“Preach the word,” Paul told Timothy.

Paul was in prison in Rome, facing execution for Jesus.

“Preach the word,” Paul emphasized. “Be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).

A Joyful Celebration in Lusaka

“Preach the word,” Harland Goetzinger, head of the Pastoral Studies Institute of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary of Mequon, Wisconsin, USA, told 15 other pastors from 5 countries, plus all the other pastors and other guests in attendance, on May 28, 2026, in Lusaka, Zambia.

Guests included CELC synod leaders:

• Matthias Abumbi and Ngalame Gervase (Cameroon),
• Paul Mboya and Mark Anariko Onunda (Kenya),
• Ephraim Adiauko, Michael Egar, Wonah Johnson, and Stephen Stephen (Nigeria)
• Elias Mututwa and Mascrif Mulonda (Zambia).

Guests also included:

• Jonathan Bare of Asia Lutheran Seminary,
• David Bivens of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary,
• Anthony Phiri and Chibikubantu Simweeleba of Lusaka Lutheran Seminary, and
• Several WELS One Africa Team missionaries and their wives.

The 15 pastors from 5 countries were graduating in the chapel of the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia, with Bachelor of Divinity degrees from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

The 15 pastors:

•     Christopher Chisankulo (Zambia)
•     George Chumba (Malawi)
•     Mesue Isreal (Cameroon)
•     Evans Makowani (Zambia)
•     Stanford Mandevu (Malawi)
•     Steward Mbele (Zambia)
•     Titus Mbele (Zambia)
•     Bismark Ndumba (Zambia)
•     Richard Ochichi (Kenya)
•     Samwel Owage (Kenya)
•     Mathews Owidi-Osome (Kenya)
•     Du Shawa (Zambia)
•     Foster Soko (Zambia)
•     Aniedi Paul Udo (Nigeria)
•     Idorenyin Joshua Udo (Nigeria)

All of these men were already pastors before their bachelor’s degree studies began. Classes took place in person just twice a year. That way, men could attend to their main duties and their families without faraway studies getting in the way.

Two past cohorts of the former Greater African Theological Studies Institute (GRATSI) received bachelor’s degrees in 2014 and 2019. Those past graduates were all from Malawi or Zambia. This 2026 graduating BDiv cohort came from East, South, and West Africa!

Remember God’s Patience

“Preach the word,” Professor Goetzinger told them—the full word of God, including the law in all its sternness and the gospel in all its sweetness.

“Correct, rebuke, and encourage, with great patience and careful instruction.”

Great patience—what a root of the gospel. And great patience—what a fruit of the gospel.

“Great patience,” or “total patience,” you could even translate—how else could you describe the way God treated our first parents when they rebelled against him?

“Nothing but patience”—finally, God sent his Son to be born in Bethlehem to save the world through him.

And once Jesus rose from the dead, why would he appoint someone like Paul to be his ambassador?

“I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16).

Total patience—again, what a fruit of the gospel. What a fruit of the Spirit.

One Journey Ends, Another Begins

Our 2026 BDiv graduates and visiting Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary professors showed great patience with their first-time program coordinator, the undersigned, when he made rookie blunders.

Visiting professors for this cohort over the years:

•     David Bivens
•     Kenneth Cherney, Jr.
•     Paul Nitz
•     John Schuetze
•     E. Allen Sorum
•     Bradley Wordell

The fifteen 2026 BDiv graduates also showed great patience during Covid-19-related delays, long bus rides and flights, internet woes, visa mix-ups, and other class-related difficulties.

They showed great patience through daunting learning tasks, personal financial struggles, family sorrows, and other disappointments. One graduate, Mesue Israel, cheerfully went through hip replacement surgery during his studies. God sent all such bad things for good.

photo of Mesue Israel and Dan Witte after the service

And now they are back in their classrooms and congregations, showing the same great patience by the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God.

They are serving the saints. They are training future leaders. They are exemplifying great patience in all the ups and downs of living in Africa.

They are teaching the gospel not only with their words but with their lives. They are modeling great patience for people who will, in turn, model the great patience of God to others, as God’s kingdom comes by God’s Spirit.

That’s one reason why the last day hasn’t come yet. God is so patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

Africa has so many millions, especially in its biggest cities, who need to repent.

As we wrapped up graduation day together, I had all 15 men write brief thoughts on a sheet for each of the others: “One thing I really appreciated about _____________ during our time together was …”

Sheets were passed around until they reached the man the others had written about. Then each man read at least one of his favorites. How we laughed. We treasured the descriptions.

