Building on an Age-Old Tradition

For over 100 years, WELS Congregations have been building Christian elementary and secondary schools. Many WELS members grew up learning Bible History and the teachings of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, along with reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as social studies and science. In the 21st Century, over 400 WELS congregations operate Early Childhood Educational Centers to secure our children’s relationship with their Savior.

While understanding the world around us is important, the understanding of eternal life supersedes it all. We understand that life-learning starts early, the earlier the better. The age of 2 or 3 years is not too soon to introduce our children to the teaching of salvation.

The One Africa Team is working with a group of Christians in Buchanan, Liberia, who understand the importance of educating children in the truths of Scripture. Lamb of God Lutheran Congregation is hoping to start with ABC Kindergarten. They hope that the kindergarten will quickly grow into a primary school and even a secondary school within just a few years. Pastor Toye Barnard, Lamb of God’s leader, expresses confidence that the program will grow fast.

building — Pastor Toye Barnard is the leader of Lamb of God Lutheran Church

Lamb of God Lutheran Church broke away from another group that the One Africa Team had studied with for several years. That group had decided to hold to the Pentecostal teachings of its leaders, which included a refusal to baptize infants, among other misunderstandings. Pastor Barnard and his members endured many false accusations from that other group when Lamb of God agreed to hold to the truth of Scripture and to continue studying with the OAT. A benevolent group of WELS Christians in California continues to support this budding ministry, which is focusing much attention on building a school as a foundation for their congregation.

Currently, 44 adults and 22 children worship at Lamb of God. The congregation owns three-quarters of an acre on which to build a small school near the edge of town. Principal Barnard, together with several members who are also teachers, is confident they will be able to build a large school and even a church building. They will need more land and more funds to actualize the plan. They will also need the Lord of the church to put his hand of blessing on this effort, so that his church may grow in Liberia. Your prayers and support are hugely appreciated!

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

Blessed be the Tongue that Ties

On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave each of Jesus’ disciples the ability to speak in a foreign tongue instantly. God tied three thousand people to Himself in one day through the message they proclaimed in their listeners’ mother tongues. Would the results have been similar if the disciples had preached in Greek or Latin? On Pentecost, God did more than perform a miracle. He displayed his love for people of every tongue and tribe.

Speaking to someone in their heart language does more than convey information. If you speak three sentences to someone in his native tongue you will instantly establish trustworthiness. You show that you are committed to your listener’s culture and language. Your tongue ties you to his community.

Time to Teach the Tongue

Over three thousand languages are spoken in Africa. People speak some of them within their ethnic group. Other languages like English, French, Arabic, and Swahili cross tribal boundaries. Most people speak at least two or three languages. There are some similarities between languages of the same family (like Bantu, Nilotic, or Khosaian) but it still takes time to learn any language.

God has given me an aptitude for picking up foreign tongues. My experience speaking Chichewa for seven years in Malawi has helped me speak Swahili at a basic level. Swahili is spoken primarily in Tanzania and Kenya, and some parts of the DRC and Uganda.

Before my last trip to Kenya and Tanzania, I found a Swahili-speaking Malawian who teaches at a local language school. My wife and I met with him in January. We have both studied some Swahili independently but made significant progress with our teacher’s instruction. And this helped us immensely the next month when we traveled to Kenya.

Home Advantage

WELS Central Africa Medical Mission sponsored a rural health clinic near the town of Sagana in central Kenya. My wife’s job was to weigh patients and calculate their Body Mass Index. I sat with the local pastors who shared Jesus with visitors in both Swahili and Kikuyu, a Bantu language spoken by people in central Kenya.

I am thankful for my brothers in Christ who shared the Gospel in their native tongue. At one point I was left alone, and I struggled to communicate with our camp visitors. Local Kenyans will always be able to connect with their fellow Africans more easily than I can. I am glad that God gave them the desire to share Jesus’ love with others.

The week after the medical camp my wife and I traveled to western Kenya. We offered a preaching workshop near the town of Kisii. The participants were laymen who lead worship services and laywomen who are leaders of small group Bible studies. Few of them had received formal ministry training in an academic setting. These people serve congregations of the LCMC-Kenya. Due to a shortage of ordained pastors, the church relies on laymen to lead worship services in many of its congregations.

My class led members through the process of preparing a sermon from beginning to end. I presented my material in English, and they worked through various learning tasks in their local tongues. My prayer for these men and women is that they proclaim Christ’s love to their fellow Kenyans no matter what tongue they are speaking.

Tongue Twisters

At the end of our two weeks in Kenya, my wife flew back to Malawi. I continued to Tanzania to meet with pastors from the Africa Mission Evangelism Church (AMEC). The WELS and AMEC intend to tie themselves together in fellowship at this summer’s WELS Synod convention. Along with my fellow Missionary Ben Foxen, we presented topics of special interest to AMEC pastors. As English is not used as widely in Tanzania as it is in Kenya, Ben and I did our best to teach our lessons in Swahili.

Ben held up his end of the communication well, partially a result of the two months he spent studying Swahili in northern Tanzania. For my part, I communicated at a Kindergarten level. It wasn’t pretty, but you do whatever you can and leave the rest to God.

On Sunday morning our hosts asked both Ben and I to preach in their churches. It is an expression of the ties that bind our two church bodies together. We eagerly embraced the opportunity, even though I relied on Google to translate my sermon from English into Swahili. I know enough Swahili to recognize and change the mechanically translated parts. I twisted my tongue around familiar and unfamiliar words as I read the sermon to my listeners. An occasionally shouted “Amen!” indicated when they got my point.

Now back in Malawi, I have a plan to meet with my Swahili teacher. I hope to visit our friends in Kenya and Tanzania in the upcoming months. I want to move from being tongue-tied to having a tongue that ties others to Christ.

Missionary John Roebke lives in Malawi.

New Missionary

Jake Vilhauer recently graduated from Martin Luther College (MLC) and is a new missionary for the One Africa Team.

Coming out of Martin Luther College I initially planned on becoming a high school history teacher. In history teacher fashion, here’s a crash course of the last eight months of my life. I was informed that I was being considered for an international call. I accepted that international call. I graduated from MLC and announced my call to my family, who were shocked – the understatement of the year. I got married to Maddie Hockenbery on the 1st of June and shipped off to Zambia in August.

Learning Curve

Ten days after arriving in Zambia, my wife and I left for France to begin our French-speaking journey. We stayed in Strasbourg and went to French school every day, starting from scratch. Thanksgiving came quickly, and we left France to live with another missionary family in Douala, Cameroon to learn more French and to learn about West African culture. Soon we will return to Zambia and settle down in our own place.

The work that I have been able to do as a missionary with the One Africa Team is awesome, to say the least. I have worked with multiple groups of potential partners. Four seminary teachers from West Africa came to Douala and I helped them with educational strategies for the future. I have also taught online TELL classes with people all over Africa, studying the Bible in depth.

God’s Plan

There have been some challenges with being away from family, learning a new language, and learning a new culture. However, these past months have helped me to grow in my faith and learn how to work on a team. Although we are far from our families in the States, we were instantly provided with new families on the mission field. There has not been a lack of support from anyone, and I am truly grateful for that.

The past five months away from home have been a whirlwind. I never thought I would be a missionary. I would joke with Maddie about going abroad to annoy her. I had not heard of a World Missions call from MLC. People say that God hears our plans and laughs – that was true in my case. In the last year, God allowed me to graduate from MLC, receive and accept a World Missions call, get married, learn a new language, and live on three different continents. I pray that God blesses our missionary work here in Africa.

Jake and Maddie Vilhauer live in Lusaka, Zambia