Douglas Lynn Rutt

1. 12/16/1953 Mankato, Minnesota USA

 

Spouse/Family

Wife: Deborah Lynn (nee Olson), b. 3/6/1955 Farmington, Minnesota USA; m. 6/8/1974

Children: Becky René (Schulz) (1976); Sarah Beth (Williams) (1978); Aaron Daniel

(1979); Christa Anne (Kileff) (1982); Mical Johanna (Hilbert) (1984)

 

Dates of Service Field Call Assignment

1983-85 Guatemala Vicar/Evangelistic Missionary

1986-87 Guatemala Evangelistic Missionary, Theological Education

1991-95 Guatemala Evangelistic Missionary, Theological Education,

Missionary Counselor

 

Biographical Summary

Douglas (Doug) Rutt grew up in Mankato, Minnesota.  In high school he met Deborah (then Olson) and they began dating.  Doug enlisted in the U. S. Navy after graduating from high school, and he and Deborah were married two years later, in 1974.  They lived in Pensacola, Florida, where Doug worked as a mechanic for the U.S. Navy while also training as a commercial pilot.  Their daughter Becky was born in 1976.  In the same year, Doug was discharged from the Navy and the family moved back to Minnesota, where Doug was an instructor in the aviation science program at Mankato State University and chief flight instructor as well as charter and corporate pilot at Mankato Municipal Airport.

 

After two years in Minnesota, Doug’s career in aviation was going well; however, in 1978 he became inspired to study for the ministry, beginning in a pre-seminary track at Bethany Lutheran College.  Doug continued to work in aviation but also studied at Bethany until 1981, when he received his bachelor’s degree and enrolled at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  While Douglas was studying at Bethany, he and Deborah had a second daughter, Sarah, in 1978, and a son, Aaron, in 1979.

 

When Douglas began his studies at Concordia, he thought he would be a parish pastor.  That changed when he and Deborah signed up for an extracurricular Spanish class during Doug’s second year.  That year, mission board recruiters came to campus and asked the Rutts if they would be willing to go overseas.  Both were interested, and Deborah was particularly excited because she had a childhood dream of being a missionary.  They agreed to go, and when vicarages were posted, Doug was assigned to Cristo Rey Church in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Central America.  He was involved in ministries of church-planting, preaching, visitation, and evangelism, all in Spanish.  Becky, and later Sarah, attended a small school for missionary children called Hue-Hue Academy. Just before leaving for Guatemala, Douglas and Deborah had another daughter, Christa, in 1982.  In 1984, while still in Guatemala, daughter Mical was born and completed the family.  Deborah had her hands full with their large family, but she was involved with the church as well, particularly women and youth ministry.

 

After two years on vicarage, the Rutts had grown to love Guatemala and their ministry there so much that Doug tried to remain and finish his seminary training overseas.  Unfortunately, it was not possible, and the family returned to the U.S. in 1985 so Doug could finish his education and receive his M.Div. degree.  In addition to completing his studies, Douglas taught Spanish during his final year.  Upon Doug’s graduation the family was called back to Guatemala where Doug was to serve as an evangelistic missionary to the Quiché-speaking people in Guatemala’s western highlands.  He canvassed, organized worship groups and worked with the theological education and training of potential church leaders.  The Rutts’ older children attended the Inter-American School, which provided an American-style education, although the majority of its students were Guatemalan.  Deborah, again in addition to caring for their family, was involved in women’s ministries, and she always sought opportunities to witness to her faith.

 

After about a year and a half in Guatemala, Deborah acquired tropical sprue, a tropical disease that is difficult to recover from and extremely debilitating.  The entire family loved Guatemala and did not want to leave, but mission personnel determined that relocation to the U.S. was needed for Deborah to recover.  The Rutts were fairly certain they would never be able to go back into foreign mission.  Doug was called to be pastor of St. John Lutheran Church and School in St. James and Truman, Minnesota, where he ministered as pastor, circuit pastoral counselor, superintendent of the school, and alcohol and drug abuse counselor in a local treatment center.  His service lasted until 1991, when the Board for Mission Services contacted the Rutts and asked if they might be willing to return to Guatemala.  Having thought their foreign mission work was finished, they had not prepared for this development, and spent a few months talking it over, praying about their call, and discussing possibilities with World Mission.  Finally, they were called back into service, this time in Antigua, Guatemala.

