“Port is where the heart is.” If you’re stitching a saying onto a pillow or a quilt for a sailor, maybe you can use that one. Port is important: It’s where a sailor reconnects with land and with all the comforts to be found there—if only for a short time, until the ship is ready to sail again.

I was once a sailor on the M/V James R. Barker, a thousand-foot-long freighter ship hauling coal and taconite pellets back and forth across the Great Lakes of North America. (Did you know that we have a system of Great Lakes here in Africa, too?) My favorite port-of-call was Duluth, Minnesota. I enjoyed the beautiful book and music shops, as well as Erbert & Gerbert sub sandwiches. However, I had been hoping for more. I had hoped to find a WELS pastor who could visit me and give me Communion. But there was a vacancy: a situation far too familiar to many of us in today’s WELS, some twenty years later.

The Port of Douala is one of the greatest port cities on the continent of Africa. In fact, it is the largest city in the country of Cameroon. When it comes to WELS mission work in West Africa, the Port of Douala actually functions like a spiritual port. When several of us missionaries met with pastors in September, only one of them was from Douala. All the rest of us were “ships”, so to speak, coming to Douala simply for the purpose of meeting around the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Douala—for WELS mission work—is nothing more and nothing less than a “port of calling”.

Missionaries Dan Witte and Dan Kroll were studying and meeting with pastors from three West African synods: Christ the King and All Saints, of Nigeria, and the Lutheran Church of Cameroon (LCC). Because of the multi-dimensional security threats present in the region, for the moment WELS missionaries are not able to travel to Nigeria or to Cameroon, apart from just one city in Cameroon: Douala. Because we couldn’t meet them where they were, our brothers came to meet us in port. Missionary Joel Hoff flew in from Zambia, to give a presentation about the very successful TELL online outreach program, which pastors can use both to teach their congregations and to discover new prospects in their own country. Director of Missions Operations, Stefan Felgenhauer, also flew in from Wisconsin.

I (Missionary Keegan Dowling) also ended up in Douala, our port of Gospel calling. I met with yet a different church body: Holy Trinity Lutheran Synod. They hail from a distant part of Cameroon, where there is a violent and dangerous conflict. Yet, a group of leaders trekked down to Douala, so that we could study the Bible together and talk about Holy Trinity’s mission plans. Holy Trinity is not yet in fellowship with WELS, but this is their desire. So, my job is to work with Holy Trinity along a pathway of studies and discussions that the One Africa Team uses to bring church bodies into fellowship.

An interesting thing about Holy Trinity Lutheran Synod is that many of the leaders and members speak French! In fact, they are our first French-speaking partner church body (although God is blessing our efforts in other parts of francophone Africa, too—stay tuned for future blog posts!) When we “drop anchor” in our “port of calling”, we read the Bible together in French. We discuss the issues in French. And outside of class, walking around the Port of Douala, guess what? Missionaries like Pastor Kroll and I get to practice a lot of real-life French! Each trip adds to our capabilities. It further increases our ability to call: to call our fellow sinners to our common Savior, throughout French-speaking Africa. This is why the Port of Douala is our “port of calling”. And, God willing, it will be joined by more ports of calling, too.

Missionary Keegan J. Dowling lives in Lusaka

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

A kickoff always signals the start of a football game.  This past week (2-9 September), we kicked off a new organization in Africa. The One Africa Team brought together two leaders from each of WELS’ three partner church bodies in West Africa: Christ the King Lutheran Church of Nigeria (CKLCN), All Saints Lutheran Church of Nigeria (ASLCN), and the Lutheran Church of Cameroon (LCC).  These six men sat together to solve some very sticky issues involving budgets, curricula, and staffing of their Seminary programs. 

We set up a WhatsApp chat group to communicate throughout the week.  It was useful for communication about what we had done in the Conference Room, meals, etc. We also came to understand that we could also use this forum for a monthly meeting.  That meeting is currently scheduled for 8 am the first Thursday of each month.  Regular communication will greatly assist us in making plans and holding one another accountable so that things get done.

