In 1915, nine years after its founding, the Texas District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod began publication of Der Texas Distriktsbote, a quarterly newsletter edited by a representative of its Mission Board, typeset and printed in Giddings, Texas, and mailed in bulk to congregations for distribution to members. The primary purpose of the publication was to keep members aware of and interested in the work of District missionaries in their many far-flung preaching stations. This central purpose never disappeared entirely, but it did begin to give way to more frequent articles and reports of a general nature, especially after the English counterpart, The Texas Lutheran Messenger, came into being in 1921, and editors other than Mission Board people were named in 1925 for each of the two.

Reading the early accounts of mission work in Texas reminded this reader of the accounts of the first century Christian apostles as recorded by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, "and the word of the Lord grew!"

May our 21st century readers be inspired by the zeal and diligence of our 19th and 20th century apostles as the read these accounts, diaries and excerpts of diaries that were recorded in The Texas Lutheran Messenger of the Texas District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

Ray Martens and Weldon Mersiovsky