Fresh fish! Look at these fellas and the catch of the day! For one week in the middle of June, two One Africa Team missionaries got to work by the sea in Cameroon with a group of church leaders, not only in English but also in French. As far as anyone can tell, this may have been the first time WELS World Missions has provided in-person training in Africa in French!

Sweating in Douala

Missionary Dan Kroll (with many years of experience living in Cameroon) and I (Missionary Keegan Dowling) went to the port city of Douala, and the church leaders traveled from their inland homes to meet with us there. Douala is a dank, green city on the Gulf of Guinea—and just about smack-dab on the Equator. As a matter of fact, I used to sweat as a pastor in Canada, so you can imagine I was soaked during my week in Cameroon. (Sometimes, I went through 4 shirts in a day!)

Douala is Cameroon’s biggest city and a major port. Where we stayed was right next to where the huge freighter ships docked. And there was PLENTY of fresh fish to eat—even HUGE, spicy prawns. (Fun Fact: The country of “Cameroon” was named after the Portuguese word for “prawn”!) We got so much fish on the street that the sellers got to know us… and rival sellers would tussle over us, trying to physically direct us toward their stalls.

Fish for Souls

But the real reason Missionary Kroll and I were there was not to eat but to catch fish. More specifically, we were there to help train some local fishermen: a group of leaders from Holy Trinity Lutheran Synod, whose calling from Jesus—like each of us Christians—is to fish for people, not necessarily for fish.

Holy Trinity is not yet in church fellowship with the WELS. They are just beginning their journey of exploring the road to church fellowship. This starts with an emphasis on doctrine—specifically, a comprehensive overview of doctrine like you would find in a bible information course at a church in North America. I’ve known French since I was a teenager and would read Le Monde newspaper and listen to Radio France Internationale and collect French films in college.

But I can be thankful now that the Lord called me at Seminary graduation (2013) to serve as a pastor for 9 years in Orléans, Ontario, which is the eastern part of Ottawa, the capital city of Canada: Ottawa is the largest bilingual city in the country. While there, seeing and hearing French every day, I soaked up a lot of detailed vocabulary which is coming in handy now in Africa, where 167 million people speak French.

Teaching God’s Word in French

WELS Multi-Language Productions (MLP) gave us permission to put my favorite bible information course—Basic Bible Christianity, by Pastor Jon Buchholz—into French, and use it in our training workshops. We spent time with our new friends in Cameroon honing in on such aspects of doctrine as communion, baptism, Law-and-Gospel, the history of the Bible, and confession, among others. We plan to meet with these very same men at all our upcoming workshops so that we can forge personal relationships and make progress as we grow deeper in our studies and our planning together.

When we were men about town, Missionary Kroll and I both got a lot of exposure to French: It’s the language of the city of Douala. It is still a new and fresh experience for us, to use French in our ministry. It was also a new and fresh experience for our friends from Holy Trinity Lutheran Synod to explore biblical doctrine systematically with a bible information course presented both in French and in English. Missionary Kroll and I hope we grow stronger in our use of French with each visit we make to Cameroon. And we hope the leaders from Holy Trinity will also grow stronger in their understanding and use of God’s Word—which sounds sweet in any language.

Missionary Keegan J. Dowling lives in Lusaka, Zambia

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

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails (Prov 19:21)

Missionaries from the Wisconsin Synod (WELS) began to offer advanced training for pastors of The Lutheran Church of Cameroon (LCC) in 1979. Two decades later, the WELS helped construct a seminary campus for the LCC in the town of Kumba. One of the buildings served as a cafeteria.

After the first cohort of students graduated in 1999, the campus remained inactive for 24 years.

In 2016 the LCC re-started its worker training program. The LCC’s Board for Worker Training decided to let the students prepare their own meals, and the cafeteria remained unused. It fell into disrepair, unfortunately.

The first new cohort of pastoral students in 23 years graduated in 2022. The second cohort of students is now finishing their first year of studies. The LCC’s Board for Worker Training saw that their maintenance budget was underspent. So they decided to repurpose the cafeteria building into a library using the remaining funds.

They brushed out a LOT of dust and cobwebs. They replaced some ceiling boards and gave the building a fresh coat of paint. If I make it sound like a short and easy job, I’m misrepresenting the process. The back room off the side of the school office had not been accessible for 18 years so again, more dust and cobwebs.

In a relatively short time, the new library building was ready for books. The LCC had quality reference books in storage – it’s about time to get them out, and they will significantly enhance the worker training program.

The shelves are cleaned and relocated to what used to be the cafeteria. Instead of feeding the body, this building’s new purpose is to feed minds. May God strengthen these students of God’s Word and develop them into excellent pastors for the Lutheran Church of Cameroon.

Missionary Dan Kroll lives in Malawi and is the OAT liaison to West Africa.

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

God is Goood! There was JOY! There was hugging and much excitement! It had been nearly five years since we had worked side by side as Lutheran women in Cameroon. The cause for our separation was not being too busy and failing to keep in touch. A political conflict culminating in a civil war forced us to leave Cameroon in 2018. 

Victims of Trauma

I, along with three pastors’ wives and two laywomen gathered together in Douala, Cameroon, away from the conflict, for a purpose. As a pastor’s wife and former social worker, one purpose for this visit was to gather with the women to educate them about trauma and how they can offer support to the many IDPs (internally displaced persons) that live among them. And that is when the stories came. Combatants brutally murdered one woman’s father-in-law. She and her family now keep seventeen IDPs who have lost their home and have no other place to go.  (Imagine your family coming to Christmas dinner and not leaving). Another woman lost her home and has been living (hiding) in the bush for over a year. Another was out in the field planting crops and returned to find her entire village, including her house, had burned to the ground. 

After they shared their stories there was a pause in the conversation.  What could I say that wouldn’t sound condescending or trite?  I came to Cameroon to teach the women about trauma and how we could bring the comfort of God’s love to the IDPs, but they themselves have experienced that trauma.  Real trauma.  Not the way we sometimes use the word to describe a bad day.  And yet their focus was not on themselves, but rather, on how they could help others.

Victors in Christ

One of my sisters pierced the silence and exclaimed with a big smile, “God is goood!”.   I will confess, that was not the first thought that entered my mind.   But I think this is what Nehemiah (8:10b) is referring to when he says, “Do not grieve. The joy of the Lord is your strength”.

The six of us had six blessed days together.  As I mentioned, one of the reasons we gathered together was to learn how to help IDPs; but that wasn’t all.  We gathered together around the word of God from which we get all comfort, all joy, and all hope.   “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

We will never find peace in this world of sin.  We find peace alone in Christ who has redeemed us from our sins and won eternal life with him in heaven. 

In the meantime please pray for your brothers and sisters in Cameroon.  Pray for their safety, pray for their ministry, and for an end to the conflict.  And remember…yes, God is indeed goood!

Karen Kroll lives in Malawi with her husband Dan, who serves as the One Africa Team Liaison to West Africa

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