welsfriendsofafrica.com, Author at WELS Friends of Africa

March 18, 2020March 18, 2020

Four Hours in Church

Choirs from five different congregations performed at a joint worship service in Chilembwe, Malawi

I had a choice between sitting through four hours of church and a voters’ meeting or attending a four hour long worship service. Since moving to Malawi’s capital city of Lilongwe nine months ago I regularly attend the English language worship services held at Crown of Life Lutheran Church on the campus of the Lutheran Bible Institute. I am thankful for the the opportunity to gather weekly with my fellow missionaries and the members of the congregation to hear encouraging messages from God’s Word. The style of worship is familiar to any member of the Wisconsin Synod. We use the
WELS hymnal Christian Worship to sing hymns and psalms, accompanied by an electronic organ. The student choir of the Lutheran Bible Institute performs 3-4 glorious anthems in the Chichewa and Chitumbuka languages. The congregation also holds separate Chichewa language services that starts later in the morning. Once a month Crown of Life holds a joint English and Chichewa language service that can last up to two and a half hours. And just like many WELS congregations, Crown of Life also has (long) voters’ meetings.

March 4, 2020April 23, 2020

Howzit goin’?

“Howzit goin’?” I used to hear in the States.

Now: “Muli bwanji?” (“How are you”?)

My wife Debbie, my son Drew, and I moved from Minnesota to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, in early December 2019.

My future role: Theological Educator for the One Africa Team of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, concentrating especially on formal continuing education for African pastors in our fellowship.

My current role: Newbie. Learner. OAT called me to spend at least the first 6 months here learning as much language and culture as possible.

How is that going? There is too much to tell.

February 19, 2020February 19, 2020

Letters from Crackpots

My wife’s parents were dairy farmers from Wisconsin whose lives revolved around the family, farm, and church. They had a great love for Jesus and his Great Commission. In 1963 my mother-in-law read a story in the Green Bay Press-Gazette about a Nigerian pastor who wanted to know about Christianity in the United States. That article prompted her to raise money in her congregation to purchase a bicycle for his ministry, and later she sent him some clothes. In a letter he replied, “I am really fat and would need to reduce if it was within my capacity. The raincoat did not fit me. It is still very needful since my wife has begun to use it.” Over the next three decades she maintained correspondence with Rev. E. Eshiett, a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Nigeria.