Thank you, Dad.¹

I don’t always say some of these things so I thought I’d
share them now. 

Dad, I don’t know if you know it or not but you are the one
who influenced me the most to go into the ministry.  You’re the one who impacted my life more than
you probably know and far more than I could ever repay.

Far more.

That’s a subject you know well.  You know all about an impossible debt because
you have one yourself.  And you showed me
mine.  You taught me that I could never repay God for what He’s done for me.  The
price of the ransom?  The cost of eternal
life?  The payment for sin?

• Too much to calculate. 
• Too big to pay back.
• Too impossible even to try.

We would be too foolish
even to try!

Dad, of all the things you’ve taught me over the years, the
most significant and meaningful has always been that awesome bedrock Bible
truth of Justification.  God declares us
not guilty of our sins for Jesus sake. 
He calculated the cost (his own blood!) and paid it anyway.  I learned that from you and I realized that
it’s not a message to hold to ourselves but it’s one to share.

Especially, these days here in Malawi.  It’s so important to share the pure Gospel because the – what do they call it – the “Prosperity Gospel” that is now being preached so rampantly in this country is not pure at all.  When I was a kid growing up in your home, I just don’t remember that the “Health and Wealth Gospel” was so prevalent in the days when you were a full-time pastor in the Lutheran Church of Central Africa.

Itching ears.²

Oh, by the way, Dad, though I was a “preacher’s kid,” I
never considered that an uncomfortable thing. I liked seeing you up in front of
the congregations and listening to your sermons.  And even you expected each of us kids to do
work in the fields of maize, you also gave me freedom to try my hand at running
a business.  Remember, Dad, I used to
sell fresh fruits and vegetables!   Pineapples, Avocados and Sweet Potatoes. 

When I think back to those days of running a grocery
business, I can’t help but think that God was preparing me for the ministry
today.  I think I learned to be
hospitable during those years of dealing with all those customers. 

And now?  Now I’m
serving over one thousand people in my 4-congregation parish.³ Over
a thousand!  But what am I telling
you?  You know very well what it is like
shepherding a flock because you’ve done it for 26 years⁴
yourself. 

You know very well that life as a pastor in Malawi is seldom
easy.  Salaries are low and the cost of
living is high.  We struggle enough just
to take care of our own families not even to mention taking care of the work of
our beloved Synod.  But now that I think
about it, I suppose that no matter in what country a person is living and
serving God, challenges will always be there. 
Not just because of economic reasons but because of the influence of the
world, the temptations by the devil and the struggle with our own sinful
nature.

Speaking of challenges, I have to thank you, Dad. Thank you
for teaching me to persevere in all
situations. So many of our life situations have called us to persevere!  I learned at the LBI and Seminary that to
persevere means to “remain under,” to “continue in” or to “keep on.”  

What I learned academically in the classroom I learned
practically from you in daily living. 

Important things I want to pass on to my own children.  YOUR grandchildren. I know I can only do so in the strength of God Himself.  After all, how else could I possibly serve four congregations, be the LCCA Synod President,⁵ teach Bible Studies at a University,⁶ be a husband to my wife and a father to my children?

As we “stand under” all the challenges in our Lutheran Synod
we are also seeing and experiencing God’s blessings here in Malawi.  The LCCA is growing, the number of pastors is
increasing and despite the mushrooming of false religions, the LCCA is still
holding to the teachings of the apostles and prophets as found in Scripture.⁷ 

Jesus Christ is the chief Cornerstone of the building!   Always was, still is and always will be!

I have so much for which to thank you, Dad.  You provided for our family and made it a
loving home. But above all you showed me Jesus. Not just with your sermons but
with your life. 

And I see that your life is a new one in Christ. 
A life lived under the cross.
A life lived to His glory.
A life led heavenward.

So, if you look over your shoulder, Dad.  That’s me.

Following in your footsteps.

– Enock

1. Pastor Paul Mkowasenga is the father to Enock Mkowasenga.  Pastor Paul Mkowasenga is retired. 
2. 2 Timothy 4:3.
3. The names of the four congregation parish union are Nanseta, Savala, Mwitere and Nameta.
4. 1986-1991 Evangelist; 1994-2015 Pastor.
5.  Pastor Enock Mkowasenga was elected as LCCA President at the Synod Convention in September of 2018.
6. Malawi University of Science and Technology
7. Ephesians 2:20.

PS.  Missionary John
Holtz interviewed Pastor Enock Mkowasenga so as to feature him in this February
2019 Malawi Mission Partner Communique. In the interview, Pastor Enock
Mkowasenga spoke very highly of his father, retired LCCA Pastor Paul
Mkowasenga.  So Missionary Holtz shaped a
“son-to-father letter” out of the
information given to him.  Even though
Pastor Enock Mkowasenga did not write the letter, all the information in it is
a factual portrayal of everything he shared with Missionary Holtz.  Pastor Mkowasenga gave his approval to this
article and pictures.    

