Zion sponsors 6 missionaries:
Gloria Sauck works at the women’s desk of the Lutheran Church in Kenya helping with many ministries. She has been a nurse administrator working in Kenya amongst the Samburu and Rendille people. She was in charge of the dispensaries in Arsim, and Illaut which served all of Northwestern Kenya, providing the most basic primary healthcare to rural communities; e.g. immunizations, family planning, wound dressing, colds, diarrhea and simple malaria. She worked in health education using Samburu music and drama and ran an eye clinic at the dispensary to treat Trachoma, an eye disease of near epidemic proportions in parts of rural Kenya. It comes from unsanitary living conditions, typically from living in such close proximity with animals.
Please pray for opportunities to share the Good News, daily wisdom, stamina and focus for all her administrative duties.
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Steven & Bethany Friberg are serving in Tanzania.
Dr. Friberg was raised in Tanzania, moved to the USA to complete his education, then returned because of his dedication to the medical needs of people there. They have been serving in Tanzania since 1993, Steven as a pediatrician with Selian Hospital in Arusha, and Bethany as a teacher of English as a Second Language at the Theological College in Makimura. In 1996, they moved to Haydom Hospital, in Mbulu Synod, to learn surgery from Dr. Ole Olson, a Norwegian missionary whose father founded the hospital. In 1997 they returned to Selian Hospital . In 1999, Dr. Friberg was called by the Diocese in the Northern Arusha Region to coordinate the renovation and reactivation of fourteen rural dispensaries in the Maasai area of Tanzania, where Bethany provides hospitality for frequent visitors and volunteers, as well as working with the women in income-generating projects, mostly involving beadwork. They have three children; Nyika, Zaka, and Shalai.
Eric and Christie Anspach-Hanson serve in Japan. Eric has served as pastor at Tokyo Lutheran Church in Tokyo, Japan part of the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church, since 2007. Working together with two other pastors of the congregation, Eric leads the English service, holds an English Bible Study, and attends Japanese language classes.
Christie is working as a nurse at an international school in Shibuya, serving the physical needs of people in the community. They were affected by the tsunami and earthquake in 2011 so they had to leave Tokyo. Soon thereafter they rejoiced in the birth of their first child, a girl named Aleaha Megumi, on April 8, 2011.
Their address:
Eric & Christie Anspach-Hanson
7-22-37 Shakujidai
Nerima-Ku, Tokyo 177-0045
Japan
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Jordan Monson
Dear Zion Family:
Thank you so much for your generous support while I’ve been doing mission work in Pamplona, Spain. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support of Zion.
I’m writing to update you on the path that God has my fiancé and I on now. While on the field here I have really enjoyed the work of reaching out to college students with the Gospel of Jesus. That said, early last fall, my fiancé Aubrey and I began praying about our future. We asked God to show us where we could be most used. We believe that at the intersection of the world’s greatest needs and our greatest abilities is our missionary calling. We asked him to show us the way.
Aubrey is a nurse and would like to be used in a medical capacity, and God has laid the burden for Bible translation on my heart for nearly as long as I have been interested in full-time ministry. There are 2,000 languages in the world which still do not have the New Testament. Many of them don’t even have an alphabet. I believe I am also gifted in the areas of languages and research, and Aubrey is gifted in caring for and healing others.
Knowing this, after much prayer and a few divine appointments with the right connections, we have decided to pursue a career within Wycliffe Bible Translators. They are having me study and train for this role for approximately 18 months and then Lord willing we will go on the mission field with them. We will work to help people-groups without the scriptures develop accurate translations from the Greek. Aubrey will also be able to serve as a nurse wherever there is need for Bible translation since they’re normally in developing areas.
We believe that we can make more of an impact for the kingdom by making these changes. Thank you for your continued support and prayer. We appreciate it so much!
In Christ,
Jordan Monson
Jordan enjoys writing in his free time and has started a site dedicated to informing and encouraging those seeking out a calling in mission work. He writes at: www.missionsuntold.com
John 15:4-5 ESV
"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
Thank you all for your support and friendship in this whole process.
Until the whole world hears,
-Jordan
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Karen Anderson grew up in Owatonna, MN and became a nurse. She hasserved as a missionary with the ELCA in Chile from 1982–2000. She helped found Education Popular en Salud (EPES) which is a project of the ELCA. She had a wonderful reconnection in 2009 when she returned to help the EPES staff design, launch and direct EPES’ International Training Course on Popular Education in Health EPES, which among other important tasks explores the role of the church in the struggle for health and human rights. EPES works to build a sustainable health care organization dedicated to promoting the health, dignity and rights of the poor in Chile.
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Paul and Becky Hagen work in the United Mission in Nepal (UMN). Paul is in the position of integral mission advisor; a resource for UMN leadership team in planning and building the capacity of Nepali congregations. UMN works to address root causes of poverty, leading to fullness of life, as it serves the people of Nepal in the name and spirit of Jesus Christ. Established in 1954, UMN is a cooperative effort between the people of Nepal and a large number of Christian organizations from nearly 20 countries. Multicultural teams of Nepali nationals and volunteer expatriate staff work alongside local organizations in less developed areas, building partnerships that lead to healthy, strong and empowered individuals, families, and communities.
Paul and Becky were sponsored by Zion in the eighties and nineties and have returned to Nepal since their children have finished college.