Meet Us Monday: Pastor Bombaro & family, Eurasia Mission

Weekly all-school Chapel services are an important part of our ILS culture, and we warmly invite parents, siblings, grandparents, and friends to join us for these services.

A voluntary offering will be collected at weekly Chapel services throughout the year. The offerings will be distributed to Pastor Bombaro & family, for their missionary work in Latvia, and Mr. Aaron Schultz, to support him and his family as he pursues his Master of Divinity at Concordia Theological Seminary.

We’re using our Meet Us Monday series to introduce (or re-introduce) ILS families to Pastor Bombaro and Mr. Schultz, and their families, to better understand how our prayers and offerings will be supporting them and their work this year.

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The Bombaros accepted a call from the LCMS Office of International Missions to Riga, Latvia, where they will aid in the EU and English credentialing of Latvia’s only seminary, plant an English-speaking Lutheran church in the capital, teach and mentor seminarians, and provide theological education throughout Eurasia.

1. Can you remind our families of your connection to ILS?

Melinda and I, along with our kids, are members of ILC. Our three youngest children (Marie 14, Anna 12, and Luca 10) attended ILS until this term. I have preached at ILC perhaps 10 times over the past year and led 18 children last year to their first holy communion and conducted the Confirmation class of 12, who were confirmed on Pentecost 2019.

2. How did you spend your summer?

Melinda and the kids returned to Melinda’s hometown, as they do each summer, in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada, where they attend St. Syr Bible Horse Camp. They moved back to San Diego in August where Melinda is developing our missionary support network. I have been working at The Pentagon and promoting the Eurasia Mission throughout churches from DC to the West Coast. Sophia and I spent a couple weeks in Odessa, Ukraine, and Riga, Latvia, with the Eurasia Missionary Team advancing the work that we’ll be doing there.

3. Can you share a brief overview of the work you will be doing in Latvia?

I will be serving as the Assistant Director of Eurasia and Associate Director of Theological Education for Eurasia. This work entails the organization and execution of no less than 12 theological conferences in the region for the enrichment and training of pastors; the development of the curriculum for Riga Luther Academy, along with its English credentialing and EU credentialing. Of course, I will be teaching at the Riga Luther Academy as a faculty member. We will also be participating in the establishment of the English-speaking congregation in Jurmala.

4. What are you most looking forward to in Latvia?

It will actually be our first year in Latvia. We are looking forward to building community and establishing the effectiveness of our ministry and making an impact both personally and institutionally.

5. Can you give us a glimpse of a "day-in-the-life" for you this fall?

This fall is all about network development so that we can deploy at the end of 2019, but also maintaining my status as a reservist and conference speaker. The daily routine entails waking early. Devotion. Exercise. Hitting the phones and computer for opportunities to present the Eurasia Mission and writing assignments to advance the work of the Lutheran Church. The kids will be “attending” Wittenberg Academy, a classical Lutheran online education. The courses are demanding and we are in the midst of language acquisition (German and Latvian). So, there’s lots of studying, too.

6. How can the ILS community pray for you?

Pray that the transition to Latvia goes smoothly – from flights, to shipments, to finding a home and getting it up and running. Most importantly pray that we establish community and routine as quickly as possible so that the work of the gospel advances without delay. And pray that the Lord would protect us from the wiles of the devil.