Choirs from five different congregations performed at a joint worship service in Chilembwe, Malawi
I had a choice between sitting through four hours of church and a voters’ meeting or attending a four hour long worship service. Since moving to Malawi’s capital city of Lilongwe nine months ago I regularly attend the English language worship services held at Crown of Life Lutheran Church on the campus of the Lutheran Bible Institute. I am thankful for the the opportunity to gather weekly with my fellow missionaries and the members of the congregation to hear encouraging messages from God’s Word. The style of worship is familiar to any member of the Wisconsin Synod. We use the WELS hymnal Christian Worship to sing hymns and psalms, accompanied by an electronic organ. The student choir of the Lutheran Bible Institute performs 3-4 glorious anthems in the Chichewa and Chitumbuka languages. The congregation also holds separate Chichewa language services that starts later in the morning. Once a month Crown of Life holds a joint English and Chichewa language service that can last up to two and a half hours. And just like many WELS congregations, Crown of Life also has (long) voters’ meetings.
My wife’s parents were dairy farmers from Wisconsin whose lives revolved around the family, farm, and church. They had a great love for Jesus and his Great Commission. In 1963 my mother-in-law read a story in the Green Bay Press-Gazette about a Nigerian pastor who wanted to know about Christianity in the United States. That article prompted her to raise money in her congregation to purchase a bicycle for his ministry, and later she sent him some clothes. In a letter he replied, “I am really fat and would need to reduce if it was within my capacity. The raincoat did not fit me. It is still very needful since my wife has begun to use it.” Over the next three decades she maintained correspondence with Rev. E. Eshiett, a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Nigeria.
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.
