welsfriendsofafrica.com, Author at WELS Friends of Africa

May 6, 2021April 28, 2021

Looking Forward and Back

Today’s post is written by Missionary Howard Mohlke, the leader of One Africa Team. He has been waiting for over a year in the USA for his work papers, which he recently received.

On Saturday, April 17, 2021, Leslie and I landed in Lilongwe, Malawi. As we landed and looked forward to our new life living and working in Africa, we also looked back to 1991 when we first landed in Zambia to serve as part of the mission team. Back then we arrived with two daughters ages 4 and 2, and one son who was 6 months old. Now, it’s just the two of us and those three and two more are all grown up. Back then we left behind our parents and “took their grandchildren away” as they would remind us at times. Now, we are leaving behind our grandchildren.

April 21, 2021April 22, 2021

Mission of Mercy

The Lutheran Mobile Clinic has operated in Malawi for 50 years

Before COVID, scheduling a doctor’s appointment was a relatively easy task to accomplish for most Americans. In fact, you could see a “doc in the box” at a local walk-in clinic without an appointment if needed. The global pandemic has stressed health care networks all over the world to the breaking point and has exposed systemic weaknesses and failures. And yet in spite of the enormous death toll in the United States and other developed countries, health care systems more or less remain intact.

In developing countries like Malawi, the health care system is a patchwork of government-run hospitals and private health clinics that has always struggled to meet the medical needs of its citizenry. While this country has not seen the number of coronavirus-related fatalities as the United States, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases, and malaria are among the top preventable causes of death here (source: https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/countries/malawi/default.htm). There simply aren’t enough medicines, medical workers or hospital beds to meet the country’s needs.

Last week I had the privilege of accompanying the American Nurse in Charge Beth Evans and her husband Gary on a visit to the Central Africa Medical Mission (CAMM) clinic site in the village of Thunga, which they visit twice a month.

April 7, 2021April 7, 2021

Christ is Certainly Risen!

This week’s post is written by Rev. Brad Wordell, a member of the faculty of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary’s Pastoral Studies Institute. He also serves as the liaison between the Commission on Inter-Church Relations (CICR) and One Africa Team. As our mission efforts continue to bear fruit in Africa, the CICR plays a vital role in establishing formal relations between church bodies on the continent and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

During this Easter season, we might say that the CICR stands for Christ Is Certainly Risen. It is true! Jesus Christ has risen from the dead! Our Savior is risen indeed!

His resurrection changes everything for us. Because our Savior lives, we live. We have life (peace and fellowship with God and the privilege of serving him) now and in the world to come. And our holy, Christian faith seeks to be active—in worship, in the proclamation of the Lord’s name, and in love to him and the people around us. What a blessed life we have! All praise be to our Triune God!