The last time I celebrated Christmas with my parents and siblings was 2003, when I had a 3 month gap between calls in the public ministry. Pastors are busy leading worship services at their congregations during the holidays. For a few years in the mid-2000’s we lived close enough to our relatives to spend a few days after Christmas with relatives, but for the rest of our married years it’s been too great a distance for my wife and I to travel “home for the holidays.”

This year is no exception as we prepare to greet our Savior’s birth in the balmy tropics with one of our daughters, who will spend two months with us. Thanks to COVID she’s doing all of her schooling this semester remotely, so it doesn’t matter if she’s logging in from her apartment in Milwaukee or from our home in Africa. Our other daughter lives 8,000 miles away in Wisconsin and is getting her first taste of winter driving. It’s also the first time we will be apart for the Christmas holidays.

Due to the pandemic, this will be a very different Christmas for many of you too. You may make a reservation to attend one of your church’s worship services, or you may celebrate the Savior’s birth online at home. You may get together with your immediate family, but you’ll avoid the larger gatherings with your extended relatives. You may call your loved ones over the phone or schedule a video conference call over the internet.

For several years, One Africa Team has been using Zoom for live interfacing because our team members are scattered across the world. Our Team Leader, Rev. Howard Mohlke is currently living in Stanton, NE waiting for work permit that will allow him to move to Africa. The members of our Mission Board live in WI, OH and FL. We have missionaries stationed in both Zambia and Malawi, as well as our Operations Director who is currently based in the USA. Our “family” is spread out geographically, but our weekly conference calls have allowed us to stay closely connected to each other and to our mission of bringing “Christ for All, Good News for Africa.”

Staying in touch with our many partners across Africa has been more challenging. International borders are open for travelers who can prove they are COVID free, but the WELS is currently permitting missionaries to travel only between their host country and the USA. In spite of limitations of internet connectivity, our missionaries are able to remain in regular contact with our African counterparts via Skype, Facebook Messenger and What’sApp. One of our teammates is conducting a Bachelor’s-level degree program via What’sApp. Other missionaries use What’sApp to introduce Lutheran teaching to new outreach groups in Liberia and Uganda. One Africa Team has also started posting sermons by missionaries on YouTube to show other prospective groups what makes Lutheran preaching distinctive. You can view the sermons at https://tinyurl.com/ycoazeax

Being separated from the people you love isn’t unique to 2020. The Apostle Paul started churches in cities throughout the Mediterranean basis, and he the members of those churches around with him in his thoughts and prayers wherever he went. He wrote to Thessalonians, “When we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy” (1 The 2:17-20).

In the same way, our Savior carries our needs and prayers to his Heavenly Father. “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Ro 8:34). We are never far away from our God, who knows our deepest needs and keeps watch over us day and night. He doesn’t need Facebook to stay informed about our status.

Following the government approval of the COVID vaccine and the delivery of the first doses to those who need it the most, we will need a little more patience as we wait our turn to be inoculated and for our society to reopen. We all look forward to joyful reunions with loved ones at family gatherings, graduation celebrations, weddings and the like. Next Christmas will be much different from this year – and there are only 374 days left! In 2021 OAT hopes to resume in-person visits to conduct teaching, conferences, strengthening and encouraging our brothers and sisters across the continent of Africa.

And with even greater longing we await reunion with the one who was born in Bethlehem, lived in Nazareth and died outside Jerusalem so that we can gather with our brothers and sisters from “every tribe, nation and people” before God’s throne (Rev. 7:9).

Missionary John Roebke lives in Malawi

Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news and receive updates. Learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa

Building God’s House in Malawi

It’s been fun to watch the progress.  Standing on my front porch, I can look across the road to see the new house being built.  The house is being built on the campus of the Lutheran Bible Institute (LBI) in Lilongwe, Malawi.  Once it is completed, it will be a home for our newest LBI professor, Rev. Stanley Daile, and his family.

At the beginning of this project, the ‘house’ was nothing more than an architectural drawing on a piece of paper.  It was only a nice idea that did not exist in reality, but then the workers came.  They cut down several trees, dug up all the stumps and leveled off the ground.  Large trucks carried in their cargoes of bricks and sand and stone.  In a matter of days, the workers had dug the foundations and poured a concrete slab.  Then the walls appeared – each day a little taller, as if they grew up from the ground.  Soon there were a dozen workers climbing in the rafters and hammering down the corrugated metal roofing sheets.  Other workers installed the windows and the doors.  Every day, the worksite was alive with activity.  It was fun to watch the progress.  Slowly but surely, a house was being built, one brick at a time.

