South Asia Lutheran Mission (SALM)
Serving the needs of South Asia
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The SALM Board consists of dedicated volunteers who meet monthly to manage the business side of all operations. The Board approves new projects, supervises the work of current projects, approves budgets, sets operational policies, and fulfills all legal State and Federal requirements for being a nonprofit entity.
President
Rev. A. Brian Flamme is senior pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School in Roswell, New Mexico, where he has served since 2017. After serving in the United States military for five years, he earned his BA in Philosophy from Indiana University, Indianapolis. He graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne with his MDiv and STM, and received his first call in 2013, to serve the saints at Hope Lutheran Church in Aurora, Colorado. He is married to Jennifer, and has three boys, Jason, Noah, and Caleb.
Secretary
Rev. Ben Vanderhyde serves as pastor of Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wray, CO. He enjoys composing church music, learning foreign languages, teaching the faith, and playing with the five children God gave him and his wife Grace. God instilled in him a desire to serve the Lord in Asia when he travelled to Hong Kong in 2014 on a short-term ESL excursion. From 2012-2016 he got to sit at the feet of some of the best musicians in Lutheranism and came away from Concordia University Wisconsin with a bachelors in parish music. From there, he began coursework at Concordia Seminary (St. Louis). From 2019-2020 he served his vicarage as a missionary in Sri Lanka, where he learned some of the Tamil language and taught church music in the Ceylon Evangelical Lutheran Church. He is pursuing a doctorate in Historical Theology from Concordia Seminary and learning all about agriculture, hospitality, and community from the tremendous members of his congregation in rural Colorado.
Vice-President
Rev. Vishal Kumar Paul is a native of Punjab, India; his mother tongue is Hindi and he also speaks Punjabi. He currently serves Risen Christ Lutheran Church (Lutheran Church Canada), in the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. He graduated from Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary , St Catharines, ON in 2020. He also has a Masters in Economics and an extensive corporate experience working with Banking and Credit Rating Companies.
Treasurer
Rev. William “Bill” Traphagan is pastor of Mission of the Cross Lutheran Church, Crosslake, Minnesota. He graduated from Concordia University, Nebraska, with a BS in business administration, and a BA in theology in 2010, and subsequently received his MDiv from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, in 2014. He married Stephanie in 2011, with whom he has five adorable children. Bill joined the SALM team as treasurer in March 2023.
Director
Edward Naumann is Pastor of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in Brookfield, IL, where he has served since 2023. He was ordained in 2013 and served for two years as assistant pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church, in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. From 2015-2021 he served as Theological Educator to South Asia for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and he and his family were deployed in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for five years. He holds degrees from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland (MA, Classics), Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (MDiv), and The Catholic University of America (MA, PhD, Greek and Latin). Edward is married to Monica, with whom he has been blessed with seven children.
mission statement
“South Asia Lutheran Mission is organized to promote education and literacy, through teaching and publishing outstanding resources, with emphasis on the needs of South Asia.”
FIRST POLICY
The first policy, approved by the Board on Jan 8, 2022:
“All activities of SALM and its individual members will be in agreement with Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.”