Our missionaries we support at St. John's:
The Paul Family
Rev. Dr. Michael and Jen-Yi “Irene” Paul serve the Lord as missionaries through The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) in Taiwan. In this role, Michael serves as a theological educator for the China Evangelical Lutheran Church. He teaches in congregations and at China Lutheran Seminary, Hsinchu. He also writes and translates Lutheran Chinese resources and helps mentor new church workers.
Michael was born in Cotabato City, the Philippines, where his parents were LCMS missionaries. He received a bachelor’s degree in linguistics, with a minor in Chinese, from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He received his Master of Divinity and a doctorate in doctrinal theology from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Michael served six years in Macau and one year in Taiwan as an LCMS missionary. He also served as an associate pastor at his home congregation, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Evansville, Ind., where he planted and led the Chinese Mission that began at this church in 2011. Michael enjoys music and running.
Jen-Yi “Irene” was born in Chiayi, Taiwan. Her home congregation is also St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Evansville, Ind. She received a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Concordia University, Nebraska, Seward. She earned a master’s degree in special education from Wayne State University, Detroit. Jen-Yi “Irene” worked as a learning disabilities and special education teacher. She enjoys music and exercising. Michael and Jen-Yi “Irene” have three adult children, Rachel, Jonathan, and Elizabeth, and one grandchild, Enoch.
The Tiews Family
The Rev. Dr. Christian and Gudula (Lula) Tiews serve the Lord as career missionaries through The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) in Germany. As a missionary pastor, Christian works with the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK), the Synod’s partner church in Germany, to reach out to Germans and Farsi-speaking immigrants from the Middle East. In addition, he offers English classes, translates English theological materials into German, and assists in the new English-language Bachelor of Theology program offered by Luther Academy, Riga (aka the Livonian Lutheran Project), as a mentor of future pastors and coordinator of other mentors throughout the Eurasia region.
Christian was born in Munich, Germany. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and a master’s degree from the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, Germany, before working as a translator and salesman for several German companies. He later earned a Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, (2009) and a Doctor of Ministry from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (2017). Before becoming a missionary, he served as associate pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Tulsa, Okla., (2009–2015) and as sole pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Okmulgee, Okla. (2015–2021). In his free time, Christian enjoys spending time with his family, reading, hiking and sailing.
Lula was born in Telgte, Germany. She earned a bachelor’s degree in library science from the Technical University of Cologne, Germany. Prior to serving as a missionary, Lula worked as an IT consultant and enterprise architect. For many years, she also served as a travel director and cultural connector. These experiences were instrumental in leading her and Christian to help establish sister city relations between Tomball, Texas, and Telgte in 1999. In her free time, Lula enjoys traveling, reading, hiking, making crafts, cooking and baking sourdough bread. She and Christian have six children—one of whom, Lillian—will move with them to Germany.