Best Reformation Ever

The Lutheran Reformation continues to bear fruit all over the world and especially in Gambella, Ethiopia today. Gambella Evangelical Lutheran Church (GELC) started in 2018 with a few men who had become frustrated with the false teaching of their other denominations. In 2021, the One Africa Team of the Wisconsin Synod directed their leader, Opiew Okugn to investigate the TELL Bible Study program from WELS’ Multi-Language Productions.

Learning About Baptism

One Africa Team member first met the church leaders face-to-face in March of 2023. The congregation had the common misunderstanding: “Since we don’t have an ordained pastor, we cannot make use of the sacraments.”

OAT representatives Joel Hoff and Dan Kroll taught about the sacraments in 2024. Any Christian who has a true understanding of the three persons of the Trinity can and should baptize. GELC leaders requested a baptismal liturgy from OAT. They even organized baptismal certificates for the fifty-seven who were baptized on that weekend.

More than a year later, the members of GELC are still baptizing. Four infants were brought into God’s kingdom through baptism just the week before Missionary Kroll arrived in mid-October. We praise the Lord for growth in this understanding. We also thank God for the growth of his kingdom amongst the Anuak Tribe living in Gambella!

Teaching the Lutheran Confessions

In some inhospitable weather (i.e., hot and humid), Missionary Kroll studied the Lutheran Confessions with GELC members. Everyone took notes on the historic Confessions of the Lutheran Reformation contained in the Book of Concord. These are the Augsburg Confession, the Apology (Defense) of the Augsburg Confession, The Smalcald Articles, The Power and Primacy of the Pope, and The Formula of Concord.

Missionary Kroll used this opportunity to review the foundational teaching of Scripture – salvation by grace alone – with GELC members. He explained the concept of the opinio legis. This is a false idea that we can gain God’s favor by obeying his law. Missionary Kroll also warned GELC member about the Roman Catholic false teaching on the Sacraments. Namely, it is impossible to merit God’s favor by virtue what the priest is doing ex opere operato (from the work done), without regard to the faith of the person receiving the sacrament. The Bible urges us to receive God’s blessings with faith in Jesus’ salvation, as promised and delivered by the Sacraments.

The theological terms themselves are not important. We do however encounter the concepts they express often. We find them in the Lutheran Confessions, in our own communities, and even in our own hearts. With trust in God’s Word we look forward the battle against false teachings, wherever they may be found.

Discussing Church Practice

GELC members and Missionary Kroll discussed how traditions can interfere with worship when people focus on what they like. Our Anuak brothers recognized that they could be flexible about the number of hymns in a worship service. They acknowledged that desire for authority and honor can lead to conflict in the church. GELC currently utilizes only those offices of ministry that are necessary for good order.

Missionary Kroll and GELC members tackled these subjects with a lot of interactive homework and discussions. There was much laughter, a little spirited debate, and much time spent enjoying good meals together. It was a week of building relationship based on the true Word of God.

The week’s meetings ended with a Reformation Festival on Sunday. Worshippers enjoyed plenty of singing and a strong message about freedom. They listened to readings from Jeremiah 31, Galatians 5 and heard a great gospel sermon on John 8:31-36. David was the “moderator.” Mataya played the keyboard. Okwori delivered the sermon. Omod Ochalla, Opiew Okugn and Omod Otong read the Scripture lessons. In other words, every GELC leader had a role to play. A key theme of the Lutheran Reformation is that in the Church, everybody has a job to do.

Please offer a prayer for this congregation to hold firmly to the gospel they have learned. “We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.” (Hebrews 3:13).

Missionary Dan Kroll 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

Planning to Move Forward in Tanzania

Planning is a risky business. We don’t know the future. We take our best guesses and try to do everything possible so that something goes according to plans we’ve made. However, all of that still falls far short of guaranteeing the outcome. God reminds us: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.” (James 4:13,14)

God’s Plans Always Prevail

The African Mission Evangelism Church (AMEC) is a Lutheran church of about 13,000 souls in Tanzania. Plans for a declaration of fellowship with AMEC didn’t come to fruition at our recent WELS convention. There was a sudden leadership change and a delay on AMEC’s side in accomplishing some tasks. Plans that had been made were put on hold. WELS and AMEC mutually decided it would be better to take a little bit more time before proceeding.

God warns us about putting too much hope in our own plans. He also spoke through Jeremiah: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11). Though our plans might not work out, God’s plans always do. He knows what he has in store for all of us, and we know that his plans are good.

I don’t doubt that his plans for the relationship between WELS and AMEC are good as well. We have made progress even in the short time since the delay. It looks like we will be ready to move forward with AMEC sooner rather than later. During a recent visit to Tanzania, Missionaries Roebke and Foxen witnessed good teaching by the leaders of AMEC. They explained to the rest of their called workers a locally written, Swahili-language confession of faith. The called workers thoroughly discussed many of the points in the confession. In the end, 65 men voiced their agreement that these are the things they believe and practice. This was a decision the WELS missionaries certainly rejoiced to hear.

