Ron and Dorothy Siemers recently joined together with family members to become WELS Mission Partners. This partnership allows the family to support a specific world mission field financially and spiritually. Here Ron explains how their partnership was formed:

Question: How did your family decide to become Mission Partners together?

Answer: I was aware of the importance of Mission Partners, and I decided to ask my oldest son and two oldest daughters whether they would help support a mission as a family. They all agreed.

Question: How did you decide with which mission to partner?

Answer: This was very easy because we have known Pastor Charles Flunker [a missionary in Dourados, Brazil]; his wife, Beth; and their children since 1968 when he was our vacancy pastor at Lincoln Heights in Des Moines, Iowa.

Question: How has this partnership been a blessing to you and your family?

Answer: It’s an inspiration just to know the Flunkers, who are so dedicated to mission work. It’s also a blessing that we can help their cause in Brazil and are communicating with them on a regular basis. We will see them on furlough this summer. [Missionary Flunker] is giving his presentation on the Dourados mission at our son’s congregation, Trinity, Nicollet, Minn., and at our congregation, Acension, Rochester, Minn.

In the meantime, Flunker is keeping the Siemers informed about his mission work via e-mail. Here is an excerpt from his December 2003 update:

“Here in our Christian family in Dourados we could ply you with statistics proving the blessings of the Lord, but we prefer to think about those individual trophies of grace that gladden our hearts and lighten our days: the woman who looked like an unlikely prospect when brought to church by her neighbor, but who turns out to be a real jewel in the Lord’s kingdom and in service to the congregation; the evangelist-in-training who shows such a wonderful talent and courage for reaching out with the Word; . . . the grandfather who, when being instructed, said, “If I had only learned all this 30 years ago!” and is now working so hard to reach out to all his children and grandchildren.”

For more information about Mission Partners, contact the Commission for Communication on Financial Support, 1-800-827-5482, or visit archive.wels.net/mpg.