Love to Tell the Story

“I love to tell the story…the old, old story of Jesus and his love” (CW 746)

Dr. Terry Schultz has twice the love to tell the story of Jesus and his love, and he’s done it on four continents. As the Artistic Development Missionary at WELS Multi-Language Productions, Terry puts pictures and poems into the service of the Gospel. He has helped create original music for worship and illustrated Bible instruction manuals for use in WELS World Mission fields. God has given him this tremendous talent, and we thank God for his gifts to our church body.

Experiencing Worship in Africa

Our mission partner in Zambia, the Lutheran Church of Central Africa (LCCA), requested Dr. Schultz’s assistance in facilitating the development of new music resources in 2018. Because of Terry’s busy schedule and COVID19 travel restrictions, he has been unable to meet their request until recently. In March of 2022, the One Africa Team helped arrange an initial visit by Terry to Lusaka. The purpose of his visit was to introduce himself to local church leaders and to sample the flavor of the worship in the LCCA.

Missionary Terry attended Sunday worship services at Lusaka area congregations. Linda Gethsemane is a rural congregation where the members worship in Chinyanja. St. Matthew’s is a city church where the members worship primarily in English. At the installation of Pastor Soko, choirs from several Lusaka congregations joyfully swayed to the beat of their praises and Terry danced up the central aisle to receive communion. He also attended a three-hour service at Kamanga Lutheran, which conducts services in both English and Chinyanja.

*Choir practice at Chisomo LCCA in Lusaka, Zambia*

Terry also attended – or I should say, “participated in” – choir practice at two Lusaka congregations. From drumming to directing to dynamic keyboarding, Terry’s musical zeal raised everyone’s spirits. Several local choir masters have composed original songs, which their choirs perform in public but have never been scored or recorded.

Planning for the Future

Members of the LCCA’s Education and Publication Committees met with Terry to talk about ways in which Terry’s talents could be of service to their ministry. They identified the need for improving their Sunday School program. The current printed materials contain basic black and white sketches, which were reproduced on mimeograph machines by missionaries in the 1970s. In Lusaka today there are many printing presses that can produce color posters at a reasonable cost. In addition to Bible History illustrations, Terry has also been working on an illustrated version of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. He presented his visual concepts of the First Article with Luther’s explanation, which captivates youth and adults’ interest.

*Dr. Schultz explains the concept of an illustrated Catechism*

*A visual depiction of God’s promise in Genesis 3:15 to destroy the power of Satan over mankind*

One Africa Team and the LCCA Zambia are currently evaluating a proposal from Terry on telling the old, old story of Jesus and his love in a new, contemporary medium. We ask for God’s blessings and anticipate Terry’s return to Africa in the near future. Stay tuned to hear how we love to tell the story of Jesus and his love in Zambia.

Missionary John Roebke lives in Malawi

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

Translation Foundation

Half a lifetime ago I locked myself into a room with a Bulgarian pastor. We were reviewing translations of Bible commentaries and the Lutheran Confessions. We used to argue for hours over how to best convey complicated theological concepts and terms in the Slavic tongue. I learned the hard way that translation work takes great skill, patience, and flexibility. The Star Trek universal translator machine is ridiculous fiction. Google algorithms can translate individual words and phrases, but it always fails to see the forest for the trees. Computers lack the ability to analyze, decode and transmit human speech from one language to another. There is no substitute for the human mind.

Plans Change

WELS Multi-Language Productions (MLP) facilitates the production of Biblical Lutheran literature for use in its world mission fields. MLP encourages both the translation of existing English books as well as the production of original materials in other languages. The One Africa Team asked MLP to sponsor a translation workshop for WELS mission partners in Africa in 2021. MLP sponsored publications conferences in Lusaka, Zambia in 2018 and 2019. WELS partners from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Zambia, Malawi, India, and Nepal attended.

screenshot from online translation workshop — *screenshot from the online translation workshop*

COVID19 disrupted the One Africa Team’s plans to host an in-person publications event in Lusaka during 2021. We had concerns about the safety of our guests and the student families living on the Lusaka Seminary campus. That led us to adjust our plans and offer an online event. Over five days, Dr. Ernst R. Wendland used the online teleconferencing program Zoom to present his material. Dr. Wendland has served WELS missions for over half a century. He teaches Biblical languages at the Lusaka Seminary and has coordinated translation work for the United Bible Society of Zambia.

*the United Bible Society’s translation of the Bible into Amharic*

Workshop Takeaways

Translators have to change the form of the original text to convey its meaning accurately. That may mean changing the word order or even the order of the sentences. This may mean eliminating words that are redundant or have no local equivalent. They may need to add words or phrases that convey a concept similar but are not identical to the original. It may be necessary to replace a technical term with a generic word, like translating “Paraclete” with “Helper.” There are many other kinds of changes that a translator must make to the form of the original text. Otherwise, the original meaning will be lost or presented incorrectly. It took many months and many heated discussions with my Bulgarian counterpart for me to understand and appreciate this concept. I was very uncomfortable with changing the form of the original text, but a word-for-word translation doesn’t help readers either.

*The MLP tract, “What the Bible and Lutherans Teach”* *has been translated into 25 different languages*

A second takeaway from the workshop is that translation work is both an art and a science. The legend that 70 Jews individually produced identical translations of the Old Testament into Greek is laughable. There is more than one way to translate any text, but some ways are superior to others. Every translation can be improved by a review. The best translations are not produced by superstar solo artists, but by collaborative bands working in harmony. An ideal translation team consists of the translator, language consultants, a reviewer(s), and a copy editor. It takes a lot of time and money to publish a book. As a publication has a long-lasting influence on future readers, it’s worth the effort to produce a high-quality translation.

A Worthy Legacy

Dr. Wendland is a world-renowned linguist and translation expert. However, the principles he shared at our workshop can be used by anyone interested in and committed to translation work. He modeled the importance of asking questions about the meaning of the original text.

In my experience, translating a text from one language to another gives you a better understanding of its meaning. When you translate a text, you must ask yourself what the author originally meant. It’s painstaking work, and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But producing a high-quality translation of a theological book is a church body’s priceless legacy. We thank God for men like Dr. Wendland who have slashed through the jungle and shown us the path forward.

Missionary John Roebke lives in Malawi

Making Disciples One Page at a Time

According to a recent report by Hootsuite, 9 out of 10 individuals living in North America enjoy access to the Internet. By contrast, only 1 out of 4 people living in sub-Saharan Africa are internet users. Nearly 1.3 billion people live on the continent of Africa currently, and the estimated population by the end of this century will be over 2 billion. That is a huge opportunity, both for telecom companies as well as Gospel missionaries!

While most people living in developed countries can view Christian materials digitally, a very small percentage of African living in remote areas have smartphones or tablets. The printed word still has legs in Africa and books carry the message of Christ’s Gospel effectively. In collaboration with WELS Multi-Language Productions, the following printed materials have recently been produced by our Gospel partners in the following countries.

Nigeria

All Saints Lutheran Church is made up of 1,700 Christians who are served by pastors, evangelists and preaching elders in 23 congregations. Rev. Edward Obi, the President of their church body, approached One Africa Team with a request for materials to teach adult Bible class.

WELS Multi-Language Productions has an extensive catalog of publications that they have made available to all of our mission partners around the world. These Gospel-centered publications include both tracts and books in 56 different languages. All Saints chose four books from the “Living in Faith Discipleship Series”: The Origin of Life, How to Talk with God, How to Read Your Bible, and Life After Death. These books were originally produced by the WELS Commission on Special Ministries for use in prison ministry, and have been adapted by WELS Multi-Language Publications for use in the general population.

All Saints requested permission to reprint the English language version of the books, since English is widely understood in Nigeria. Forty copies of each book were printed locally in the town of Ogoja and will be distributed among the pastors, evangelists and preaching elders. We ask for God’s blessing on this sowing of the seed!

Christ the King Lutheran Church is made up of 2,478 members who are served by pastors, evangelists and preaching elders in 34 congregations. This church body was once a part of the Nigerian Lutheran Church, a mission that was jointly served by the WELS and the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod when the two church bodies were in fellowship in the Synodical Conference. Christ the King requested assistance in reprinting the text of Luther’s Small Catechism, which was originally published by the Synodical Conference in 1942.

Malawi

The Lutheran Church of Central Africa – Malawi Synod (LCCA-MS) has over 44,000 members. In August of 2019 the LCCA’s Education and Publication Committee identified the need for a book of devotions that Christian families could use in their homes. Over the years, publications in Central Africa have been primarily targeted at pastors or people desiring to become pastors. Other than the Small Catechism and some Adult instruction manuals, there really wasn’t any publication targeted at enriching the devotional life of laypeople.

Northwestern Publishing House granted the LCCA permission to translate The Word Speaks: 365 Devotions Based on the Sayings of Jesus into both the Chichewa and Chitumbuka languages. Twelve pastors from the LCCA worked on the translation project for over a year. WELS Multi-Language Productions Layout Designer Michele Pfeifer designed the cover and layout of the publication. The book will be offered for sale in each of the five regional bookstores located throughout the country.

Ethiopia

The Lutheran Church of Ethiopia (LCE) has 421 members who meet in five different locations and are served by one pastor and four national evangelists. Recently, the LCE offered a day long workshop for its leaders, ministers and members in the town of Bishoftu, near Addis Ababa. The workshop’s topic was on Christian vocation. The LCE chose to use a WELS Bible study called My Vocation in Christ by Rev. Kenneth Cherney and translated the text into the Amharic language.

Once again, MLP Layout Designer Michele Pfeifer assisted with the design of the publication, which had to be produced in a bi-lingual format. Ms. Pfeifer worked closely with LCE President Rev. Kebede to ensure the correct placement and layout of the texts.

The seminar, the first of its kind that the LCE has ever offered, was attended by 23 people. They will continue to offer this seminar and others like it in the future as a part of their outreach to their fellow Ethiopians.

Missionary John Roebke lives in Malawi