The Passing of LBT Missionary Terry Borchard

With great sadness, we announce the passing of LBT missionary Terry Borchard Sunday, Aug. 10, after a battle with cancer. Terry has been a missionary with LBT since 1998. He and his wife Janet (Kunkel) have most recently been working on Scripture engagement with the Ipili people in Papua New Guinea.

Terrance (Terry) Henry Borchard    1942-2014

Terrance (Terry) Henry Borchard died on August 10, 2014 of multiple myeloma. He was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota on December 29, 1942 to Henry Borchard and Lydia (Luebke) Borchard, and was baptized into Christ on February 7, 1943.

Terry is survived by his wife Janet; daughter Mary Dahlia, her husband Larry, and their daughters Arianna and Carissa; daughter Tami Enomoto, her husband Mamoru, and their daughter Miyuu; and daughter Rachel Schweitzer, her husband Tim and their son Caleb. Terry was preceded in death by his first wife Kathryn, and son-in-law Yoshiya Miyamoto.

Terry graduated from Concordia College, St. Paul, MN, Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, IN, received a Masters Degree from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, and was ordained as an LCMS pastor. He also received a Masters Degree in linguistics from the University of Texas, Arlington, and a PhD in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA.

The annual mission festival at Trinity Lutheran in Mansfield, SD impressed him with the importance of mission work, and the Lord used that to call him into missions. His life’s work was as a Lutheran missionary and Bible translator to the Ipili people of the country of Papua New Guinea. He served his Lord Jesus in this work from 1969 until his death.

The Lord gave him a gift for learning languages, and he worked with speakers of the Ipili language to translate the New Testament, and parts of the Old Testament into their language. He also taught others how to translate God’s Word. He studied the New Testament epistles in the original Greek to determine how all the parts of each letter fit together to communicate the meaning that the writer intended. This enabled the Ipili translation team to translate those books in a way that communicated the meaning clearly, accurately, and naturally.

Terry’s family rejoices that he is now with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and that when Jesus returns Terry, along with all believers in Jesus, will be raised to new life.

Remembrances may be sent to:

Lutheran Bible Translators, PO Box 2050, Aurora, IL 60507, online at lbt.org;

Papua New Guinea Mission Society, PO Box 661, Warrensburg, MO 64093-0661

International Myeloma Foundation, 12650 Riverside Dr. Suite 206, North Hollywood, CA 91607, online at myeloma.org.