God’s Call brought the Nitz family to Malawi and now His Call is taking them out.

26 years 8 months later.

5 kids later.

4 in-country moves later.

12 furloughs later.

It was in November of 1993 that Paul and Susan (and first-born Henry) arrived in Malawi. Over the stretch of years, they have seen a lot of changes and blessings in the country, in the ministry and in their own family.   

Speaking of family, just half the Nitz family were still residing in Malawi in 2020:  Paul, Susan, Joel (19) and Frances (16).  The other four children have been residing in the States already.  One by one they moved to the USA as the Lord called each to pursue his or her own schooling and vocation. 

But now…a family reunited! 

Oops! Not quite yet!  (Not at the time of this writing).  The Nitz’s are still in Malawi with cancelled airline tickets and no confirmed date to fly. 

I guess that is what Covid-19 can do.  It can wreak havoc with more than bodies – even entire countries!   (I know, I am preaching to the choir – you all are facing the challenge of the Corona pandemic).

Even though the Malawi airports have been shut down to the general passenger flights, the country itself has not been on official government lockdown.  The commercial planes have stopped flying, but the people have still been able to move about.

This has given the Nitz’s opportunity to say goodbye to various groups. They have already attended four “official” farewells from various groups and are taking advantage of the extra time to say personal goodbyes with special friends.

As we listen to the news for any word about Malawi flights resuming, we keep reminding each other, God’s timing is always best!  

As Frances, Joel, Susan and Paul look back over the time spent in Malawi, and anticipating the move to America, they have shared some of their thoughts with us.

Frances looks back on her schooling experience in Malawi:

“My schooling here in Malawi has been very privileged, I have had to chance to do multiple service activities with orphanages, local schools, local companies, and many organizations. That has been something that I have enjoyed.”

Frances, you were born in Malawi, been living here for 16 years.  Is there something – a keepsake or a souvenir that you plan to take to the States with you?

“I guess I would love to take a bracelet that is threaded with the words MALAWI.  It is small and meaningful since it not only reminds me of Lake Malawi (from where I got it) but it’s just a little reminder of home.”

Ah, yes, home. 

For sons and daughters of missionaries, especially long-term ones, the concept of home often becomes a challenge. 

The parents have left their home to serve on the mission field, but the kids have grown up on the mission field.  When it comes time to leave the mission field, the parents are technically going to their home country, but the kids are technically leaving their home country. 

“Where’s home?” becomes a difficult question.  Such a blessing that we have God’s promise to watch over our “coming and going both now and forevermore!” (see Psalm 121). 

What about you, Joel?  What “memory” will you take back with you from Malawi?

“There is a pottery sculpture of a poor man sitting down. I received it from an Ethiopian friend, and I feel it will serve as a reminder of the poverty I have grown up around and remind me of my hope which is to live a frugal and simple life to emphasize the importance of my Heavenly treasure over my worldly possessions.”

Even though we don’t have the sculpture, Joel, we can all use that same reminder. Thank you!

Susan shares a favorite memory too.

“I remember after moving to Mzuzu in 1994 I was invited to join the women’s weekly devotion and choir practice at St. Michael’s church. The women were very friendly and let me try to sing with them. One day a large group of women walked several miles to my house and brought me a tray of 30 eggs. This really was a generous thing for them to do and showed love towards me.  After that, some women visited me, and we shared cooking lessons. I taught them to bake and make pancakes, and they taught me how to cook nsima and greens.”

Hmm, I wonder if nsima and greens will be on the Nitz family table in the States?

Though Paul will be leaving the mission field as the One Africa Team Leader, he is now serving the Lord in his new Call as a Mission Counselor in the WELS Board for World Missions. 

He will be working out of the WELS Center for Mission and Ministry (CMM) in Waukesha, WI.  He shares his heart with us in prayer as he ponders leaving the Warm Heart of Africa and living in USA:    

“Dear Lord, thank you for the opportunity to serve your people here in Malawi for so many years. You have protected us from harm and kept us strong spiritually.  We rejoice that so many Malawians love you as their Savior. It is a joy to know that through the salvation won by your Son, Jesus, they will join with all believers on the last day and live forever in Your kingdom.  Help us as we move to the United States. While we are very sad thinking of the friends and work and home that we are leaving behind, help us to focus on new ways to serve others in our new home. Continue to bless the work of the church in Malawi, in the United States, and wherever the Gospel is preached around the world.”

Thanking God for each one of you, Nitz family!  Your whole family has been a blessing on the mission field.  We know that you will all be warmly welcomed there – but please know that you will be greatly missed here. 

God be with you till we meet again!

Missionary John Holtz lives in Malawi. You can watch his presentation to the WELS online missions convention at https://welstasteandsee.com/kalulu-wakupyolera-mtunda-utari-even-a-hare-gets-heavy-on-a-long-journey-carrying-each-others-burdens-in-africa-john-holtz/

Picture Moshe, a first-century Galilean farmer. Moshe learns that Yeshua, the traveling rabbi he has heard so much about, has returned to the fishing village.

Moshe aches, head and heart, for God’s kingdom. He decides to leave his farm for a day, walk the whole way, or catch a ride on an ox-cart, and see Yeshua.

