+ Missionary Ed Strohschein +

This morning, President Matthew C. Harrison and the Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver, director of Regional Operations for the Office of International Mission, sent the following letter to all LCMS missionaries. We offer it here in the hope that you will keep the Strohschein family as well as all of the missionaries and Office of International Mission staff who worked alongside Ed in your prayers. More details will follow in an upcoming Reporter Online story.

Dear ones,

In times like these, we, the Church, feel the miles between us profoundly. We wish we could be with you now, in the same room or at the same table, to share with you the news that the Lord has, in His infinite wisdom, seen fit to draw Ed Strohschein, business manager for the LCMS Asia Pacific region, to Himself following a marked battle with cancer.

We grieve with Ed’s wife, Shauna, and his son, John. We pray for both of them and for all his family. And we hurt with you, feeling the loss of our brother in Christ whose love of church and of God’s people was always evident.

Ed has finished his course in the faith, and a robust course it was! Ed was the son of missionaries who was born in the Philippines, went to school in the United States and returned to Asia in 1999 to serve his Lord and his church, anxious to share with those around him the good news of Christ’s grace and forgiveness. Using his keen business sense, Ed kept tabs on all things administrative and financial in that region, even assisting in the expansion of LCMS mission presence throughout the region.

And so we mourn, knowing that Ed now rests from his labors (and they were many!) and especially from a difficult past few months, even as we take joy in the promises of Christ: that we will receive Ed back on the final day and that we will spend eternity with him.

Know that each of you missionaries and your families are in our daily prayers too. The loss of a friend, a coworker, a fellow brother in Christ is trying and thorny. We will continue to check in with you, to pray for you, to ask our Lord to give you courage and faith to meet the days ahead. But we also encourage you to be in touch with us—if you would find it helpful—so that we can pray for your specific needs and can care for you as you seek to live in the joyful expectation of eternal life with Ed and with all who have departed the faith. Please remember that Ellie Corrow, missionary care coordinator, is eager to assist you in any way she can as well.

In times like these, we, the Church, feel the miles between us profoundly. We wish we could be with you now, in the same room or at the same table, to remember Ed, to comfort one another in our grief, to share in the consolation of Christ’s love and His promises. But we also know that in Christ and regardless of miles, we are already knit together into His family, His church, and that because He lives, Ed lives too.

Yours,

Pastor Matt Harrison, president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver, director of Regional Operation, Office of International Mission


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