Do you like looking at old photographs? Probably you do. And probably you don’t. On the one hand, how heartwarming it can be to see those happy photos of your children when they were five years old.  And imagine… now those kids of yours have children of their own! But on the other hand, oh my! That hairstyle! That cheesy mustache! Those silly bell-bottom jeans! Did I really look like that? Is it possible that the ‘me’ of yesterday was not as groovy as I thought I was?

A few days ago, I stumbled upon some old photographs.  I thought they were fascinating.  The year of the photos was 1981, and the place was Lilongwe, Malawi.  One picture showed workers laying the foundation for the classroom of the Lutheran Bible Institute (LBI).  Another picture showed the construction of LBI student houses. The plan was to build a brand-new boarding school for the training of national pastors.  All those buildings are still here, but things look very different today. 

It got me thinking about our mission work in Africa.  More specifically, it made me think about how times have changed.  Years ago, the measure of a missionary in Africa was how quickly he could change a tire. In the early days, almost all Africa missionaries drove out to the isolated village churches.  They preached the gospel to the people, sometimes in a grass-roofed church, sometimes underneath the mango tree.  You would get a lot of flat tires driving those dirt roads, but an experienced missionary could pull off the old tire and pop on a new one faster than a pit crew at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  In 1981, the very idea of building a fancy brick and mortar classroom for the training of national pastors – wow, that was groundbreaking stuff!

I still teach young Zambian and Malawian pre-seminary students in the very same classroom that you see in the picture.  And if you want my honest opinion, I still think it’s pretty ‘groovy.’  But things look different today.  More and more, the missionaries of today are teaching in a Google Classroom, not a brick-and-mortar classroom.  More and more, the measure of a missionary is not how quickly he can change a tire, but how quickly he can reboot his laptop to get the Zoom meeting up and running. Boarding schools? Today it’s ‘keyboarding’ schools. Today, missionaries are not just driving cars to the isolated villages of Zambia and Malawi.  They’re flying on commercial airlines to train pastoral students in places like Cameroon and Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya. 

So what should we say? Are old ways bad? Certainly not. You carefully groomed that cheesy mustache because that was the best thing for the time and place. That mustache and that hairstyle and the bell-bottom jeans are the things that got you noticed.  Maybe they even caught the eye of that pretty, young lady who later became your wife. Certainly, it’s true that styles of ministry in Africa are constantly evolving, but our sister churches in Africa number more than 60,000 baptized souls. God has blessed our efforts.

The old pictures remind us how quickly this world changes.  But one thing never changes: Whoever believes in the Lord Jesus will be saved.  As we enter into the year 2022, let’s double our efforts to preach the unchanging word of God, by whatever methods possible, because time is marching on, and “our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11).

Missionary Mark Panning 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

A corporate merger is a process that happens one stage at a time. It unites two or more business organizations with overlapping interests. The decision may be made mutually by all parties. The goal is to increase the efficiency and reach of the new entity’s brand. The decision to merge may be the unintended consequence of financial difficulties that one of the partners is experiencing. A hostile takeover often leads to the dissolution of the weaker partner’s identity and assets.     

Mergers between church bodies occur frequently for similar reasons, and with similar results. Instead of struggling to maintain separate worker training systems, church bodies can send their future called workers to the same schools. Church bodies can combine their resources to more effectively deliver humanitarian aid to the people in their communities. But the administrative advantages that are gained come with a cost. Church mergers often come at the expense of doctrinal integrity. Church bodies “agree to disagree” in the name of compromise.

The CICR

The Wisconsin Synod stands firm in its commitment to advancing God’s Kingdom. WELS works with like-minded partners without compromising pure teaching or evangelical practice. The WELS Commission on Inter-church Relations (CICR) is an agency for preserving and strengthening relationships with other church bodies. These relationships are built on the foundation of complete unity of doctrine and practice. You can read a summary of the CICR’s work and mission at https://wels.net/commission-inter-church-relations-holds-fall-meeting/

WELS has an increasing number of mission opportunities in Africa. The CICR and OAT have developed a Four-Stage process to guide discussions with potential ministry partners. The process outlines benchmarks that must be met to continue the dialogue. The end result is a formal declaration of fellowship. We and our potential partners discuss our understanding of Lutheran teachings. We explore evangelical ministry practices. We also outline our expectations of what this partnership may entail. The process continues on the condition that both parties agree.

AMEC

The Lutheran Church has deep historic roots in the East Africa country of Tanzania. German missionaries were active in the region during the last two decades of the 19^th century. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) numbers almost 8 million members. There are also smaller Tanzanian Lutheran church bodies.

The African Mission Evangelical Church (AMEC) is a Lutheran Church body in Tanzania. It was formed in 1993 as the result of a split within the ELCT over doctrine and practice. In 2019 WELS received an inquiry from Pastor Davis Makundi of the AMEC. One Africa Team Missionary John Hartmann has been corresponding with Rev. Makundi.

AMEC’s future is in danger both doctrinally and organizationally. After the split with the ELCT, AMEC has struggled to maintain a corps of confessionally Lutheran pastors. AMEC never set up its own worker training system. Many congregations are served by pastors who were trained in non-Lutheran seminaries. This has led to a weakening of doctrinal unity in the church body.

