2024, "The Year of the Lord's Favor" in East Africa

Greetings from Moi's Bridge, Kenya,

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives  and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” Luke 4:18-19

We have entered another "year of the Lord's favor" here in East Africa. Wherever Jesus is blessing His people with the truth of His Word, especially the Gospel of His forgiving grace, we are blessed beyond measure. This remains true despite any material lack we may face, or crosses we may be called upon to bear. It has been a very active and productive few weeks since my return to Tanzania! A few highlights:

• January 8 - I arrived back in Arusha.
  
  
• January 15 - First day of the new school year at Wittenberg Seminary. We have 6 students in the 3-year seminary program and 3 new students in the first-year evangelism program.
  
  
• January 23-25 - TCLC pastoral conference in Moshi, about 60 miles east of Arusha. We had 35 in attendance (including a few pastors' wives and laymen). Studies included Pastoral Responsibilities by Robert Loskira, Questions and Bible Answers about Baptizing Children by Bruce Naumann (view/download HERE), and a Scriptural Study of the Lord's Supper by Pastor Paul Nolting (view/download HERE). We also had regular devotions, brief reports from the attending pastors, and a closing Communion service. This was a rare and very beneficial occasion for this small, conservative Lutheran fellowship, for which we thank God!
  
  
• Pastor Paul Nolting arrived on Wednesday the 24th to come to the conference, and is teaching at Wittenberg Seminary while I am traveling with Mission Board Chairman Joel Krafft to visit our churches in Kenya and Uganda. 
  
  
• January 26 to February 5 - the visitation to the CLC-Kenya and to our Ugandan contacts had been planned for four of us. However, Ted Quade has a very painful knee condition and Pastor Jeremia of Arusha is recovering from an illness, so it's Joel Krafft and I on this trip. We arrived today in Moi's Bridge and will visit here tomorrow and Monday. Then it's on to Uganda, then back to Kisii in Kenya, and finally home. I hope to send a summary and some photos once we've seen all our fellow Christians here. 

Some photos follow; click to enlarge. Your support and prayers are appreciated, for the growth of God's kingdom here in East Africa, and for faithfulness to all the teachings of Scripture in our fellowship here!

Our student body (except for 1) and teachers for 2024

Our 3 new Evangelism students (left to right) Dennis, Jacob, and Brian (and teacher R. Loskira)

Conference photo, with seminary students

Pastor Robert Loskira addresses the TCLC Pastoral Conference in Moshi

A view of Mt. Kilimanjaro graced our conference from time to time

Pastor Nolting, presenting on the Lord's Supper
You may see a short video clip of his presentation HERE.

Pastor Jeremia greeting the conference

Joel Krafft and I, traveling in Kenya

Pray for Those in Need this Christmastime

Advent blessings to you and yours! 

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, (1 Timothy 2:1)

Please remember our brothers and sisters in Christ in the area of Mbulu, Tanzania. The north part of the country has been inundated with torrential rains, flooding, and mudslides. This has caused many deaths (see the news story HERE). We are thankful that none of our church members there have died. There are some, however, who have lost property and are in temporary shelters. Pastor Jeremia will be going there soon to help distribute relief to our affected TCLC members. 

This comes at a time when other natural disasters and emergencies are challenging our fellow Christians in a number of our foreign mission fields. The recent earthquake in Nepal, political unrest and persecution in Myanmar, and the severe typhoon in India are all heavy burdens for the people in our sister churches. Please look for announcements from our Board of Missions about how to help, and pray for our LORD's care in their time of need.

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:16)

Paula and I are in the U.S. for Christmas. I'll be returning to Tanzania in early January for the start of the next school year, and Paula will follow in early February. Paula's Tanzania Journal entry, with all the latest news and photos for November, is HERE. I preached an Advent/missions sermon at Messiah, Hales Corners on December 3; the video is HERE. 

