雷蒙孔特雷拉斯, MA ’04, coordinator of Lutheran Border Concerns Ministries (LBCM) in San Diego, 与母校建立了独特的伙伴关系, hosting and training groups of 欧文康考迪亚大学 students annually as they build homes, 在南部边境的孤儿院服务，在教堂做礼拜.
“这些旅行太受欢迎了，我们不得不拒绝人们,95岁的Jonathan Ruehs说, MA ’15, pastor of missions and outreach for 欧文康考迪亚大学’s campus ministry, 艾比西. “The attraction for returning students is how 拉蒙 oversees and directs the whole process. 他的个性使他成为一个很容易交谈的人. 它能帮助我们深入并参与其中.”
Rebecca Duport ’95, director of the DCE program, also takes teams of students to work with LBCM.
“雷蒙是个有趣的人，”她说. “It’s neat to see our students grow in relationship with him and to experience the kind of ministry he has to our students at Concordia. 这对我们的项目来说是一个非常积极的方面.”
LBCM connects people in Mexico who have material and spiritual needs with people in the U.S. 谁有能力和祝福提供帮助. 来自美国的一个群体可能想要建造一座房子, 另一个人可能想带食物, 或者组织儿童活动, 或者给一个社区传福音.
“I help them organize the trip, come across the border and do the activities,孔特雷拉斯说. “我还解释了墨西哥的文化是如何运作的.”
孔特雷拉斯出生在墨西哥城, 大部分时间在提华纳长大, 他几乎从出生那天起就在教堂里. But he never considered a career in ministry until traveling with his church to bring clothing and food to people living in mountainous jungles on the border of Oaxaca and Veracruz.
星期天，当地的牧师病了, 我的同事不想布道，所以他们说, “你能做到的, 拉蒙. ’”他笑着回忆道. 于是，我在19岁的时候做了第一次布道. When I got back, my pastor said, ’Would you be interested in going to seminary someday?’我说:‘我不知道.“第二天醒来，我说，‘为什么不呢?’”
我在那四年里学到了很多... 我是一个社区的牧师和领袖.
Contreras graduated with a bachelor’s degree from a seminary in Mexico City in 1996, then was hired by Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) in Tijuana to be their media coordinator. “The Lord smiled on me and gave me a different job than I was expecting,他说. “就在那时，我与路德教会建立了联系.”
雷蒙站在教堂外
He was particularly drawn to three aspects of Lutheran theology: the law and gospel; the right hand and left hand of the kingdom; and Martin Luther’s famous phrase, “我站在这里, 上帝会帮助我!三年来，他走访了许多广播电台, TV stations and newspapers on behalf of LHM and arranged air time and print articles. But his heart was drawn to full-time, called ministry, so he decided to attend Concordia Irvine.
但首先，他必须学习英语. 他开玩笑说:“我当时的英语和现在的中文差不多。.
欧文康考迪亚大学 placed him in a summer English as a second language program which Contreras found to be an “excellent surprise. 在1到10的范围内，它是11分.”
That fall he was able to enroll in classes at CUI’s 跨文化事工中心 (formerly the Ethnic Pastor Certification Program).
“能在菲律宾十大网赌网站学习，我真的很兴奋，”他说. “I saw a lot of possibilities to help many people through the ministry.第二个惊喜是他在第一学期得了两个a.
“我当时想，‘什么?“老师们对我很好, 在我有问题的时候帮助我, 被病人, 花时间,他说. “我能表演对我来说是一个很大的惊喜.”
His favorite classes were Mike Middendorf’s class on Romans, and New Testament Greek. 尽管孔特雷拉斯从未在美国生活过.S.在美国，他感到宾至如归.
“I enjoyed walking around campus and playing intramural soccer,他说. “我总是被邀请参加各种各样的活动. 那些都是结交朋友的好机会. 我在康科迪亚感到很受欢迎.” He also broadened his understanding of ministry beyond church-based work. “I learned how to establish something new and fresh that impacts the community around you,他说. “我在那四年里学到了很多 that I am not a pastor or leader of a church, 我是一个社区的牧师和领袖. 这对我至今的事工都很有帮助.”
毕业时，他祷告说:“主啊，我准备好了. 你呼唤我，我将跟随你的指引.”
在南加州教会服事一段时间后, he came to LBCM in 2010 and began pursuing partnerships with a greater number of churches and missions in Mexico and the U.S. 他还致力于扩大喂养和资助儿童的项目, to help youth stay in school and to train lay pastors at the Bible institute level.
“这些变化对社区产生了影响，”他说. “我想用不同的方式接触更多的人 by making small and big changes. 你可以怪我在康科迪亚的老师.”
在过去的四年里, LBCM已经建立了五个传教会和两个新教堂, adding to the seven churches and one mission they worked with before. (在传教会中，一个俗人指导教会的活动.) LBCM serves breakfast to poor children twice a week in twelve locations, 在两家孤儿院工作.
“I measure ministry by the opportunities we provide for American people coming to Tijuana, 以及在墨西哥服役的人们,孔特雷拉斯说. “The more mission teams are helping, the more people we help in Mexico.”
雷蒙和克利夫·波利和宣教团的学生
Duport says working with Contreras is always fun, uplifting—and challenging. For one thing, Contreras often teaches by allowing people to discover their own solutions.
“I love that he often doesn’t tell us what or how, but puts out options,” says Duport. “他会问，‘你们团队想要体验什么? 你是想回到原来的地方，还是想体验一个新的地方?’ He doesn’t tell you a right answer but lets you figure it out and then affirms you for having a servant’s heart. 我觉得这太神奇了.”
说到盖房子, 需要方向, and Contreras and his fellow worker Alejandro provide it—but not overly so.
我想用不同的方式接触更多的人...你可以怪我在康科迪亚的老师.
“When we get there, the concrete slab is already poured,杜波特说. “然后你建了四堵墙. 现场到处都是胶合板和二乘四的材料. 雷蒙当场任命你. “谁来用锯子砍呢?? 这是裁好的纸.他就如何又快又有效地锤打上了一节简短的课. 然后我们开始工作.”
而不是指挥工作的每一个方面, Contreras prefers to empower students to think through decisions on their own, 把他们变成工头或“小雷蒙”,杜波特这样称呼他们. 他对我说, “如果我告诉他们该怎么做, 他们永远也学不会, 但如果我让他们发现, 他们将.“他说得完全正确. I’ve learned a lot from him about how he makes this happen administratively.”
如果你工作太慢，他们会幽默地让你知道. Spend too much time hammering a nail, and Alejandro will start snoring.
“雷蒙教会了我们很多文化方面的知识, the ministry and the relationship between the church community and the neighborhood,杜波特说. “我们期待着每年都去.”
Contreras has stayed with LBCM longer than he expected because of the constant opportunities to do something new.
“It makes me happy and really blessed to be creative and do ministry in different ways,他说. “I get three things from being here: I’m doing what the Lord told me to do, 那是服侍你的兄弟姐妹呢, 爱他们，教他们福音. 第二个, 我喜欢墨西哥人有家这样的东西, 学校用品, 一个统一的, 还有教育, 同时也是神的道. 第三, I know that when I retire from this position there will be plenty of work for the guy after me. 未来更大.”
孔特雷拉斯喜欢他与欧文康考迪亚大学的联系, and spends time personally with every team of 欧文康考迪亚大学 students.
“我用它们敲钉子, 和他们一起吃饭, 和他们一起笑, 和他们一起祈祷, 和他们一起敬拜，奉献他们所做的,他说. “I want to thank Concordia for the opportunity to be trained and become what I am now. 我骨子里是一只鹰.”