Yeshua, rumor has it, claims God’s kingdom is near.

If it is so, … is the kingdom coming right away? Will God finally blow Roman taxes and military might away?

Moshe wonders if today, Yeshua will show the way.

Instead,  when he reaches the lakeside village, K’far-nachum, Moshe sees a strange sight. Yeshua sits in a boat, just off shore. He talks to a crowd at the water’s edge.

Yeshua describes the kingdom not as a revolution, but in terms of farming, of all things. The rabbi seems to know, in Moshe’s world, just how things go.

Moshe catches the end of a first story, something about four types of soil, and a huge harvest. Yeshua says, “Whoever has ears to hear with, let him hear!”

Moshe thinks, “I have hears. I’m hearing. …What does he mean?”

In private, Yeshua tells a second farming story. Moshe hears it later, second-hand. It seems weirder.

“God’s reign,” Yeshua says, “is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. Nights he sleeps, days he’s awake; and meanwhile the seeds sprout and grow — how, he doesn’t know. By itself the soil produces a crop — first the stalk, then the head, and finally the full grain in the head. But as soon as the crop is ready, the man comes with his sickle, because it’s harvest-time” (Mark 4:26–29).

Moshe’s head aches anew. Huh? He is a farmer, like his father. Any farmer waits and waits. Moshe knows, too: No farmer knows how seed grows.

But God knows everything. God can do anything. He is King! God freed his people from Egypt, suddenly. He brought Jews back from Babylon, dramatically.

Why, if the Messiah appears, must God’s kingdom come so hiddenly, so slowly?

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Picture modern Moshes. They know farming well. They are pastors, sowing the seed of God’s word in Africa, in countries such as Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia.

Many come from farms and farming communities. Many tended large gardens for years, on the side, while they studied to become pastors. Many still tend gardens. They must, to feed their families.

They have walked, hitch-hiked, and ridden crowded minibusses to study for kingdom service and to be part of it. To hear Jesus speak to them over many years, and now to preach his holy name, may mean tough travels. Few own automobiles. Bicycles can be blessings. Some pastors have motorbikes but struggle to afford petrol for them.

Like fictional Moshe long ago, the way the kingdom comes also can make a headache. God’s way puzzles. Hard work fizzles.

The devil works hard to snatch seed away, so it does not even penetrate hearts.

Christianity is common in many African places these days, but sorrows abound too. Some people fall away from Christ when trouble comes.

Others turn to a prosperity gospel that is no good news at all. Alcoholism, animism, materialism, and tribalism choke African gospel growth.

Still: “Whoever has ears to hear with, let him hear!”

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Picture the one who said so: The perfect planter and the perfect pastor. From his virgin mother’s womb, he was perfectly patient, in your place.

(You lose your struggle with patience so often, don’t you?)

Picture the king who made himself nothing, who willingly left his throne on high so he could die in place of every sinner. He paid, in your place.

“What I am about to tell you is so true,” he tells a crowd. He knows in three days he will be so ashamed, so guilty, so alone. Dead on the cross. Dead between heaven and earth. Dead between God and us all.

How can the kingdom grow if its king dies disgraced?

“Unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies,” he says, “it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest.” (John 12:24).

Picture, then, a tiny slice of God’s kingdom.

Picture an African effort in Christ crucified, risen, reigning, and soon reappearing. It began in 2010. It’s growing again. Expanding. The former GRATSI (Greater Africa Theological Studies Institute) is now CLI (the Confessional Lutheran Institute).

One of CLI’s aims: ongoing formal education for pastors, after their seminary years. Degrees like Bachelor of Divinity and Masters of Theology through Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, diplomas will say.

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Q&A about CLI Degree Program

How do pastors apply for CLI’s BDiv program?

They fill out one-page application form available from BDiv director Daniel Witte, and include a recommendation letter from a church body leader above them and from a leader/leaders of a congregation they serve.

What kind of test do pastors have to take before entering CLI’s BDiv program?

They write a test on the Bible and its doctrine, along with a small amount of church history. The test  helps CLI compare a pastor’s aptitude for further study with the aptitude of other applicants. CLI chooses up to 20 pastors to form a BDiv cohort.

What if a pastor does not make it into the BDiv cohort?

CLI plans to offer pre-BDiv certification courses for such pastors, in hopes that they will be able to enter the next BDiv cohort.

How many modules does CLI’s BDiv program offer?

Pastors, God willing, will take two classes a year for four years, plus an extra class on writing and research.

The main eight classes will be two each from these four categories: Biblical theology (Old and New Testament), doctrinal theology, historical theology, and pastoral theology.

Where will these twice-a-year classes be held?

In the past, classes have been held at the Lutheran Bible Institute in Lilongwe, Malawi, and at the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia.

If God allows, we hope in the new BDiv cohort to hold at least one of the eight main classes in Nairobi, Kenya. Classes also may be taught in Nairobi by other means.

Who will teach the classes in CLI’s BDiv program?

Experienced professors from Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota and from Wisconsin Lutheran College in Mequon, Wisconsin will teach the classes, along with CLI Formal Continuing Education director Missionary Daniel Witte.