Meanwhile, please ask our LORD for His blessings on upcoming events:

• Pray that He will grant safe and uneventful travel back to Arusha for Paula and me.
• Pray that He will grant the safe arrival of the students for the start of the next school year at Wittenberg Seminary, starting on January 15.
• Pray that He will grant a successful TCLC pastoral conference, involving about 35 clergy and students, from January 23-25 in Moshi (about 50 miles east of Arusha).
• Pray that He will grant mutual growth and encouragement as Pastor Jeremia, Teacher Ted Quade, and I visit our brothers and sisters in Kenya and Uganda during our travels to Etago, Iganga, and Moi's Bridge from January 26 to February 4.
• Pray that He will grant safe travel and rewarding work for Pastor Paul Nolting, who will be teaching at Wittenberg Seminary while I am away in Kenya and Uganda.

May our LORD richly bless you and yours as we prepare to welcome, once again, our newborn Savior this Christmas!

Celebrating Grace!

"He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior..." Titus 3:5-6

In the previous post I linked to portions of Paula's Tanzania journal, which she writes for our family. It has additional "newsy" items that are of interest. You can read Paula's journal summary for October HERE.

It has been an eventful couple of weeks here in Tanzania, with many blessings from our LORD! On November 5, Paula and I traveled to the Maasai village of Mbyuni where my fellow seminary teacher, Robert Loskira, serves as pastor. A little background: less than two years ago Pastor Robert started this church with only five members - himself, his wife, and their three children. They had left the Pentecostal church after Robert came into contact with the truth about God's grace and his Means of Grace. The congregation now numbers about 50. Pastor Robert has been preparing them for some time to welcome God's grace in Holy Baptism for their children. He invited me to participate in the service, during which 11 children received this washing of regeneration! Here are a few pictures (click to enlarge):

Before the service, at the Loskira home. Rachel presented Paula with a Maasai necklace.

The 11 children and their parents, at the front of the church

Calling each child by name, I baptized them saying "Nakubatiza wewe [name], katika jina la Baba, na la Mwana, na la Roho Mtakatifu, Amen." The members cried out for joy each time, and I'm sure the angels sang, too! Video clips of the baptisms are HERE, HERE, and HERE. 

The congregation sang its closing song outside the church door - video HERE. 

Just yesterday (Nov. 12) there was another baptism, as well as a confirmation, here at Pastor Jeremia's church. Miriam was baptized into the name of the Triune God, and also confessed her faith and promised to be faithful to God's Word in the rite of confirmation.

Miriam's confirmation

Outside the church with Pastor Robert, Pastor Jeremia, Miriam, myself, and Miriam's friend who served as her attendant

Gathering outside the church after the baptism and confirmation worship service

That afternoon Miriam's family hosted a large gathering of family and friends to celebrate the occasion. Yes, that's a whole roasted goat!

Meanwhile, the Wittenberg Seminary students are taking their final exams this week. On Sunday our three students in the first-year Evangelism program will graduate. Paula and I return to the U.S. on November 26 and will be back in Tanzania for the next school year, which begins in January. A few more photos:

Between classes at the seminary

Paula painted a New Testament Bible map on the back wall of the seminary classroom

There's a Pizza Hut in Arusha!

We feel incredibly blessed to be witnesses of, and participants in, God's outpouring of Grace through his Word and Sacrament here! We're very much looking forward to seeing family and friends the U.S. during December. God be with you all.

In the Darkness...LIGHT!

One of the frequent challenges here in Arusha, Tanzania is the unreliable electric grid. Almost every day lately the power has been out during the daylight hours or the  evening hours. We had a 5-day stretch of luxurious, continuous power last week and wondered whether this would be a trend. Sadly, no. In fact a friend told us that the reason why the lights were on so long was that Tanzania's President was in town on a visit. Sure enough, once she left town we were back to intermittent electricity. 

It's quite dark here by 7 pm every night. When the power is off our best friends are our rechargeable LED flashlight and headlamps. They pierce the darkness and light our way, even when the whole neighborhood is pitch black. This is a fitting reminder to us about our true Light in this sin-darkened world. "In him was life," John writes, "and this life was the light of men." 