 

For his third period of ministry in Guatemala, Doug was called to do evangelism but also and especially leadership training.  His responsibilities included planning and implementing a program of pastoral and lay-leadership training with and for the Lutheran Church in Guatemala (LCG).  In 1993 he was also asked to take on the responsibilities of director for the Lutheran Center for Theological Studies, where he administered the theological education program, taught and developed courses for the training of Guatemalan Lutheran pastors, and served on the certification committee for the LCG.

 

Deborah continued to serve in congregations, and she did some translating for medical personnel at a mission clinic near their home.  She also found creative ways of evangelism through her hobbies and interests.  Having always been interested in art and especially painting, she began studying with a skilled watercolor artist in Antigua.  The artist’s friends would sometimes visit them during lessons, and eventually Deborah was asked why she had come to Guatemala, which opened the door for her to talk about her love for Christ which had called her to serve in Guatemala.  The same happened with a woman who taught Deborah to weave cloth.  Deborah was grateful for the opportunity to talk about her faith, and by the time the Rutts left, her watercolor teacher was attending church.  Meanwhile, the Rutts’ five children all attended the Christian Academy of Guatemala (CAG), which was established by missionary parents to educate their children, following the curriculum of the United States.  Doug served on the board of CAG for a time.

 

In 1995, the Rutts took a furlough to the United States.  Doug hoped to finish the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Missiology he had begun in 1991 at Concordia Seminary, Ft Wayne before returning to Guatemala.  At the same time, the mission board had been considering having someone assigned to the faculty at Fort Wayne who would represent World Mission for the seminary, and they asked Doug to fill that position.  Although the family had planned to return to the mission field, after consideration Doug and Deborah decided their call was at the seminary.  Doug served for two years, with two-thirds of his time dedicated to teaching at the seminary and one-third to travel and teaching in Latin America.  Deborah began studies to finish her bachelor’s degree, graduating from Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin.  She then completed her master’s degree in clinical psychology, marriage and family therapy, in 1997 from Norwich University in Montpelier, Vermont.  Even during her studies, she worked full-time and continued to care for their children!

 

In 1997, Doug received his doctoral degree in missiology and was asked by World Mission to serve as Area Director for Latin America.  He did administrative work, supervised and assisted missionaries on the fields, and facilitated relationships with partner churches across the continent, acting as director for all of Latin American and the Caribbean from 1997-2000 and as director for southern Latin America from 2000-2003.  Deborah worked in fundraising positions in St. Louis, first at a social service agency and then at a middle school.

 

While working as director, Doug was also asked by Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne to resume his work as professor of pastoral ministry and mission.  From 2000 until 2003 he worked both for the seminary and World Mission.  He continues in his position as professor at the seminary until the present time.  He was the supervisor for the Ph.D. program in missiology from 2000-2006, when he became Dean for Distance Education.  Deborah served as Assistant Vice President for Advancement for the seminary from 2000 until 2007, when she began working with Lutheran Housing Support (a division of Lutheran World Relief).  Her work for this organization continues to the present day.  The Rutts’ commitment to mission work is unwavering, and Doug and Deborah contribute to the Lord’s work of mission through study, teaching, and equipping the church and its leaders to share the Gospel and help the neighbor in need.

 

Nota Bene

Deborah has become a Certified Fundraising Executive, which is a significant and not very common accomplishment among those who work in fundraising.

 

Deborah’s hobbies and skills have allowed her to share with others in interesting ways: she has written an article for a Christian women’s magazine, and one of her watercolor paintings has been shown in every continent except Antarctica!

 

Doug served as Missionary Counselor for the field in Guatemala from 1992-95.

He was an Adjunct Professor at Concordia University Wisconsin, Fort Wayne extension, from 1995-97, teaching courses in theology and multi-cultural communication.

He undertook part-time service with LCMS Board for Mission Services as Consultant for Theological Studies, working with development and assessment of theological education programs in Latin America and teaching theology in various Latin American countries.

Doug preached at the Mission Communion Service at the 1995 LCMS synodical convention in St. Louis, celebrating 100 years of LCMS foreign missions and deaf ministry.

Doug has served as editor of The Communicator, the bi-annual newsletter of the Lutheran Society for Missiology, from 2000 until the present.

He has also served as Translation Coordinator for International Lutheran Council from 1998 until the present.

Douglas is on the board of directors for Lutheran Bible Translators, currently serving as president.

 

Doug has written many articles on mission, including:

• “Strategic Planning in the Early History of Lutheran Mission Work in Guatemala,” Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly, November, 1996.
• “Liturgy and Ritual in an Animistic Context,” Missio Apostolica, November 1997.
• “Hiring National Missionaries: A Good Idea?” Missio Apostolica, Spring 2002.
• “Antioch as Paradigm for Urban Mission,” Missio Apostolica, 2003.
• “Contextualization in Evangelistic Conversation,” Missio Apostolica, May 2006. Later published in Spanish in Revista Teológica, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• “Global Mission Partnerships,” Evangelical Missiological Society, Regional Conference April 2008 and selected for National Conference, September 2008.
• Identidad Luterana.  Plenary Study for Latin American regional conference of International Lutheran Council, Canoas, Brazil, August 2008.
• Strength For Today, CPH, July 2009.

 

Phase 2 Information

 

Biggest missiological issue faced?

The relationship between a mission organization and a national church is always a challenge.  Lack of knowledge of cultural norms and issues can cause misunderstandings, and the way in which people related to each other was not always culturally aware.  Doug has done a lot of thinking, writing, and work on this issue because of its relevance to mission work across the world.

 

Some of the complication in relationships between mission agencies and local or host churches also has to do with handling of finances.  Many of the problems or arguments that arise regarding finances can be traced back to cultural differences.  Doug dealt with this in all his roles with the LCMS, as a missionary, area secretary and in education.

 

Most significant contribution during missionary service?

Doug was heavily involved in the establishment of a theological education program in Guatemala for the training of pastors.  The Guatemalan Lutheran church really had ownership in the setting up and administration of the program, and he was pleased that he was able to help make that happen.

 

Overall, in Latin America, missionaries and national churches have been open and willing to work with different models for theological training and theological education.  Most national churches don’t have residential seminaries, so Theological Education by Extension has been the dominant model for theological education. In fact, some of the ideas that were established on the mission field years ago are now being used in the U.S., particularly ideas about theological education.  As Dean of Distance Learning at the seminary, Doug himself is involved in shaping new forms of theological education, and this work also provides a connection between his work in Latin America and now in the U.S.

 

Connection to today’s mission?

As time has gone by and LCMS has sent missionaries to many fields, the LCMS now has a better understanding of how to relate to partner churches than it did in the past.  Doug is hopeful that he may have made some contribution to that greater understanding. LCMS is moving in the direction of greater sensitivity to cross-cultural relationships, particularly regarding financial issues and the use of money on the mission field.

 

Lessons Learned

• The value of approaching cross-cultural missionary work as a learner, rather than as a doer or an expert.
• Doug has observed the great vitality and commitment of Christians in other parts of the world.  Many people’s circumstances make it difficult to be faithful Christians, but believers are truly dedicated.
• Doug has gained a deep appreciation for pioneer missionaries who went before him and others in the field.  Often early missionaries are judged harshly by those who come later, but it’s they who took the initiative to begin work in wholly new places.  And at the same time, modern missionaries don’t necessarily have all the answers either.

 

Best Practices

• It’s important to be very aware of how use of financial resources can promote but also get in the way of the mission.
• Mission agencies, local churches, national churches, missionaries, and local Christians must learn how to work together as true interdependent partners.  If work is not done between these groups as interdependent partners, then a missionary’s work will be short-lived once the missionary leaves the field.
• Deborah found it important on the mission field that they had children; the children were as big a part of the mission work as Doug and Deborah.  They were able to try to model Christian family life, and many women, especially Indian women, visited them in order to see their kids.  For example, when youngest daughter Mical was born during their vicarage, many women asked about the baby and wanted to see her since she was so healthy.  This gave Deborah a chance to discuss good hygiene and the importance of breastfeeding (rather than using bottles, which often leads to tragic consequences in poor areas).

 

Phase 3 Information

 

Inspiration for entering foreign missions?

Deborah wanted to be a missionary long before Doug gave any thought to the possibility, and before they even met or began dating.  As a child, she read The Inn of the Sixth Happiness by Gladys Aylward, a British woman who served as a missionary in China in the early twentieth century.  Aylward overcame many obstacles, including the fact that she could not pass mission school and so had to plan and fund her own work in China since the church would not send her as their missionary.  She witnessed to the people living in the mountains of northern China, including drivers of mule trains whose mules she literally dragged into her shed so that the drivers would overnight in the village and she could talk to them about Christ.  These mule drivers would then share her stories with others along their route.  Aylward also successfully stopped a prison riot and gained better conditions for the prisoners, and she was one of the first people to work at unbinding the feet of young girls so they could walk normally.  Deborah grew up in a very strong Christian family, with parents who consistently taught and encouraged their children’s faith.  That, plus her fascination with the stories in Aylward’s book, made her want to be a missionary above anything.  As a girl, she thought that she would never marry but would live among people on a foreign mission field and witness to the love of Christ.