Who doesn’t love to be home? Well, especially when you have a wonderful family such as my parents and older sister. I was born in Malawi, Africa, though I spent the first 10 years of my life in the small town of Chipata in Zambia. My father, Pastor John Holtz, worked as a missionary pastor there until he received a call to move to Malawi in 2008. I spent the rest of my school years there all the way until I graduated secondary school at age 18. Since then, I have been attending Wisconsin Lutheran College as a nursing student, currently in my third year. I have been extremely blessed to have been able to go back home to Malawi during the longer breaks to see my family and old friends.  

As part of the nursing program, third year students go on an immersion trip to none other than Lusaka , Zambia (the capital) where they stay on the seminary grounds. I did not live in Lusaka, but my family traveled there often for work and missionary gatherings. So there I was, surrounded by my classmates in a place so foreign to them yet so familiar to me. It felt odd, simply put. At the same time, it was a huge blessing to be able to share my life in such a unique way with the people who have accepted me into their lives in the United States.

The purpose of our trip was to experience the medical field in a Third World Country. We visited the government-run hospital known as Chelstone, a private children’s clinic known as Beit Cure, an organization for disabled children known as Special Hope Network, and also some grade schools for teaching (see end of article for pictures). We also traveled to a rural clinic in the town of Mwembezhi where missionaries originally started their work. Personally, I thought that all of these organizations were impressive. With limited resources and endless patients, these facilities are doing a great job at providing cheap to no cost care while still providing respectable patient outcomes. So you may be wondering if it is my desire to work there. That answer is difficult, because in Zambia, only local residents are hired, which I think is reflective of the purpose of the WELS mission. The advanced health care systems in the States have a much different focus, some of it good, and some of it I do not particularly like. On top of it being hard to “adult,” it is even harder to know where to even start when you are pulled in different directions, as many missionary kids often experience. But here’s the good news: God is in control. There may come a time when our parents move, and we feel like we have lost our home. Though we desire to go back, what is there for us to do? We need to remember that God leads us and knows what is best for us. When we worry about our future and transition into adulthood, it clouds our vision to the joy that is in Christ Jesus. Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all you ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

So what does it feel like to be back home as an adult missionary kid? Contrarily, going back to Malawi makes me feel like a kid again. Many of my childhood memories were experienced there and Zambia, my friends are there, my pets, my house, but most of all what makes it home is my family. I know its cliché, but how can I deny it? Whenever I am home, I feel myself again, though it is bittersweet.  I go back, knowing I’ll have to leave again in a few weeks. I always cherish my time there, though I remember that life on this earth is temporary. Any struggles here on earth are nothing in comparison to the glory that will be experienced in heaven. Something that I find both comforting and amazing is that those same people, that my dad and all the other missionaries impacted, are going to be with me in heaven someday. I thank God for my life in Africa, and I thank God for my life here too, but most of all, I thank God for saving me a place in his Kingdom…

Heaven is my Home.

Written by Heather Holtz, current student at Wisconsin Lutheran College and daughter of Africa Missionary John Holtz and wife Mindy

Do your
best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to
be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Tim. 2:15

In many places, the pastors of the LCCA are the most educated men in
their locales. People living in rural communities attend primary school but
most leave secondary school before receiving their diploma. Churches offer
Sunday School for children and Confirmation Instruction for Adults who want to
become members, but it is difficult for pastors to conduct advanced Bible
Classes because each pastor is responsible for 3-6 congregations.

How do we bridge the gap in Biblical knowledge of an LCCA
member who wants to enroll in our Worker Training program but barely
understands what it means to be a Lutheran? In Malawi and Zambia we do not have
Lutheran Elementary and Preparatory/Area Lutheran High Schools. Instead, the
Worker Training System of the LCCA Malawi and Zambia relies heavily on a
program called “Theological Education by Extension” or T.E.E. for short. 

The T.E.E. program was initially set up by Missionary Ernst
H. Wendland in 1963 in Zambia. He recognized that men coming from a rural
setting needed to receive additional preparation before they began their formal
studies for the ministry. Instead of sending these men far away from their
families and villages, the T.E.E. program is administered locally by the
pastors who are serving in the field. 

Under the guidance of their pastor, candidates for the
ministry work through four in-depth courses on Lutheran doctrine and Bible
history. The students study at their own pace, meeting occasionally with their
pastor who reviews the material with them. This system works well in remote
areas, where the pastor only makes visits 2-3 times a year.

Under our current Worker Training system, every three years
there is an intake of new students. Men who have completed the T.E.E.
coursework present themselves for a test and an interview with the faculties of
our Worker Training schools in Malawi or Zambia. Out of about 40 men who
applied during the last intake in 2017, only 12 were accepted. In spite of
this, there is some attrition of students during the six years of formal study
due to academic or personal reasons.

Overall, the T.E.E. program has served the needs of the LCCA
Worker Training Program well over the years.  Currently there are 8 students enrolled at the
Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka, and 16 students enrolled at the Lutheran Bible
Institute in Lilongwe. We ask God that every one of these men completes their
studies and receives a call into the ministry. 

Missionary John Roebke
serves in Malawi

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