Growth Spurt in Nigerian Mission Fields

Christ the King Board of Governors meets in the “outgoing” classroom at Uruk Uso – discussing needed changesNext July (2019), our Nigerian Mission Fields will re-start their joint Seminary program.  This time we will work with 22 men who desire to become part of the full time called worker core that we have there.  Christ the King Lutheran Church of Nigeria (in Akwa Ibom State) hopes to more than double their ministerium of 9 pastors, bring 10 more to start the seminary program.  All Saints Lutheran Church of Nigeria is also hoping to make a sizeable jump from 11 current pastors to add 12 more to the program.

It’s the biggest class we’ve had in many years, maybe ever.  Big enough to push some WELS donors to put  financial resources together to pay for a new dormitory building and some refurbishing of the current classroom building to accommodate everybody.  Understand what I mean by “dormitory” (the new building) – in an effort to keep it simple (= inexpensive), we will have one large room with beds, dressers, and a small desk for each student.  With no walls between the “rooms” – the students will get to know each other very well!

Dormitory at All Saints doubles as a place for Bible class. Notice the mosquito nets (one over each bed) in the background

This will keep our Board of Governors very busy.  To make things even more interesting, that same Board of Governors, hand-in-hand with the Seminary director, has requested some revision to the seminary curriculum including an increase of classroom time by over 30%.  There is a lot of work to be done in the next 8 months from digging a foundation, putting up walls and a roof, beds as well as decisions about who will teach and what books they will use – your prayers are essential to this process! Continue reading “Growth Spurt in Nigerian Mission Fields”

I Smell Rain

WELS world missionaries recently attended a conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Yesterday, I returned to Malawi from a week-long gathering of WELS missionaries that was held in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Almost every WELS missionary from all their scattered posts throughout the world had assembled there, about 50 men in all.  While we were there, the missionaries shared story after story about how the sweet and fragrant message of the gospel was pouring out like summer rains on this sin-parched, unbelieving world.  From the continued success of our missions in Africa to the exciting new possibilities in the Far East, God is keeping his promise to spread his saving gospel to the farthest corners of the Earth.  Even now, souls from every tribe and nation are being won for eternal life in heaven. Continue reading “I Smell Rain”

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news

L-R: Unknown Sudanese Pastor, Peter Bur, Allen Sorum, Elias Mututwa, Mark Onunda

The place was the Sudanese Refugee Camp in Kakuma, Kenya.  The occasion was the arrival of special guests to the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Nuer people in the camp.  The temperature was 100.4 degrees.  The visitors had just traveled over 4 hours by taxi on a very bumpy and dusty potholed road.   When they arrived in the camp, the choirs burst into song. Continue reading “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news”

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