Liberia’s coat of arms contains the slogan, “The love of liberty brought us here.” It reminds me of an oft-repeated (and misused) verse from John 8: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free ( v32).”  The truth of which Jesus speaks is the truth of the Gospel, the truth that his death on the cross redeemed all mankind. The Gospel truth sets us free from the slavery to sin and the guilt that plagues every one of us. The love of Gospel liberty has brought One Africa Team to Liberia.

Political Liberty

Liberia’s history as a nation is rooted in the soil of liberty. In the early 19^th Century, thousands of people of African American ancestry emigrated from the United States to Liberia. The American Colonization Society established Liberia as a refuge for former slaves. In 1847 the local leaders declared Liberia an independent nation. Soon afterward the American settlers elected Joseph Jenkins Roberts as the country’s first president. European governments never colonized Liberia during the “scramble for Africa” in the late 1800s.

Sitting at Roberts International Airport just outside of Monrovia, I reflect on what just happened. I was here for 11 days of teaching with our One Africa Team Outreach leader, John Hartmann.  Missionary Hartmann had been here a little over two years ago in December of 2019. He came to lead doctrinal discussions with leaders of the Confessional Lutheran Church of Liberia (CLCL). Four months later, COVID canceled our trip just days before take-off.

Two years later we were making preparations to return to Liberia. Changed requirements for COVID vaccines and visas delayed our return to Monrovia by a couple of months.

Love of Liberty in Christ

One Sunday I was privileged to listen to lay preacher Cyrus Shagbeh. Loudly and vehemently he begged the Lord to free him and all his members at Jehovah Fire Ministries. He asked for freedom from slavery to fornication, envy, gossiping, jealousy, anger, and selfish interests. The devil uses all manner of sins to enslave us to frustration and fear in this world. But the love of liberty brought Christ to our world. He came “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners…and to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18).

One Africa Team supports ministries that promote local responsibility and ownership.  We are working hard to strike a balance. On the one hand, we respect that the CLCL is conducting its ministry autonomously without outside oversight or support. On the other hand, the love of liberty requires us to stand firm in the freedom of the Gospel. We must not let anyone be burdened by the yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1).

We desire to strengthen the unity in teaching and practice between our Liberian friends and other Gospel partners in Africa. Please keep the men and women of the CLCL in your prayers. Ask the Lord to bless our efforts to share the Gospel freedom with our brothers and sisters in Liberia. May he strengthen their love of liberty through the mighty name of Jesus.

Missionary Dan Kroll lives in Malawi and serves as One Africa Team’s liaison to West Africa

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

You can double the pastors serving your church body in one day! Considering the current number of vacancies in the Wisconsin Synod, that claim sounds like an internet scam. But that’s what has happened to our mission partners in Nigeria.

Tried and True Teaching

Christ the King Lutheran Church of Nigeria is based in the town of Uruk Uso, and All Saints Lutheran Church of Nigeria is headquartered in Ogoja.  Until now, each of those synods has had nine men serving in the public ministry of the Gospel. After five years of study during some unique circumstances, our mission partners each received nine new pastors on 11^th June 2022.  We praise the Lord for doubling the number of pastors who will shepherd God’s people with the truth of his Word.

You may ask, “What were  the unique circumstances under which these men studied?”  For many years, the WELS has sent missionaries trained at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary to Nigeria four or five times per year.  Those missionaries reviewed what the students had learned with their previous teachers. They taught new material at the seminary in Uruk Uso. In addition, they provided direction and study materials for the coming months until the next teacher came.  In the meantime, Nigerian Pastor Aniedi Paul Udo directed their studies.

That’s how Lutheran pastors serving in Nigeria have received their training until now. But that’s not how we trained the current class of graduates.

Flexible and Faithful

WELS provided the students with food and materials to study. However, WELS was unable to send visiting missionaries due to concerns about their safety. Director Udo and I tried to communicate from time to time, but the internet was not always reliable. The two of us often felt that we were going in different directions.  It has been a crazy five years and we have all learned much.  I’d like to believe through this time of transition, our students learned about the need to be flexible and open to change. These are invaluable qualities for Gospel ministers.

Pastor Udo and I fulfilled our duties as well as we could under the circumstances. But at the end of the day, we are trusting the Holy Spirit to transform these Nigerian students into faithful servants of God.  And that isn’t unique. In all of our ministry partners’ worker training programs around the world, the success of building God’s kingdom depends on the Holy Spirit. We plant the seeds and wait for the crop – a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown (Mt. 13:8). Or even double the pastors.

Missionary Dan Kroll lives in Malawi and serves as One Africa Team’s liaison to West Africa

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 love to tell the story…the old, old story of Jesus and his love” (CW 746)

Dr. Terry Schultz has twice the love to tell the story of Jesus and his love, and he’s done it on four continents. As the Artistic Development Missionary at WELS Multi-Language Productions, Terry puts pictures and poems into the service of the Gospel. He has helped create original music for worship and illustrated Bible instruction manuals for use in WELS World Mission fields. God has given him this tremendous talent, and we thank God for his gifts to our church body.

Experiencing Worship in Africa

Our mission partner in Zambia, the Lutheran Church of Central Africa (LCCA), requested Dr. Schultz’s assistance in facilitating the development of new music resources in 2018. Because of Terry’s busy schedule and COVID19 travel restrictions, he has been unable to meet their request until recently. In March of 2022, the One Africa Team helped arrange an initial visit by Terry to Lusaka. The purpose of his visit was to introduce himself to local church leaders and to sample the flavor of the worship in the LCCA.

Missionary Terry attended Sunday worship services at Lusaka area congregations. Linda Gethsemane is a rural congregation where the members worship in Chinyanja. St. Matthew’s is a city church where the members worship primarily in English. At the installation of Pastor Soko, choirs from several Lusaka congregations joyfully swayed to the beat of their praises and Terry danced up the central aisle to receive communion. He also attended a three-hour service at Kamanga Lutheran, which conducts services in both English and Chinyanja.  

Terry also attended – or I should say, “participated in” – choir practice at two Lusaka congregations. From drumming to directing to dynamic keyboarding, Terry’s musical zeal raised everyone’s spirits. Several local choir masters have composed original songs, which their choirs perform in public but have never been scored or recorded.

Planning for the Future

Members of the LCCA’s Education and Publication Committees met with Terry to talk about ways in which Terry’s talents could be of service to their ministry. They identified the need for improving their Sunday School program. The current printed materials contain basic black and white sketches, which were reproduced on mimeograph machines by missionaries in the 1970s. In Lusaka today there are many printing presses that can produce color posters at a reasonable cost. In addition to Bible History illustrations, Terry has also been working on an illustrated version of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. He presented his visual concepts of the First Article with Luther’s explanation, which captivates youth and adults’ interest.

One Africa Team and the LCCA Zambia are currently evaluating a proposal from Terry on telling the old, old story of Jesus and his love in a new, contemporary medium. We ask for God’s blessings and anticipate Terry’s return to Africa in the near future. Stay tuned to hear how we love to tell the story of Jesus and his love in Zambia.

Missionary John Roebke 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