building foundations for lutherans in africa

7/30/2019 Building Foundations for Lutherans in Africa

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Issue #1 • sprIng 2013

introducing

a Cl Cm f L i ac

Lutherans in Arica is building a new center in Arica

todowhatelse,createandsupportLutheransinAfrica.

ThisnewsletterintroducesyoutothisGod-pleasingand

excitingproject.Inafewweeksyouwillbeaskedtoget

involved.Fornow,takeafewminutesandreadaboutthiswonderfulplan to spread the Gospel and Lutheranism

acrossAfrica.

w a tL i ac?Pictureit…agrowingvillageinsub-

Sahara, Arica 2013 and new Christians

arehungryforthepureGospel.They

havebeentoldthattheonetrueGodsent his son to save the world and

they want to learn all about it. They

havemetlocalEvangelistswhoshare

this great faith. They have even held

theBiblesthatcontainthislivesaving

Wordandhaveseenotherbooksand

hymnals that allow them to study

andworshipthisGodandSavior.But

therearenotenough Evangelists and

there are not enough Bibles and some

ofthebooksarenotyetintheirnative

language.

Travelishardandmoneyisinshort

supply so they wait until it is their

turn or the teachers o this wonderul

faithtocometotheirvillages.BetweenvisitstheyusethenewBiblesandother

booksthat theycangettheirhandson

and gather for study and worship.

They sing hymns rom the Lutheran

Service Book to a simple drum beat

and some even memorize the entire

Catechism in their joyous new faith.

ThesearethenewLutheransinAfrica.

And they are growing aster than any

Lutheranchurchintheworld.

Jesus said to his disciples, his

evangelists, “Go into all the world

and proclaim the gospel to the whole

creation. …” This is happening now

and on a large scale in Africa. The

Gospel isbeing spread to those who

are most hungry for it. The mission

feld is enormous but there are just too

ew churches, seminaries and pastors

toservethesenewLutheranChristians.

w i t ozCll L i ac?Lutherans in Arica was born out o

mission work that was started back

in 1996 by Rev. Dr. Anssi Simojoki

Rev.SimojokiworkedwiththeLutheranHeritageFoundationandspentseveral

yearsdoingmissionworkinAfricaand

translating the Book of Concord into

Kiswahili, a language spoken by 150

million people. Rev. JamesE.May, Jr

hadalsobeenworkinginAfricawiththe

LutheranHeritageFoundationtobring

thepureGospeltothepeopleofAfrica

Thatwork formed the foundation for

Lutherans in Arica (LIA) which was

founded in 2010. Themission of LIAis “to orm Arican Christians to be

teachers o the aith” Currently LIA

worksin20Africancountries,teaching

conessional Lutheran doctrine to

pastors, evangelists and other church

leaders. They also continue the

importantworkoftranslatingLutheran

resources into the many languages o

theAfricanpeople.



Since 2010, Rev. May has traveled

all over the continent to teach. He

spends one or twoweeks in an area

andthenmovesontoanothercountry

requesting training. He sometimes

teaches seminary students who beneft

rom intense preparatory classesand sometimes trains Sunday School

teachers who need materials to bring

up their children in the correct aith

which isgiven in the Catechism. But

Rev. May and those working with

Lutherans in Africa have found that

the most pressing need is to train the

Evangelistswhoareholdingthesenew

churches together while they wait or

theirnextpastoralvisit.Thesearelocal

menwhoteachandleadworship.Theydo not administer the sacraments but

they can teach their people once they,

themselvesarestrongintheknowledge

ofGod’sWord.

w i t pl tt t evl?With their ocus now on training the

Evangelists, LIA was quickly able to

comeupwithaplantomakethishappen

as effectively as possible. Instead of

havingafewpastorstraveltoallpartsof

thecontinent,LIAwillmakeitpossible

forthemanyEvangelists tomakeone

tripto a centralTrainingCenter. They

will spend two years living, learning

andworkingattheTrainingCenterand

thentheywillgobacktotheirchurches

andsharethisknowledge,thisGospel,

withtheirownpeople.

w i t C t f t C?The frst order o business is to purchase

land, ence it in, and install the well and

solarpanels.Thenwecanbeginbuilding

classrooms. The estimatedcost for the

inrastructure and space or classrooms

isroughly$500,000.Thisgurecanvary

greatly depending on how close the

facilityisbuilttothecityofNairobi.

h wll tCl Cm rcs My pl?We started the campaign by recruiting

a slate o LIA supporters—pastors

and laymen fromall over theworldWeaskedthemtotakeonthetaskof

identifying even more current and

potential supporters of LIA. We are

in the middle o that process right

now.Once this network of campaign

volunteers is set, wewill roll out the

rest o the campaign by using these

main components:

• Newsletters

• InformationalBrochure

• InspirationalVideo• Live,Real-TimePrayerVigil

• HomeGatherings

newsLetters

This is the frst campaign newsletter

intended to share the exciting vision

that LIA has set orth and to introduce

you to the Capital Campaign. More

inormation will be coming your way

intheweeksahead.

w wll t nt C icl?The main components o the

Training Center will be:

• Classroomsandofces

• Theologicallibrary

• Spaceforcontinued

translationwork

• DevotionalChapel

• Housingforthestudentsand

teachingstaff.

