Calvary supports international outreach through its Mission Teams. For many years, Calvary has sent teams to El Salvador. More recently, we have partnered with our Tamil Ministry to serve in India. And Calvary supports missionaries around the world, in places like Central Asia, West Asia, and Ghana. Join us in supporting God's mission here and around the world!
With the support of the Calvary congregation and its members, the El Salvador Mission team has traveled to El Salvador 28 times over the last 18 years, blessing the people of El Salvador in various ways.
- Held 135 medical clinics.
- Built 69 playsets.
- Funded the drilling of 2 wells.
- Sponsored 3 Pack Away Hunger events, distributing the food in El Salvador.
- Built 1 house.
- Reached thousands of children with the message of Jesus through Bible stories, crafts, songs and hugs!
- Equipped teachers and students with school supplies.
- Distributed hygiene supplies, shoes and clothing.
The El Salvador Mission Team travels to El Salvador twice a year, in January & July. The emphasis is on evangelism through a daily VBS program, construction of play sets, and medical clinics.
The next trip is July 13-21, 2019. If you are interested and would like more info about the upcoming trip, contact Ken Robinson,
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The Lord has done great things through Calvary India Mission (CIM). Through its support of CIM, Calvary helps to maintain the Calvary India Mission Tailoring Center, two Tuition Centers and a Computer Center. All of these centers offer free training to Christian, Hindu and Muslim students in a Christ-centered environment. The love of Jesus is offered freely to those who are most in need of physical help, while also providing an opportunity for them to meet Jesus in the people around them.
History of LCMS India and Pastor Raji
The Lutheran Church has a long history of missionary work in India. The first foreign mission field for LCMS missionaries from St. Louis was India! In 1894 the first missionaries arrived and over the following decades, the LCMS sent more than 60 missionaries to India. In 1959, the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC) was established as an LCMS partner church. In the 1960s, Rev. Grumm came to the Hindu village where Pr. Raji and his family were living. After some time hearing the gospel, Pr. Raji’s mother was convinced, and the entire family converted to Christianity.
The other Hindu families in the village were not happy, as they assumed that the god of their village would be angry and curse the entire village. The family was forced to move a neighboring village to escape this anger. After some time, the first villagers came to see if the Raji family had been cursed in some way. People expected them to be sick or to find a death in the family. When that did not happen, more people heard the Gospel message and the church in India was growing! Pr. Raji and his entire family were blessed by God working through Rev. Grumm—what a reunion will occur when they meet again in heaven! But God’s blessing does not stop there! Pr. Raji’s mother dedicated him as a child to be in the Lord’s service, and the Lord took that dedication and made Pr. Raji the servant of Christ he is today.
Pr. Raji became a pastor and served churches in India for more than 10 years. After receiving specialized training in chaplaincy work, Pr. Raji came to the US and he works fulltime as a hospital chaplain at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. He also leads a Tamil language church service at Calvary Lutheran Church once per month and actively serves the Tamil community in Indy. He remains active in mission outreach to India as he has led five mission trips to Ambur. His Indian outreach was greatly expanded in 2015 with the founding of the Calvary India Mission Tailoring Center and two Tuition Centers! A Computer Center was added in 2017. All of these centers offer free training to Christian, Hindu and Muslim students in a Christ-centered environment. The love of Jesus is offered freely to those who are most in need of physical help, while also providing an opportunity for them to meet Jesus in the people around them.
What a blessing Pr. Raji has been to people in India and the US! And it all started when God sent Rev. Grumm and other LCMS missionaries to Ambur. Blessed to be a blessing ...
Click here for our latest Calvary India Missions Newsletter, or click here to visit our website.
Athletes in Action — Central Asia
A member of Calvary serves in Central Asia with Athletes In Action, a ministry of Cru, that desires to see lives changed through Jesus Christ. Central Asia is considered an unreached area of the world with more than 96% of the population that does NOT know Jesus. Athletes in Action desires to use the universal language of sports as a platform to reach the lost with the love of Jesus. Please pray for those who are unreached with the Gospel and for those ministering in this area of the world.
Note: For security reasons the location and name of the member have not been posted; if you would like more information please contact the church.
You can provide financial support to this Calvary member and become a ministry partner at this Cru website: www.give.cru.org/0676313. (Note that for safety reasons the member's name will not appear on this Cru giving page.)
Bible Translators — West Asia
Calvary supports a missionary couple serving in West Asia doing Bible translation work. This couple lives in a country with no churches. Even though they live in an apartment in the capital city, they still only have electricity about 50% of the time and lack some modern amenities.
Spring 2019 Update: They have been doing well and staying pretty healthy this year, for which they're thankful. The spring means removing coal and wood stoves and enjoying the warmer weather. It also means picnics with friends and co-workers. Please pray for fruitful conversations during these times of visiting.
In addition to language and culture learning, which is essential to their witness in their personal relationships as well as their office work, they've been researching a group of language varieties. It can be hard to imagine, but they're actually not sure how many languages are spoken in their country! They've been transcribing data from several villages and towns who claim the same ethnic identity and ancestry. They're trying to evaluate if the people speak dialects of the same language or different languages altogether. This is important because it lets them know who will need a separate Bible translation. It also helps them know where and how to distribute these resources once they're available. Currently, another organization is running primary schools in one of these languages. Their research will also show them in what ways this curriculum will need to be altered for the other regions and how much, if at all, the writing system would need to be adjusted. They're hoping to finish this particular research project by the end of the year.
To join them in bringing God's Word to the people of West Asia, you can give at wycliffe.org/partnerteam. Enter #242586. For security reasons, their names are not published on our website or the Wycliffe website, but money will still get to them.
Missionaries — Ghana, West Africa
Rev. Dr. Steven and Cynthia Schumacher serve the Lord as career missionaries in Ghana, West Africa.
Steven teaches courses in Lutheran theology and serves as Dean of Academics and Student Activities at the seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana (ELCG) in Accra, Ghana. He also assists with the ELCG's deaf ministry.
Cynthia assists the ELCG as an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher at their seminary.
You can find detailed information about the Schumacher's ministry at lcms.org/schumacher. Or click here to view their most recent newsletter.
Thank you for your support of the Schumacher family through Calvary's mission budget.
