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

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

What a story— and you are in it. One part of the story starts when Bright Pembeleka was young.

A bright student, Pembeleka lived up to his name. As he finished high school, he considered studying to be a medical doctor. He could help so many people in his country, Malawi.

Medical maladies often multiply in modern Malawian stories. Think HIV, TB, malnutrition, diabetes, mental illness.

In the U.S., UNICEF says, the under-five mortality rate is 6.5 per 1,000 live births. In Malawi, though, Partners in Health estimates 55 child deaths per 1,000 live births. Every statistic is a story, too.

So wouldn’t it have been good if Bright Pembeleka had served others medically? Sure.

“I was at high school, and just before writing final exams, I met my pastor, Pastor Boloweza. He was about to go as a Lutheran Church of Central Africa missionary to Mozambique.

“I was not interested at first in being a pastor. Pastor Boloweza thought too that I should be a doctor.

“At first our church council was willing. Then the council changed their mind: ‘Our mission is to spread the word of God,’ they said. They encouraged me to study at the Lutheran Bible Institute (LBI) in Lilongwe, Malawi. They sent a letter too: ‘We need him.’”

By God’s grace, Pembeleka did well in pre-LBI studies and test. He studied hard at LBI. Then he served  Kilamon mission station. For three years, 2002–2005, he learned faithfully at the Lutheran Seminary in Zambia. Then he went back to Malawi. After vicaring at Lilongwe South congregation, he was called to serve Kamoto, a rural congregation, just south of Blantyre. So many ministry stories, he can tell.

After 2.5 years, he was called to Beautiful Saviour Lutheran Church in Blantyre, Malawi’s second largest city. Much of the last 12 years he has also been vice chairman of the LCCA – Malawi synod.

He has helped the LCCA start new churches, work together for unity, make property decisions, and improve in gospel-centered stewardship. After four more years/nine more classes of post-seminary study, he has earned a Bachelor of Divinity (BDiv) degree through Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. He has taken four classes in his Master of Theology (MTh) program too.

That is where I come into the story. Pastor Pembeleka was slated to join other Malawian and Zambian pastors for an MTh class in July 2020, taught by a visiting professor from the States, but we canceled the class with the closing of international borders due to COVID-19.

Instead, WLS asked me, the One Africa Team (OAT) missionary coordinating BDiv and MTh studies in Africa in our Confessional Lutheran Institute (CLI), to teach three pastors one-on-one.

I checked with each. One wanted to ancient study church history, to help with his seminary teaching. Another wanted to study counseling, because of his seminary duties.

When I asked what area Pastor Pembeleka might like to specialize in, partly to prepare for a final MTh project, he wrote me, “It has been my plan to study Old Testament theology ever since I joined GRATSI, now CLI. The reason has been that when I have full knowledge of Old Testament, then I will be able to preach and teach New Testament well. Therefore, majoring in Old Testament will help my ministry a lot.”

Which is where you come into story. Do you see?

One way: Without your prayers and support, how could I have met Pastor Pembeleka, if only online? (We have not yet met in person.)

Without God’s mercy in action, how would he have been so well trained by so many other missionaries, pastors, and professors?

Without gifts from others, how would there have been money for each of us to have an e-book to study, let alone computers to study it on?

You may take internet availability for granted, too, but our Malawian pastors don’t. It’s costly. It comes in small bundles.

How could we have a weekly class over WhatsApp, an internet-based messaging service on our phones, without your generosity?

Best of all, the joy we have had in reading a book together, then discussing it for an hour each week, and praying about it.

Pastor Pembeleka told me, “This is the best book I have ever read.”

The book retells the Bible’s story from the garden of Eden in Genesis to the New Jerusalem in Revelation, unfolding God’s plan to share his royal love by creating royal priests who would care for the garden of Eden with him and for him.

As their family grew, they would need more space. They would lovingly expand the Garden of Eden to the ends of the earth; there God would be lovingly present always with his perfect people.

Satan had other plans. He figured he could crush God’s kingdom from the start by luring King Adam and Queen Eve away from God into sin and death.

God had a better, secret plan. After the fall we see it. Bit by bit, the whole Bible unfolds it: God would bless all nations through the Seed of the woman, the Descendant of Abraham, the King from David’s royal line.

You know the story. Pastor Pembeleka and I thought we knew it well too, but we have so enjoyed restudying the story, and seeing all the ways the Old Testament and New Testament fit together, all the ways the Garden of Eden, the tabernacle, the temple, Jesus’ physical body, the New Testament church, and the new heavens and new earth all fit together.

Recently in our final class, we discussed the new Jerusalem, which will have the most marvelous mankhwala (medicine). It will be the Garden of Eden all over again. The leaves of the tree of life there will be for the healing of the nations.

John continues (Revelation 22:3–5), “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.

“And __ will reign for ever and ever.”

How does the story end? What goes in the blank?

We might think the missing word would be “he.” “He will reign for ever and ever.” He will!

But the Bible’s story is better: “They will reign forever and ever.” All believers in the Lamb, all the royal priests of our Priest-King will reign with Christ, our brother, more and more closely and wondrously, we can only imagine, forever and ever.

Saints of all nations, all tribes, all tongues, all together, for all eternity: The never-ending story. The world-wide spread of the kingdom of God.

I love to tell that story of Jesus and his glory. So does Pastor Pembeleka.

Thank you for connecting us. Thank you for every way you have helped us.

Our mission is to spread the Word of God.

Missionary Dan Witte lives in Zambia and coordinates the BDiv and MTh programs of the Confessional Lutheran Institute

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