About Us

History of LINC
It all started with the dream of reaching people in the changing landscape of San Antonio with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Pastors and Lay leaders first met on October 11th, 2006 at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church to discuss the vision and idea for a ministry that would reach out to the entire city. After many meetings and planning sessions, seeking the Lord's guidance, LINC San Antonio was developed. The Texas District of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod helped facilitate the beginnings of the ministry with the assistance of District MMFs (Mission and Ministry Facilitators). LINC San Antonio was officially incorporated in 2009, and in March 2010 it received 501(c)3 tax exempt status. In April of 2010 a missional worker training event was held at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church and a website was launched. On November 13th, 2011, the first two staff members were installed – Pastor Ely Prieto and Hannah Shoup. LINC continues to grow and develop and outreach events, service projects, and discipleship training are under way.

Rev. Dr. Ely Prieto – Urban Mission Developer
Ely Prieto was born in São Paulo, Brazil and had the privilege of serving God and His people as a cross-cultural missionary for the Deaf in south Brazil for many years. In this position he helped to train new missionaries for this ministry and also helped to develop the Deaf Mission in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB). He also served as the senior pastor for Saint Paul Lutheran Church, a congregation of around 1,800 members, in southern Brazil. During his tenure, Saint Paul mothered two other congregations, trained vicars for the pastoral ministry, and also enhanced the ministry of its Parochial School, offering classes from PK through 8th grade. Later on, Rev. Prieto had the privilege to serve his alma mater as a Professor of Practical Theology at Seminário Concordia in São Leopoldo, and also to serve as Professor of Theology at the Lutheran University of Brazil – ULBRA. Beyond his duties in the classroom, Ely was the Director of Field Education and also Director of Vicarage. He also supervised the Mission Laboratory in the Seminary, where students had weekly studies and debates about missions. Early in 2001, he joined the staff of Concordia Lutheran Church in San Antonio, Texas to serve as Assistant Pastor and Director of World Missions. Besides his duties at Concordia, from January 2009 until October 2011, Pastor Prieto also served as the primary pastor for Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church, a mission congregation in San Antonio, primarily reaching out to Hispanics. In October of 2011, Rev. Prieto was called to serve as Urban Mission Developer for LINC-SA.

Rev. Prieto received his theological training in Brazil (B.D., Seminario Concordia, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, 1983) and did his graduate studies in the U.S. (S.T.M., Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN, 1993 and D.Min., Concordia Seminary. St. Louis, MO, 2009).

Ely and his wife, Miriam, have been married since 1985 and have been blessed with two children, Filipe and Natalia. Ely enjoys preaching and teaching the Scriptures and is always excited about sharing God's love with everyone he meets. He also enjoys sports, music, reading, and watching movies with his family. Another thing that gives him great pleasure is to cook for his family and friends.

Hannah Shoup – Urban Mission Developer
Hannah Shoup attended Concordia University Wisconsin where she studied theology, mission work and evangelism, and Spanish. She graduated in May 2011 with a Bachelor's Degree in Lay Ministry and Spanish. Apart from her studies, Hannah also had the opportunity to travel while in college. She journeyed to Juarez, Mexico, with 70 other Concordia students and worked with Casas por Cristo to build homes for two families and provide VBS for the kids at an orphanage. She also traveled to Spain and spent a semester abroad there, living with a kind and loving host family and studying the Spanish language and culture at El Centro porLenguasModernas in the city of Granada. Here she experienced a new way of living and really improved her language skills. In January of 2011, she and a group of six students, along with their professor, took an educational trip to Ankara, Turkey. They spent time with an English teacher and his family learning all about the Turkish culture and the wonderful people who live there. In October 2011, Hannah was called to serve LINC as an urban mission developer and moved to San Antonio.

Hannah loves her parents and has three younger brothers: Caleb, Abel, and Benjamin. She is from Bonduel, Wisconsin.