Community Outreach
Be an Ambassador for Jesus
The Gospel Outreach Booth at the San Diego County Fair (Del Mar), June 10-July 4 is being sponsored by the Southern California District and Sunshine Zone of the International Lutheran Laymen’s League. Ambassadors for Jesus are needed to staff this booth during the 22 days of the fair. There will be three shifts per day: 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday (6:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Friday) and 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.; 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.; 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday (6:00 p.m. to 10:00 on Sunday and Monday, 7/4.) The fair will be closed on three Mondays, June 13, 20, & 27. Volunteers will receive complimentary entrance credentials for their service, two per shift and are desperately needed for the afternoon and evening shifts. Please contact Shirley Anderson, 619-421-5269, Cell #-254-2666, e-mail: d.ander3@cox.net, for dates and times to serve.For Grace Lutheran Church and its members, mission and outreach activities are a form of worship and an expression of our Christian commitment. We follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, taking seriously his care to go into the world as a sent people.
Helpful L.O.U. (Lifting Others Up)
A nonprofit dedicated to helping military families. If you have any household items you would like to donate please contact Mary Lou, 760.419.0239 or helpfullou@att.net and “like” us on Facebook!
Suspenders for Jesus
Simple handyman services offered to the elderly, needy and physically challenged who are a part of our congregation and/or local community. Please contact Richard Ernau at ernau@cox.net
Regional and International Outreach
Glenn Fluegge Family- Africa
Greetings in the name of our resurrected Lord and Savior! We give deep heartfelt thanks to all of you who continue to support our work in Africa through your sacrificial gifts and faithful prayers on our behalf. The Lord continues to take care of us through you. We are planning a short trip to the U.S. this coming Dec-Jan (wish we could be there longer, but our children’s school schedules make it impossible). More details to come….
Samuel & Abigail confirmed. 
Our two oldest children, Samuel and Abigail, were confirmed on May 1 at the church we attend here called the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Arcadia by our dear friend and Pastor Axel Wittenberg. This was a special time for both of them. It was made even more special by the fact that both of them recited by heart Luther’s Small Catechism in front of Grandpa, Grandma, and Pastor Axel and his wife. Two years ago we started studying the Small Catechism and the Bible passages behind it, because we were not sure how, when, or where they would be confirmed (church services and instruction in Togo were done in French and our kids don’t speak French). Part of this was to recite a small part of the Catechism every morning with the result being that they memorized the entire Catechism! Of course, the deal was that their Dad also recite it by heart, which he dutifully did. Watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Z7vzEgQQk (the video for the reciting of the Catechism will come later…)
Upcoming travel to TOGO. The Centre Luthérien d’Etudes Théologiques (CLET) in Dapaong, Togo is in desperate need of teachers. They have no missionary present and because of the French language barrier, they cannot benefit from visiting professors or pastors from the states. I’ve been asked to teach a two week intensive course at this seminary on “Early Church History.” I’ll be leaving this Saturday on May 28 to make the trip (two days of flying with a night of sleeping in the airport in Ethiopia!). I plan to stay three weeks in order to attend the graduation ceremonies on June 18. As many of you know, we spent over ten years working with this seminary. This will be a time of intense teaching (4 hrs/day!), but also of renewing friendships. Please pray with us for safe, hassle-free travel, transformative teaching (with limited resources!), mutual encouragement, and protection for the family staying here in South Africa.
Semester ending at LTS. I’ve been very busy teaching four courses at the Lutheran Theological Seminary here in Pretoria, South Africa – Beginning Greek, Intermediate Greek, Advanced Greek Readings, and Church History in Africa. We are nearing the end of the semester with final exams just around the corner. This is always a tough time of year as temperatures fall to around freezing in the month of June and seminary rooms have no central heating. Those of us from tropical and savanna Africa have a bit of time adjusting! Please continue to pray for the students and faculty. You can see a video that Susan put together of the LTS at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCfA-kDgNvs
Dr. Dongo (CLET) retiring. Dr. Dongo, the Director of the CLET, has announced his impending retirement after this year. He has been a teaching and leading figure in French-speaking Africa for over ten years at the CLET and will be dearly missed. The Lord bless him and his wife as they return to Congo and use him as mightily in retirement as He has used him over the past years in Togo! It is always difficult to say good-bye to someone through whom God has worked to do so much good for so long and the case of the CLET is no different. Please pray that God would raise up the right Director who will lead the CLET into the future.
Grace Place Retreat in Kenya. 
We spent the end of March and beginning of April in Kenya. The first week we attended a retreat graciously offered to LCMS missionaries in Africa by Grace Place Retreats. This organization offers retreats to church workers and focuses on health (spiritual, physical, psychological…since church workers are especially prone to “burn out”). It was a good opportunity to meet many of our fellow missionaries in Africa whom we haven’t seen in many, many years. Our children also enjoyed the opportunity to gather together with other MK’s (missionary kids), which is a good thing as MK’s always have a particular bond.
Visit to Neema Lutheran College, Kenya. 
After the Kenya retreat, Susan and the kids flew back home and I took advantage of the opportunity to visit Neema Lutheran College in Matonga, Kenya, with two fellow missionaries. This institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya has a theological college as well as a teachers’ college. Dr. Joseph Omolo, the Principal of the Theological College, received us warmly and shared with us the courageous plans they have for developing into a full-fledge university. They already offer registered diplomas (equivalent of three years) in theology and education and a Bachelor’s in theology in partnership with another university. Dr. Omolo studied at Concordia Theological Seminary in the U.S.A. and has a vision for offering confessional Lutheran training for pastors, teachers, and deacons. Pray with us that God would bless this institution.
