Pastor Mike Okine
/Volunteer of the Month
We often hear the phrase, “the Lord works in mysterious ways.” This has truly been the case in the life of Pastor Mike Okine of Messiah Lutheran Church, St. Louis, who also serves as CFNA’s Board Secretary.
Pastor Mike was born and raised in Accra, Ghana, West Africa, and was baptized into the Anglican church as an infant. However, he did not attend church for many years, but after seeing a sign for a Bible study at a Lutheran church on the way home from work, he visited and then began to take church attendance seriously. He became a confirmed member at the age of 31. He said he was drawn to join the church because the confirmation teacher, an American missionary named Bob, and other church leaders, “answered his questions without him asking.”
Pastor Mike came to the United States to attend Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in 1997. After graduating with a M.Div. degree, he went on to receive an M.A. degree in communications from the University of Houston. In 2006 he was called to serve Messiah Lutheran Church and has been there since. He and his wife Joan have been married for 30 years. They had three children, but their oldest passed away in 2020. They have two boys remaining. In his free time, he enjoys reading and keeping up with the news, both American and Ghanian. He and Joan plan to visit Ghana again this summer.
He became involved with CFNA after meeting Al Buckman and became the Board Secretary eight years ago. In addition to his regular preaching schedule at Messiah, he is currently leading CFNA’s African Youth Ministry. With 30 participants, the Ministry offers Sunday Bible studies attended by people from Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. His wife Joan has also served with CFNA over the years in the health and wellness screening program as well as serving as a volunteer in the LWML Heart to Heart Sisters program.
When asked to describe the most rewarding thing about his CFNA ministry he said it is getting to meet the New Americans. He recounted one story of a Nepalese Hindu priest who visited Messiah. He and his wife began attending regularly and she wanted to be baptized. He was adamant that he did not want to recant his Hindu beliefs. Just before she was baptized, however, he decided he wanted to be baptized too. He was 72 years old at the time.
When describing the most difficult thing about his ministry with CFNA, he said the number of different people and programs involved often makes scheduling difficult.
We are grateful for Pastor Mike’s dedicated service to the New American community through his work with CFNA and as a Pastor of Messiah. If you are interested in learning about how you can help, please see cfna-stl.org/volunteer
By: Heather Bozarth
CFNA Communications Associate