The following is a report from Rev. Dr. Johnson Rethinasamy, CAME’s South Asian Ministry Facilitator:

     The tsunami has impacted the whole world in some way, but our  South Asian communities here in US and Canada have been severely affected. Members of our Lutheran South Asian Ministry in NY, NJ and CT are predominantly from Tamilnadu, India and Sri Lanka which are hart-hit regions. Since the onset of the tsunami, every one of our ministry members personally knows a dear one who is lost, missing or financially ruined by the disaster.

     On January 2nd, we organized a service of Hope and Healing when many congregations joined us in showing their support. Participation in this service was overwhelming. They heard first hand anecdotes and accounts from our members. James Arulnesan Jeevanandham from Sri Lanka lost his wife; Joseph Dinakar’s friend Parameswaran lost his three children and seven relatives; some of our congregation members are not even able to find details about or communicate with their loved ones overseas. They all shared their agonies and also their trust in the Lord of Hope and Salvation.

      In responding to this disaster, the South Asian Lutheran ministries will be raising funds to be a lifeline for the affected victims in our midst.  We will also be sending funds to  schools/churches that we will adopt in Tamil Nadu, Andaman Nicobar Islands of India and in North Eastern Sri Lanka.  This support will enhance the Lutheran mission work already under way in those regions. Reports and surveys about the damages have been received from those regions and relief work is also underway. In these times CAME has been supporting us through prayer chains and its willingness to join hands in this effort with the South Asian Ministry of the Northeast is very much appreciated.  Here are additional mission work reports:

     Williston Park, New York: The St. John’s Tamil Lutheran Church is now a rostered LCMS congregation, the first Tamil Lutheran Congregation in the United States. Her membership includes sixty families and we worship Sunday evenings at 5:30 pm with Holy Communion on every first Sunday. She is expanding her spiritual witness and numerically grows every year. She also supports daughter congregations/small groups in New Jersey, Connecticut and Yonkers, NY. These groups meet once a month in various regions. Lay leadership and women’s fellowship are two pillars of this congregation. Every summer we organize a family enrichment camp. This year 65 people and their families participated. All of our ministries in the tri-state area brings in people from different faith and religious backgrounds. But the South Asian Ministry provides clear teaching of Scripture, Law and Gospel. I am pastoring this congregation as well as training leaders in different regions.

     Yonkers : The South Asian Ministry  is partnering with St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Hastings-on-the Hudson, NY to remodel her  ministry towards a multi-ethnic congregation in that area. Two different language speaking groups (Hindi and Tamil)  have been identified and eventually they will  become  a  part  of  this  congregation  in keeping their ministry vibrant. A mission leader has been enrolled in the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology (Concordia Seminary, St. Louis).

     Albany:  In 2003, I raised the possibility of starting a mission in Albany among South Asians. Rev. Sam Lazarus, who was visiting here from India volunteered and  coordinated this ministry. He had to leave for India due to visa restrictions.  We are seeking to bring him back to the area.  

     New England:   There are now two small South Asian groups in Southern and Northern Connecticut, meeting in different homes once a month. Southern CT covers Greenwich to Bridgeport and the Northern community area includes Hartford to the Greater Boston area. This network has been growing strong and a lay leader has been identified and trained at the Mission Planters Institute (Concordia University, Irvine, CA).  In 2004, both of these groups have been working through Luther’s Small Catechism.  The New England District, LCMS has been very cooperative and supportive of these mission opportunities. St. Peter in Norwalk, Zion in Bridgeport and Our Savior in South Windsor are CT churches that are partnering with us through prayers and support.

     New Jersey: There are two South Asian Lutheran groups in Central and Southern New Jersey. The Central Jersey group is in the process of reorganizing due to many people moving away to other states and locations. In 2004, we met several times in different homes and they are learning from See Through Scriptures study materials. In Fall, 2004, Missionary Naveen Nischal was commissioned and based in Southern New Jersey. Naveen’s presence in NJ  and Pennsylvania has been a great resource and he has been instrumental in bringing the Gospel to the South Asian Community there. Calvary in Verona, NJ, Martin Luther Chapel in Pennsauken, NJ and Philadelphia Lutheran Ministries are partnering with this mission under the guidance of  CAME’s leadership and Rev. David Born, LCMS World Mission’s North East Regional Director. I have been asked to mentor Naveen in any way possible.

     Ohio:  In August 2004, on behalf of CAME, I was asked to survey the Cleveland area for a prospective South Asian Mission start. The survey has been completed regarding that growing South Asian community and presented before the Ohio District and Building Hope in the City, a mission society  based in Cleveland. Both of those entities are enthusiastically preparing to launch a South Asian Ministry by the fall of 2005.

     Mentoring:  Several leaders have been identified by the South Asian Ministry who are gifted in mission work and they were sent to different training programs. Nicolas & Jesse Joseph, Alphonse & Mary Bernard were sent to the Mission Planters Institute. Jeevanandham Prabhakaran’s is enrolled in the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology.  When Samson Lazarus comes back from India, he will also receive additional training.  I am also in dialogue with three South Asian pastors from different church bodies in Queens, NY, Denver, CO and Birmingham, AL. They display much interest in joining the LCMS.  They have been studying Lutheran materials I have recommended to them.  I am hoping to guide them through a colloquy process into the LCMS.

     Refugee Resettlement:  The South Asian Ministry strongly advocates a wholistic approach to mission work. We practice the critical event-sharing the Gospel with every one possible and in every way possible. We have a ministry among detainees who are incarcerated for their visa problems. We visit them in the detention prisons near the JFK and Newark airports. So far, we have resettled one hundred individuals all over United States and Canada. Every one of them heard the Gospel by our sharing of the Word and through our social action. Some of them are members of our congregation now. Many of them were not Christians and heard the Gospel for the first time through our work. In the fall of 2004, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) asked me to be an LIRS Ambassador. Thus, I am now assisting and networking refugees and immigrant with obtaining immigration assistance.  I am also helping to advocate for needed immigration reforms nationally and also in the context of the global South Asian dispersion.

     Thank You:  The South Asian Ministry deeply, deeply appreciates CAME’s leadership and that of Dr. Jotham Johann Jhang, who is always there for us in bridging the gap, or standing between the gap whenever we are in need of resources, funding, networking, and prayer support among North American missions, districts, congregations and mission societies of our Church body and beyond. Thank you all for your mission support and partnership for South Asian mission work and for the tsunami relief efforts.

—Johnson
  

 
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