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

This week’s post is written by guest author David Kamwata, who is a pastor in the Lutheran Church of Central Africa – Zambia Synod.

Personal Background

I was born on 1^st November 1969, in Kaoma, a district in the western part of Zambia. I was the second-born in a family of five. My parents were members of a certain Pentecostal church, but they were not very strong Christians. They used to take us (their children) to church once in a long while. As a result, I had the freedom to go to many other different churches in the company of other boys provided there was fun.

It was in 1984 that I joined the Lutheran Church of Central Africa through a friend who invited me to church. That was at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. It was at this congregation that I was to meet my future wife. And it was at this congregation that I would be encouraged to go into the public ministry.

Family

God has graciously blessed me with a lovely family. My wife’s name is Eness Mulando. Her father, Pastor Timothy Mulando, who is now a retired pastor in the Lutheran Church of Central Africa, inspired me to go into the public ministry. I have four children whose names are Clive, Beatrice, Alice, and Faith. As I look at my children, I confess with Solomon: “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them,” (Ps 127: 3-5).

Public Ministry

I was ordained in 2009 at Mount Sinai congregation where I had been serving as a vicar under the supervision of Pastor Daniel Kroll and the then visiting pastor of the Copperbelt, Pastor Samuel Kawiliza. After my ordination, I served Mount Sinai Congregation up until 2015 when I received a call to teach at the seminary.

Teaching

When I arrived at the seminary after accepting the call in 2015, I started teaching Isagogics and Church History. Sometime later, I got involved in team-teaching the Biblical languages with Dr Wendland to prepare me to teach these courses in the future. When the seminary opens with a new class this year (2020), I will be teaching Hebrew and Greek.

Continuing Education

In 2010, I was privileged to be part of the first class to undertake a Bachelor of Divinity (BDiv) program offered by what was then called the Greater Africa Theological Studies Institute (GRATSI) under the auspices of the Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI). I completed this program in 2014.

Shortly after completing my BDiv program, I applied for the Master of Theology program which is now offered by the Confessional Lutheran Institute (CLI). God willing, I should be able to complete this program by the end of this year (2020).

My desire for higher education is not motivated by prestige, although this is an ever-present temptation that comes from our sinful nature. I desire to pursue higher education as long as there is breath and ability in me in order that I may “teach God’s Word with excellence.” There has been an outcry from the general Lutheran membership that although the LCCA teaches God’s Word in its truth and purity, the low level of education of our pastors is becoming a barrier to that Word in an educated society, especially in urban congregations.

Conclusion

As I look back at how the hand of God has directed the affairs of my life, I hear God speaking to me: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations,” (Jer. 1: 5).

I wish to thank our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin Lutheran Synod whose financial and material support has made it possible for me to be a pastor in the LCCA. It is also my prayer that support for formal education for pastors will continue under the CLI so that God’s Word may be taught with excellence in the LCCA.

To God be the Glory.

Rev. David Kamwata teaches at the Lutheran Seminary 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

Picture Moshe, a first-century Galilean farmer. Moshe learns that Yeshua, the traveling rabbi he has heard so much about, has returned to the fishing village.

Moshe aches, head and heart, for God’s kingdom. He decides to leave his farm for a day, walk the whole way, or catch a ride on an ox-cart, and see Yeshua.

Yeshua, rumor has it, claims God’s kingdom is near.

If it is so, … is the kingdom coming right away? Will God finally blow Roman taxes and military might away?

Moshe wonders if today, Yeshua will show the way.

Instead,  when he reaches the lakeside village, K’far-nachum, Moshe sees a strange sight. Yeshua sits in a boat, just off shore. He talks to a crowd at the water’s edge.

Yeshua describes the kingdom not as a revolution, but in terms of farming, of all things. The rabbi seems to know, in Moshe’s world, just how things go.

Moshe catches the end of a first story, something about four types of soil, and a huge harvest. Yeshua says, “Whoever has ears to hear with, let him hear!”

Moshe thinks, “I have hears. I’m hearing. …What does he mean?”

In private, Yeshua tells a second farming story. Moshe hears it later, second-hand. It seems weirder.

“God’s reign,” Yeshua says, “is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. Nights he sleeps, days he’s awake; and meanwhile the seeds sprout and grow — how, he doesn’t know. By itself the soil produces a crop — first the stalk, then the head, and finally the full grain in the head. But as soon as the crop is ready, the man comes with his sickle, because it’s harvest-time” (Mark 4:26–29).

Moshe’s head aches anew. Huh? He is a farmer, like his father. Any farmer waits and waits. Moshe knows, too: No farmer knows how seed grows.

But God knows everything. God can do anything. He is King! God freed his people from Egypt, suddenly. He brought Jews back from Babylon, dramatically.

Why, if the Messiah appears, must God’s kingdom come so hiddenly, so slowly?

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Picture modern Moshes. They know farming well. They are pastors, sowing the seed of God’s word in Africa, in countries such as Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia.

Many come from farms and farming communities. Many tended large gardens for years, on the side, while they studied to become pastors. Many still tend gardens. They must, to feed their families.

They have walked, hitch-hiked, and ridden crowded minibusses to study for kingdom service and to be part of it. To hear Jesus speak to them over many years, and now to preach his holy name, may mean tough travels. Few own automobiles. Bicycles can be blessings. Some pastors have motorbikes but struggle to afford petrol for them.

Like fictional Moshe long ago, the way the kingdom comes also can make a headache. God’s way puzzles. Hard work fizzles.

The devil works hard to snatch seed away, so it does not even penetrate hearts.

Christianity is common in many African places these days, but sorrows abound too. Some people fall away from Christ when trouble comes.

Others turn to a prosperity gospel that is no good news at all. Alcoholism, animism, materialism, and tribalism choke African gospel growth.

Still: “Whoever has ears to hear with, let him hear!”

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Picture the one who said so: The perfect planter and the perfect pastor. From his virgin mother’s womb, he was perfectly patient, in your place.

(You lose your struggle with patience so often, don’t you?)

Picture the king who made himself nothing, who willingly left his throne on high so he could die in place of every sinner. He paid, in your place.

“What I am about to tell you is so true,” he tells a crowd. He knows in three days he will be so ashamed, so guilty, so alone. Dead on the cross. Dead between heaven and earth. Dead between God and us all.

How can the kingdom grow if its king dies disgraced?

“Unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies,” he says, “it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest.” (John 12:24).

Picture, then, a tiny slice of God’s kingdom.

Picture an African effort in Christ crucified, risen, reigning, and soon reappearing. It began in 2010. It’s growing again. Expanding. The former GRATSI (Greater Africa Theological Studies Institute) is now CLI (the Confessional Lutheran Institute).

One of CLI’s aims: ongoing formal education for pastors, after their seminary years. Degrees like Bachelor of Divinity and Masters of Theology through Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, diplomas will say.

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Q&A about CLI Degree Program

How do pastors apply for CLI’s BDiv program?

They fill out one-page application form available from BDiv director Daniel Witte, and include a recommendation letter from a church body leader above them and from a leader/leaders of a congregation they serve.

What kind of test do pastors have to take before entering CLI’s BDiv program?

They write a test on the Bible and its doctrine, along with a small amount of church history. The test  helps CLI compare a pastor’s aptitude for further study with the aptitude of other applicants. CLI chooses up to 20 pastors to form a BDiv cohort.

What if a pastor does not make it into the BDiv cohort?

CLI plans to offer pre-BDiv certification courses for such pastors, in hopes that they will be able to enter the next BDiv cohort.

How many modules does CLI’s BDiv program offer?

Pastors, God willing, will take two classes a year for four years, plus an extra class on writing and research.

The main eight classes will be two each from these four categories: Biblical theology (Old and New Testament), doctrinal theology, historical theology, and pastoral theology.

Where will these twice-a-year classes be held?

In the past, classes have been held at the Lutheran Bible Institute in Lilongwe, Malawi, and at the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia.

If God allows, we hope in the new BDiv cohort to hold at least one of the eight main classes in Nairobi, Kenya. Classes also may be taught in Nairobi by other means.

Who will teach the classes in CLI’s BDiv program?

Experienced professors from Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota and from Wisconsin Lutheran College in Mequon, Wisconsin will teach the classes, along with CLI Formal Continuing Education director Missionary Daniel Witte.

From where do pastors receive their CLI BDiv degree?

From the Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI) of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

Does CLI offer any other degrees besides BDiv?

Pastors who complete the Bdiv degree well may, upon further testing, be able to enter CLI’s MTh program. It offers further, more specialized instruction.

Is CLI’s BDiv program new in 2020?

No. We are renewing and expanding our commitment from the past, with a new director living now in Lusaka, Zambia.

The prior program, the Greater African Theological Studies Institute (GRATSI), has already had two BDiv cohorts, 2010–2014 and 2015–2019.

Our relationship with WLS remains and is becoming deeper; our commitment to providing godly instruction and beneficial degrees continues!

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Picture,  though, more than beaming pastors’ faces and spiffy diplomas, the real result your missionaries aim at, as we partner with our African brothers: deeper and wider seed scattering.

See in studies for a future BDiv or MTh degree what only God can see: His seed going into the hearts of men who have learned from slow, bitter experience, that neither the planter nor the water is anything, but only God, who makes things grow (1 Corinthians 3:7).

Picture post-seminary classes?

Better, picture modern Moshes. Picture more planting. Foresee the final harvest.

How does God’s word reign in fellow pastors’ hearts? And take root more deeply? We don’t exactly know. When will the harvest be? We don’t know.

So we sow.

Missionary Daniel Witte lives in Zambia and is the head of the Formal Continuing Education branch of the CLI. This is the third in a three-part series on the Confessional Lutheran Institute

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