“Life is full of challenges,” notes Pastor Ochichi Nyangau. “Each day comes with its own.”

Meet Richard Ochichi Nyangau, a pastor in Kenya who has served three parishes. He is one of my brothers in the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LC-MC).

Pastor Ochichi and I got acquainted recently online. From October 2020 through January 2021 he was in a theological research and writing class which I taught. Pastor Ochichi participated studiously—five days a week for ten weeks—while also keeping up all his other duties. More on those below.

Sixteen pastors from Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia overcame obstacles, studied Genesis 37–50 together, and completed or nearly completed the class. As it started in October 2020 three other pastors faced a big challenge—no WhatsApp device. We have found those for them, so four of us are restarting the class as this is being published.

Besides being taught and almost immediately re-taught, our 10-week class has at least three firsts:

First #1) In the past, visiting professors from Asia Lutheran Seminary, Martin Luther College, and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary taught classes to experienced pastors who wanted to progress toward a Bachelors degree in divinity from the Pastoral Studies Institute of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

This time, though, due to pandemic travel restrictions, a missionary living in Africa teaches. On your One Africa Team (OAT), I head up formal continuing education for the Confessional Lutheran Institute (CLI).

First #2) In 2010–2014 and 2015–2019 in Bachelor of Divinity (BDiv) classes WELS professors taught men pastors from two countries, Malawi and Zambia. Thank God with us: In this class and a series of eight future classes we can also partner with pastors in our fellowship in Kenya and Nigeria.

First #3) In the past WELS professors taught one-and-a-half- or two-week BDiv classes face to face. We hope to do so again soon. For this class, though, because of COVID-19, we used WhatsApp, a mobile device messaging platform.

Why WhatsApp? It is free on mobile devices except for the cellular data to use it, it allows  attachments of .pdf, voice, .mp3, and video files, and it is the most common means of electronic communication in Africa.

“Life is full of challenges,” so in our class we did not interact live over WhatsApp on a set schedule. Some pastors in the class live in villages where getting a signal from a cellular tower can be hard. Downloading even small .pdf files is difficult there.

“Life is full of challenges,” so all of us in the class experience power outages too. Early one day when I complimented one Zambian pastor on often being the first to respond with a learning task, he said needed to do so, because if he did not finish first thing in the morning, power would be out later.

For ten weeks, five days a week, though, whenever each of us could find time, we worked hard and asked God to become More Like Moses.

More Like Moses was not just the name of our research and academic writing class. It was our fervent prayer: “God, all of us lead your people, like Moses.

“None of us, like Moses, are inspired by your Holy Spirit to write your holy Word. But we all live in Africa, just like Moses long ago. We all work in more than one language, just like Moses long ago.

“As we sift through sources, like Moses might have when he wrote Joseph’s story, to write and encourage your people on our way to your promised land, would you please make us more skilled in theological writing?

“Above all, keep us true to you and your gospel. Make us more like Moses.”

So we prayed. Each week, one of the pastors posted a prayer for the rest of us on WhatsApp.

For example, Pastor Ochichi typed this prayer to begin our second week: “In the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Our dear heavenly Father we come unto you tonight. We beg you to forgive us where we have gone wrong as per your will. We thank you for your protection all through. This is the second week; we need your guidance all through.

“I pray for all who are involved both from abroad and within Africa in any way to reach out many with your word bless them. Do not leave anybody empty-handed but send your blessings.

“All challenges we are facing give us a way through. I commit the entire workload to your hands let all go as per your will. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

When Pastor Ochichi wrote that prayer I did not know about his own daily challenge just to support his family. I did not know that he was submitting his work either first thing in the morning or after dark because to keep food on the table he and his family raise chickens. Five days a week, starting around 9 a.m., he hawks —his word—boiled eggs on the street.

“This is what I do to feed my family. Here I’m serving the shopkeeper with boiled egg. You can see also a bucket of melon and tomato fruit. On Saturday morning hours I have counseling for any member of the congregation and any in need. In afternoon hour I am teaching baptism class and doing home visitation for sick and those with special needs.”

Pastor Ochichi and his wife have three children. Is he bitter about his busy schedule and what he calls his “side hustle,” to pay for his family’s food, clothes and rent?

No, he is thankful and realistic. He is not angling for anyone’s pity.

He writes, “This has given me an opportunity to meet many as we share the word but to grow the congregation has become a challenge. That is why my class (More like Moses tasks) I can do in early morning or late in the evening. I’m grateful for a chance to learn more from you and the entire Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.”

Missionary Dan Witte lives in Zambia and is the Director of Formal Continuing Education of the Confessional Lutheran Institute. For more information visit https://cliafrica.net/

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

“Therefore, brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7a EHV). This is a timely section of Scripture for us all but especially for those of us involved in worker training.  Back in March of 2020 most all of us throughout the world were beginning to experience the different challenges of the COVID 19 pandemic. At the Seminary here in Lusaka, Zambia and at the Lutheran Bible Institute (LBI) in Lilongwe, Malawi it meant the closure of our two worker training schools. They work closely together in training up future pastors for the Lutheran Church of Central Africa (LCCA).  Little did we realize that for all the challenges the closure of the schools would bring, trying to open up our LBI and Seminary would bring even more.

