The vision for the formation of CALMS grew out of the mission society movement in the 1990s that was taking place in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Congregations and their members wanted to be more directly involved in serving others and sharing their faith instead of delegating their mission responsibility to the denomination. They wanted to take more responsibility for fulfilling the Great Commission to "make disciples of all nations."
One of these congregations desiring more direct involvement in the mission was "Gloria Dei" Lutheran Church in Houston, Texas. This congregation already had some connections with Panama and was looking for a way to involve their members in making a difference with fellow Lutherans in Panama.
Pastor Steve Hughey, who was serving at the time as the Director for Mission Partnerships for the LCMS met in 1999 with leaders from Gloria Dei to help them form a new mission society in order to not only involve their own members, but to encourage other like-minded congregations to become more active in global mission work.
Steve helped Gloria Dei develop a constitution for the new organization and encouraged them to think beyond their involvement in Panama toward the time when they might be serving in other Central American countries. He also helped CALMS become an active member of the Association of Lutheran Mission Agencies (ALMA), which he had helped found in the mid-1990s to help Lutheran mission agencies and mission-active congregations work together to advance the mission.
In 2006, Pastor Hughey was called to serve as a full-time executive director for CALMS. By then the work had expanded from Panama to include new work in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Guatemala. Since he and his wife had served as missionaries in Venezuela and Mexico for many years, he was eager to return to that area of the world.
CALMS has continued to expand its outreach and now works also in Belize and Costa Rica in addition to the above mentioned countries.
The focus of the work is different in each country, but in every location CALMS seeks to work in a flexible and respectful manner with partners to serve the hurting and share the Good News of Jesus with those now outside the Body of Christ.
In addition to beginning new work in several new countries during the past two years, CALMS has also been blessed with several new staff people. Dawn Timm, a former missionary to Russian and Jewish people, is serving as the short-term logistics coordinator. Pastor Miguel Torneire, a former missionary to Guatemala, now serves as a missionary counselor and helps develop strategic short-term projects with Central American partners. Tom Brickler serves as CALMS business manager.