Our biggest topic of conversation was to gain an understanding of the One Africa Team’s vision for “Quarterly Ministry Plans.”  Much has changed since the days when missionaries resided in Nigeria and Cameroon. Due to security, WELS missionaries do not live in West Africa.  In those days our partners were quite free to come and tell us, “We need ____ to carry out our ministry.” Then the local missionary would see what he could do to provide it for them. 

Now, our West African brothers are writing their own plans. They are very clear about the programs that they are planning to implement. These plans include the purpose of the proposed program and who will be the participants and the teachers. Plans also include where the proposed program will take place, and benchmarks to gauge the program’s effectiveness.  The focus of ministry planning must remain on reaching people with the Gospel. However, detailed estimates of expenses and funding sources are important for successful planning. We now have a good understanding of what our partners need for the October-December quarter. With some minor adjustments, our partners will be ready to move forward with assistance from the One Africa Team.

We have opened a line of communication between the One Africa Team and the West African Leaders group. After the initial kickoff, the ball is now rolling.

Dan Kroll lives in Malawi and is the OAT Liaison to WELS Mission Partners in West Africa

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

A little flock gathered in Douala, Cameroon Monday, August 28 through Friday, August 31.

We were six sheep. Six shepherds.

Two from Christ the King Lutheran Synod of Nigeria— Pastor Idorenyin Joshua Udo and Pastor Aniedi Paul Udo;

Two from the Lutheran Church of Cameroon— Pastor Mesue Israel Muankume and Pastor Ngalame Gervase; and

Two from the WELS One Africa Team— Pastor Dan Kroll and Pastor Dan Witte. Kroll lives in Lilongwe, Malawi. I live in Lusaka, Zambia.

My brother in Wisconsin asked me before the trip, “Why are you going there?”

I told him, “It’s kind of a week-long faculty meeting.” Four West African pre-seminary and seminary professors meet with two missionaries. They have experience helping West African Lutheran seminaries.

But it was more than a faculty meeting, brother. Sister, it was more.

It was a prayer meeting. We prayed before all our meals together. We prayed at the start, middle, and end of all our meetings.

One of the Cameroonian pastors set the tone on the first day.

Pastor Israel led us in singing and prayer. He focused us on  Luke 12:32. There Jesus tells his twelve disciples, “Have no fear little flock, for your Father was delighted to give you the kingdom.”

The kingdom. The reign of God is most merciful in human hearts.

But the men Jesus is talking to will run away from him in fear the night he needs them most.

One of them will deny Jesus first. One will betray. Jesus knows. Oh, does he know.

So, “Have no fear little flock,” Jesus says, “for your Father was delighted to give you the kingdom.”

The kingdom. The one-and-only.

The cumulative impact of all the Father has always been doing, royally, redemptively, through his Son and Spirit, and always will.

Imagine.

Who is this man, talking to these twelve other men in Israel?

How does this man know what made their Father happy?

He is God’s Son, you say.

Okay. How can he claim that his Father is their Father too?

How humble is Jesus, not telling these men, “My Father was tickled to give you our kingdom”?

How humble is he, when he should be the one most afraid, as he goes to the cross, telling them not to be afraid?

And you, brother. You, sister. You, sheep of the Good Shepherd.

In Doula met six sheep for a week-long faculty meeting, a prayer meeting, a preparation-for-the-upcoming-school-year meeting, a let’s-become-better-educators meeting.

We were six men from four countries in a friendship meeting. We laughed a lot.

We could have cried a lot too.

We discussed problems. We could have opened up more about our worries. So many fears, we harbor. Those are hard to admit. We six—secretive sinners. But Jesus laid down his life for us all.

And Jesus lives.

Who are you with today as you read this? Are you by yourself? Are you with a few other believers?

Your Father was thrilled to give you the kingdom.

Why do you ever fear anything, when Jesus’ Father is giving you everything?

Have no fear, little flock.

Pray for the same fearlessness in the five students who will soon start again studying for pastoral ministry in Kumba, Cameroon. Pray in Christ for the ten students starting a new school year soon in Uruk Uso, Nigeria.

Our sister ministry training schools in West Africa are small. Difficulties? Huge.

Bigger than anything: “Your Father delights to give you the kingdom.”

Missionary Dan Witte lives 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. 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