Planning Our Move to Tanzania

Because of these developments, the One Africa Team has decided to relocate two mission families to Arusha, Tanzania. Missionaries Foxen and Roebke will be able to focus on training future church workers in AMEC. Through a program of classroom instruction and practical ministry application, the missionaries are planning to train a select number of AMEC men. Those men will become trainers of future gospel workers within their church body. Our prayer is that these men will be able to pass the same kind of training on to others in AMEC. God-willing, this will ensure a good future supply of gospel workers for their church body.

Such an endeavor requires even more planning. We are currently working with local lawyers to register our mission organization in Tanzania in order to obtain work permits. The missionary families will be leaving their old residences and searching for new ones. Missionaries are making efforts to maximize Swahili language learning when on the ground. The One Africa Team is weighing how these changes will affect the responsibilities of each member of the team. Of utmost concern is securing our families’ welfare in an area where we’ve never had WELS missionaries.

There’s a lot to think about and plan for, but also a lot to be gained. As with everything we do in life, we make our plans as best we can. At the same time, we trust that God’s plan is the one that will actually be accomplished. God will reveal in time how our planning lines up with his plan. We will continue to trust that whatever he has in store, it will be good. We know his planning is good for our missionaries and their families, for AMEC, for WELS, and ultimately for the kingdom of God. All glory to his name for his marvelous plan!

Missionary Ben Foxen lives in Zambia.

Why We Visit

A pastor who visits people makes people who visit church. That’s why I devoted two nights a week to visit both members and visitors when I lived in the United States. Sometimes I would call ahead, most times I just showed up at the door. I only got a gun pulled on me once – but that’s how he greeted everyone.

I don’t make house calls anymore because I don’t have a congregation. However, every other month I’m on the road. My father asked me, “Is it necessary to visit all these people?” It’s true that we can handle a lot of our work online. But this post will show why we visit in person.

What We Saw

I just returned home after a two week visit to Uganda, where we partner with the Obadiah Lutheran Synod. We are also pursuing relationships with two new groups. One is called the Confessional Lutheran Synod of Uganda (CLSU). Two years ago, conservative pastors broke away from the Lutheran Church of Uganda. They formed their own church body and Seminary, and are seeking partnership with WELS.

Missionary Ben Foxen and I were greatly encouraged by what we saw during our visit. Members of Christ the Vine enthusiastically welcomed us. We worshipped in their newly constructed sanctuary, constructed of mud and wattle and roofing sheets. We witnessed baptisms, confirmations, and the installation of four congregational evangelists. They were greatly honored by our visit.

We also visited Mt. Calvary congregation, whose members worship in a schoolroom. Several CLSU congregations have started schools as a means to reach out to the community. Bishop Benson Barahuka, the leader of the CLSU, joined in the dancing and fun. He asked the members to contribute towards a church building project. A visit like ours shows that every member and congregation are valued and connected to the body of Christ.

School building where members of Mt. Calvary meet on Sundays

Missionary Foxen and I sat down with CLSU leaders for a week to study Lutheran teachings and practice. I had met some of them previously, while leading an online course on the Augsburg Confession. We all agreed that meeting face to face is better. Bishop Benson thanked WELS donors for making our visit possible. He told us, “You care.” He was glad we made a visit – and so are we.

What Needs Work

The other group we are working with in Uganda is the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession Uganda (ECACU). This group also came out of the Lutheran Church of Uganda. Rev. Simon Peter Waako is their leader.

At our opening worship service we sang from The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH), which had been donated by LC-MS congregations in the USA. The tunes we sang did not always match what was printed in the hymnal. Almost all of the long meter (LM) hymns were sung to the tune of, “I Know that My Redeemer Lives.”

The liturgy was conducted in the Runyoro language, although not everyone in attendance spoke that tongue. Throughout our visit, everything we spoke in English had to be translated twice. This slowed us down considerably. Did you know that over 3,000 languages are spoken on the African continent?

Our visit to God Bought congregation was also a challenge. Our van got stuck in the mud and we had to walk the last kilometer to the church site. A small group of Christians gather every Sunday under a tree. The owner of the adjacent property evicted them from their building because he wants to farm crops there.

The next visit was to Kakasato church, which has 50 members. A local man invited ECACU to start a congregation in his barn. They offer Sunday School and Bible class, in addition to worship. We also made a visit to Kabatindule, which means “felling a tree.” The congregation meets under a lean-to on the property of one of the members. They do not have any Bibles, catechisms or hymnals.

Our visit showed us there’s a lot of work to be done with ECACU before we declare fellowship. There’s no way we could know this without coming in person. This is why we visit. And God-willing, we will make another visit soon.

Missionary John Roebke lives in Malawi.