Building God’s House in Malawi

It’s been fun to watch the progress.  Standing on my front porch, I can look across the road to see the new house being built.  The house is being built on the campus of the Lutheran Bible Institute (LBI) in Lilongwe, Malawi.  Once it is completed, it will be a home for our newest LBI professor, Rev. Stanley Daile, and his family.

At the beginning of this project, the ‘house’ was nothing more than an architectural drawing on a piece of paper.  It was only a nice idea that did not exist in reality, but then the workers came.  They cut down several trees, dug up all the stumps and leveled off the ground.  Large trucks carried in their cargoes of bricks and sand and stone.  In a matter of days, the workers had dug the foundations and poured a concrete slab.  Then the walls appeared – each day a little taller, as if they grew up from the ground.  Soon there were a dozen workers climbing in the rafters and hammering down the corrugated metal roofing sheets.  Other workers installed the windows and the doors.  Every day, the worksite was alive with activity.  It was fun to watch the progress.  Slowly but surely, a house was being built, one brick at a time.

As I watched the progress of that house from my front porch, I often thought about our ministry in Africa.  The Bible often uses the building of a house as a metaphor for Christian ministry.  In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul says that the Christian Church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20-22).  To me, that house across the street was more than just a building.  It was a daily illustration and reminder of why we are working in Malawi in the first place.  We are working together to build God’s house, one brick at a time.

Sixty years ago, a strong and vibrant Lutheran Church in Malawi was nothing but a dream.  It was only a nice idea that did not exist in reality, but then the workers came.  WELS missionaries Raymond Cox and Richard Mueller were the first to arrive in 1963, and other missionaries followed them.  By the preaching of God’s almighty word, they gathered a few faithful Christians together to form the Lutheran Church of Central Africa (LCCA).  Back in those early days, missionaries did almost all the preaching and baptizing.  It wasn’t until 1976 that Rev. Deverson Ntambo became the synod’s first Malawian pastor.  Even by 1980, there were still only about 3,000 confirmed members in approximately 50 congregations. 

But things are different now.  Today the Lutheran Church of Central Africa numbers almost 40,000 baptized souls who trust in Jesus as their Lord.  They gather together on Sunday morning in approximately 130 congregations.  More than three dozen Malawian pastors do virtually all of the preaching, all of the baptizing, and all of the confirmations.  And all of these Malawian pastors are paid and supported by the congregations that they serve.  What a joy to see the progress!  Slowly but surely, God is building up his church.

In fact, even this new house at the Lutheran Bible Institute is evidence of the church’s growth.  The LBI exists to train young African men to serve as future pastors in our Lutheran churches.  The new house is necessary because a new professor, Rev. Stanley Daile, has been called to serve as a professor of New Testament Greek.  In the past, courses in Biblical Greek were always taught by missionaries.  But now we have a well-trained Malawian professor who is able to teach these classes.  This is progress.  God is building up his church.

By the grace of God, I have had the privilege to serve as a missionary in Malawi since 2006.  For almost 15 years I have been able to wake up every morning and to look out of my front door and to see tremendous progress.  Slowly but surely, God is building up his house in Malawi, one brick at a time. 

Missionary Mark Panning lives in Malawi and teaches at the Lutheran Bible Institute in Lilongwe

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

And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days (Rev. 11:3)

When you hear a foreign language that you don’t speak, you hear sounds that don’t mean anything to you. But what is meaningless noise to you conveys a concrete, intelligent message to a someone who understands that language.

The Gospel message of salvation by grace alone has the power to free enslaved hearts. The Gospel transforms irascible scoundrels into servants of God. And yet to a skeptic, this message of free forgiveness is utter foolishness. Only God’s Spirit can raise the spiritually dead to belief through the “foolishness of what is preached” (1 Cor 1:21).

There are many barriers to belief today. Satan’s “fake news” permeates the thinking of people everywhere. His lies throw their eternal fate into doubt and create fear of impending doom and destruction. Only the Gospel of Jesus can clear away the lies and pave the road for living life in the Spirit.

The Bible exists in over 1,300 languages today. But even when someone hears the Gospel in his mother tongue, the multiplicity of Satan’s deceptions obscure its meaning. Two new books have been recently published in the Chichewa language. These two “witnesses” will further clarify the Gospel message.

Chilangizo

The Chichewa word “chilangizo” means “advice.” This book’s purpose is to offer a Christian response to customs about puberty. People engage in these traditional practices because they don’t understand they contradict the teachings of the Bible.

The author of this book is Pastor Patrick Magombo. He is currently serving at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Salima which is located in the Central Region of Malawi. Pastor Magombo grew up in the Southern Region. There he observed customs that are similar to those in the Central Region. He spent about a decade researching and writing this book. It contains both Biblical admonitions and basic health information about the way that young people should treat their bodies.

This book gives local church leaders Bible-based teaching for adolescents about their future family responsibilities. It offers an alternative to the non-Biblical initiation of the tribal secret society Gule Wamkulu. The book contains talking points to discuss sensitive topics like sexual purity and relationships with members of the opposite sex. There is also guidance for local leaders to help young married couples deal with issues like infertility and in-laws.

Rates of STD’s, broken marriages and teen pregnancies in Malawi have increased since the introduction of multi-party government in 1993. Secular health organizations only address the physiological aspect of these issues. They pass over what the Bible says about the body being the “temple of the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Pastor Magombo encourages LCCA congregations to appoint mature “advisors” who will offer Christian guidance to local teens and young adults.

Basic Doctrines of the Bible

WELS Pastor Armin Schuetze wrote the book Basic Doctrines of the Bible in 1969. He also authored the Pastoral Theology textbook Shepherd Under Christ and the official statement of WELS doctrine This We Believe. Translations of Basic Doctrines of the Bible are available in Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, and now Chichewa.

This book is an invaluable tool for pastors. It allows them to offer further instruction to their adult members in the teachings of Lutheranism. It follows the outline of doctrinal textbooks used to teach Seminarians but presents the material at layperson’s level of understanding. Each of the 16 chapters contains further questions for discussion.

Rev. Mitengo discovered the book in the library of the congregation he is currently serving. He translated it for members of his adult Bible class orally. The printed edition will give people direct access to this valuable resource. WELS Multi-Language Productions financed this publication. To learn more about this ministry visit https://wels.net/serving-others/multilanguageproductions/ 

May God use these “two witnesses” to bring Gospel light and joy to the people of Malawi.

Missionary John Roebke lives in Malawi and serves as the Communications Director of One Africa Team

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

Twenty-nine years ago, my wife Leslie and I were preparing to go to Africa to serve as a newly assigned missionary. We had three children ages four, two and four months. The other two children would be born a few years later while living in Zambia. We were young, and excited. I was eager to start working as an African Missionary and my wife was wondering how best to care for our young family, knowing that her skills as a RN would come in very handy.

Now, all the kids are grown, four of the five children are married, and five grandchildren have been added to the family; and Leslie and I are getting ready to move again to Africa. This time I am going to serve as the Leader of WELS World Mission’s One Africa Team (OAT). The OAT consists of all the missionaries serving in Africa who work with various sister synods in Africa to share the good news of Jesus throughout the continent. Now days this work usually takes the form of offering training and encouragement to those who serve as ministers of the gospel in our sister synods.

This is quite different from what I was called to do 29 years ago. Back then my main job was to preach, teach, baptize and offer the Lord’s supper to village congregations which did not have their own pastors. This meant driving out to the village areas at least four days per week and visiting at least two congregations each day for worship and or bible study. Between my visits the congregations were faithfully served by lay men who preached from a sermon book, taught Sunday school and confirmation classes, using books prepared for them. Through these men congregations were started, grew and became strong.

As I return to Africa, many of those men are fully trained pastors and leaders in the Seminary and their Synod. Now WELS missionaries are not needed to serve as Pastors in local congregations but are used to train and encourage ministers of the gospel in church bodies throughout the continent.

I am eager and feel blessed to take on the work of leading this group. I thank God for the years I served in Zambia and I thank God for the past 20 years I have served while living in the States. I am thankful for the things I learned as I served St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School in Norfolk, NE. I am thankful for the experiences I had serving Messiah Lutheran Church in Nampa ID; especially what I learned about well-planned and organized outreach. Also, as I served 10 years on the Board for World Missions, 4 of those years as Chairman. It was so enlightening to understand WELS World Missions not only as a missionary on the field but also at the administrative levels. I also feel that I will put to good use what I experienced serving as the Director of the Apache Christian Training School (ACTS). That experience reminded me of how important it is that missionaries aren’t sent to be pastors for people; but rather they are sent to work with people to develop strong forms of ministry that best serve the needs of that community.

I am thankful to the LORD for giving me this opportunity to serve as the OAT Leader. I am thankful that the LORD has given me a wife that is so supportive and willing to return to Africa. Without her support, understanding, and willingness to serve none of this would be possible.

Howard Mohlke is the new leader of One Africa Team and is currently living in Nebraska while his paperwork is being processed. He and his wife Leslie will reside in Malawi on the campus of the Lutheran Bible Institute in Lilongwe

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