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Lutheran Church Missouri Synod
Our main church body is the LCMS.
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LHMI Staff
Rev. Richard & Maritza Schlak, Executive Director & Spouse
Rev. Schlak grew up near Chicago, Illinois. He received a B.A. in Biblical Studies and General Sciences from Concordia University (Ann Arbor, Michigan) in 1981, and went on to study at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. As part of his studies at the Seminary, Rev. Schlak served as a vicar for two years in Mexico City. After receiving his Master of Divinity degree in 1986, he traveled to Venezuela to serve as an evangelistic missionary for 17 years. In Venezuela, Rev. Schlak was active in church revitalization, church planting, theological education, and youth ministry, and acted as the pastoral counselor for the national women’s society. He also met Maritza, his wife, through the matchmaking efforts of fellow missionaries. Rev. and Mrs. Schlak have three children. In 2003, Rev. Schlak returned to the United States to pursue doctoral studies at the seminary. He is presently in the process of writing his dissertation on the interpretation of Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. In 2007, Rev.Schlak accepted the call to serve as executive director and principal instructor at the Lutheran Hispanic Missionary Institute.
Sue Lozano, Administrative Assistant
Sue Lozano was born and raised in Ohio. She studied to be a Director of Christian Outreach at Concordia College, St. Paul, Minnesota and graduated in 1996. In 1995, she married Mario Lozano and they are raising four children. Mario is currently serving at Mission Lutheran Church in Las Cruces as a Deacon for theHispanic ministry. Sue has served at different churches as a DCO in Southeastern Wisconsin working in Hispanic ministries, but most recently was the administrative assistant at a home health agency in Wisconsin before moving to Las Cruces, NM.
Rev. R. Paige Mathews, Director of Development
R. Paige Mathews was born in Sedalia, Missouri in 1951 and graduated from High School in Galion, Ohio in 1969. He spent four years, 1971 to 1975, on active duty in the United States Air Force and received an Honorable Discharge. Paige then attended Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, Tennessee where he received a BS in Bible and Preaching in 1979. After attending Emmanuel School of Religion and East Tennessee State University, he received a MA in Communication Studies from Bloomsburg University in 1987. Paige taught Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication at Bloomsburg University from 1987 to 1993, and taught Public Speaking at Lincoln Christian College East Coast in 1998. Paige was Ordained into the Christian Ministry in 1979.
Paige held Associate Ministry positions in Johnson City, Tennessee and Jacksonville, Florida before becoming the Senior Minister of the Berwick Christian Church in Berwick, Pennsylvania, a position he held for nine years. Paige directed the Christian Evangelizing Association, a new church planting ministry, for sixteen years while living in Pennsylvania. In 1994, Paige and his family helped to start Celebrate Life Christian Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Paige worked with The Christian Church Extension Foundation on either a part-time or fulltime basis from 1994 to 2003. He became Vice President in 1997 and directed the Capital Fundraising Program. On January 1, 2003, Paige became the Business Manager for the Corporation for Community Christian Connections, a development company for LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont, Colorado, a church of approximately 4,000. He serves as President of FIA Consulting which services the Leadership, Management, and Financial needs of local churches. In April of 2008, Paige accepted the position of Director of Development for the Lutheran Hispanic Missionary Institute in El Paso, Texas.