May 27, 2022, was an amazing day for our brothers and sisters in Cameroon. Amidst celebrations that reached across Africa, the Lutheran Church of Cameroon graduated seven men into the full-time work of the holy ministry.

In 2016 the LCC identified fourteen men to begin ministerial training. They were men with a reasonable level of education, a Spirit-led love for the Lord, and some years of service as laymen in their congregations.

There were, of course, losses along the way. A few students left the program for valid reasons. A political crisis made it unsafe for the men to be together and caused the loss of an entire year of classroom studies. The same crisis made it impossible for WELS missionary Dan Kroll to do any face-to-face teaching in the final three years of the five-year program.  

Although the devil uses such things to try to discourage us, we endure with the knowledge that the Lord is refining us as he promised through Jeremiah (9:7): “I will refine and test them.” The Holy Spirit was refining well for the gain of the Lord’s church, so that seven men were able to complete the course to prepare them for full-time ministry. The LCC’s teachers have grounded these men in God’s Word and prepared them to shepherd the Lord’s flocks in Cameroon. The Lord has strengthened each of them to face the challenges of his unique ministry.

The names of the graduates are Solomon Anim, Jean-Jacques Dooh, Nicole Epie, Ferdinand Fomenyam, Thomas Ngalame, Vincent Ngalame, and David Tembuc, They essentially double the LCC’s ministerium.   

One of the LCC’s other pastors, Gervase Ngalame, is moving to the seminary campus to assist in training the next group of men for the ministry. Currently, Pastors Mathias Abumbi, Joseph Njume, Daniel Muankume, Julius Njume, Barnabbas Ngalame, and Fon George are serving as full-time congregational shepherds. 

We give thanks to God for the addition of these seven men. The Lord has reminded us that he is watching over his church in Cameroon!

Submitted by Missionary Daniel Kroll

  

     Pastor Mesue Israel teaches at the 
Lutheran Church of Cameroon’s seminary in Kumba
 

Prayers and help continue to be encouraged for the Ukrainian Lutheran Church (ULC), as the war in Ukraine is now in its fourth month. 

As seen on this map, some of the congregations of the ULC are in areas directly involved in current fighting. One of the difficulties that the churches in eastern Ukraine are facing, apart from the Russian attacks, is that many of the members have fled their homes and have been scattered around Ukraine and into parts of Europe. While pastors are very thankful that other countries and places in Ukraine have welcomed their members, it is a challenge to reach them and provide for their spiritual needs. Pastors are keenly aware that others churches, not in our fellowship, may seek to snatch them away.

As of this writing, there has been no reports of any pastors or members who have lost their lives. Praise be to God! There are, however, many members who have lost their houses, especially in the Kharkiv area. But much is yet unknown, until people are able to go back and survey their personal situations.

The spirit of the people might be summed up as one of knowing that they must fight until they win, as long as that may take. Yet, I’m told that the people aren’t in despair; it’s more of an attitude of survival. After what has happened, and how the people were treated in cities such as Mariupol, Severodonetsk, Bucha, and Hostomel to name just a few, they realize that this is a matter of life and death.   

The people of Ukraine, in particular the people of the ULC, are hearing the voices of fellow Christians around the world who are praying for them. This lifts their spirits as they know that they are not alone and that others care about them. They are touched by the gifts that help buy food, fuel, medicines, and other daily necessities. They thank people in the WELS, ELS, ELFK, Finland, and Sweden for their aid. They are tired and worn down, but not defeated.  

So far, lines of communication between Bishop Horpynchuk and myself have not been interrupted. We keep almost daily contact, either by Zoom or by Facebook messenger. 

Submitted by Pastor Roger Neumann, the WELS liaison to the ULC

         St. John/St. James Lutheran in Ternopil, Pastor Taras Kokovsky

          Holy Trinity Lutheran in Zaporizhia, Pastor Oleksandr Feschenko

            Resurrection Lutheran in Kiev, Pastor V’yacheslav Horpynchuk

Thirty-two guests and representatives of European CELC churches gathered for a regional conference in Durres, Albania, from 20-22 May 2022. Participants grateful for post-pandemic fellowship assembled under the theme: “Triumph Together in Christ.”