From where do pastors receive their CLI BDiv degree?

From the Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI) of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

Does CLI offer any other degrees besides BDiv?

Pastors who complete the Bdiv degree well may, upon further testing, be able to enter CLI’s MTh program. It offers further, more specialized instruction.

Is CLI’s BDiv program new in 2020?

No. We are renewing and expanding our commitment from the past, with a new director living now in Lusaka, Zambia.

The prior program, the Greater African Theological Studies Institute (GRATSI), has already had two BDiv cohorts, 2010–2014 and 2015–2019.

Our relationship with WLS remains and is becoming deeper; our commitment to providing godly instruction and beneficial degrees continues!

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Picture,  though, more than beaming pastors’ faces and spiffy diplomas, the real result your missionaries aim at, as we partner with our African brothers: deeper and wider seed scattering.

See in studies for a future BDiv or MTh degree what only God can see: His seed going into the hearts of men who have learned from slow, bitter experience, that neither the planter nor the water is anything, but only God, who makes things grow (1 Corinthians 3:7).

Picture post-seminary classes?

Better, picture modern Moshes. Picture more planting. Foresee the final harvest.

How does God’s word reign in fellow pastors’ hearts? And take root more deeply? We don’t exactly know. When will the harvest be? We don’t know.

So we sow.

Missionary Daniel Witte lives in Zambia and is the head of the Formal Continuing Education branch of the CLI. This is the third in a three-part series on the Confessional Lutheran Institute

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

There was an elephant in the room.

Everyone knew it. But as is so often the case, no one said anything. 

The group of LCCA-Malawi Synod pastors and I were together having a 2-day Professional Development course. Topic: Sanctification. Our discussions revolved around the 12 disciples and their relationship with Jesus. We learned a lot about the disciples, but perhaps we learned more about our Lord…and ourselves.

Like Judas, we have betrayed others. Like Thomas, we at times have doubted God and His word. Like Peter, speaking rashly before thinking wisely, we have put our “foot in our mouths.” Each disciple a sinner – yet each one was loved dearly by Jesus. In fact, He loved them to death.

That is really what the Professional Development program of the Confessional Lutheran Institute (CLI) is all about:  learning more about Jesus and his dying – and undying – love for us. Every course has been comforting and convicting. Comforting because of Jesus’ grace and forgiveness. Convicting because of the law. Like a mirror, it has shown us our sin. Sometimes we just do not want to say anything – even when the elephant is right there in the room with us.

The elephant was in the room and everyone knew it. It was big. But not one of us said anything. We were holding our Professional Development course in a national park, a place with freely roaming wild animals like lions, cheetahs, buffalo, hyenas and, yes, elephants. Suddenly, a 6-ton pachyderm walked into the “room.” Don’t think walls and windows and doors. Think Africa. Open air. Bush camp. It really was not in our room; we were in his. This was his territory.

We put down our books and paused our discussions about Peter, James, and John. We hushed.  We enjoyed the moment and one of God’s amazing creatures. We watched as the elephant stripped nearby trees and bushes and ate the branches and leaves. The big brute eventually meandered on and then we continued our dialogue on the twelve.

In Malawi, our Professional Development groups do not usually meet in a park but when we have done so it has been a blessing. We enjoyed the Bible based lessons in an open-air African bush environment. Fellowship around the word of God is a blessing no matter where we meet. Normally we gather at the local LCCA churches for these informal studies.

The program in Malawi follows a simple path:  the pastors suggest a topic they wish to learn, the facilitator prepares it and takes it to each of the 5 pastor groups scattered around Malawi. Assignment presentations follow.  In addition to Sanctification, we have covered topics such as marriage, Reformation, cultural Awareness, Power Point Bible Studies, and others. Like the elephant, now we are ready to move on.

Moving on does not mean stopping the program in Malawi; it does mean taking it elsewhere: to our African Sister Synods. There are 7 synods in 6 countries: Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Combined there are over 100 Called Workers in these 7 synods. God willing, in the years ahead additional church bodies in additional countries will join our fellowship.  These churches will have pastors who also want to continue to grow together with us. 

Moving on also doesn’t mean that we are providing professional development using the same method everywhere. Likewise, the teachers may be different depending on the situation.  In some cases a local missionary; in others a visiting pastor from the United States; in other cases a team of national pastors or seminary instructors from a sister church; the possibilities are endless.

The newly formed Confessional Lutheran Institute (CLI) strives to “equip, enhance, and enable pastors throughout Africa.”  Unlike the formal Continuing Education branch of CLI with its Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Theology programs, these informal, practical courses in the Professional Development branch of CLI are not for academic credit towards a diploma. This program – whether it is a 1-day class, a 2-day workshop, or a full week course – is there to help us “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (2 Peter 3:18).   Peter discovered, learned, and experienced incomparable peace in His Savior’s forgiveness. Professional Development is an opportunity for us to do the same.

Even when there’s an elephant in the room.

Missionary John Holtz lives in Malawi and directs the Professional Development branch of the Confessional Lutheran Institute. This is the second of a three-part series on the CLI.

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