Based on research o other

successul Christian centers, the

Training Center will strive to

keep costs down by establishing

a program of self-sufciency. The

students will build their own

housing and will use the land to

itsbestadvantageforfood.Adeep

well will be drilled or water and

solar power will be the source

of electricity. Once the Training

Center is established, maintenance

costs will be minimal and the

current costs or rent and sta

travelwillbeeliminated.



w C Y d t Mk t a rly?host a hoMe gathering

Afteryouhavereadthisnewsletter,takeamomenttodecidejusthowyoumighthelpwiththeLIACapitalCampaign.Wearejustbeginningtorecruit

hostsforourHomeGatherings.Ifyouhaveagroupoffriendsthatwouldbe

willingtocomelearnmoreaboutLutheransinAfricaandconsidermakinga

contributiontothiscampaign,pleasebegintomakeplansforyourGathering.

partiCipate in the praYer VigiL

IfyourchurchisnotalreadyinvolvedinthesimultaneousPrayerVigilon

May31,checkwithyourpastortoseeifyoucanhelptoorganizethisthree

hourevent.

donate

Plan to make a nancial contribution or an ongoing pledge of nancialsupportforLIA.Helpusreachourgoalof$500,000thatwillallowusto

purchase the land and begin the building process. Considermaking LIA

youronedesignatedcharitableorganizationthisyearastheyexpandtheir

ministrytobetterservethepeopleofAfrica.

praY for Lutherans in afriCa

ThesenewLutherans inAfrica aresohungryforGod’sWord,so eagerto

receivethesacramentsandsohappytosingHispraises.PraythatGodwould

workthroughLutheransinAfricatomeetthemanyneedsofHispeoplein

thishugemissioneld.

inforMationaL BroChure

Watch for even more details about

the Training Center in the campaign

brochure.Hereyouwillalsoseedetails

o the fnancing plan or the building

and maintenance o the Center, the

types o gits that will be needed to undthe project and inspiring quotes rom

thenewLutheransinAfricawhohave

alreadybeenblessedbytheworkofLIA.

inspirationaL Video

Productionworkiswellunderwayfor

ourcampaignvideo.Wearefortunate

tohavebeenabletorecordRev.James

MayspeakaboutplansforthisTraining

Center while he was in the United

States in mid-February. What betterway to become involved in a project

than to hear about the plans frsthand!

Listen to the needs o the Arican

people, the progress already made and

thevisionforthefuture.

LiVe, reaL-tiMe praYer VigiL

MarkFriday,May31onyourcalendar

right now! On that evening from 9

p.m. to midnight, Central Standard

Time, we are having a world-wide

real-timeprayervigil.Thismeansthatduring those three hours thousands o

people will be praying together at their

own churches and in their homes that

Godwillbemercifultothiscampaign

to raise unds or the Training

Center in Nairobi. Hour one will be

simultaneous vigils at hundreds of

churchesandhomeswithalivestream

vigil from Bethany Lutheran Church

in Naperville, Illinois. Hour two of

thevigilwillswitchtoalivebroadcast

from Nairobi as we interview Rev.

James May and pray together withthoseacrosstheworld.Hourthreewill

roundoutthevigilwithanotherhour

of live streaming from Bethany and

simultaneous vigils at churches and

homesthroughouttheworld.

hoMe gatherings

Finally,afterwehavespreadtheword

asked God to bless our efforts and

shared the story o LIA with as many as

possible, we will gather in groups in the

homesandchurchesofoursupporters

Thismightinvolveaspecialdinner,anevening ofwine and cheeseorcoffee

and cookies. In a comfortable setting

we will read through the LIA campaign

brochure, watch the video and then

make a prayerful gift or pledge in

supportofthenewTrainingCenter.



Maggie

tristan

jonas

jaMestiina

Matthew

sofia

sarai

The May Family

Lutheran bishops in Arica are crying

out to LIA—“Can you start a Bible

school or our people?” This campaign

will raise unds to build that Bible

School in a permanent Lutheran Center

that is partially sel-sustaining that will

include:

• Classrooms

• ATranslationLab

• ATheologicalLibrary

• Studenthousing

• SustainableGardenPlots

or Student Families

• ADevotionalChapel

• AMissionaryParsonage

The Center will welcome students rom

alloverAfricaforatwoyearprogram.

It will extend LIA’s outreach in Arica

by reducing staff travel time and by

adding more teaching time with the

students. Itwillkeepthestudentand

his amily together and allow them

to contribute to the Center via the

sustainablegardenplots.

Thesavings onrent alone isreason

enough or doing this ($40,000 a year)

but o course the greater purpose is that

the pure teaching of the Gospel will

ready more workers for the harvest.

C sm a L tm

Lutherans INAfricaFORMING AFRICAN CHRISTIANS TO BE TEACHERS OF THE FAITH

Contact Information:

TheRev.TimothyA.Rossow

(Wittenberg Church Consultants)

BethanyLutheranChurchandSchool,Naperville,Illinois

630/355-2198•[email protected]

www.LutheransinAfrica.com

The rst phase will provide the land

encing, water supply electricity

classroomsandofces.Yourgiftstothis

campaignwillbringtheGospeltomany

andmakemoreLutheransinAfrica.

the CaMpaign Leadership teaM

• Rev.JamesMay—Director,LutheransinAfrica,Nairobi,Kenya,Africa

• Rev.JonathanFisk—BethanyLutheran,NapervilleIllinois,USA;

Editor,WorldviewEverlasting

• BishopMattiVaisanen—Luther-Saatio(MissionProvinceofFinland)

• Rev.RobertGreen—BethlehemLutheranChurch,Parma,Ohio,USA;

LIA Chairman o the Board

• Rev.DavidRohde—St.PaulLutheranChurch,Wilson,Texas

• Rev.BenjaminBall—St.PaulLutheranChurch,Hamel,Illinois

• RevTapaniSimojoki—The Lutheran Church o England

• Rev.MattAnker—GoulburnMurrayParish,Shepparton,

Victoria, Australia

• Rev.StephenvanderHoek—GippslandLutheranParish,Traraigon,

Victoria, Australia

• Rev.Dr.AnssiSimojoki—Uusikaupunki,Finland

building foundations for lutherans in africa

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