Title: ELCA Missionaries Meet ELCA NEWS SERVICE NEWS BRIEF August 8, 1997 ELCA MISSIONARIES MEET=20 About 30 missionaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America met = July 20-24 at Texas Lutheran University, Seguin, Texas, for a conference = on Lutheran missionary efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean. = Participants engaged in Bible study, shared information about international= ministry, compared work styles and told stories. Harold T. Hanson, ELCA = director for international personnel said, *Together with national = Lutheran churches we determine what work will be done in that particular = country.* Missionaries are scattered throughout Latin America; not very = many serve in each particular country. *All missionaries are part of a = larger community. We need to alleviate the sense of being isolated, which = is why this gathering is so important,* he said. *Here, missionaries came = together for the first time as a family and built community,* said the = Rev. Rafael Malpica-Padilla, ELCA program director for Latin America and = the Caribbean. Missionaries discussed involvment in local politics, = adopting a modest lifestyle, language, culture and Christian faith and = practice. Missionaries *need to accept their identity as foreigners and = guests in the host country and church,* said Hanson. ELCA missionaries = currently serve in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Jamaica = and Puerto Rico. =20 For information contact:=20 Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS=40ELCA.ORG http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html