Zion's Missionaries in Montevideo, Uruguay

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

 Greetings in the name of our risen Lord and Savior! Rachel and I hope and pray that you are well, even as we appreciate your prayers and support of our family. You may have also seen that we are expecting our first child in February.

 We have recently completed a year of life and service in Uruguay at the end of August, and yet we have even more news to share than our anxious expectation of our daughter. I recently received a call to serve back in the United States, at Martini Lutheran in Baltimore, Maryland. I have accepted this call. Please pray for the members of Martini and for the work of the Gospel in the congregations and outreach to Baltimore as Rachel and I are called to that new mission field.

 One year of international deployment may not seem like much, but Rachel and I have been working within these calls, my first assignment out of seminary, since June of 2021. This year in June, I also remembered 10 years of a career in ministry that began when I served as the LCMS’s first regional communication specialist in Africa. Through that lay position, I met Rachel, who had done her diaconal internship in Peru and served her first call in the Dominican Republic. The Office of International Mission (OIM) has played a large role in the beginning of our careers and was responsible in no small way for our having met. Since then, I have worked in parishes, schools, and studied at seminary. Rachel and I have learned and grown so much from our time as single and now married missionaries.

 Immediately after studies at seminary and ordination in 2021, I had the opportunity to assist some of the many congregations in vacancy in the immediate area around my parents’ home in Maryland. I was struck as a young and new pastor at the great needs, hunger, and desire for the Word of God that I found at these vacant congregations, and the needs of those many others across the United States. This was still in the midst of the Covid pandemic, during and after which many pastors died or retired. I was struck by the Good Shepherd’s promise to send undershepherds to His hurting and scattered flock since 2020, when my own vicarage work was impacted by the shutdowns. For this reason, I began writing pastoral letters and sharing devotions. This desire to care for God’s people has been present in my heart and actions for the last 10 years, and I have been afforded a new opportunity and perspective to share Christ’s love and mercy as an ordained pastor. 

I have been able to practice and share the same during our last 2 years of preparation and deployment in the United States, the Dominican Republic, and in Uruguay. I learned Spanish quickly and began writing, teaching, preaching, and providing spiritual care in short order, thanks be to God. It is a skill I hope to keep sharp for the rest of my life. The Lord has shown a new path to Rachel and I that we did not expect, and has seen fit to usher in a new season of life for our family. During this time we have been able to lead the first cohort of deaconess students from Uruguay in the distance diaconal program through the seminary in the Dominican Republic. I have been able to lead bible studies, provide spiritual care, plan and conduct services, and encourage and exhort the flock of Christ in the life of His Church, all in Spanish. Rachel has been able to spearhead the continuing education program for deaconesses trained through the seminary in the Dominican. These things are never in vain, no matter how short or how long a time a worker is called to serve. Please keep Christians throughout Central and South America in your prayers, especially in Uruguay.

We encourage you and your congregation to prayerfully consider how you may be involved locally or overseas with the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in the mission of God, that the Good News of Jesus Christ would go out to all peoples and all corners of the world. There are many opportunities and many deployed missionaries around the world, and you can explore this by speaking with the Mission Advancement team in OIM. However, there may even be opportunities in your own backyard to give a reason for the hope that is in you. No, not everyone is sent overseas as a missionary, but every Christian who dies at the baptismal font and leaves it alive and forgiven never really leaves those lifegiving waters. You are sent out newly each day, as a beloved child of God, carrying the same hope and forgiveness you received from your Lord.

Rachel and I are so grateful for your support and prayers, whether you have journeyed with us for a few months, a few years, or many more. There is no way for us to adequately thank you, but we are grateful as you have followed our paths to ministry, marriage, and being parents. We are blessed beyond measure from our time living in Kenya, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay, and from visiting the saints in New Mexico, Nebraska, Iowa, Maryland, Illinois, Maine, Pennsylvania, and so many other states. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for all you have done for our family, and most importantly, what you have prayerfully done so that this fallen world might hear and receive the light of Christ.

One of my favorite passages from Scripture has long been from Proverbs 16. “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord…the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (Prov. 16:1, 9) My life is proof of this passage. A hymn that comes to mind in this season of transition also encapsulates the uncertainty we experience in our lives, and also the courage and fearlessness that is ours in Christ. We have been set free, truly free! by Jesus’ death and resurrection which He has freely given to us. What then can we not do? Where then can we not be sent, now knowing of this great family of Christ of which we are now a part? Knowing that nothing can harm us, for our life is hidden away with Christ, we are the hands, feet, mouth, and love of Christ, whom He uses to work His love and mercy in the world.

"Come, follow Me," the Savior spake, "All in My way abiding; Deny yourselves, the world forsake, Obey My call and guiding. O bear the cross, whate'er betide, Take my example for your guide…”

Then let us follow Christ, our Lord, And take the cross appointed And, firmly clinging to His Word, In suff'ring be undaunted. For those who bear the battle's strain The crown of heav'nly life obtain.
(sts. 1, 5; LSB 688)

May the peace of God, which passes all human understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting. Amen.

With our deepest gratitude and love,
Rev. Phil and Deac. Rachel Jaseph

Link to Support LCMS Missionaries
Link to Support the Jaseph Family Missionaries