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Honors Marge Kemp |
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Responding to the need for more professional church workers, the Florida-Georgia District Board of Directors in November of 2006 established the Servants for the Future endowment fund to support student aid for church workers, further the development of the District’s Concordia House of Studies and to expand campus ministry.
Thanks to a generous commitment from William Kemp of Key West, FL, the Servants for the Future fund is approaching $200,000 in pledges. Kemp recently made an initial gift and total commitment of $100,000 to the endowment to honor his mother, veteran missionary Marge Kemp. Mrs. Kemp was born and raised in Clinton, IA, where she graduated from Scolville Business College. In 1943 she joined the Navy Waves. She was sent to San Diego where she met and married her husband in 1945. After leaving the Navy, they moved to Key West, FL. While raising her four children, Mrs. Kemp was active in her local congregation and in the LWML, where she served on the Zone board for six years and the District board for four years. At the age of 56, Mrs. Kemp found herself in a what she termed a “difficult situation — suddenly single.” She decided to go back to school, left Key West for Concordia College in Milwaukee, WI. Mrs. Kemp graduated as a Certified Lay Minister with a BA degree in Theology. She entered Campus Ministry, specializing in international students at Calvary Lutheran Chapel-Madison, WI. There she established and was the first director of the International Friendship Center. |
She retired from Calvary Chapel in 1984, and was appointed as special consultant to the LCMS Campus Ministry, a new program funded by a grant from the LWML. She traveled the country, teaching others to set up international student ministry programs.
From there she became the International Student Coordinator at Peace Campus Center, Stevens Point, WI. She was also the director of the English Conversation Program. Five years later, Mrs. Kemp was named the International Student Coordinator for the LCMS’ North Wisconsin District. She organized Ministry of Friendship with Internationals, a guide to assist pastors and lay people in how they can reach out to international students. In 1995, at the age of 75, Mrs. Kemp again retired and moved to Lutheran Haven in Oviedo. She taught Bible study classes for international students in her home and ESL classes at a local community college. She followed that with six months of volunteer service in Thailand and continues in retirement serving on the District’s TEMP (Thailand Evangelical Mission Partnership) Board, as well as participating in a Japanese Bible study group. “God is not finished with you until He calls you home — and He’s got work for you to do if you keep yourself tuned to the needs of those around you,” Mrs. Kemp said. She encourages retirees to stay active in service to the Lord as “armchair missionaries” by inviting internationals to their home for conversations in English. |
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