Finding the best ways to communicate well is always something WELS missionaries are thinking about. That’s why, in mid-October, my family landed in Arusha, Tanzania. We planned to spend about 2 months in the country to learn to communicate in Swahili.

Old and Young Learners

I enrolled in two courses at MS-TCDC, a college focused on teaching Swahili to foreigners, for five weeks. Outside of class, there were plenty of opportunities to practice Swahili with people. We bought groceries, asked for directions, flagged down bijajis (3-wheeled taxis), and just said: “jambo” (hello)! The official languages of Tanzania are both Swahili and English. However, much more emphasis is placed on Swahili in Tanzania. It’s common to find people who speak very little or no English. This made using the language a must in day-to-day interactions.

My wife, Becky, and two youngest children, Katya (9) and Leia (6) joined me for the experience. Becky homeschools the girls, so temporarily relocating from our home in Lusaka, Zambia to Arusha didn’t interrupt their learning. Becky integrated quickly into the local homeschooling scene, and she and the girls made new friends quickly.

Connecting with Local Christians

I also interacted with Africa Mission Evangelism Church (AMEC), a Lutheran church body based in Tanzania. After carefully working through OAT’s Four Stage Process, WELS will declare fellowship with AMEC at this summer’s Synod Convention, God-willing.

Our normal practice is to visit one of our mission partners for about two weeks. After two months in Tanzania, we visited many churches on Sundays and deepened our relationships with church leaders. I also met with leaders from the Community of Evangelical Lutheran Churches of Central Africa (CEELAC). CEELAC is a new partner based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We have been meeting in Tanzania due to security concerns in the DRC

Both AMEC and CEELAC use Swahili in their worship services. Attending worship was a great opportunity to put into practice what I had learned in my classes. Two months isn’t enough time to communicate like a native Swahili speaker. I was excited to see that I could understand much more and even teach a little in their language. I’m thankful for the opportunity to communicate the Gospel no matter where I live!

Missionary Ben Foxen lives in Zambia.

Listen to Leia Foxen communicate in her way about what she saw in Tanzania in this video posted on the One Africa Team’s YouTube Channel

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

Missionaries Benjamin Foxen and John Roebke received a warm welcome to Tanzania last month, as part of One Africa Team’s Four-Stage Outreach process.

We landed just south of the equator and felt the heat immediately. Visiting Tanzania at the end of its dry season is not the thing to do if you’re looking for cool weather.

Missionary John Roebke and I came to Tanzania to continue discussions with a local Lutheran church body, the Africa Mission Evangelism Church (AMEC). We want to see if our church bodies share the same Scriptural beliefs and practices. We hope that one day we will be able to work together united in faith.

AMEC’s leader, Bishop Baltazar Kaaya, met us at the airport late at night and showed us to our lodgings. The next day he gave us a tour of a couple of congregations up in the foothills of Mt. Meru. As we drove, he explained how the lack of rain had been starting to affect their crops. “We’re praying for rain so that our people will have food to eat,” he said. Eventually, though, the dry areas began to give way to more green. Bishop Kaaya explained, “As we get higher on the mountain, we find areas that receive more rain.” It was quite a contrast.

Later in the day, we had the opportunity to witness an interesting piece of culture. The elders of a village recognized a man as the new leader of his family. This was a celebration somewhat reminiscent of a new pastor’s ordination or installation. All the other family heads gathered to speak their blessing upon this man in the presence of the entire clan. Many people were gathered. Though we felt a little out of place at this event, we were treated as honored guests. We were even asked to speak blessings of our own as if we were part of the clan.

Throughout the week, the Tanzanian people continued to show us their warm welcome and hospitality. The church members gave us places of honor at their worship services. They made us feel at home with them, and that feeling increased. As the week progressed we saw familiarity in how the people approached the Word of God. In our daily workshop sessions, we explored that Word together. We used Luther’s Small Catechism as a guide to see whether we were on the same page. We found a group of people committed to the truth and zealous to put it into practice.

AMEC is a group of almost 100 Lutheran congregations in northern Tanzania. Most of the congregations are concentrated near Mt. Meru, with a few more around Mt. Kilimanjaro to the east. They are reaching out to other areas as well. AMEC’s newest effort is in the coastal business center of Dar es Salaam. Islam is the dominant religion in this area, but the pastor there is working to bring the soothing peace of the gospel to the city’s people. It is living water for thirsty hearts!

At the end of our time together, the workshop participants surprised us with another warm gesture. They presented us with shukas, the traditional garment of the Masai people. Many of the people in this area of Tanzania belong to this ethnic group. It was a wonderful gift that expressed a profound truth: they wanted us to be part of their “tribe.” This is something that we want too! And what a blessing it was to see all the things on which our churches agree!

The weather isn’t the only thing keeping Tanzania warm. The faith of these people is a warm welcome in this cold world. It is faith in the same God we serve and worship. We pray that our visits with the people of AMEC will continue to bear the fruit of a common faith watered by God’s Word.

Missionary Ben Foxen lives in Zambia and coordinates One Africa Team’s Outreach efforts across the continent.

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