Dear saints of God in Austin, Texas:
My name is Nathan Zastrow, and I've just finished my second year at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wisconsin. I have two reasons for writing you today. The first is to enthusiastically accept the call you've extended to me through the Assignment Committee of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod. As part of the recent Seminary Chorus tour, I never seriously considered that I would be able to serve any of the congregations we were visiting, much less one as active and beautiful as Holy Word. But then, there is always reason to thank God that he does not think like we do!
The second reason that I write you today – in light of the first – is to tell you a little about myself. The vast majority of my early experience was defined by farm life. My father is a dairy farmer in rural Mayville, Wisconsin, and my mother is everything that a farmer's wife is expected to be – a secretary, farm hand, cook, etc. Beyond our thresholds, my dad worked three-hundred acres and tended to about one hundred dairy cows with our help. Inside the house, my mom helped raise five kids, of which I am the middle. I'd love to introduce each of my siblings to you, but it might be better to wait for another day.
My parents attend the nearest WELS church to their house – which is were I grew up in faith – about three miles to the southwest. This is rural Wisconsin, after all, and you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a tiny Lutheran congregation drafted long before Henry Ford gave us cars. As a pastor once told me, “Three miles is about as far as you wanted to go on a Sunday morning on horse and buggy.” So between the grade school and church, I spent six days a week on the little campus of Zum Kripplein Christi Ev. Lutheran Church in rural Iron Ridge. The grade school has since been closed – a sad day for all of us – but the congregation remains. I was part of the largest class to ever attend ZKC; there were ten of us.
It was in grade school, however, that I first thought of becoming a pastor. So I continued my education by boarding at Luther Preparatory School in Watertown, Wisconsin, where I became good friends with some Texans that a few of you may know – Jared Platzer, son of Neil and Susan at that time in the Houston area, and Thomas Vos, whose parents I never got to meet. It was a good school, and looking back I can say that it was the perfect experience for a timid farm boy who lacked nothing as dramatically as experience.
Luther Prep served its own purpose and ushered me flawlessly into Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota. That's where I eventually met a certain Zachary Gebert, a name you might recognize. Like Zach, I studied Greek and Hebrew from men who were both great professors and excellent pastors. We studied history, some math, and everything else that a college degree requires. But one of my favorite subjects at MLC was Spanish, which I took every semester for all four years. I had prayed that it would serve me well, and it has. Now I pray that it will also serve you well!
Upon entering the Seminary, I was asked by WELS Kingdom Workers if I would be willing to do some work for a congregation on the south side of Milwaukee. Eager to get some ministry experience, I said yes. So for the past two years I have been making and maintaining Spanish-language contacts for Saint Andrew Ev. Lutheran Church. We started by making “cold calls” to nearby houses and eventually got regular contact through ESL classes held in the church basement with the help of congregational volunteers. We'd have an hour and forty-some minutes of class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, followed by a simple Bible study and prayer. It has been a great experience for me and whether you'll notice it or not, Holy Word owes a lot to Saint Andrew in preparing me for my vicar year.
That's Nathan Zastrow in a nutshell. I'm looking forward to adding another chapter with your help – and I pray that I can add something to the unique gifts that God has already given to Holy Word. Pray along with me, OK?
See ya'll later. (I'm practicing!)
– Nathan G. Zastrow
