Yesterday, I returned to Malawi from a week-long gathering of WELS missionaries that was held in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Almost every WELS missionary from all their scattered posts throughout the world had assembled there, about 50 men in all.  While we were there, the missionaries shared story after story about how the sweet and fragrant message of the gospel was pouring out like summer rains on this sin-parched, unbelieving world.  From the continued success of our missions in Africa to the exciting new possibilities in the Far East, God is keeping his promise to spread his saving gospel to the farthest corners of the Earth.  Even now, souls from every tribe and nation are being won for eternal life in heaven.

In Malawi, there are basically two seasons in the year: the rainy season and the dry.  During the dry season, it never rains at all… not even a little bit.  The ground is dry and hard and everything is dusty.  This lasts from May until November, and maybe even longer.  When I was living in the United States, a rainy day was considered to be a bad day.  But in Malawi, a rainy day is reason to rejoice.  After months of dusty dryness, God is pouring out his blessings.  The rain comes down from heaven and softens the dry ground.  Grass greens up.  Seeds begin to germinate.  Fields begin to grow and to produce their precious crops.  As they say in Malawi, “madzi ndi moyo” (water is life).

Yesterday, when I stepped off the plane in Malawi after one week at our missionary conference in Malaysia, I noticed immediately that something was very different.  “I smell rain,” I said out loud – even though I was travelling alone and spoke those words to no one.  A Malawian lady standing next to me turned to me and smiled.  The first rain of the season had come while we were away, and the evidence of it was unmistakable.  The rains had come and washed the dust off of the eucalyptus trees.  The whole country was filled with their sweet and fragrant eucalyptus scent.  I almost felt a little sad that I had missed it.  Malawi was rejoicing.

As I stood in line at the airport waiting to pass through immigration, it occurred to me that maybe this had been my ‘takeaway’ from our entire missionary conference: “I smell rain.”  The gospel shower of God’s grace is falling gently on the world.  The effects of it are powerful, and the fragrant evidence of it is unmistakable.  Jesus Christ is the Living Water that gives life to our thirsty souls.  By his sinless life and his innocent death on the cross, he has redeemed all the people of the world.  By the preaching of his saving gospel and by the power of his Spirit, he gathers men and women from every nation under heaven.  By that same shower of the gospel, he washes away their sins.  He empowers them and makes their lives to be a fragrant offering to God.  He gives them the life that will never end, even eternal life in heaven.  I wish you could have heard the stories that I heard in Malaysia!  God’s grace is pouring down from heaven.  From the Apaches to the Zambians and at all points in between, God’s people are rejoicing.

You are the witnesses of Christ throughout the world, as much as any missionary.  Thank you to everyone who has supported the work of WELS World Missions!  Your faithful prayers and generous offerings have enabled and empowered Gospel messengers to share the good news of Jesus Christ all around the globe.  Your efforts in this work have not been without effect, and they will never be without effect.  God himself has promised: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10, 11).

The world in which we live may be a desert of sin and death.  But God is good and gracious, and I smell rain.

Mark Panning lives in Malawi and teaches at the Lutheran Bible Institute, where future pastors of the LCCA are trained.

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

The place was the Sudanese Refugee Camp in Kakuma, Kenya.  The occasion was the arrival of special guests to the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Nuer people in the camp.  The temperature was 100.4 degrees.  The visitors had just traveled over 4 hours by taxi on a very bumpy and dusty potholed road.   When they arrived in the camp, the choirs burst into song.

Peter Bur, a Sudanese Refugee and WELS Pastor living in the USA, was the first to be welcomed.  This is his congregation.  He was instrumental in helping this group to gather and form a congregation in the middle of a refugee camp.  This was Peter’s second visit to the camp.  They welcomed him with open arms.   Peter led the other visitors to chairs prepared for them in front of the simple church building the congregation had constructed.  They invited Allen Sorum from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Terry Schultz from Multi Language Publications, Mark Onunda from the Lutheran Congregations in Missions for Christ – Kenya, Elias Mututwa and Dan Sargent from the Lutheran Church of Central Africa to take their seats in front of the singing crowd.

A group of women began to remove the guests’ shoes and wash their feet – it was a moving ceremony.  With the choirs singing and the women ululating, the guests received a special spa treatment.  The cool water washing their feet refreshed the men…but even more, they could not miss the significance of this humble gesture.  The words of Jesus, after washing his disciples’ feet, came to mind; “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:15) A very special welcome…but it was even more.

The songs of the choirs and the words of the leaders echoed what was on the minds of everyone; “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news”.  The visitors had come with a gift…the Gospel message.  They would be there for over a week to teach, encourage and equip this group to grow in the Word and reach out to others with this beautiful gift.

Missionary Daniel Sargent lives in Zambia

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

I am exhausted. In five weeks, I covered 20,000 miles and made 62 presentations about our Africa missions to churches, schools and individual donors. I am also energized by what I have seen on this speaking tour. I have an even greater appreciation for the diversity within Christ’s Body.

Christ’s Body includes St. Croix Lutheran Academy, an Area Lutheran High School in Minneapolis whose student body includes 125 international students from five continents. Christ’s Body includes Lutheran Elementary Schools in Milwaukee like St. Marcus, Risen Savior, and Mt. Lebanon that bring Christ’s peace to students growing up in an urban and often chaotic environment. The Body of Christ includes churches and schools located in up and coming suburbs, as well as those situated in traditional farming communities. Although the students look and act very different from one another, they all responded the same way to my presentation – with great interest in what life is like in Africa, and a greater appreciation of what God has given them in this country.

It’s not our missions abroad or at home that make us successful. It’s not our stained glass and pipe organs that make us attractive to God. It’s not our schools and colleges that draw God’s attention to us. Whether we meet on Sundays in a cathedral or a mud hut and whether we sing in European time signatures or in African rhythms, our Heavenly Father accepts our praise because his Son has made us worthy. We belong to Christ’s body because he reached out and brought us to life, and we will remain in his body only because of his continued mercy and undeserved love.

In Zambia and Malawi there are over 60,000 Lutherans, and membership continues to increase. Our African brothers’ and sisters’ faith is deeply rooted, and they express that faith beautifully through worship and acts of service. When I consider the extreme poverty and day to day hardships of life in Africa, I can only give God the credit for the men and women of faith that he has raised up here. By contrast, our church body, the Wisconsin Synod, currently has just over 360,000 members. Like most churches in the United States, our numbers are decreasing [watch video].

But although there are many different kinds of people, churches, and church bodies, the only number that matters is ONE – Christ’s Body is ONE, with ONE purpose and ONE Head. We who live in the Developed World are ONE with them, joined to the Body of Christ by God’s grace. Whatever resources God has given us, let us use them to build up Christ’s Body. You don’t have to be a high-powered executive or a financially independent millionaire to support foreign mission work. You don’t have to be fluent in foreign languages to advance God’s kingdom overseas. Because you are a part of Christ’s Body he will use you with great effect and power.

My body is tired, but my spirit has been renewed. “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom 15:5-6)

Missionary John Roebke lives in Malawi and serves as the Communications Director for One Africa Team. He would like to give special thanks to WELS World Missions Scheduler Ginny Mundstock (ginny.mundstock@wels.net), without whom his tour would have been impossible. If your organization is interested in hosting a missions speaker for your event visit www.wels.net/speaker-request