Isaac Baroi presently works as a vicar at Living Faith Lutheran Church and Grace Lutheran in Midtown as he prepares for the pastoral ministry through Concordia Seminary St. Louis. He is studying through Concordia’s Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology. Under the Lord’s direction and provision, he will eventually start a Lutheran Church that will reach out primarily to refugee families in the Clarkston, Georgia area. Vicar Baroi is very grateful to all the dear saints of God who generously provided him with a wonderful, dependable vehicle for his work and ministry. Glory and thanks to God!
To give you an idea of the future of the ministry, these are the articles of belief for the new LCMS congregation. We thank Rev. Bruce Lieske for serving as the architect for the document.
BY-LAWS
IN GOD WE TRUST LUTHERAN CHURCH
ARTICLE I. PURPOSE
The single purpose of In God We Trust (hereafter, “IGWT”) is to win Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and other unbelievers as disciples of Jesus, as he said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) and as exemplified in Revelation 7:9: “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”
This purpose will be accomplished by proclaiming the Gospel to the aforementioned people groups through printed, broadcast and personal word in the following ways:
- Identify, train, equip and deploy missionaries for the work of evangelism.
- Study and teach about Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism so that Christians may better understand these people groups and reach those trapped in idolatry.
- Develop a missiology for this evangelism which is congruent with our confessional Lutheran theological position.
- Produce or identify pamphlets, curricula, tracts and audio-visuals for use by
- Equip interested Christians to actively share the Gospel in a loving, respectful, bold and prayerful manner.
- Mentor LCMS congregations on how to assimilate Christians from Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist backgrounds into their congregations.
- Raise prayer, volunteer, and financial support to accomplish this work.
- Establish branches which will be led by a missionary.
ARTICLE II. DOCTRINAL STANDARDS
IGWT affirms that “all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). As a result of affirming these truths, IGWT also holds the following convictions:
- We believe in the full and verbal inspiration and authority of all the 66 canonical books of the Old Testament and New Testament as the divinely inspired and inerrant Word of God and submit to them as the only infallible authority in all matters of faith and practice.
- We believe all the confessional writings in the Book of Concord of the year 1580 as true and genuine expositions of doctrines in the Bible.
ARTICLE III. MANNER OF OPERATION
We are committed to live the Scripture which exhorts us “always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15). therefore we affirm:
- Our hope is in Jesus, who abides in every Christian; we believe, teach and confess that He alone is the Savior for all mankind.
- Our manner of relating to Christian and non-Christian alike shall be in imitation of Jesus the Christ – forgiving one another as he has forgiven us and loving our
- We shall bear witness to Jesus in a manner which is bold, yet which respects the dignity of each person.
- Our love for Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists will not be tempered by how they receive our witness for Christ; our love for them is unconditional.
As a mission society of The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, we welcome and encourage all believers in Jesus to stand with us to proclaim the Gospel to these people groups.