Stefan Felgenhauer has recently been hired to serve WELS Missions in Africa as the Director of Operations for One Africa Team. Stefan and his wife Kathy have lived in Malawi previously and served WELS through the Kingdom Workers organization. Listen to Stefan as he (re)introduces himself in this week’s post:

Felgs on the move…..this has become our theme.  We’re about to move to Africa for the 3^rd time and we couldn’t be more excited!  My wife and I met in Bali, Indonesia, got married in New Ulm, MN and lived in Germany, Canada, the USA and in Malawi (twice).  When we sat down to think about it we realize we’ve never lived in the same house for more than 2 years.  Currently we live in Kansas and it’s true that we there is “no place like home” – we are in this world but not of it and heaven will be where we completely settle down for eternity.

Having grown up in Communist East Germany, I certainly couldn’t have imagined the plans the Lord had for me.  Looking back at my experiences I see God’s hand in leading me to this new opportunity to work as the Director of Mission Operations for One Africa Team.  My love for Africa really began when my wife and I were engaged.  She was teaching in Lippo Karawaci, Indonesia and I was in the military in Germany – together we traveled to Blantyre, Malawi to visit my in-laws.  My father-in-law, Missionary Ron Uhlhorn, was the first WELS urban missionary to Malawi (1998-2003).  It was an awesome experience to travel around with them seeing the mission work first hand, and a year or so later after we were married. Soon we returned for another visit to this intriguing place, which was already growing on our hearts.

In time I heard about a position opening to be the Business Manager for our mission in Malawi. This position description encompassed engaging in all “non-Word work” to free the missionaries for their “Word-work”.   We moved from Germany with our newborn daughter Louisa with the intent of staying only 2 years. We left 6 wonderful years (and 3 houses) later with two more children, Benjamin and Anna, who were born in Blantyre.  The idea of a business manager on field was a success and the Warm Heart of Africa had become home.

We then engaged in a four year adventure to Canada, Germany and the USA, calling several more houses and apartments home before another opportunity came knocking that brought us back to Malawi.  This time I worked directly for Kingdom Workers as their Field Manager. My wife and I developed short term volunteer opportunities for VBS events in rural villages, and eventually a ministry to the disabled using Jesus Cares materials translated into the Chichewa language.  Our growing children attended the international school and we felt right back at home.

Two houses and three years later we returned to the USA to live in Manhattan, KS and then Salina, KS where my wife held calls as preschool director and teacher. Our children picked up the American way of life and I found continued work in serving those with special needs.

I appreciate all the different fields of service that the Lord has given me. All of these experiences have helped me develop continued skills to now lead my family to Lusaka, Zambia in the coming months.  Working for One Africa Team, I look forward to the challenge of supporting the mission and ministries in many different African countries!

Stefan Felgenhauer and his family will be based in Lusaka, Zambia

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

No one had to tell the crowd to be exuberant with praise. They just were. (Luke 19:37-38)

No one had to convince the people to shout. They just did. (John 12:13)

No one had to force them to make a welcome carpet out of their clothes. They just had to. (Luke 19:36)

You can no more prevent a song gushing up from the depths of a heart than you can stop Old Faithful from erupting from the deep of the earth.

It just comes up and sprays out.

Did the Palm Sunday throng fully “get” what was happening when Jesus traveled to Jerusalem on the back of a donkey?  Were they understanding the real reason for His entrance into their city?  Or the deeper meaning of their cries of Hosanna? (Matthew 21:9) Hardly.

But the 38 choir members at the Lutheran Bible Institute do. They know what Palm Sunday is all about. And it’s not about palms.

It’s about Jesus, the humble King.  It’s about the Christ coming to Jerusalem to fulfill His Father’s will.  It’s about the Suffering Servant, the Lamb of God, the Ultimate Sacrifice for sin.  No one was taking Jesus’ life from Him, He was willingly and obediently giving it up.

