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.”   

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!

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.

Christ for All.  Great News for Africa.

Missionary John Holtz lives in Malawi

God has blessed each and every one of us through the faithful ministry of our pastors. They have helped us to gain a much greater understanding of God and his will for us through their preaching and teaching of his Word. Every church needs a pastor who understands the Bible’s complex teachings and can explain them in a simple way. Church members need a pastor who can apply the truths of Scripture to their lives in a loving, Gospel-centered way. Pastors need to be well-prepared before they begin to serve, because the eternal welfare of the souls under their care is at stake.

God has blessed the congregations of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa – Zambia Synod with church workers who have been thoroughly prepared in worker training schools that were established by WELS missionaries in the 1960’s, and have been staffed by both WELS missionaries and by Zambian national professors. The current teaching staff at the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka is made up of 3 Zambians and 3 Americans. This is the story of Chibikubantu Simweeleba, the newest Zambian national professor.

Upon graduating from the Lusaka Seminary in 2008, Simweeleba was ordained and assigned to serve Sinda-Chiyanjano parish, a cluster of rural congregations located in Zambia’s Eastern Province. In 2015, Rev. Simweeleba received a call to serve Mt. Sinai Lutheran Church in the city of Ndola, located in the Copper Belt, the most important copper producing region of Zambia near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a parish pastor, Rev. Simweeleba was involved in helping prepare candidates for the LCCA’s worker training program by leading classes in the Theological Education by Extension (T.E.E.) program (see https://welsfriendsofafrica.com/t-e-e-ing-up-students-for-success/ for more background).

The Lord saw fit to give Rev. Simweeleba synodical duties in addition to his congregational responsibilities. From 2010-2019 he served alternatively as the LCCA-Z Mission Board Chairman, Synodical Vice Chairman, Secretary of the LCCA-Z Board of Control (akin to the WELS Synodical Council), and finally as the Chairman of both the Board of Control and the Joint Worker Training Board. These roles have provided him experience in various aspects of leadership skills, planning, and administration for use in the Seminary as an instructor. Additionally, Rev. Simweeleba holds a BDiv degree from the Greater Africa Theological Studies Institute (GRATSI), a post-graduate program for pastors in Zambia and Malawi, and he is currently pursuing an MTh degree with GRATSI.

In addition to his professional skills, one of the greatest blessings that Rev. Simweeleba brings to the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka is that he has an insider’s understanding of his students’ lives and can relate to them much more naturally than his American counterparts. He is from the Tonga tribe of Southern Zambis, which makes up about 14% of the population of Zambia. One of his Zambian colleagues at the Lutheran Seminary is from the Chewa tribe in the Eastern region, and the other is from the Nkoya tribe in the West. The LCCA Z has congregations spread all over the country, and the melting pot of the Lusaka Seminary gives students the opportunity to learn to appreciate cultures other than their own.

Rev. Simweeleba will begin his service at the Lutheran Seminary by teaching courses on Church History and Isagogics (Bible History). He will free up his fellow Zambian professor Rev. David Kamwata to prepare taking over the duties of teaching Biblical Greek and Hebrew from Dr. Ernst R. Wendland.

In the next several years some significant changes will be taking place in the shared worker training program of the LCCA Zambia and the LCCA Malawi. There is talk of each synod establishing its own separate program for training pastors. Two of the current American professors in Lusaka are nearing the age of retirement. One Africa Team is exploring the creation of the Confessional Lutheran Institute, a new continent-wide initiative that would not only offer post-graduate education but also consulting services for national synods’ worker training programs and enhancement of the skills of current pastors through professional development programs. 

With these changes on the horizon, gifted men like Rev. Simweeleba will be essential to the success of preparing the next generation of faithful pastors. Pastor Simweeleba hopes that “LCCA pastors will be able to defend and proclaim the true teaching of the Word of God without fear. As Seminary instructors we hope to see [current] LCCA pastors who won’t doubt or regret the kind of training others will have received but to envy it.”

Missionary John Roebke lives in Malawi and is the Communications Director for One Africa Team

Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news and receive updates. Go to this link to learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts  https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa