The Confessional Lutheran Institute is an initiative of One Africa Team to equip, enhance, and enable the pastors of our African sister synods
By the middle of this century the population of Africa is estimated to reach 2.4 billion people, one-quarter of the estimated 9.8 billion people who will on the planet. That is a staggeringly huge mission field which will require many workers to gather in the full harvest. The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) has a small but significant role to play in making God’s kingdom come in Africa, through the work of the Confessional Lutheran Institute (CLI). This is the first of a three-part series of articles that will introduce you this new initiative of the WELS Board for World Missions working through One Africa Team. The CLI brings various aspects of worker training and enrichment together under one umbrella, in order to better coordinate our joint efforts with our partner churches across the continent of Africa. The CLI’s work is divided into three branches: Seminary Consultation, Formal Continuing Education and Professional Development.
My wife Debbie, my son Drew, and I moved from Minnesota to
Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, in early December 2019.
My future role: Theological Educator for the One Africa Team
of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, concentrating especially on formal
continuing education for African pastors in our fellowship.
My current role: Newbie. Learner. OAT called me to spend at
least the first 6 months here learning as much language and culture as
possible.
The members of One Africa Team include resident missionaries and stateside administrators
Christ for All, Great News for Africa. Seven words. One
passion. A core focus of the One Africa Team (OAT) that burns like fire in the
belly. That Godly desire. That Christ-like obsession. That Spirit-driven yearn
of the heart. I could sense the hunger in the room: a resolve to know Christ and to make Him
known.
How can we do that in the most effective, God-pleasing
way in our little corner of the world into which God has placed us? Especially considering that THAT “little
corner” happens to be the size of AFRICA!
Or better said, it is Africa.
Whew. That question hung intimidatingly over us like Malawi’s January clouds.
To figure out the answer to that question, the One Africa
Team gathered in Lilongwe, Malawi for its annual meeting. The 4-day pow wow was a call to arms of
sorts, a raising of the flag “Christ for All, Great News for Africa.” Five men
from Malawi, four men from Zambia and three from the States. A dirty dozen washed clean in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
It rang true then as it does every day: the better we
know Christ, the greater the passion God fuels in us to be His disciples, His workers
in His harvest fields. Or as John Hartmann reminded us in his opening sermon based
on Titus 1:1-9, “We are Slaves of the Trustworthy Message.”
Missionary John Hartmann serves in Zambia and coordinates outreach efforts across the African continent
An appropriate theme and a timely reminder for the One
Africa Team. A slave serves. In our case – and in yours dear Mission
Partner – when the One whom we are serving is the Savior Jesus who gave us the
trustworthy message – wow – that really helps craft and shape our niche in both
life and ministry.
It did for us as the One Africa Team: “Through theological education and coordination
of WELS resources, we, the One Africa Team, assist our partners in Africa to
grow as independent, healthy church bodies.” Our partners in Africa? The Sister Synods who are located in these
countries: Malawi, Zambia, Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia.
These are the ones with whom we have an official
fellowship relationship and standing.
But there’s more. Much
more. By God’s grace the list of potential
sister synods in Africa is growing longer.
The Holy Spirit is on the move. OAT
is, too. OAT is following up with contacts and/or groups in Rwanda, Tanzania,
Mozambique, Uganda, Liberia, Congo, Burundi, Zimbabwe… The task is as BIG as it
sounds.
Understanding that it is, Missionary Hartmann succinctly
summarized the sermon text in a nutshell: 1) we are entrusted with the truth
and 2) we are sent to train others. Are we up for such a task? Nope, not in our own power! But as the Word of God impresses upon us, it’s
a mission given and empowered by God Himself. He’s behind it all. And out in
front of us all! We sang…
In your promise firm we stand;
None can take us from your hand.
Speak we hear at your command,
We will follow YOU!
By your blood our souls were bought;
By your life salvation wrought;
By your light our feet are taught,
Lord, to follow YOU!
He is a Good One to follow. Yes, Jesus is both behind it all and out in
front. A Lamb who laid down His life for
His sheep. (Already happened!) A Shepherd
who still leads His sheep. (Still happening!)
But he’s not so distant ahead that we can’t follow Him. Not so far beyond reach that He’s out of
touch.
What an impassioned desire He has for us!
To seek and to save is His focused obsession!
Oh, the deep yearn of Christ’s heart for you and me!
Missionary Paul Nitz serves as the leader of One Africa Team
Paul Nitz, the One Africa Team Integrator, set up an
agenda that rallied us around that passion. We participated in some team
building exercises, evaluated our strengths and reconfirmed our core values. We set down some long-range goals, worked
through some thorny issues and readjusted some structure. We rethought, rehashed and revisited what
needed attention.
Though the “plans of mice and men” and even OAT for that
matter, may not turn out the way we might think or expect, we have a God who certainly
knows what He’s doing and knows what is best.
He’s in control and – make no mistake about it – He makes no mistakes
about it. Even on a continent the size of
Africa.
