Lutherans in Medical Missions welcomes Rev. Claude Houge, pastor of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska, to its Board of Directors. Claude has been a school teacher, a lay minister, and a missionary with Lutheran Bible Translators in Liberia for 10 years. With the disruption of mission service because of the Liberian Civil War, Claude returned to the USA and attended Concordia Seminary, St. Louis to complete ministerial studies. Claude served as a vicar and associate pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Lincoln, Nebraska from 1995-1998.
In 1998, Claude returned to Africa under LCMS World Mission and served in Ghana, West Africa for 5 years. In 2004, Claude was reassigned to Kenya where he served as East Africa Area Facilitator, supervising LCMS mission work in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Sudan and developing mission partnerships with national Lutheran church bodies in those countries. Claude and his wife Rhoda, a partner in service to the church, returned to the States in February, 2011.
"Rev. Houge’s experience and years of service to the church in so many different capacities makes him a strong asset to the LIMM Board. His advice and counsel will be well appreciated, especially in regards to opportunities to partner with African Lutheran church bodies", states LIMM executive director Roberta Lautenschlager.
Rev. Houge fills the position left vacant by the recent resignation of Rev. Yohannes Mengsteab who has begun service as the director of the Lutheran Foundation of Indiana
