Her face shows both excitement and worry as she contemplates the future. Her husband is beginning ministry in a place she’s never seen, among people she’s never met. It’s a culture very different from the one she comes from, in a remote location with limited amenities for daily living, and limited access to her family back home. Her husband will slip into his routine of making sermons and visits and her children will make new friends quickly, but it will take a little more time for her to find her place in this community. Will she bear the burden of meeting other people’s expectations with grace? Will she and her husband bridge the cultural gap between themselves and their members?

The Lutheran Church of Central Africa – Malawi Synod just assigned nine Seminary graduates to serve as Vicars in congregations across Malawi. The congregation of Kalama Lutheran Church has existed two decades, but has never had a full-time shepherd. God has now blessed them with a full-time worker. Vicar Stanford Mandevu, his wife Ruth, and their sons Madalitso and Chisomo were moved into their new home yesterday, which was still being worked on as they unloaded their belongings.

Vicar Mandevu is from the town of Thyolo in the South, Ruth is from the town of Salima in the Central region. Although the village of Kalama is only 60 miles west of the capital, it is almost a two hour drive over asphalt and dirt roads to get there. There is no electricity, but the new pastor hopes to receive a solar panel for charging his laptop. In addition to the hundred or so souls under his care at Kalama, he also has responsibility for two other nearby congregations. As he does not own a car, motorcycle or bicycle he is depending on his congregations to arrange transportation for him.

Give thanks to God for the workers he has graciously provided for the harvest. Please keep Stanford and Ruth in your prayers as they begin this new chapter of their lives. God has placed them into the public spotlight so that they can shine the light of Christ’s love on their fellow Malawians, and God will help them carry their burdens. Keep all nine of the newly assigned Vicars in your prayers, as they face challenges wherever they serve. May God’s Spirit enable all of us to move out of our safe comfort zones and bridge whatever gaps exist between ourselves and others, so that the light of Christ’s love in us may be clearly visible.

John Roebke, Missionary to Malawi

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Welcome to Friends of Africa, a blogging site dedicated to nurturing friendships between Christians in the United States and in Africa. My name is John Roebke and I recently moved to Lilongwe, Malawi to begin work as the Missionary of Publications for the Lutheran Church of Central Africa. I am part of a team of ten American missionaries who work to inspire and encourage local churches in Zambia, Nigeria, Cameroon and Malawi. Our sponsoring agency is the Wisconsin Synod (WELS), which supports mission work in 52 countries around the world and in the United States as well. You can discover more about our work in Africa at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa