A Growing French Ministry

French ministry in Africa is growing day by day. The One Africa Team is currently working and in contact with ten different francophone church groups in various countries. One of these churches is the Mission Evangélique Luthérienne au Congo (MELC) from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Travel Challenges

MELC’s church headquarters are located in Lubumbashi, a town close to the border of Zambia. Because of the conflict in DRC, the MELC church leaders travel across the border to meet us in a town in the northern part of Zambia called Ndola. This is a great blessing because we are still able to work on growing our relationship with our Congolese brothers, even though we are currently unable to travel to their country.

CICR Meetings

This past January, we moved another step towards growing closer with MELC. On this trip, we brought Professor Brad Wordell from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary to join us in our meetings with church leaders. Prof. Wordell serves WELS not only as a professor, but he also serves on the Commission of Inter-church Relations (CICR).

Bringing a representative from CICR to evaluate MELC’s church constitution and confession of faith is a vital part of our four-stage process in establishing formal fellowship with our partners in Africa. We were able to discuss in detail these documents, as well as plans for ministry training and our goal of growing together in God’s Word.

Spirit-filled Worship

While we were in Ndola with MELC, we organized a joint worship service. Approximately twenty-five MELC members from Lubumbashi travelled down to Ndola to participate. It was a great opportunity to experience how our brothers and sisters worship, as well as listen to their choirs who sang in both French and Swahili!

We look forward to growing even closer together with our French-speaking brothers, and we pray that God continues to grow their ministry in the DRC. We also continue praying for political peace so that we might one day return to the DRC to visit our new friends at their local churches.

Missionary Jake Vilhauer 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

Kisii Collaboration

Let me share an incredible story from Kisii, Kenya—a story of transformation, faith, and collaboration.

It Begins with a Boy

It begins with a boy who grew up never hearing about Jesus in his church. Everything changed when he attended a Christian school. There, his teacher spoke about the good things Jesus had done, and curiosity sparked in his heart. Over time, that boy learned more about Jesus and eventually felt a deep desire to share the gospel with others.

That boy is now Pastor Kenedy, a faithful leader who gathers and shepherds two congregations in Kisii. What’s remarkable? Over 80% of the people in these congregations are former Mormons—just like Pastor Kenedy himself.

His title doesn’t come from a seminary degree but from years of dedicated service, guiding people with God’s Word. But Pastor Kenedy and his group wanted more. They longed to understand Scripture better so they could clearly share the truth with others—especially those questioning or leaving Mormonism.

Collaboration with TILM and OAT

Thanks to the blessing of the internet, they connected with Truth in Love Ministry (TILM). TLIM is an organization committed to communicating the gospel to people with a Mormon background. For the past couple of years, Pastor Mark Parsons from TILM has been meeting regularly with Pastor Kenedy and other leaders online, offering instruction and encouragement.

While these virtual meetings were fruitful, it became clear that a deeper connection was needed. That’s where the WELS One Africa Team (OAT) stepped in. In November, my wife Leslie and I traveled to Kenya to meet Pastor Kenedy and his congregations in person. Over several days, we gathered with more than 200 men and women to review the basics of Christian faith and to discuss what collaboration OAT can offer to local ministries in sharing the gospel.

Looking Ahead

The result? A renewed sense of mission and plans for ongoing collaboration between TILM, OAT, and our partner churches in Kenya. Together, we aim to strengthen outreach to Mormons and equip local leaders for this important work.

Please keep Pastor Kenedy, his congregations, and all these ministries in your prayers. Your continued financial support makes this possible—and we are deeply grateful.

Pastor Howard Mohlke and his wife Leslie live in Zambia, where he serves as the One Africa Team leader .

Planning to Move Forward in Tanzania

Planning is a risky business. We don’t know the future. We take our best guesses and try to do everything possible so that something goes according to plans we’ve made. However, all of that still falls far short of guaranteeing the outcome. God reminds us: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.” (James 4:13,14)

God’s Plans Always Prevail

The African Mission Evangelism Church (AMEC) is a Lutheran church of about 13,000 souls in Tanzania. Plans for a declaration of fellowship with AMEC didn’t come to fruition at our recent WELS convention. There was a sudden leadership change and a delay on AMEC’s side in accomplishing some tasks. Plans that had been made were put on hold. WELS and AMEC mutually decided it would be better to take a little bit more time before proceeding.

God warns us about putting too much hope in our own plans. He also spoke through Jeremiah: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11). Though our plans might not work out, God’s plans always do. He knows what he has in store for all of us, and we know that his plans are good.

I don’t doubt that his plans for the relationship between WELS and AMEC are good as well. We have made progress even in the short time since the delay. It looks like we will be ready to move forward with AMEC sooner rather than later. During a recent visit to Tanzania, Missionaries Roebke and Foxen witnessed good teaching by the leaders of AMEC. They explained to the rest of their called workers a locally written, Swahili-language confession of faith. The called workers thoroughly discussed many of the points in the confession. In the end, 65 men voiced their agreement that these are the things they believe and practice. This was a decision the WELS missionaries certainly rejoiced to hear.

Planning Our Move to Tanzania

Because of these developments, the One Africa Team has decided to relocate two mission families to Arusha, Tanzania. Missionaries Foxen and Roebke will be able to focus on training future church workers in AMEC. Through a program of classroom instruction and practical ministry application, the missionaries are planning to train a select number of AMEC men. Those men will become trainers of future gospel workers within their church body. Our prayer is that these men will be able to pass the same kind of training on to others in AMEC. God-willing, this will ensure a good future supply of gospel workers for their church body.

Such an endeavor requires even more planning. We are currently working with local lawyers to register our mission organization in Tanzania in order to obtain work permits. The missionary families will be leaving their old residences and searching for new ones. Missionaries are making efforts to maximize Swahili language learning when on the ground. The One Africa Team is weighing how these changes will affect the responsibilities of each member of the team. Of utmost concern is securing our families’ welfare in an area where we’ve never had WELS missionaries.

There’s a lot to think about and plan for, but also a lot to be gained. As with everything we do in life, we make our plans as best we can. At the same time, we trust that God’s plan is the one that will actually be accomplished. God will reveal in time how our planning lines up with his plan. We will continue to trust that whatever he has in store, it will be good. We know his planning is good for our missionaries and their families, for AMEC, for WELS, and ultimately for the kingdom of God. All glory to his name for his marvelous plan!

Missionary Ben Foxen lives in Zambia.