We have many examples of how the bright, shining light of Jesus' grace is shining here:

Right next to the seminary there is a house where an Islamic family lives. Several times a day they broadcast a Muslim call to prayer from an outdoor speaker. The young boys who live there have been attending our Sunday school. Please pray for Aaron, Ibra, Mishak, and their brother Nuru (not in the picture) that they might know the light of Christ:

We had a test run of an outreach event on the last two Wednesday evenings, here at Ambureni Parish (the same site as the seminary). We showed the "Jesus Film," which depicts the life of Christ from the Gospel of Luke, on an outdoor screen. The dialog was dubbed into Swahili, so all the locals could take in this full story of Jesus' birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection:

There were about 40 in attendance, with many visitors (including two of the next-door Muslim boys). This was also a training event for the seminary students. They will be able to make use of this battery-operated equipment in the future, in churches they will serve. We also have a copy of the film in the Maasai language, so we will be able to take it to isolated villages where the Maasai live. You can see the "Jesus Film" in English HERE, and in Swahili HERE. (Note that final segment on the YouTube version is an appeal for a "decision for Christ." We have clipped this from our versions, so that they end with the scene of Jesus' ascension. After this scene one of our preachers delivers a short, Gospel-oriented sermon and invites the viewers to attend church and/or Bible class.) 

Our daily work is preparing our seven men to serve as pastors in the TCLC. They will be bearers of the good news about Jesus, the Light of the World. Click HERE for a video clip of a recent opening devotion hymn verse.

Our Sunday school program continues every Sunday afternoon, with a dozen or so enthusiastic children. We have a growing selection of Swahili children's songs that they sing, including "This little Gospel light of mine." The Swahili words are "Mwanga wangu wa Kristo, wacha wangaze!"

From time to time we have an incidental opportunity to share Jesus, the Light of the world. One of these occasions came when an elderly man, who lives on the road up to Wittenberg Seminary, asked for a Swahili Bible. We were glad to supply it...please pray also for Julius:

In other news: we were blessed to finally receive our official Resident Permit cards, which allow us to be in Tanzania long-term, without having to leave the country every 90 days:

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It is when things are darkest outside, with the power out, that we most appreciate the shining, battery-operated lights that we do have. With the increasing darkness of this sin-sick world, the "Light of men," Jesus Christ, is the bright light that sustains us, saves us, and cheers our hearts! 

Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Hello all! I am here at the Wittenberg Seminary in Arusha as the students are discussing Jasper's practice sermon in class. Each Thursday a student preaches his sermon to the class, receives input and advice, and then he can preach at the Sunday worship service here. Jasper's sermon is on the subject of forgiveness which we ought to have for each other because of the forgiveness that God has shown to us in Christ. 

Paula writes a monthly journal to send to our children. It has a lot of interesting details about our lives together here. You can see her journal for September HERE.

It's been an eventful few days for us! On Tuesday Pastor Jeremia, his wife, Judica, Paula and I spent the day visiting the Maasai congregation at Esilalei: It's about 2 hours distant, to the west of Arusha. We were accompanied by Pastor Solomon who serves this group in addition to his home congregation of Monduli. It's an amazing experience to see these people living in dry poverty and yet so joyful about the Lord Jesus! They provided us with an enthusiastic welcome including songs with dancing, speeches, and hand-crafted gifts. Here are a few pictures (click to enlarge):

You can see a larger collection of photos, and a few short videos, HERE. 

Just last night we had a special event, with all the seminary students and teachers over to our place for dinner and "broomball." It's like soccer except with brooms. We played it on our driveway, until the brooms began to break and we switched to feet-only. There were three teams - the Evangelism students, the Seminary students, and the faculty. Everyone had a wonderful time, with the Seminary team winning the trophy. Paula made chicken and dumplings for everybody--14 in all--followed by pineapple upside-down cake. Since we work those students pretty hard in their studies, it was good to kick back a bit, so to speak. 

