Dr. Mike Rodewald serves as a mission consultant for Mission of Christ Network.
Mike began overseas service with Lutheran Bible Translators as a missionary in northern Liberia (western Africa). He served with the Bandi ethnic group from 1981 to 1987, partnering to develop an orthography and literacy materials in support of Bible translation. He returned to the US to work on a graduate degree and met Cindy, who was also studying linguistics. Mike and Cindy were married in 1990 and returned to Liberia in 1991, hoping a civil war that had erupted would soon cool down. They helped with relief efforts and initiated literacy materials and programs with refugees who had gathered in the capital city of Monrovia. When a ceasefire failed in late 1992, Mike and Cindy and their newly born son, Caleb, evacuated from Liberia to Cote d’Ivoire.
The Rodewalds were asked to serve in Botswana with the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa. They accepted and made a new home in support of the Kalanga Bible Translation Project in northeastern Botswana from 1993 through 2007. Sons, Jacob and Seth, were born in these years ,and Mike used his linguistic skills to serve multiple language groups forming orthographies for Bible translation efforts by Lutheran Bible Translators.
In January 2008, Mike accepted a call to serve with the LCMS Office of International Mission as LCMS Regional Director–Africa to facilitate LCMS missionaries, projects and church relationships with Lutheran church bodies in twenty-four nations throughout Africa. He and his family moved to live in South Africa, and he served as regional director for eight years.
Lutheran Bible Translators called Mike to be CEO in 2014, and the family moved back to the US. Mike enjoyed his time as CEO partnering with Lutheran Bible Translator missionaries, staff, mission organizations such as Illuminations and Mission of Christ Network, as well as African church bodies in Africa building the vision for mission and Bible translation. He retired as CEO at the end of 2022.
Mike believes passionately that God’s word is for all people and serves to help others understand and reduce the cross-cultural barriers that keep the world from understanding God’s message. He feels honored to continue to find ways to utilize his experience so that others may know Jesus too.
Mike is originally from Missouri. He holds a Ph.D. in Missiology from Concordia Theological Seminary and a Master’s in Linguistics from the University of Texas–Arlington.