Rodrigo Concha starts life over again on the way to seminary

by Jennifer L. Krempin | Photography by Dave Kaphingst

It’s 8 p.m. on a Wednesday night. While most people are winding down after a long day, Rodrigo Concha has so much energy you’d think he was just starting his.

Never mind that he’s already marched through a full morning of college classes, breezed through an afternoon working as a family services counselor, fixed dinner and played with his children, Carlo Andrea, aged 5, and Rodrigo Jerome, aged 10. Concha’s day isn’t close to being over—another five hours of homework await him once the kids fall into bed for the night.

At 46 years old, seminary-bound Concha says he’s starting his life all over again—and he loves every minute of it. “I have this fire within me!” he exclaims, so emphatically that you don’t doubt him for a second.

A Long Journey of Discovery
Born in Chile, Concha first came to the United States with his family in 1981 when his father’s company transferred him to the East Coast. In many ways, those were difficult years as Concha, raised Catholic by his parents, struggled with the church’s teachings and began a long spiritual search.

“About the only thing I didn’t explore was Judaism,” he recalls. “I wanted to give my spirituality an outlet, but I didn’t know where I belonged. Back in Chile, a Protestant is anyone who’s Christian but not Catholic—a very small minority, and usually on the corner pounding on a Bible and shouting into a megaphone. So at the time, I thought if that’s what being Protestant was all about, that wasn’t for me, either.”

Faith questions continued to nag at him, and when he met and married his wife, Sandy, in 1991, they continued to question and explore together.

Then one day shortly after the birth of the couple’s second child, Concha was leafing through a stack of bills and junk mail when he came across a letter from Christ Redeemer Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in nearby Trumbull, Connecticut.

“They had an outreach program where they sent letters to new parents in the community,” Concha recalls. “It was very simple, very friendly.” And though his first impulse was to toss it in the trash, instead he tacked it to the refrigerator—and then promptly forgot about it.

At the same time, the Conchas were preparing for their second child’s baptism, and when the local Catholic church disapproved of the Conchas’ choice of godparents, they were devastated. “But then I remembered the letter stuck to the fridge,” he recalls, “and I said to my wife: ‘Let’s call them!’”

A Call That Changed It All
The moment he placed that first call to Christ Redeemer, Concha says he immediately felt a peace like he had never experienced before. The first voice he heard was that of the church secretary, Cynthia Limmer. “It was like receiving a grandmother’s hug,” he recalls.

After a lengthy welcoming meeting with the Rev. Paul Meier, the Conchas knew immediately they had found a new church home.

“From the minute we walked in and sat down, the best way to describe it was like coming home,” Concha says enthusiastically. “And the sermon! If I could have written a sermon, it would have been exactly like the one I heard that day. And here was a congregation who believed the same exact things I’d believed for years!”

But then, unexpectedly, everything started going wrong. “Or very right, depending on your point of view,” he says, chuckling.

Concha suddenly found himself struggling through a year of unemployment. And while it imposed a tremendous financial strain on the family, Concha says it was a blessing because “every minute I had free, I dumped into the church—Bible studies, classes, you name it.”

Soon, the church’s pastor invited Concha to shadow him on home visits. “All of a sudden there was a fire lit up in me!” Concha recalls. “I think I always believed what I believe, but the moment I realized there was a purpose and a place for it, it was just amazing.” In fact, he confesses, he still gets goose bumps just thinking about it.

A year later, Concha found a new job, this time in sales—making one-third of his previous income. By this time, his family had nearly lost their home under the financial burden of unemployment, but Concha believed that things would work out. “I had my wife, my kids, my church home,” he says. “That’s all that mattered to me.”

Then one day, almost out of the blue, a church council friend approached Concha and told him he had a special gift. Concha says he was taken by surprise. “I said, ‘I haven’t done anything for it, but if you’re sure…’ and they all stood behind me,” he recalls.

So last spring, Concha and his wife sold the house they once nearly lost, packed up their two school-age children and relocated to New Ulm, Minnesota, where Concha immediately enrolled in college classes at Martin Luther College in preparation for seminary.

Today Concha is well into his second semester and working part-time at Brown County Family Services. Weekends are spent repairing the fixer-upper home they recently purchased. “My family is basically living in one room right now,” he explains.

He and Sandy are deeply touched by the outpouring of support, not just from friends from Christ Redeemer in Trumbull but also from his new classmates in New Ulm, many of them organizing shifts to help the Conchas with their home repairs.

“Since then, my life has been little miracles, over and over again,” Concha says. “It’s humbling to know you are loved, even from fellow students who have only known you for one semester.”

It All Comes Down to Trust
Before leaving Connecticut for Minnesota, a friend asked Concha what in the world he was doing by giving up everything to move his family halfway across the country.

“I tell it like this: There is a huge, all-powerful crane carrying me over a hotbed of lava. I know nothing will happen, and everyone says, ‘Don’t look down!’ but still I looked down,” he explains. “Your sinful self will always look down, but your heart tells you to just trust.”

Concha knows the road ahead will be long and challenging. First he has four years of college, and then another four in seminary, most likely at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wisconsin.

“I’ll be trading in my student ID for my AARP card!” he says. “But the Lord has shown me in no uncertain terms that I’ll be OK.”IT

Jennifer Krempin is a Twin Cities–based freelance writer and Thrivent Financial member.

Are You Ready to Leap?
If you’re contemplating making a big change in your life, the following questions can help you with the soul-searching process. But beyond prayer and introspection, talking with a trusted friend, family member or pastor also can help you weigh your options.

1. When I envision what I really want for my life, what do I see?

2. How closely does my current existence match up with my answer to the previous question?

3. What matters most to me at this point in my life?

4. If I make a big life change, who will be directly affected? What impact would the change have on those relationships?

5. What am I afraid of?

6. What do I stand to gain from this change? How might this change benefit others?

7. How would this change enhance my faith and reflect my values?

8. How do I see my life in five years if I make the change?

9. How do I see my life in five years if I do not make the change?

10. What additional guidance would make me feel more comfortable about making the change?

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