before rev. jeffrey Horn accepted the call to serve as an LCMS career missionary in Papua New Guinea, he considered the challenges: z leaving the parish ministry and a beloved flock after 15 years. z ensuring that his wife, Lora, also wanted to make the dramatic leap from their Garrett, Ind., parish — Zion Lutheran — to a remote mission field with a new culture and more than 900 spoken languages. z asking the couple’s children to say goodbye to friends, grandparents, pets and snow. But even as Horn, 42, weighed the hurdles, he says “a pressing need” weighed on his heart. “The need in Papua New Guinea is strong,” he said. “Their system for training pastors has broken down in many ways, and if . . . they don’t find a way to get that going again, they won’t have pastors to help the
churches; the churches then will struggle, and lots of the people who came to faith in the last 20 to 40 years might not have that faith preached to them.” longtime desire Since his childhood in Los Angeles, Horn has longed to serve as a pastor and a missionary. He remembers hearing a sermon when he was around age 6 about the need to reach all people with the Gospel. He felt the pastor was speaking directly to him. Growing up with an international mix of friends fueled his desire to be a missionary, Horn says, making him a person who enjoys “other cultures and people from all over the world.” But when he graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary
The LCMS began work in Papua New Guinea in 1948, at the invitation of a Wauni tribal leader in2012 Yaramanda, Enga Province November–December lcms.org/LUTHERANSengage
ISTOCK; LCMS
Going the Distance from Indiana to PapuaNew Guinea
by Kim Plummer Krull
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