A Message from Outgoing Companion Synod Coordinator

Posted 08/31/2016

With Missionary Joy and Thanksgiving: On this the last day as Coordinator for Companion Synods, I take this opportunity to praise God for the opportunity I have had to serve in this capacity as well as to express my heart-felt gratitude to our Synod’s congregations, WELCA Groups, Sunday Schools and individuals for the ongoing mission generosity which makes possible for the South Dakota Synod to build greater mission capacity among our Companion Synods, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon and the Lutheran Church of Faith & Hope of Nicaragua. Furthermore, I am deeply grateful to Bishop David Zellmer, to our Companion Synods Committee and to the Synod’s staff for their valuable support, mentorship and empowering friendship. As Barbara and I move to our new ministry calling at Prince of Peace in Austin, Texas, we will certainly miss the deep relationships God has blessed us with during our many years of service to the South Dakota Synod!

In closing, allow me to share these grace-filled and Spirit-lead words of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, pastor, theologian, prophet and martyr of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. These words truly provide a healthy perspective and express what I firmly believe is our humble role and participation in God’s mission for the sake of the world. Archbishop Romero writes:

“It helps now & then to step back & take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. No statement says all that could be said. No program accomplishes the Church’s mission. We plant the seeds that will one day grow and water seeds already planted knowing they hold future promise. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. What we do may be incomplete but it is a beginning, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results but that is the difference between the master builder & the worker. We are workers not master builders, ministers not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.”

Praise God! Soli Deo Gloria! To God alone the glory! Amen.

With mission joy and thanksgiving,

Pastor Natanael Lizarazo

Coordinator Companion Synods

South Dakota Synod-ELCA

Email: companion-synod@sdsynod.org

Bishop Ruben Ngozo, from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon, joins Pastor John Christopherson and Pastor Natanael Lizarazo during the recording of a First Lutheran communion video at KSFY.

SD Synod