She is hurrying. Who wouldn’t? Her daughter’s struggle is awful.

Her daughter’s struggle with what? School? Medical issues?

Demonic torment.

“Have mercy on me, Lord,” the mother cries. “Oh, Son of David!” (What a name for a Canaanite woman to give a Jewish man.)

“My daughter … the demon is hurting her so badly.”

Jesus does not answer her.

That story is for us, dear reader. In it Jesus and his disciples are far from home. They are abroad, up north by Tyre and Sidon—modern Syria.

In February Pastor Howie Mohlke and I left our Zambian homes. We too went to a country north of us.

I was in Sondu, Kenya for two weeks. Three pastors in the Lutheran Churches in Mission for Christ (LCMC) and I learned and practiced adult education.

Pastor Mohlke flew up for the second week. Near Sondu in Chabera he led a workshop for LCMC lay preachers—over 50 of them.

At the end of our time with our brothers, one of them, LCMC Bishop Richard Ogosi Amayo, led us all in a service of holy communion.

In that closing service Howie preached from Matthew 15:21–28, the story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman with the demonized daughter.

Does demonic torment seem as distant to you as East Africa? Something far away, something mostly just in Jesus’ day?

Millions of Americans figure that Satan is not just far away, he is fake. Your African brothers and sisters in Christ know better. Many have fears you may not.

Demonic Pentecostal preaching is spreading in Sub-Saharan Africa. Witch doctors advertise even in upscale urban neighborhoods.

Why would Christians be tempted to run, not to Jesus, like the Canaanite woman? Why try charms or traditional healers?

What a liar, our old evil foe. He means deadly woe. God seems distant. Other help seems closer.

God seems slow. Other options seem faster.

The Swahili proverb I learned from my Kenyan brothers in our course on dialogue education was Haraka, haraka, haina baraka. (“Ha-RA-ka, ha-RA-ka, high-EE-na ba-RA-ka.”)

That is, “haste, haste, there is no blessing.”

The Bible says similarly: “Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes” (Proverbs 19:2 NLT).

It’s not just true in education. All those sayings remind me of another African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

That sums up a key aspect of what Howie Mohlke and I were doing in Sondu and Chabera, Kenya. Our LCMC partners asked your One Africa Team for help. “Let’s work together,” they said, “in training for practical action in Christ.”

The result may mean this time, classes for veteran pastors on a master’s degree level. Those brothers teach future pastors in online evening classes.

Or the request may lead to a workshop for men learning for the first time how to study a short section of the Bible and preach specific good news about Jesus from it.

No matter what, we go together.

Jesus’ disciples didn’t want to go together with the Canaanite woman, did they? “Send her away,” they tell Jesus. “She keeps bothering us.”

How that must sting. Can you imagine how afraid and ashamed she must already feel, with all the battering her daughter is getting from the demon?

(Did the mother feel responsible somehow? And where is the father? What about any other relative or friend? Why does she come to Jesus all alone?)

You can’t know fully the demon’s agenda in abusing her daughter.

Nor can you know the depth of why Jesus at first answers her pleas with nothing. He tells her he is only sent to the lost sheep of Israel.

But that’s not the whole story. Jesus wants so much to help her and her daughter.

Today too prayers for help to Jesus can seem so futile. Nothing is happening, we conclude. After we pray, all we hear is heaven’s door being slammed. Bolts click. Lock after lock closes, almost audibly.

But do you know how it went with the Canaanite woman? A door opens.

How? The woman doesn’t quit. She kneels before Jesus.

Jesus tells her, “It isn’t right. You don’t take the children’s bread and throw it to dogs.”

Nevertheless, she doesn’t quit.

“Yes, Lord,” she admits. “Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.”

“Woman,” Jesus beams, “your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.”

Just as when God said, “Let there be light,” as soon as he says it … You can’t imagine her joy. Her daughter is whole again.

Ever notice that the only times Jesus in the Gospels heals someone from a distance—the centurion’s servant in Matthew 8, the Canaanite woman’s daughter here, and possibly the royal official’s son in John 4—it involves a foreigner?

So two biggies, friend. I’m on my knees before you, almost like the Canaanite woman before Jesus. Please.

1. The man who writes down the story that Howie Mohlke was preaching in Kenya—Matthew? He is Jewish, right? So are all the apostles.

But Jesus keeps hinting to his fellow Jews that his church will be multinational. Worldwide. Gentiles will fill it.

Matthew, we think, writes mainly to Jewish believers. They struggle so with God’s paradigm shift.

Demonic terrors, crazy situations, cross-cultural barriers. Such will not be the exception. They are all part of God’s plan.

2. Delays too. I mean, Jesus prayed the most desperate prayer, didn’t he? And it didn’t look like God was answering at all, did it?

Jesus died all alone in place of us all. Jews. Gentiles. Kenyans. Americans. Everybody.

So don’t quit praying. For Everybody.

Pray for missionaries far away. Pray for gospel victories close to home.

Whatever Jesus says happens. What does he tell the desperate woman? “Let it be done for you as you want.” Boom. Whatever Jesus says happens.

Then why pray for others? Why pray much for others? Maybe with people who look different from us, people with lives that seem in shambles, it feels easiest to shoo them away. We are like the Twelve.

We are like the woman too. God may seem slow. Prayer to God seems slow. Other options seem faster.

What if in Christ you don’t quit? What if right now you pray for someone who is lost? (Your daughter? A friend’s child?)

You can’t quit! What if you keep praying for the Spirit of God to lead many more people to trust in the Son of God for the glory of God?

You can’t quit! What if you pray every day, even when so much bad stuff doesn’t go away, or God seems to impose yet another delay? “Have mercy, Lord.”

What if Jesus really is David’s direct descendant, a man just like us, and King over everything? “Oh, Son of David.”

Darkest powers, you can’t be too close to their web. Jesus is stronger.

You can’t have done anything too bad. It’s already paid for.

You can’t have failed to do enough good. He was perfect in your place.

You can’t be too distant. The Canaanite woman’s daughter proves it.

You. Can’t. Quit. Keep praying. Pray to Jesus for that other person. Today.

Missionary Dan Witte and his wife Debbie live 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

I often question: What does HOME mean? Obviously, it depends.

After all, during our 30 years of marriage caring for 12 cats and 2 kids, John and I have set up households 16 times.  The longest we have lived in any dwelling is 8 years.  We have been involved in church work in Europe, North America, and now Africa.

“Home is where the [blank] is”: What is the best way to fill in the blank?  Where can we get clarity? This impacts my life now! How you answer shapes your well-being too.

The Word of Christ in our home

Recently my husband and I assisted with running a marriage workshop with Kenyan Lutheran couples. The majority of them live in their communities as pastor families. The schedule emphasized the importance of our relationships as we serve others in and out of our own households.  I especially was intrigued to be there since it was my first time in this part of Africa.  John started visiting Kenya in 2019.  It was fantastic to share this experience with him and all the other attendees.

We encouraged each other to practice the unique roles clearly given to husbands and wives in the Bible:

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord (Colossians 3:18)

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them (Colossians 3:19)

Together we put our married lives into context: We are “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved” (Colossians 3:12) who are to “let the peace of Christ rule in [our] hearts, since as members of one body [we] were called to peace. And be thankful (verse 15).  

We practiced what St. Paul encourages all of us to do in the next verse:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.“

So here is how I would fill in the missing idea in the opening paragraph:

Home is where THE WORD of CHRIST is.

We focused on the Bible’s spiritual guidance for our married life as well as digging into practical themes. We adapted “God on Marriage” by Dr. Daniel Akin and “Distracted Marriage” by Pastor Randy Hunter (WELS Adult Discipleship). Pastor Onunda presented in both English and Swahili.

My husband directed whole-group activities and ensured private couple time to discuss God-given roles and overcome problems. We recommitted ourselves to give our marriage the attention it needs and to initiate meaningful conversations with each other. We reviewed how to build in time to discuss issues and to understand each other better. Most importantly, we realized we can forgive each other because of how God forgives us through what Christ did for us.

And quite fittingly, our marriage workshop concluded with the baptism of baby Milan, the only child in attendance.

Living together on this side of heaven

God gives us this gift of Christ’s promises in that Word. From it, we have the vital message that Christ has saved us and has prepared an eternal heavenly Home. This puts our earthly situations and relationships into perspective.  Christ gives us faith, peace, unity, thankfulness, wisdom, and fellowship even as we may struggle with where exactly we belong here in our lives.  

Sometimes we show frustration with how best to relate to others–even to our spouse whom we promised to love! But because Christ lived perfectly and died instead of us for our stubbornness and pride, we have forgiveness. This is not because of what we couples do but because of what Christ did for us. His sacrifice is perfect whereas our material and emotional sacrifices are not. Because Christ draped us in His perfection, God welcomes us to His home. Meanwhile, He gives us the strength to love our families even better each day.

Here are some of the comments we received after the workshop ended:

• “On behalf of my family l would like to thank the LCMC Kenya office for planning the retreat in Mombasa, It has refreshed our family and taught us new things that will strengthen our staying together and our work in the Lord’s vineyard too. It was a good encouragement too. Be blessed.”
• “I and my dear wife want to thank God and those Leaders who planned the pastors’ trip to Mombasa. May almighty God bless you all servants we are so grateful for the unity and love we had.”
• “I too and my wife dearly say thank you to almighty God, the Lcmc leadership, and our mission partners for the opportunity of bringing us together. We wish to have this annually for the health of the family of which we are the role model.
  Any member with useful material please share.”

Please pray that God uses the time we spent together to strengthen Christian love in our homes.

May God help us keep the Word of Christ in our relationships as we are headed for our heavenly HOME!

Nancy Roebke lives in Malawi with her husband John.

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

Who was in Sondu? This is my friend John. He was in Sondu, Kenya. We helped lead a workshop for church leaders and treasurers in the Lutheran Churches in Mission for Christ (LCMC). He is an experienced financial professional and a dedicated Christian. He led parts of the workshop. So did two other laymen. John was his usual cheerful, helpful self.

This is a new acquaintance, Pamela. She is the treasurer of her small church. She teaches in a school too. I asked her to facilitate part of the discussion on the afternoon of day two. She did a great job—better than I would have.

Who else was in Sondu? This is my friend Anariko. He is the LCMC president, but he did not lead the stewardship-and-financial-reporting workshop. Laymen did. Anariko helped coordinate it, and Anariko helped me with the part I led on the second day. He met with many people privately during the workshop. He and I conducted the communion service. He taught online during the workshop evenings. He is a hard worker.

Here is the whole group singing. They were all in Sondu, of course. Almost 60 of us were. They came from at least 16 congregations. There were only a few pastors.

I was in Sondu too. The photo of the whole group did not turn out well, so here is a better photo. It is of Pastor and President Anariko Onunda, me, and a gentleman whose name I did not get.

Who wasn’t in Sondu?

I would like to tell you a bit, though, about people who were not in Sondu. Why? They were very important to the workshop.

For instance, Dr. Al Sorum from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary was not there. He and I both helped at the last LCMC workshop in October 2022. Years ago Al was the first WELS representative to get to know Pastor Onunda face-to-face. Without Al, humanly speaking, LCMC and WELS would not be partners.

Pastor John Roebke was not in Sondu either. John, who lives in Malawi, is our WELS liaison to LCMC. He teaches LCMC students online. He works with LCMC on ministry plans, mercy ministry, and more. He visits Kenya often. If it were not for John, I would not have been there at the Sondu workshop. I had scheduled class to teach with three LCMC pastors in mid-May. As long as I would be there for one reason, John had an idea. “Why don’t you coordinate with Pastor Onunda on a workshop right after the class?”

John also helped me when I flew into Kenya. There had been some snags with transferring workshop funds from the States. John helped me sort them out.

So did Stefan Felgenhauer, our WELS World Missions operations director. Without Stefan, I could not have managed in Kenya for three weeks. I want to thank him and others who work with him at the WELS Center for Mission and Ministry.

Here is our One Africa Team leader, Pastor Howie Mohlke. Like me and my wife, Howie and his wife Leslie live in Lusaka, Zambia. Howie was not in Sondu. I was the only one from OAT there. But without Howie I would not have been there. Howie coordinates most OAT meetings. In them we pray and discuss how best to work with our partners and support their shepherding of God’s flock. Howie asks the rest of us good, hard questions.

Who is Behind Me

Here is my wife Debbie and our whole immediate family. This photo of our six children and our son-in-law is from three weeks before the workshop. Our daughter Daria had just graduated from Wheaton College. A week later I flew from Tampa, Florida through Frankfurt, Germany to Nairobi, Kenya. I flew out on Mother’s Day evening. My wife and I knew we would be apart for 5.5 weeks. It was hard to say goodbye. It always is. 

I could not do what I do in Africa without the love, prayers, and support of my family.

Last but not least: You. You were not there in Sondu, Kenya 29 May–1 June. But you and everyone else in WELS let me be there. You gave the offerings. You were praying for me and other missionaries. You were praying for our Kenyan brothers and sisters. You do so every time you don’t pray, “My Father … .” You pray, “Our Father … .”

I wish you could have been in Sondu. You might have giggled at my baby Swahili attempts. You would have rejoiced in the way the group asked to stay an extra half day so they could make more action plans. You would have laughed for joy at the love in the room for Jesus and for each other.

Your heart would have burst with mine as believers sang unaccompanied in harmony. They sang by Jesus’ Spirit. They sang to God’s glory. They sang at scheduled devotion times. The women at the conference formed an impromptu choir and sang at breaks.

Thank you for letting me be in Sondu, Kenya I was the only muzungu (white man) at the LCMC planning and commitment workshop.

God was there, indeed. But thank you to everyone pictured above who was not there. Asante sana. Thank you very much.

Missionary Dan Witte is based in Lusaka, Zambia. He is part of the WELS 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