Expanding Gospel Proclamation Worldwide

2023–2025 Mission Grant 8 — $100,000

Rev. Aiji Komiyama is a Ph.D. student from Kobe, Japan. A pastor in the West Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church, he earned a Master of Divinity degree from Kobe Lutheran Theological Seminary in 2011 and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., in 2020. From 2011-17, he served as pastor for Kita-Suzurandai Lutheran Church (Kita-Suzurandai, Japan). After he earns his Ph.D., he will become a professor at Kobe Lutheran Theological Seminary.

The LCMS receives frequent requests from other Lutheran church bodies around the world to share theological knowledge and doctrinally sound practices. Supporting and expanding theological education is one of LCMS’s key mission priorities to ensure there will be well-educated pastors to lead these congregations. 

Very few of these church bodies have the resources to send students to the United States for advanced studies and there is a need for seminary professors who have advanced theological degrees to instruct and mentor pastoral students in their home countries. 

God has equipped our seminary professors to fill this gap. International students will come to Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, to complete advanced degrees, and they will return to their country to train pastors who will then shepherd their local churches. This grant will provide aid to international students completing their advanced degrees.

Resources for Grant #8

• Mission Grant Story
• Bulletin Byte (Word doc)
• Bulletin Insert (half page insert, 2 per page)
• Devotion
• Prayer Guide
• Zoom Background (JPG)

Large Print Resources for Grant #8

• Devotion — large print
• Prayer Guide — large print
• Story — large print

Learn more about this mission grant and view more photos here.

Donate to the LWML Mission Goal