Rev. Chuck & Karen Tessaro
Nigeria
Chuck was born near Pittsburgh, PA, and spent his first ten years there before moving to Fremont, MI. Karen was born in Toledo, OH, and spent her pre-college years in Riga, MI. They met at Concordia College, Ann Arbor where he earned a B.A. degree in classical languages in 1978, and were married. Then it was off to Concordia Theological Seminary, in Fort Wayne, IN. Pastor Tessaro earned an STM in 1984. By graduation day, they were a family of four, including Eric and Karla. They were called to serve on the translation team for the New Testament in the Eleme language of Nigeria, they moved to Duncanville, TX, to study at the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
It was on July 25, 1985, that they first set foot on Nigerian soil, to begin the task of learning the Eleme language, training translators, and above all praying for God's guidance for the project. As time went on, there was progress in the Bible translation. Karen served the community in a variety of ways, by teaching and learning from children, and from offering a helping hand and praying for the sick on daily walks through the village. Karen operates a nutritional program in Nigeria caring for the Eleme children.
Eric and Karla completed their primary and secondary education in Nigeria.
Where are they today? Eric and Karla are both married. Eric has just completed his first year at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, while Karla has just completed a course in practical nursing. In addition to the Eleme project, Chuck and Karen also begtan working with the Gokana Old Testament translation project in the late 1990s, and the Yala Old Testament translation project in the early 2000s. The President of the Lutheran Church of Nigeria dedicated the Eleme New Testament and Psalms in May 2002. The Tessaros have been working since then to see that these Scriptures are well used.
They have returned to Nigeria under the auspices of Lutheran Bible Translators in order to continue working on these projects, which focus on getting God's Word into people's hands.
