የሱስ እረኛዬ የሚመራኝ

በሕይወት ጎዳና የሚወስደኝ

እርሱን አገኘሁት የማይተወኝ

ጓደኛ ዘመድ ሲከዳኝ

(English translation)

Jesus, my Shepherd

The One who guides me on the way of life

He found me who never leaves me

While all my friends and relatives deny me.

Christianity’s roots run deep in Ethiopia, yet the Gospel is struggling to make purchase on this rocky soil. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church enjoys a privileged position in society, and the pews are filled at the high festival days – but the people are told that their salvation is an ongoing process and not a completed fact. Many large Protestant churches of the charismatic variety are also gathering many converts through promises of prosperity and healing to those who are worthy.

The Lutheran Church of Ethiopia (LCE) was registered with the Ethiopian government in 2013 by Dr. Kebede Getachew Yigezu and 56 founding members. By the grace of God, the LCE opened Maor (Hebrew for “light”) Lutheran Theological Seminary as a Christ-centered, Bible-based and Reformation-driven confessional Lutheran theological seminary, which is authorized to offer bachelors and masters degrees and also doctorate programs. In 2017 the LCE and the WELS declared fellowship and since then have been collaborating to advance the Gospel in Ethiopia.

Last December, the LCE held its 6^th annual General Assembly meeting in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. The delegates who had gathered gave thanks to God for the many blessings he had poured out on their small but dedicated church body over the past year. One of those blessings was the third historic graduation of students from Maor Lutheran Theological Seminary on October 27, 2019. The ceremony took place in the midst of political unrest that Ethiopia was experiencing at the time. (https://wels.net/unrest-in-ethiopia-affects-wels-sister-churches/)

Delegates also gave thanks to God for the construction of a new five-story multi-purpose building on the campus of Maor Lutheran Theological Seminary. Thanks to the oversight of LCE Assistant Deaconess Werknesh Negash Degefa and Brother Wondirad Balcha WoldeSemayat and the generosity of WELS donors the building reached the finishing stage in one year’s time. It is the LCE’s ardent prayer that this new building will help bring the Gospel light to the people of Ethiopia.

The LCE also celebrated its partnership with WELS Multi-Language Productions, which hosted an Africa region workshop in Lusaka last summer. Dr. Ernst Wendland, who has served WELS World Missions for over 50 years and also participated in translating the Bible into the Chichewa language, shared his considerable experience and insight into the translation process. Using that knowledge, the LCE was able to translate the evangelism tract, “God’s Great Exchange” into the Amharic language.

In an email Dr. Kebede writes, “We were surprised that getting the right wordings with the right meaning in our language for words like “Exchange” in the literary context of the tract on “God’s Great Exchange” was not easy. Indeed,  the lessons we received at the MLP Translation Workshop and  Publication Expo under the instruction of Professor Ernst Wendland in Lusaka have helped Brother Shambel and me a lot to lead our team so that we reached at the best translation which  communicates the right meaning clearly both theologically and linguistically.” The LCE sent the translated Amharic text side by side with the English text to WELS MLP graphic design artist Michele Pfeifer, who completed the final layout.  

Looking ahead to the future, one of the most pressing tasks the LCE faces is to renew their church body’s registration with the Ethiopian government. The current registration was good for six years (2013-2019). Please pray that God continues to let the light of the Gospel shine in Ethiopia through the work of the LCE and Maor Lutheran Theological Seminary.

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

What do 10-year-olds in rural South Dakota know about Africa? Probably what a textbook or teacher has taught him or her. Probably that there are seven continents, and Africa is one of them. If they attend a WELS grade school, perhaps they know that there are missionaries in Africa. A 10-year-old South Dakotan would probably do better at telling you how to operate a combine than how to locate either Malawi or Cameroon on a map.

On October 31st and November 22nd, students from St. Martin’s in Watertown, SD, had the opportunity to Skype with missionaries from Africa and learn some lessons I pray will stick with them for life.

Why Africa? Why Watertown, SD? What’s the connection? How and why did a partnership developed between St. Martin’s Lutheran School in Watertown, South Dakota, and the One Africa Team?

Two months ago, St. Martin’s students wrote letters to 12 missionaries and their families across the world. Huge 25×30 inch letters were written with big handwriting and colorful somewhat messy pictures. The letters shared that students were praying on behalf of the missionaries, their families and their congregations. Students asked what life was like in their settings and shared Bible passages to encourage missionaries and their families.

We heard back from many of the missionaries. Some sent email replies. Another missionary sent a 12-minute YouTube video response. It was rewarding for students to hear back from these missionaries and their families. Through back-and-forth discussions with John Roebke, a missionary on the One Africa Team, we decided to attempt a Skype call between Missionary Roebke and the entire St. Martin’s school.

Because neither St. Martin’s nor Missionary Roebke had tried this “live audience” Skyping presentation method before, we held a test Skype call and worked through some of the technology glitches and operator error.

The day of the presentation was Reformation Day, Wednesday, October 31, 2018. (St. Martin’s has chapel on Wednesday mornings at 8:30.) After chapel, we showed a slideshow of images from Malawi and a short video of John’s security guards preparing and eating lunch. These served as background information and a “lead up” of sorts to the actual Skype call and presentation. At 9:04 am in Watertown, SD (4:04 pm in Lilongwe, Malawi), we called John Roebke. He answered. His face showed up about 12 feet tall on our two large screens in church and he greeted all of the St. Martin’s students with a “Happy Reformation Day!”

John spent 15 minutes sharing about life in Malawi: the food, the people, the place and what his ministry was like. As we Skyped I remember thinking it was incredible that we were over 8,800 miles away and yet were able to interact and hear a presentation from a real-life missionary. After his presentation, the students asked questions they had prepared. What is the weather like? (Hot.) What kinds of food do you eat? (Nsima, mangoes and pineapples) How big is your congregation? (40,000 members, because I get to help produce sermon books for all the congregations of the LCCA in Malawi) Do you ever miss home? (This is my home.)

Three weeks later on, on Friday, November 22, we were able to Skype with a second missionary and his wife who serve as part of the One Africa Team: Dan and Karen Kroll, who serve in Cameroon. Because of the tense political state in Cameroon, Cameroon was no longer a safe place to be. Instead the Krolls were staying at a house in Malawi. We were able to Skype with them and hear about how the Christians in Cameroon, who need our prayers, are still committed to sharing God’s Word during this time of political unrest.

We also heard about a day in the life of Dan and Karen. Dan shared how he gets to serve as a teacher for individuals looking to become pastors in Cameroon. Karen shared how she enjoyed serving in whatever way needed as a missionary’s wife – including everything from a morning of exterminating rats in their house to driving an ambulance in the afternoon. Additionally, Karen explained how she leads Bible studies for the wives of Dan’s seminary students.

Once again, students were able to ask questions: What is the weather like? (Hot) What is church like? (Sometimes a long distance to travel) Where is your home? (We’ve lived and served in Africa for over 20 years in Malawi and Cameroon. This is our home.)

The experience opened students’ eyes. Students were able to see and talk to a real-life missionaries in real time over 8,800 miles away. Students learned that missionaries serve in multiple ways; they not only preach, but also teach, write and encourage as a big part of their ministries. Students heard that missionaries were happy to serve in their homes of Africa, and that Africa is indeed their home.

Both John and the Krolls closed their respective Skype sessions in the same way. They encouraged the students to consider how they might serve God, not only now, but also in the future. They planted a seed for mission work perhaps somewhere down the line and urged students to think about how they might be able to share Jesus with others.

The Skyping experience was a wonderful opportunity. It provided our St. Martin’s students an opportunity to hear why and how missionaries share Jesus with others. It was free and fairly easy to organize. Students now have a few real faces and names to connect with mission work in Africa. We look forward to Skyping again and,we look forward to seeing how God blesses the missions in Africa and the students here in South Dakota.

Jonathan Niemi is the Principal of St. Martin’s Lutheran School in Watertown, S.D.

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