We prayed, we sang, and we hugged. Then went back to our homes in five different countries. The day for which we waited so long had finally come.

But we are still all waiting patiently.

“Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20–21).

Daniel Witte is part of the WELS One Africa Team and 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

Here is a story I hope you will enjoy: These men are all pastors in our sister church in Uganda, Obadiah Lutheran Synod.

At the request of OLS, I led them in learning from September 2–13. We met in the Bugiri District of southeastern Uganda, just north of the Equator.

The brothers came from various tribes, including Acholi, Bagwere, Banyora, Basoga, Luo, and Nuer. Isn’t that a good story, all on its own?

They are from various Ugandan regions. One of the youngest men came from a refugee camp. Some of the pastors are inexperienced. Some have had lots of formal training. But they are united in faith and purpose. They love God’s Word.

They all speak English too. That helped me a lot.

For eleven mornings and afternoons, we met in this tent. We also broke into various groups near the tent for discussions and projects.

These visitors to our learning tent do not speak English, but they were also welcome.

One great part of the course story: This was the first taught by an American missionary like me. The July course OLS leaders taught. The same will happen in December, God willing.

Here is Pastor Nick, the dean of students. The acronym behind him is a sermon outline. ISLAGOR, he told us, stands for “Introduction, story, law, gospel, response.”

We began each day with worship. Here is an example. Philip, an Acholi pastor with his back to the camera, is leading.

The pastors especially learned about Jesus as true God and as true man. They practiced witnessing God’s grace in Christ to non-Christian neighbors and family members, especially Muslims. As the group kept saying, “We have a better story.”

That was the theme of our course, as we discussed the whole Gospel according to John. “We have a better story.”

Here is Pastor Joseph telling the rest of the group his story. He and his wife have eight children. He loves to laugh.

That is not the best part of the story. He used to be a Muslim. Now he is not only a Christian, he is a Lutheran pastor.

All of the pastors made plans to preach and teach from John in the future.

On the last day of the course, all recited a section of John in his heart language. Some told the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11:17–45. (We have a better story!)

Some of us shared from memory the story of Jesus rising from the dead in John 20.

To check out the same Gospel according to John videos from the Lumo Project which we watched over the two weeks we were together, go to this YouTube playlist (It’s the New International Version. Lumo has Luganda too.)

It was emotional for me on the last day to recite to all the other pastors John 20. “Jesus did many other miraculous signs which are not recorded in this book,” John concludes.

“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31).

We have the best story to share.

Missionary Dan Witte and his wife Debbie live 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

She is hurrying. Who wouldn’t? Her daughter’s struggle is awful.

Her daughter’s struggle with what? School? Medical issues?

Demonic torment.

“Have mercy on me, Lord,” the mother cries. “Oh, Son of David!” (What a name for a Canaanite woman to give a Jewish man.)

“My daughter … the demon is hurting her so badly.”

Jesus does not answer her.

That story is for us, dear reader. In it Jesus and his disciples are far from home. They are abroad, up north by Tyre and Sidon—modern Syria.

In February Pastor Howie Mohlke and I left our Zambian homes. We too went to a country north of us.

I was in Sondu, Kenya for two weeks. Three pastors in the Lutheran Churches in Mission for Christ (LCMC) and I learned and practiced adult education.

Pastor Mohlke flew up for the second week. Near Sondu in Chabera he led a workshop for LCMC lay preachers—over 50 of them.

At the end of our time with our brothers, one of them, LCMC Bishop Richard Ogosi Amayo, led us all in a service of holy communion.

In that closing service Howie preached from Matthew 15:21–28, the story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman with the demonized daughter.

Does demonic torment seem as distant to you as East Africa? Something far away, something mostly just in Jesus’ day?

Millions of Americans figure that Satan is not just far away, he is fake. Your African brothers and sisters in Christ know better. Many have fears you may not.

Demonic Pentecostal preaching is spreading in Sub-Saharan Africa. Witch doctors advertise even in upscale urban neighborhoods.

Why would Christians be tempted to run, not to Jesus, like the Canaanite woman? Why try charms or traditional healers?

What a liar, our old evil foe. He means deadly woe. God seems distant. Other help seems closer.

God seems slow. Other options seem faster.