AMEC’s leader, Bishop Baltazari Kaaya, was trained in the ELCT Seminary many decades ago. He is committed to the teachings of the Confessional Lutheran Church. He recognizes his church body’s need for new pastors who are committed to Lutheran teaching and practice.

Stage One

One Africa Team is using the Four-Stage Process with AMEC. In April 2021 Missionary Hartmann made a preliminary visit to meet with about a dozen AMEC pastors. This was an opportunity to learn more about their history and to introduce them to the WELS. In November 20201 Missionary Hartmann and Missionary John Roebke made a follow-up visit to begin Stage One of the process.

The purpose of Stage One is to determine if we have the same understanding of Lutheran doctrine. Hartmann and Roebke met with a dozen AMEC church workers for one week. They read and discussed the pamphlet What the Bible and Lutherans Teach

Pastor Mark Anariko Onunda of the LCMC-Kenya accompanied the two Missionaries. He served as both a linguistic and a cultural translator. Rev. Onunda is the leader of the LCMC-Kenya, one of WELS’s mission partners in Africa. Some of the topics that were discussed included the Triune God, Man and Woman, Justification, Conversion, and Baptism. It took about 1-2 hours to discuss each teaching and related questions. The mission team intends to return to Tanzania in 2022. They will discuss other key teachings such as the Lord’s Supper, Fellowship, Marriage and Divorce, and the Government.

The Next Stages

God-willing, the WELS and AMEC will continue to make process in their discussions. Stage Two provides an opportunity to compare our understanding of church practices. We take a look at Worship, Bible Study, Stewardship, and Ministry training. In Stage Three, we review the church body’s existing church structure and constitution. We ask for clarifications or make suggestions for improvement.

The Fourth Stage is working with the partner to prepare a formal request for fellowship to the CICR. We help organize face-to-face talks with representatives from WELS. WELS then recommends the church body to its partners in the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC).

The WELS does not merge with its sister churches around the world. Rather, the WELS recognizes each of them as an independent church body. This is in everyone’s best interests. An autonomous church body is much stronger and healthier than one which is dependent on another church body for support. The WELS wishes to use its God-given resources to help sister church bodies around the world. WELS helps them develop and grow in ways that are appropriate for each partner. May God bless our efforts with AMEC in Tanzania and elsewhere around the globe.

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

Things did not go according to the plan. No, not even by a mile.

What was the plan? The Lutheran Church of Ethiopia (LCE) wanted to start a Lutheran nursery school. The plan was that there would be three age levels – something like nursery school, preschool, and kindergarten. In addition to the normal subjects, students would be taught the word of God. The LCE planned to offer these classes in the city of Bishoftu, in the building where their largest congregation gathers to worship every Sunday. They planned to enroll about 75 students, some from their own membership and others from their community. The LCE leaders contacted all the appropriate government offices. They were very careful to follow all the government rules and regulations. And if everything went well with the nursery school, then they would add Grade 1 the following year. That was the plan.

But things did not go according to the plan. In fact, none of it happened. Everything failed. There is no nursery school in Bishoftu. Not a single child is enrolled there.

A Snag in Plans

What happened? As the time drew near for the school to open, it became clear that things were not going to go smoothly. All along, the government officials had been saying, “Oh yes, everything is fine,” yet they were delaying and delaying and delaying. They were refusing to give their final approval for the school. No one would say what the reason for their refusal was, but the bottom line for the LCE was that the local government officials would not grant permission for the school. All their carefully laid plans had failed.

But God had other plans. Shortly after the bottom fell out in Bishoftu, the LCE was contacted by the Bureau of Education from a nearby town. The nearby town is called Dukem; it’s just a few miles from Bishoftu. The government officials from Dukem urgently pleaded with the members of the LCE, “If they will not let you have a school in Bishoftu… please, please, please come and have your school in Dukem!”  They helped the LCE find two buildings where classes could be held. The officials in Dukem promised that they would provide government land on which to build a new facility in the future. They strongly urged the LCE not to limit the enrollment to just three levels of nursery school, but also to include some higher grades as well. They quickly processed all the paperwork and gave the necessary approvals.

A Greater Opportunity

And what was the end result? A brand new school in Dukem with two separate campuses.  About 30 new teachers. Students in the 3 nursery levels, plus Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3 and Grade 4.  Current enrollment: 759. That’s right, seven hundred and fifty-nine. That’s ten times more than the LCE had originally planned.

Do you ever end your prayers the way Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Not my will, but yours be done”? How do you feel when you say those words? Honestly, when I say those words, I’m often thinking to myself, “My will is the best. God’s will is second-best, and I’ll be disappointed if that’s what I receive. So God, please help me to grin and bear it when I don’t get what I want.”

Our Christian brothers and sisters in the LCE did not get what they had planned or wanted. They got ten times more than that.

So go ahead and make your plans. Make those plans as bold and ambitious as you see fit. But in the end, submit yourself to the will of God – not because you have to, but because God’s plans are better than yours.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20,21).

Mark Panning 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