Rev. & Mrs. Alfred Ebel (Grandpa and Grandma). 
Susan’s parents arrived here at the end of January and are filling a vacancy at English Lutheran Fellowship (ELF) about a 45 minute drive away. The congregation has enjoyed them so much that they have asked them to stay for another five years (though I’m not sure that their family and church obligations in the states will allow that)!. We are enjoying have Grandma and Grandpa around and being reminded of the advantages of having family around. (Since we began to serve with the Church, God has always called us away from them…will He call us to serve near them at some time? In His time and in His place….) We have until the end of July and, alas, they leave us.
PLEASE PRAY WITH US:
- Thank God for those whom God has raised up to support our ministry and His work in Africa. God takes care of us through you.
- Thank God for the confirmation and first communion of Samuel and Abigail and pray that they now grow in their faith in Christ and their understanding of what it means to be God’s Church.
- Thank God for the many Lutheran seminaries throughout Africa (LTS, CLET, NLC, and others) and pray that He strengthen these seminaries, the faculty, staff, and students, and that He use these institutions to train up excellent servants of the cross for the Lutheran churches throughout Africa.
- Thank the Lord for Dr. Dongo’s dedicated commitment to training up the next generation of pastors and pray that God continue to use him in his Kingdom in Africa.
- Please pray for my trip to Togo over the next three weeks. May God grant me safe travel and bless my teaching.
- Thank the Lord for Grace Place Retreats offering us the retreat in Kenya and for the time to be renewed and reconnect with friends and co-workers.
- Pray for Susan’s parents as they finish up their time here in South Africa. May God continue to use them to build up God’s people at the ELF.
- Pray for our continued acclimation to our new work and life in South Africa and continued protection from crime (the crime rate is quite high in South Africa).
ABOUT US: We (along with our five children) have served with LCMS World Mission since 1998 in Togo, West Africa where Glenn taught at the Centre Luthérien d’Etudes Théologiques, a seminary that trains pastors for Lutheran churches throughout French-speaking Africa. In 2009, we accepted a call to continue serving as missionaries, but this time in South Africa where Glenn currently teaches at the Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS) in Pretoria and works with Lutheran churches throughout Africa to help develop their pastoral training programs. Please visit our website to learn more about us: www.flueggefamily.com or www.revglennfluegge.com.
SUPPORT US: Susan and I greatly appreciate your help in making our ministry in Africa possible. LCMS WM missionaries are now responsible for raising 100% of our own support (this was not the case in the past…), so we continue to need your help. There are many ways to support us:
- Give a gift easily using the secure online giving link: www.lcms.org/fluegge .
- Give a gift using the attached “Prayer Card.”
- Your ongoing support assures of God’s provision on a regular basis :
- If you are an individual, please use the attached “Prayer Card.”
- For your congregation, school, or a group within the congregation, please consider a “Together in Mission” (TIM) partnership – please contact me for an “Adoption Form”.
The purpose of this update is to keep you informed. We do not wish to clutter up your inbox. If you receive this email more than once or wish to no longer receive these updates, kindly send us a note. Thanks.
The peace of the Lord be with you,
Glenn Fluegge
Rev. Glenn Fluegge, MDiv, MS Education
LCMS World Mission
Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane
Pretoria, South Africa
Tel/Fax: +27 12 368 1751
Cel: +27 72 163 3171
7/8/2011
Dear friends in Christ,
Ever seen a processional led by dancing “mamas” of the church? Watch the slideshow that my dear wife, Susan, put together from pictures and video that I took while in Togo this last month: http://youtu.be/AdqkPGXVRa4
In the Lutheran churches of Togo, the traditional liturgy (page 5 and 15, for those of us who grew up with the “Red Hymnal”) is punctuated with African/Moba culture (animal skin drums, rhythmic movements, responsive singing, etc.). One does not walk, but rather dances through life in Africa where the natural rhythm of the church drums causes even me, a rhythmically challenged musical dufus, to unconsciously tap my foot on the dirt floor. Processional by reverent rhythmical dancing and liturgical singing is deemed the proper way in which to usher in the Word (and the Pastor) by which God’s People will be fed.
A few years ago, my father-in-law and his wife visited Togo and were amazed that, despite being 10,000 miles from home and knowing nothing of the Moba cultural and language, they could sit on the wooden benches of the Lutheran church in the remote village of Mir or in the small city of Dapaong in Togo and still follow the worship service and be fed by the Word. And, yet as they followed along, they could without a doubt know that they was no longer in Montana, but right smack in the middle of Africa. From a foreigner’s point of view, Lutheran worship in Togo allows one to enjoy the familiar while tasting the unique flavor of Africa.
In the slideshow, the accompanying music is from the choir of the Lutheran church in Mir, Togo (a village about 20 km from Dapaong). Listen carefully. You will hear responsive singing led by one woman – a true advantage in societies where illiteracy and financial hardship make unthinkable the distribution of hymnals/bulletins or the use of an overhead.
The pictures are mostly from visits to the Lutheran churches in Mir and in Dapaong, as well as some from visits with friends. I hope it gives you an idea of Lutheran church life in northern Togo.
Susan’s also hoping to put together another “movie” of the Lutheran seminary in Dapaong – the CLET (Lutheran Center for Theological Studies). So, more to come….
Enjoy.
Blessings,
Glenn Fluegge