The Swahili proverb I learned from my Kenyan brothers in our course on dialogue education was Haraka, haraka, haina baraka. (“Ha-RA-ka, ha-RA-ka, high-EE-na ba-RA-ka.”)

That is, “haste, haste, there is no blessing.”

The Bible says similarly: “Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes” (Proverbs 19:2 NLT).

It’s not just true in education. All those sayings remind me of another African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

That sums up a key aspect of what Howie Mohlke and I were doing in Sondu and Chabera, Kenya. Our LCMC partners asked your One Africa Team for help. “Let’s work together,” they said, “in training for practical action in Christ.”

The result may mean this time, classes for veteran pastors on a master’s degree level. Those brothers teach future pastors in online evening classes.

Or the request may lead to a workshop for men learning for the first time how to study a short section of the Bible and preach specific good news about Jesus from it.

No matter what, we go together.

Jesus’ disciples didn’t want to go together with the Canaanite woman, did they? “Send her away,” they tell Jesus. “She keeps bothering us.”

How that must sting. Can you imagine how afraid and ashamed she must already feel, with all the battering her daughter is getting from the demon?

(Did the mother feel responsible somehow? And where is the father? What about any other relative or friend? Why does she come to Jesus all alone?)

You can’t know fully the demon’s agenda in abusing her daughter.

Nor can you know the depth of why Jesus at first answers her pleas with nothing. He tells her he is only sent to the lost sheep of Israel.

But that’s not the whole story. Jesus wants so much to help her and her daughter.

Today too prayers for help to Jesus can seem so futile. Nothing is happening, we conclude. After we pray, all we hear is heaven’s door being slammed. Bolts click. Lock after lock closes, almost audibly.

But do you know how it went with the Canaanite woman? A door opens.

How? The woman doesn’t quit. She kneels before Jesus.

Jesus tells her, “It isn’t right. You don’t take the children’s bread and throw it to dogs.”

Nevertheless, she doesn’t quit.

“Yes, Lord,” she admits. “Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.”

“Woman,” Jesus beams, “your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.”

Just as when God said, “Let there be light,” as soon as he says it … You can’t imagine her joy. Her daughter is whole again.

Ever notice that the only times Jesus in the Gospels heals someone from a distance—the centurion’s servant in Matthew 8, the Canaanite woman’s daughter here, and possibly the royal official’s son in John 4—it involves a foreigner?

So two biggies, friend. I’m on my knees before you, almost like the Canaanite woman before Jesus. Please.

1. The man who writes down the story that Howie Mohlke was preaching in Kenya—Matthew? He is Jewish, right? So are all the apostles.

But Jesus keeps hinting to his fellow Jews that his church will be multinational. Worldwide. Gentiles will fill it.

Matthew, we think, writes mainly to Jewish believers. They struggle so with God’s paradigm shift.

Demonic terrors, crazy situations, cross-cultural barriers. Such will not be the exception. They are all part of God’s plan.

2. Delays too. I mean, Jesus prayed the most desperate prayer, didn’t he? And it didn’t look like God was answering at all, did it?

Jesus died all alone in place of us all. Jews. Gentiles. Kenyans. Americans. Everybody.

So don’t quit praying. For Everybody.

Pray for missionaries far away. Pray for gospel victories close to home.

Whatever Jesus says happens. What does he tell the desperate woman? “Let it be done for you as you want.” Boom. Whatever Jesus says happens.

Then why pray for others? Why pray much for others? Maybe with people who look different from us, people with lives that seem in shambles, it feels easiest to shoo them away. We are like the Twelve.

We are like the woman too. God may seem slow. Prayer to God seems slow. Other options seem faster.

What if in Christ you don’t quit? What if right now you pray for someone who is lost? (Your daughter? A friend’s child?)

You can’t quit! What if you keep praying for the Spirit of God to lead many more people to trust in the Son of God for the glory of God?

You can’t quit! What if you pray every day, even when so much bad stuff doesn’t go away, or God seems to impose yet another delay? “Have mercy, Lord.”

What if Jesus really is David’s direct descendant, a man just like us, and King over everything? “Oh, Son of David.”

Darkest powers, you can’t be too close to their web. Jesus is stronger.

You can’t have done anything too bad. It’s already paid for.

You can’t have failed to do enough good. He was perfect in your place.

You can’t be too distant. The Canaanite woman’s daughter proves it.

You. Can’t. Quit. Keep praying. Pray to Jesus for that other person. Today.

Missionary Dan Witte and his wife Debbie live 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