CANADA – Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots (LAMP) announced that its founder, Rev. Les Stahlke, was called to glory on March 22, 2025.

Rev. Stahlke served as a parish pastor in Alberta for six years before founding and serving as CEO of LAMP for 25 years. He saw LAMP grow to become an international organization with two boards, and expanded to serve people scattered over more than one million square miles of northern Canada and Alaska.

“The entire LAMP family is mourning the loss of our founder,” shared LAMP’s Executive Director, Rev. Dr. Steven Schave. “But we grieve with hope in Christ our Saviour.”

Dr. Schave first encountered Rev. Stahlke as a child, when the missionary came to his home congregation as a speaker, sharing stories about LAMP’s work. This encounter had a profound impact on Dr. Schave, who recalled these fond memories when he was approached to serve as LAMP’s Executive Director in 2021.

“Little did Les know that he was planting seeds for future missionaries,” shared Dr. Schave. “Just as he sowed the seeds of the Gospel that would blossom across Northern Canada.”

LAMP writes: “Pastor Stahlke was passionate that the focus of the ministry be on developing relationships with people in the communities LAMP serves”—which remains a focus of the organization to this day.

—————

LAMP is a cross-cultural ministry sharing Jesus Christ with God’s people in remote areas, and is an Auxiliary of Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC). For more information about LAMP, please visit lampministry.org.