Global Missions in the Indiana-Kentucky Synod:

On Dec. 7, 1972 astronauts aboard Apollo 17 took a startling photo of the earth as they left earth's orbit en route to the moon.

The photo reveals a beautiful blue orb, swirled with white and smattered with reds and browns, floating against the black backdrop of endless space.

Jesus promised that God's Spirit would empower God's people to be witnesses to God's goodness and grace "to the ends of the earth." Only from space can those ends, those boundaries, be seen.

From our local vantage point on the ground, it can be difficult to see God's presence and activity beyond the borders of our own everyday lives. It can be easy to forget God's deep and abiding love for the world.

"Global Mission" for the Indiana-Kentucky Synod means celebrating God's presence to the ends of the earth. It reminds us that there are churches on every continent working as hard as we are in this country to faithfully proclaim and embody the good news of what God has done through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Through Global Mission the I-K Synod, along with the rest of the ELCA, practices a theology of accompaniment, which calls churches to walk together in service in God's mission while each church maintains primary responsibility for its own area.

Whether it involves sending missionaries and other personnel to work with companion or national churches or sending grants to help fund important projects, providing means to help prepare leaders for service in the church of their home countries or facilitating visits, exchange programs, Companion Synod programs, and Global Mission Events, Global Mission in the I-K Synod lives the reality we confess Sunday after Sunday, "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church" that spans to the ends of the earth.

Sharing the Light of Christ in the World
Indiana-Kentucky Synod Global Mission Emphasis

How can I Participate?

Other Links of Interest:

Companionship Across the Globe:

Accompany: One dictionary says simply that to "accompany" is to "go or travel along with" someone or something and "companionship" is simply "the state of being with someone."

What great images these are for our companion synod relationships with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile (IELCH) and the Batak Protestant Church (HKBP) in Indonesia. The images suggest equality, mutuality, dialogue, respect, and going the distance along side one another.

They chase away less helpful, even unfaithful, suggestions of colonialism, paternalism, one-sidedness, or heavy-handedness. The good people of the IELCH and the HKBP are our companions on the journey of service to the reign of God.

Like the ancient companions walking the road to Emmaus, as we accompany one another we discover the risen Christ in our midst.

The IELCH consists of about 3,000 members in 12 congregations. The HKBP has more than three million members in hundreds of congregations. The Indiana-Kentucky Synod is somewhere in between…right where we belong as we travel together sharing the light of Christ.

Indiana-Kentucky Synod invites you to focus on Global Mission during the Epiphany Season this year.
Here are 25 ways for you to get involved!

Click here to download this list as a reproducible resource.

Questions? Contact:

Rev. Bill Gafkjen, IK Synod Director of Global Mission
Jean Eisen , IK Synod Global Mission Committee Chair