

“These wonderful men and women have served the LCMS and their God and their Savior through years of dedicated service in Africa,” said the Rev. Gregory K. Williamson, chief mission officer for the LCMS. “They have lovingly shared the Gospel with unreached people, and helped train future pastors and leaders who will continue spreading the Good News. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod shall be forever grateful for their dedication and sacrifice.”

Williamson will preach during the service.

The LCMS has been involved in mission and outreach since 1851, when it established its first mission board. In the early years, the church focused domestically on mission outreach among Native Americans. The LCMS’ first overseas missionary was sent in 1895 to India. Today, the LCMS trains, sends and supports called and appointed, career, long-term GEO and short-term missionaries and educators in various countries around the world where there are mission stations, partner churches, schools and mission relationships.

To learn more, visit www.lcms.org/missionaries.

About The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

The 2.3 million-member Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is a mission-oriented, Bible-based, confessional Christian denomination headquartered in St. Louis. Through acts of witness and mercy, the church carries out its mission worldwide to make known the love of Jesus Christ.  Learn more at www.lcms.org.