Ride on, ride on in majesty!

No one has to tell the nineteen men and their wives to be enthusiastic to worship with song.

They just are.

Sopranos, Altos, Tenors and Basses all coming together in a chorus of harmony and a symphony of sound.  These Lutheran Bible Institute (LBI) families have every reason to sing as they do because they know what happened, not only to Jesus but to themselves:

Baptized into Jesus’ name.
Redeemed by Christ’s blood.
Saved by grace through faith.

Their voices are Yellowstone geysers.

That’s why I apologize for the pictures.  You are merely seeing what I prefer you would be hearing.  The photos just don’t do justice to the experience itself.  It’s like passing in front of you a dinner plate heaped with a tantalizing meal but not allowing you to taste the flavors nor smell the aroma.

I’m sorry.  This article should be audio.

I wish I could have given, not your eyes but your ears a chance to be the pathway to walk alongside Jesus as He rides into Jerusalem with the crowds shouting and singing and praising.  Christ-centered psalms, hymns and spiritual songs are tour guides for the heart. They know the way and escort us up close to the main attraction: the Fountain of Life. (Psalm 36:9) Stand under the spray and feel the mist.

The medium is the music but the message is the Messiah!  Not only does it have the power to move us but has the ability to stir within us and from us our own gush of praise.

A hymn we can’t help but sing out…
From a voice we can’t help but lift up…
With a gratitude we can’t help but express forth!

And out it comes.

All Glory, Laud and Honor!

Walking by faith the Jerusalem road we see Jesus for who He really is (the Savior from sin) and for whom He really came (the entire world!)  We realize that the song of salvation, composed by Christ with His life and death and resurrection, was already welled deep within.

On Palm Sunday, out it came. (Just imagine what’s going to happen on Easter Sunday!)

No one cut down branches or waved palms at Crown of Life on the 25^th of March 2018.  No one spread their cloaks on the road.  But all the LBI choir members did wear brand new ones.  The tailoring was finished just a week or so ago. The sewing machine is still warm from use.  The 25^th of March 2018 was the first time the choir wore the crisp new robes.

Palm-branch green.

The color was stunning but not near as much as the singing.

Instruments?  None.
Pitch pipe?  No need.
Sheet music? Not that either.

Just a God-gifted, “pitch perfect” choir with exquisite harmony singing praises to God.

But the LBI choir members were not the only ones raising their voices in song on Palm Sunday.  So did the children, the women’s choir as well as the congregation itself.  Though one of the hymns we sang on Palm Sunday is actually found in the Advent section of Christian Worship, the words are most fitting:

The advent of our King
Our prayers must now employ,
And we must hymns of welcome sing
In strains of holy joy.

The everlasting Son
Incarnate deigns to be,
Himself a servant’s form puts on
To set his servants free.
(CW 1:1-2)

Lord Jesus, Redeemer King, to whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas sing (CW 131), please accept our hymns and our hosannas as our worship to You. Not just on Palm Sunday but every day!  Even if we keep quiet, somehow in some way, as you said on that first Palm Sunday, the stones will cry out (Luke 19:40).

All Glory, Laud and Honor!

With Palm Sunday joy,

Missionary John Holtz
Your Malawi Mission Partner

John Holtz and his wife live in Lilongwe, Malawi

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

WELS Missions provides invaluable support to sister church bodies around the world as they train and prepare future pastors. Every country has a different approach to worker training, depending on resources at hand as well as the local culture. In Nigeria, two sister Lutheran church bodies work in tandem to support a joint seminary, but each synod maintains separate pre-seminaries that act as “feeder” schools. Missionary Jeff Heitsch recently visited Nigeria from February 21 until March 9. This week he shares his impressions with us:

One of the main purposes of my trip was to meet the students that are attending pre-seminary classes at both Christ the King Lutheran Church and All Saints Lutheran Church. On my first visit to Nigeria last fall, the schools were on recess so I didn’t see students and teachers in action. I made meeting the students and seeing the classes in action my main focus this time.