As I watched the progress of that house from my front porch, I often thought about our ministry in Africa.  The Bible often uses the building of a house as a metaphor for Christian ministry.  In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul says that the Christian Church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20-22).  To me, that house across the street was more than just a building.  It was a daily illustration and reminder of why we are working in Malawi in the first place.  We are working together to build God’s house, one brick at a time.

Sixty years ago, a strong and vibrant Lutheran Church in Malawi was nothing but a dream.  It was only a nice idea that did not exist in reality, but then the workers came.  WELS missionaries Raymond Cox and Richard Mueller were the first to arrive in 1963, and other missionaries followed them.  By the preaching of God’s almighty word, they gathered a few faithful Christians together to form the Lutheran Church of Central Africa (LCCA).  Back in those early days, missionaries did almost all the preaching and baptizing.  It wasn’t until 1976 that Rev. Deverson Ntambo became the synod’s first Malawian pastor.  Even by 1980, there were still only about 3,000 confirmed members in approximately 50 congregations. 

But things are different now.  Today the Lutheran Church of Central Africa numbers almost 40,000 baptized souls who trust in Jesus as their Lord.  They gather together on Sunday morning in approximately 130 congregations.  More than three dozen Malawian pastors do virtually all of the preaching, all of the baptizing, and all of the confirmations.  And all of these Malawian pastors are paid and supported by the congregations that they serve.  What a joy to see the progress!  Slowly but surely, God is building up his church.

In fact, even this new house at the Lutheran Bible Institute is evidence of the church’s growth.  The LBI exists to train young African men to serve as future pastors in our Lutheran churches.  The new house is necessary because a new professor, Rev. Stanley Daile, has been called to serve as a professor of New Testament Greek.  In the past, courses in Biblical Greek were always taught by missionaries.  But now we have a well-trained Malawian professor who is able to teach these classes.  This is progress.  God is building up his church.

By the grace of God, I have had the privilege to serve as a missionary in Malawi since 2006.  For almost 15 years I have been able to wake up every morning and to look out of my front door and to see tremendous progress.  Slowly but surely, God is building up his house in Malawi, one brick at a time. 

Missionary Mark Panning lives in Malawi and teaches at the Lutheran Bible Institute in Lilongwe

Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news and receive updates. Learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa

Background: One Africa Team missionaries had intended to make several trips to both Libera and Uganda to meet with local Christian fellowships that have expressed their desire to learn more about the teachings of the Lutheran Church and perhaps even enter into fellowship with the Wisconsin Synod. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the WELS has suspended all missionary travel to and from any country except the United States and the country where each missionary is based. The OAT Outreach Committee has begun long-distance teaching with these groups, in spite of several technological and social hurdles.

Some months ago the One Africa Team received a gift to assist with phones and internet expenses to bring the gospel message to new areas via online teaching.  Although it’s exciting to move into the COVID–techvirtual world, it is a bit scary for us who live in a culture that functions primarily with face-to-face communication.  In Africa, we rely much more heavily on non-verbal communication and other contextual cues to communicate than in the United States typically.

The Outreach Committee had a few decisions to make regarding the work in Uganda and Liberia, our two most active Outreach target areas:

Which phones to buy, including memory, battery strength, availability?

How to send the money for purchase of phones, to whom, banking details?

Who would buy the phones and take responsibility for their care?

What platform could we use to present material:  Zoom, WhatsApp or email?

I’m happy to say the Holy Spirit has made it possible for us to get started.  On 29^th October, I (virtually) sat with Pastors Morris, Darlos, Goffah, Kowan and Pajibo from Liberia to look at the material and determine what platform can work for them there. 

The first lesson of our fellowship studies is “God’s Great Exchange.” The Scriptural idea of absolute perfection necessary for eternal life, but freely provided for all people only through Jesus is the Gospel’s fundamental teaching. Because the material for that particular lesson is set up quite differently from the others, it was a good opportunity to try to send them a video.  The great thing about using video is that it allows our contacts to download it and watch it as many times as needed. They are also able to forward the video to others.

The only question that remains is, “how much internet data will our contacts need to carry out this program effectively?”  I’ll meet with them again via a WhatsApp video call to see how much data they used to meet with me online for one hour and to watch the video I sent.  Since there are other possibilities that we need to experiment with this will be a learning process for us all.  

We greatly appreciate your prayers and have confidence that the Lord will provide another way for his kingdom to grow here in Africa.  We remember the encouragement Paul offered to the Colossians (1:6): “In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.”

Missionary Dan Kroll lives in Malawi and serves as the OAT Liaison to West Africa

Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news and receive updates. Learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa