My wife and I are reading through the gospels in our devotions these days and marveling again at the miracles of our Savior.

I think I just experienced one this past Friday morning.

Let me back up, just a bit.  I am a missionary with the One Africa Team, currently helping out with the Multi-Language Productions program called TELL (tellnetwork.org).  As they are reaching people with their Bible studies in West Africa via Facebook, the TELL organizers received a few questions that I was able to answer for them. West Africa is an area where I have lived and worked.  I’m happy to be involved with TELL, working mostly with Pastor Dan Laitinen who coordinates the online materials. I have entered a bit more deeply into the program and I conduct online teaching and send videos to interested parties.

Last Friday morning, one of the men who has been receiving TELL videos learned that I live just a few hours away from him.  Arnold is a leader (“pastor”) in a full gospel church here in Malawi.  With permission, I sent Arnold’s contact details to Joseph, our member working in the area, and sent Joseph’s details also to Arnold.   I was stunned when, within an hour, I received the message that the two were in the same room!  Joseph regularly passes by Arnold’s house on his way to the HIV Counselling Center where he works as an HIV counselor – they actually live quite close to one another.  Joseph has some theological training with WELS’ partner in Malawi, the Lutheran Church of Central Africa, and is a strong and faithful member.

I got updates as they chatted with one another.  These are some comments from “Pastor” Arnold:

 “He had answered all the questions I had to him during our discussion and now I have full knowledge of Lutheran church and also bible course. Thanks so much for connecting me with Joseph.”

On Sunday afternoon, Arnold wrote to me again:

“ I had wonderful service. I was preaching about what breaks our relationship with God, others and ourselves from the spiritual healing lesson.” (“Spiritual Healing” is the name of the self-study course that Arnold is currently studying from the TELL program).

And finally (on Monday):

“I want to know more about the Lutheran church and if possible I want to learn more courses from you as well as being part of the Lutheran church. I have been inspired with the lesson you have been giving me. It is explaining very well the way to salvation.”

Who knows where the Lord will take this? We praise Him for the opportunity to be a part of his work and look forward to many more of these connections being made amongst our sister synods here in Africa.  I expect the Holy Spirit will do similar things also to open doors in new territories.  We thank those who are involved by prayer, financial support and development of materials for the assistance to operate our programs and we continue to rejoice at the results the Holy Spirit is providing, to his glory. For now, I gotta run – Arnold (and many others) is waiting for his next video.

Missionary Dan Kroll 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

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

“Cross the river in a crowd,” an African proverb says, “and the crocodile won’t eat you.”

That is, teamwork tends to work better than individual effort.

Recently Mr. Banda and Mr. Zulu, two veteran workmen for our mission, and I teamed up. From Lusaka, Zambia, we headed east together. We crossed the Luangwa River and drove all day to Chipata in Eastern Province.

From Chipata the next two days we headed north to villages in the areas of Lundazi and Mfuwe. There we installed solar panel systems at the homes of Pastor Lewis Mbewe and Pastor Edward Nyirenda.

The workmen nailed together a simple shelf for the battery and inverter.

Here is what the system inside looked like, once hooked up.

Mr. Banda and Mr. Zulu connected that system with wiring to a 120 watt solar panel on the roof.

The system also connects to a wall-mounted controller and to a small set of LED lights which we attached by clips to the exposed trusses inside the home. One light went outside.

We brought along a ladder for interior use, but outside our main ladder was our Land Cruiser.

The week before we had done the same in two villages closer to Lusaka. For instance, here is a photo of Pastor Godfrey Matina (the tallest man) and members of his congregation.

During two of our four installations, many people gathered to see what we were doing.

Meals were cooked and shared, always centering on nshima, a Zambian staple made from maize.

You might wonder who paid for the diesel fuel to get us to the villages—our Land Cruiser has two tanks—and for the solar panels and systems.

You did.

That is, you and others did, through the WELS Africa Special Projects Fund, one of many projects you can learn about in the Home and World Mission Projects Fund booklet. Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS) and the WELS Mission Office prepares the booklet.

If you look up the Africa Special Projects Fund, you read, “There are many other project requests across Africa that enhance our gospel ministry efforts. One particular need is to identify and fund volunteers who can work temporarily in our mission fields. Project requests include improving communication, publications, materials, and ministry tools.”

Now you know one example of such materials and ministry tools. It is hard for a pastor to communicate with other pastors, for example, when he cannot easily charge his cell phone.

Likewise, when he was at seminary, an LCCA pastor got a laptop with many biblical resources. But unless you can charge your laptop, how can you use it? How can you study for post-seminary classes in our new African Confessional Lutheran Institute (CLI)?

The Projects Fund booklet has dozens of worthy projects. Perhaps you are part of a WELS school group, men’s group, or women’s group. Over time, you could pool your funds and give to a project of your choosing: giving teamwork!

Such projects also involve teamwork on the receiving end. If you give to the Africa Special Projects Fund, for example, you don’t get to direct exactly where offerings go. Maybe they will go to solar panels. Maybe they will go to CLI, or somewhere else more needed.

You might not know until the last day how you helped—until you cross “the Jordan River,” as some hymns picture it.

Imagine the scene, in the final Promised Land. You hear the most royal, beautiful voice say (Matthew 25:40), “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

But even now, here is a voice for teamwork you can overhear. Rev. Davison Mutentami wrote this to our Operations Director, Stefan Felgenhauer. Pastor Mutentami, chairman of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa — Zambia Synod, emailed about this solar project:

“Empowering pastors is and will remain my dream.

“Please go ahead and implement the project. Don’t hesitate sir. God bless you for considering the vulnerable servants of God.”

Rev. Dan Witte lives in Zambia and coordinates Formal Continuing Education programs for the CLI

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