The missionaries of One Africa Team do not preach, teach or
baptize in local congregations today – in fact, they haven’t done that kind of
direct ministry for years. Instead, we are focusing all of our efforts on
building up local church leaders and pastors, following the philosophy that
“strong pastors lead to healthy congregations.”

This is a significant change from the way that WELS missionaries in Africa have operated in past decades. How did we think we could speak the language and understand the culture well enough to build a foundation for a mission amongst a foreign culture? But we did.  As Christ’s apostles proclaimed the message of salvation in the tongues of people from all over the world on Pentecost, so during the last eight decades the Holy Spirit has enabled WELS missionaries to bring the Word of God to the remotest areas of Africa.

God has blessed our mission planting efforts with growth, not just in numbers but more importantly in faith and leadership skills.  As African men came to the worker training schools that WELS missionaries established, they gained an understanding of the greatness of our God and his work to save us from the depths of eternal punishment.

In 1937, Dr. William Schweppe and his wife Leola arrived in Nigeria. They were the first full-time missionaries supported by the WELS in Africa. At that time, the Nigeria mission was co-jointly supported by WELS and the LC-MS, working together within the Lutheran Synodical Conference.  Working through schools and clinics, the Schweppes helped people understand God’s love – a love deep enough to sacrifice his own Son to pay the price of our guilt and to raise him from the dead as proof that our debt was paid.

When the Lutheran Synodical Conference broke apart in 1961, Bill and Leola left the mission Nigeria and came to Zambia, where WELS had established a mission four years earlier in 1957. He is one of many “foundational fragments” who helped lay the foundation of WELS mission work in Central Africa. Rev. Schweppe expended countless hours baptizing babies and helping people to understand why we need the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins he brings. After years faithfully serving the mission in Mwembezhi, Dr. Schweppe was called home via a car accident near Mazabuka in the Southern Province of Zambia on 15^th July 1968.

His gravestone had deteriorated so badly by 2003 that it was replaced by some of the Zambia missionaries with donations from US supporters.  Now in 2019 – we had the blessing of searching for (and finding!) that old burial plot.

The church is built on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets (Ephesians 2:20). Throughout the centuries, God has continued to build
up his church all over the world using dedicated missionaries like the
Schweppes. Missionaries are fragile, but those who build their faith on Christ
the cornerstone will never be shaken. We thank the Lord for the Schweppes and
other “foundational fragments” for bringing the gospel to Africa!

Dan Kroll lives in Malawi and coordinates OAT’s work in
West Africa

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

Cameroon has had its ups and downs the past few years – which always give more opportunity for the gospel message to take priority. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Our partners in Cameroon have the message of hope in Jesus and they’re taking every opportunity to share it.

We need more people to do the work! Last March, we hoped that classes would be able to resume at our campus there at Barombi Kang. But those plans had to be scrapped when the only Cameroonian Seminary teacher, Rev Israel Mesue, was informed by armed thugs that “if you open that school, you yourself will be taken for ransom (kidnapped).”

But as the old saying goes, “If at first you don’t succeed try, try again.” Just a few months later Pastor Isreal proposed to continue teaching his students in Cameroon via “Satellite Seminary” in order to re-invigorate students about preparing for the full-time ministry. Pastor Isreal spends six weeks on the road, spending up to two weeks in each of the three districts of the Lutheran Church of Cameroon (LCC). He is currently teaching lessons on “The Three Ecumenical Creeds,” “Homiletics (Preaching)” and “The Large Catechism” (Pt 1 – Commandments), together with worksheets, discussion topics and even tests for those courses.

Rev. Isreal began his first tour in the Western Bakossi District (Nyadong Village) with students Thomas and Vincent. The teaching went well and the students were happy to be back into the books. One of the LCC’s members sat in on the classes at Nyandong and decided that he might be interested in pursuing studies for the ministry in the future. If the Satellite Seminary program runs smoothly, James will be able to start his studies in September of 2022! We see the Lord of the harvest answering our prayers to provide men who are eager to serve him.

It can be bumpy at times teaching seminary students on the road. On his trip to the Northwest District, Pastor Israel’s bus broke down close to where some of fighting has been taking place between pro-government and separatist forces. When the military showed up, Pastor Isreal found himself less ten feet away from a shoot-out! Thankfully nobody was injured. Pastor Isreal looks to the Lord for protection and praises him for the many things that went well on his first trip.

Two weeks ago Rev. Israel was at Northwestern District (Mbemi Village) with the Chairman of the Board for Worker Training Rev. Fon George, along with students Crispos and David. He was a bit delayed in starting his visit there because of another “project” in his home town of Kumba where he is teaching students Ferdinand and Solo (pictured here writing their final tests).

A French-speaking student, Jean-Jacque, did not join his fellow students in the English-speaking region of Cameroon because of the political climate. Nico, another student, was not able to join the program either because of his work. Both Jean-Jacque and Nico will have some catching up to do. While at Kumba there were a few interruptions, but Rev. Isreal adjusted the schedule as necessary to ensure that the students learned the material well.

It was a great blessing for both the students and their teacher to spend time together in God’s Word during this “Seminary road trip.” The next step will be to “try, try again” and bring all the students together on the campus of the LCC Seminary at Barombi Kang in Kumba. Please pray for the peace and safety of the people of Cameroon, and that God continues to bless the work of our partners in the LCC.

Dan Kroll lives in Malawi and coordinates OAT’s work in West Africa

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

It is hard to believe that the Lutheran Church of Central Africa (LCCA) has been running the Greater African Theological Studies Institute (GRATSI) now for almost 9 years. With assistance of visiting professors from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary’s Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI) LCCA pastors from Malawi and Zambia receive further opportunities to obtain advanced degrees in theological studies. The first class called GRATSI 2010 graduated in 2014 and now the second GRATSI class called GRATSI 2014 graduated on July 19, 2019.

The GRATSI 2014 class spent nearly five years meeting two to three times a year in week-long face to face study courses with visiting PSI professors. Class sessions were taught alternatively on the campuses of the Lutheran Bible Institute in Lilongwe, Malawi and the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia.  On July 19, nine LCCA pastors received a Bachelors of Divinity Diploma from visiting Professor Paul Koelpin, who was representing the PSI program of the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Over 30 other LCCA pastors were able to take part in the graduation ceremonies as well, because the graduation event coincided with the close of this year’s Pastors’ Continuing Education course.

The GRATSI program is a work in progress. For the first time, a cohort of four GRATSI 2010 graduates has been formed to pursue a GRATSI Master’s Degree.  These men have been meeting in several on-line courses, as well as a face to face classes with visiting Professor Paul Koelpin. In an attempt to broaden the GRATSI program beyond the borders of Malawi and Zambia to all of Africa, pastors from other African Synods in our fellowship were invited to attend several sessions of the just concluded GRATSI 2014 cohort. This is in keeping with the GRATSI namesake of the Greater African Theological Studies Institute.

But the Lord has blessed One Africa Team with an even broader vision for our efforts to deliver advanced theological training to our partners in Africa. Soon the name “GRATSI” will be changing to “Confessional Lutheran Institute” (CLI). Course work prepared by the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary’s PSI for the GRATSI program has now also been used in other Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC) church bodies outside of Africa. God has blessed WELS with the opportunity to continue advanced training for Lutheran theological workers and pastors not only in Africa, but also throughout the world. May God grant success to our endeavors as we seek to “encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Acting LCCA Seminary Principal
Philip Birner