 

When Doug and Deborah met and fell in love, her parents were actually so concerned that she might never get to do the mission work she had dreamed of that they discussed with her that (as she and they both thought) marrying Doug would mean the end of her dreams of mission.  She knew she wanted to marry him and was willing to give up on going to the mission field, but in the end the Lord’s plans were for them to do mission together.

 

Through his education and the start of his career, Doug had never thought about becoming a missionary or even a pastor.  After being discharged from the Navy, he pursued a career in aviation.  He and Deborah did attend church, and Doug became involved in church activities, but the real change came when Doug and Deborah traveled to Ft. Wayne to visit Deborah’s brother, Thomas Olson, who was about to start his first year at seminary.  During the visit Doug read through a few theological books, and as he was reading Luther’s commentary on Genesis it struck him that theology and ministry was really the most important thing in the world with which anyone could be involved.  With this in mind, he spoke to his brother-in-law about studying for the ministry and decided that he would look at the possibility of studying at Bethany Lutheran College.  He asked a friend in Mankato to show him around Bethany, and even though classes had begun already, Doug found himself enrolled in Greek classes and preparing for a pre-seminary track! The next week he gave notice at his job.  After attaining his bachelor’s degree, he began seminary studies with the intent of being a parish pastor.

 

At the seminary, Deborah found it surprising that mission was not discussed very much among students or on campus.  However, in Doug’s second year, Eugene and Bernice Bunkowske came to campus on furlough from mission work in Nigeria, and Deborah’s call to mission was re-inspired as she attended mission  presentations given by Bernice.  Then when Doug and Deborah began taking Spanish during his second year of seminary, the experience led into Doug’s call to vicarage in Guatemala and their subsequent mission work.  No one could have predicted that their lives would turn out this way, but God is good and knew what plans He had for their ministry.

 

Quotation by/about or brief story:

• Doug has learned about the importance of prayer in his years in ministry.  Many times a person doesn’t know how the prayers of others are upholding him or her. Shortly after having resumed his job as professor in Fort Wayne, Doug was visiting Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis and met a pastor from India who was there as a student.  The pastor greeted him by saying, “Oh, Dr. Rutt, I’m so pleased to meet you.  Your birthday is December 16.”  It turned out that he knew all the Rutts’ birthdays.  When Doug expressed surprise, the pastor told him that at his congregation in India, they had received a flyer from World Mission about the Rutts’ work, and the flyer listed all their birthdays.  For the past ten years his congregation in India had prayed for them on each of their birthdays.  It was very moving for Douglas to learn that people halfway around the world who he didn’t even know were praying for so long

 

• Deborah recalls a significant event from her time spent translating for the medical mission clinic near Antigua.  The day before the end of one clinic, a couple came in with a little boy of about two years old.  The child was extremely sick, with a rash all over his body, terrible cough, and high temperature. The couple brought him to the medical staff and said that they had heard that “your God” could heal their child, although the witch doctor they had first consulted was unable to heal him.  The staff was very concerned because the child was so sick and they weren’t able to help him as well as they would have liked.  Because it was the end of the day, all their needles that were small enough to give him intravenous medicine had been used. They prayed over the child and tried to decide what they could do, eventually giving him a shot of penicillin while a nurse worked to make him as clean and comfortable as possible.  The staff continued to pray and witness to his parents as they did all they could.  Still, it appeared that he probably would not live.  The mission doctor, who was a short-term volunteer, was leaving Guatemala the next day, so staff taught the boy’s parents how to give him penicillin shots and sent them home with an adequate supply.  Deborah went home thinking she would never know what had happened, but several weeks later she ran into some Lutheran Bible Translators who were working near the village where the boy and his parents lived.  One of the missionaries told Deborah that he had been to the family’s village and had seen the parents at the market, when they ran up to him and said, “We want to know more about your God, who was able to heal our child!”  It turned out that the boy had lived and had recovered from his illness!  Not only was it a great relief to Deborah that the child had not died, but it provided an amazing opportunity for witness among this family and the people of the village.