Missionary Dan Kroll and I flew from our home base in Cameroon into Lagos, and from Lagos we flew to the city of Uyo.  In Uyo we were picked up by our driver, Solomon George and headed to Christ the King Lutheran Church Mission House in the town of Uruk Uso.  We attended a joint Communion service at the village of Meta 1 with four other congregations from that area.

Christ the King Lutheran Church Pre-seminary

On Monday morning we were up for a quick breakfast before heading to the pre-seminary of Christ the King Lutheran Church for the opening devotion. Nine full-time students take turns leading devotions.  They also critique every devotion as far as its agreement with the Scripture text, its theme, introduction and transitions, as well as its applicability to the listeners. In addition, the students give feedback to the devotion leader on how smoothly he read the Bible verses, his command of English, his style of speaking, and his composure.

We sat in on a few lessons that their instructors gave and listened to the interaction, then Pastor Kroll and I addressed the class directly and gave our encouragement. We were able to observe devotions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday but couldn’t stay for class since we had planned various other meetings.

All Saints Lutheran Church Pre-seminary

On Thursday morning after the opening devotion, Pastor Kroll and I headed up to the town of Ogoja, which takes about  6 to 7 hours to reach by car. Ojoga is where our other sister synod in Nigeria, All Saints Lutheran Church, has its pre-seminary. Our driver Solomon said that it used to take twelve hours to make the drive because of poor road conditions. But because significant improvements have been made to the road, we left at about 9:15 a.m. and arrived at our lodge by a little after 3:30 p.m., even with a detour around Uyo. After we checked in and got settled, we had time to run into town for some bottles of water and then get back for dinner before dark.

On Friday morning we were up early for breakfast and arrived at All Saints Lutheran pre-seminary by 8:00 a.m. We assumed that was when classes started but we were wrong … they begin at 9:00 a.m. We waited for the pre-seminary director, Pastor Sunday Orem, to arrive for the opening devotion. Each pre-seminary group does things in their own way, and the students at All Saints will not be leading devotions until their pre-seminary studies come to a close in the middle of March.

After his devotion Pastor Orem met with Missionary Kroll and me privately to explain that one of the pre-seminary textbooks the school had ordered never arrived.  Apparently the printing company was having issues with their machinery and Pastor Orem wasn’t sure how to proceed.  Pastor Kroll, who had taught this course before, shared with Pastor Orem that the lessons can be taught without each student having their own book, by highlighting key points on the blackboard and directing the students to write them down.  Missionary Kroll took advantage of the opportunity to show Pastor Orem what he meant by teaching the opening chapters of this course to the students and had fun involving them in the lecture.

That weekend we held various meetings and attended a worship service in the village of Boki, then on Monday we were back at the pre-seminary in Ogoja to observe the morning devotion and classes.  On Monday and Tuesday afternoon we traveled with President Orem to visit two rural health clinics that All Saints sponsors.  One of the clinics has been in operation for a number of years, and they have just established a second.

Our days in Nigeria were filled with classes, travel, and meetings and all too soon we were packing up for the journey back to Cameroon. We made the long drive back to Uruk Uso, then the next day after getting on the plane at Uyo and switching flights in Lagos, we arrived back home in Douala, Cameroon.

Please pray for the 9 men from Christ the King Lutheran Church and the 12 men from All Saints who will be completing their pre-seminary instructions this spring. Upon graduation from pre-seminary, these men will be assigned to rural congregations in their church bodies so that they can gain field experience. God-willing, the men from these two pre-seminaries will come together at one seminary in Uruk Uso starting in 2019.  May God watch over them and bless them and their families.

Missionary Jeff Heitsch serves as Friendly Counselor to Nigeria. He lives in Cameroon with his wife Stephanie. Read their blog at https://jsheitsch.wixsite.com/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