More photos can be seen HERE. 

Our weekly Sunday school continues with 10-14 students each Sunday afternoon at 2 pm. I'm getting good use from a "traveler" guitar that I purchased with assistance from members of Messiah, Eau Claire...see a video sample HERE.

Despite occasional challenges, we are finding the work here to be fruitful and rewarding! Thanks again for your prayerful support. 

Tools of the Trade

Greetings from Wittenberg Seminary in Arusha, Tanzania. I'd like to share some specific blessings the LORD has provided here in the past few weeks. 

We are now past the one-month mark since Paula has joined me here in Africa. We are adjusting well to the surroundings and enjoying our day-to-day life in this community, even though we have been challenged with nearly daily power outages that have lasted between four and ten hours.

Paula and Ivy before church at Ambureni parish

Our Sunday School program averages around 10 students, including neighborhood visitors

Our seven seminary students and the Wittenberg faculty are hard at work as we prepare the men for service in our LORD's kingdom. There are 8 weeks left for this last semester of the year. Wittenberg Seminary is developing a website which includes an academic catalog, a student handbook, and an application form for enrollment. You can see the new website HERE.

The students have benefitted from some recent improvements, including rechargeable battery lighting for when the power goes out, as well as wall mounted desks and shelving for their small dormitory rooms:

Each of the students also received a new Swahili Bible and Bible cover:

The men are very thankful for these "tools of the trade" to assist in their studies for the pastoral ministry. 

This fall I have the opportunity to speak "live" via remote video call with several CLC churches for their mission festivals. I have also made a narrated video of the same presentation which you can see HERE. 

I give thanks to God that many hearts have been moved to support our CLC missions program, through your offerings and with your prayers. Through these, along with the efforts of our Board of Missions, our LORD is blessing us with the needed "tools of the trade" for operating Wittenberg Seminary. 

A Triumphant Procession

By the grace of God, Paula and I arrived safely at our home in Arusha, Tanzania on Monday, August 21. It was a long trip! We drove to Chicago for our flight of 14 hours to Ethiopia. After a layover we had a 3-hour flight to Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania. Pastor Jeremia picked us up for the last leg, which normally is about a 45-minute drive.

Packed into Pastor Jeremia's little SUV

On this day, though, the journey took much longer. We, along with all the other drivers, were waved to the side of the road by the police. We waited there, on that hot afternoon, for a good long time. The reason was that a motorcade was coming for the president of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Tanzanian presidential motorcade on Himo Road

At long last the flashing lead cars flew by, followed by several presidential SUVs and many other staff cars. Finally, after about 90 minutes of roadside waiting, we finished our journey to our Tanzanian home:

Since arriving, we have gotten used to the time change, and have made quite a few improvements to our home. We are within walking distance of most things that we need, and are looking at other transportation options. Meanwhile, classes at the Wittenberg Seminary have resumed:

Seminary teacher Robert Loskira, and student Godfrey, Marko, and Jasper

When I told the seminary students about our experience with the presidential motorcade, it brought to mind the much greater and more glorious procession that Paul described:

Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession! (2 Cor. 2:14)

I told the students that they should expect to be “sidelined,” as far as the world is concerned, as they go forward proclaiming Jesus as the only Savior. That takes nothing away, though, from the true glory of serving people with the Gospel message of the crucified and risen Christ!

It’s perfectly proper for us to wait on the side of the road for the president to pass. After all, the Bible tells us to “Fear God. Honor the king.” (1 Peter 2:9) But even when we’re outwardly on the sidelines, we are always proceeding on the path with Jesus that leads to eternal life, as we gladly point out that path to others.

Paula has received an especially warm welcome from the seminary students, as well as all the members of Ambureni parish, where we attended church yesterday:

View from the front door of the Ambureni church, following worship services

Pastor Jeremia, Bruce and Paula Naumann, 

and seminary student (and preacher) Jasper Musakali

We are looking forward to many more of God's blessings here among the people of the TCLC!