James in his Epistle uses two analogies to explain what it means to be patient. One analogy is that of the farmer. “See how the farmer waits for the valuable harvest from the ground, patiently waiting for it, until it receives the early and late rains” (5:7b) A farmer is a good example of patience because he has to work with things that are beyond his control and completely in God’s hands—things like the rain.  Already in October the government allowed schools to open. Where the government became strict was in the opening up of its borders.  Our LBI and Seminary are made up of about half Zambian students and half Malawian students. This was where we encountered challenges beyond our control as half of our respective student bodies needed to cross borders that were closed. We asked for the help of Pastor Chisankulo who is an LCCA pastor who lives close to the Zambia/Malawi border. He made more than a dozen visits to the respective Malawi and Zambia borders and their offices to try and find out when and how we could get our students across.  Most frustrating for him was that the border peoples themselves couldn’t give clear answers.  Eventually, Pastor Chisankulo worked out a test run of two brave students and their families closest to the border in the Eastern Province of Zambia to make the trip.  It proved successful!  We had our first group of students across the border paving the way for five successive groups of students and families from Zambia and Malawi to make the crossing.

The Epistle writer James also uses the Old Testament prophets as exemplars of patient endurance. Many of the pre-LBI students in preparation for going to school had sold everything. In a place where a $70 COVID 19 test is near a month’s wages for the average Zambian, these students were now being asked to live on the margins for the four to six months it took to get them to school.  Like those prophets of the Old Testament they were asked to endure for the chance to serve their Lord.  How happy they were by mid-December to finally be at their schools to begin that anticipated journey in preparation to become LCCA pastors. What a beautiful lesson in patient endurance for us all as we serve our Lord in whatever way he asks of us!

Missionary Philip Birner lives in Lusaka and is the Acting Principal of the Lutheran Seminary of 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

Building God’s House in Malawi

It’s been fun to watch the progress.  Standing on my front porch, I can look across the road to see the new house being built.  The house is being built on the campus of the Lutheran Bible Institute (LBI) in Lilongwe, Malawi.  Once it is completed, it will be a home for our newest LBI professor, Rev. Stanley Daile, and his family.

At the beginning of this project, the ‘house’ was nothing more than an architectural drawing on a piece of paper.  It was only a nice idea that did not exist in reality, but then the workers came.  They cut down several trees, dug up all the stumps and leveled off the ground.  Large trucks carried in their cargoes of bricks and sand and stone.  In a matter of days, the workers had dug the foundations and poured a concrete slab.  Then the walls appeared – each day a little taller, as if they grew up from the ground.  Soon there were a dozen workers climbing in the rafters and hammering down the corrugated metal roofing sheets.  Other workers installed the windows and the doors.  Every day, the worksite was alive with activity.  It was fun to watch the progress.  Slowly but surely, a house was being built, one brick at a time.

As I watched the progress of that house from my front porch, I often thought about our ministry in Africa.  The Bible often uses the building of a house as a metaphor for Christian ministry.  In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul says that the Christian Church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20-22).  To me, that house across the street was more than just a building.  It was a daily illustration and reminder of why we are working in Malawi in the first place.  We are working together to build God’s house, one brick at a time.

Sixty years ago, a strong and vibrant Lutheran Church in Malawi was nothing but a dream.  It was only a nice idea that did not exist in reality, but then the workers came.  WELS missionaries Raymond Cox and Richard Mueller were the first to arrive in 1963, and other missionaries followed them.  By the preaching of God’s almighty word, they gathered a few faithful Christians together to form the Lutheran Church of Central Africa (LCCA).  Back in those early days, missionaries did almost all the preaching and baptizing.  It wasn’t until 1976 that Rev. Deverson Ntambo became the synod’s first Malawian pastor.  Even by 1980, there were still only about 3,000 confirmed members in approximately 50 congregations. 

But things are different now.  Today the Lutheran Church of Central Africa numbers almost 40,000 baptized souls who trust in Jesus as their Lord.  They gather together on Sunday morning in approximately 130 congregations.  More than three dozen Malawian pastors do virtually all of the preaching, all of the baptizing, and all of the confirmations.  And all of these Malawian pastors are paid and supported by the congregations that they serve.  What a joy to see the progress!  Slowly but surely, God is building up his church.

In fact, even this new house at the Lutheran Bible Institute is evidence of the church’s growth.  The LBI exists to train young African men to serve as future pastors in our Lutheran churches.  The new house is necessary because a new professor, Rev. Stanley Daile, has been called to serve as a professor of New Testament Greek.  In the past, courses in Biblical Greek were always taught by missionaries.  But now we have a well-trained Malawian professor who is able to teach these classes.  This is progress.  God is building up his church.

By the grace of God, I have had the privilege to serve as a missionary in Malawi since 2006.  For almost 15 years I have been able to wake up every morning and to look out of my front door and to see tremendous progress.  Slowly but surely, God is building up his house in Malawi, one brick at a time. 

Missionary Mark Panning lives in Malawi and teaches at the Lutheran Bible Institute in Lilongwe

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