Professor Mark Paustian (WELS) led gospel proclaimers to appropriate renewed spiritual strength from Romans 7-8 and Exodus 3-4. Churches presented reports highlighting blessings and challenges from their fields and invited the conference to give thanks and pray for specific blessings. The conference concluded with a festival worship service and sermon based on Acts 1:1-8: “You Will Receive Power!”

Participants found time for informal fellowship at the nearby beach, during a walking tour of downtown Durres, and on an excursion to Kruja, with its market, cafes, restored fortress, and historic museum.

Immediately after the conference, a dozen guests remained in Durres for a two-day workshop on 1 Thessalonians. Participants discussed the letter’s original impact for believers enduring persecution and considered contemporary blessings as we serve souls and await Christ’s return. (By the way, the Via Egnatia, the ancient road on which St. Paul walked during his Second Missionary Journey, ran through Thessalonica and ended in ancient Durres just a couple kilometers south of our conference site.)

We give thanks to God for crowning our conference with his blessing, as we pray for ever-increasing fellowship of faith, love, and purpose.

Submitted by Luke Wolfgramm

                              Prof. Mark Paustian leading a session

        Zambian BDiv pastors visiting Chibala Nyirenda at a hospital in Lusaka. 

Last week’s CELC News Brief referred to the Confessional Lutheran Institute (CLI) in Africa. Perhaps a further explanation of this endeavor will be useful to CELC brothers and sisters and others.
 
Some readers may recall a theological education effort for pastors headquartered in Lusaka, Zambia. It was known as the Greater Africa Theological Studies Institute, or GRATSI. From 2010 to 2019, through partnership with Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and WELS World Missions, GRATSI offered studies on two levels, bachelor’s and master’s degree, to qualified pastors in the Lutheran Church in Central Africa (Malawi and Zambia synods). On occasion guest pastors from Cameroon and Kenya also attended.
 
CLI has now expanded the goals of GRATSI in several ways.
 
A) GRATSI had BDiv cohorts 2010–2014 and 2015–2019, via guest instructors. CLI has a resident director, your reporter. He teaches some of the classes and is adjunct to the three-man Pastoral Studies Institute team at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. He and the PSI team coordinate guest instructors, both in-person and occasionally online.
 
B) GRATSI connected pastors only from Malawi and Zambia to bachelor’s degrees from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. But CLI now has enrollees from 5 countries in its BDiv studies: Cameroon (1), Kenya (3), Malawi (5), Nigeria (2), and Zambia (8). Six men are also in MTh studies: Kenya (3), Malawi (1), and Zambia (2).
 
C) GRATSI began before the WhatsApp era. Today CLI employs WhatsApp, Africa’s most common smartphone messaging platform, for much of our internal communication.
 
D) GRATSI focused on formal continuing education. CLI does the same, but it also aims in two other directions:

• informal continuing education /professional development, and
• seminary consultation.

 
Today our scope has widened, but CLI still aims for practical, Christ-centered, gospel-predominating outcomes.
 
Here is an example. In April Professor Bradley Wordell of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary asked the BDiv cohort on WhatsApp for reflections of what Psalm 34 means to them.
 
Pastor Du Shawa (LCCA-Z) wrote, “We sometimes foolish get ourselves into a deep mess. Here in Psalm 34 we see God always bring us back into our right sense and enable us to call His Name. It’s worth mentioning that it is not because we call Him that God comes to help. No. Our cry or prayer does not influence God’s decision. He help because ‘The LORD is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit’ (v18).
 
“We are always broken hearted and crushed people, meaning we cannot think of calling our God for help if not empowered by God.
 
“Secondly problems and troubles—by this I mean real problems— will always be there as long we live in this sinful world, some caused by our foolishness and some by the devil. But the comfort is no problem is too big for God and no problem is too small for God to ignore. Because God is too close to us in every situation.
 
“My hope is that the troubles of this world must not discourage me to do the will of God and again despite my weakness God will always give the ministerial ability to continue doing his work.”
 
Submitted by Pastor Daniel Witte who lives in Lusaka, Zambia, partners with the Pastoral Studies Institute at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, and heads the Confessional Lutheran Institute of the WELS One Africa Team

In June 2020 the Confessional Lutheran Institute (CLI), the educational arm of WELS World Missions’ One Africa Team, invited African CELC pastors to join a learning cohort.

Dozens of applications came in. Many ordained CELC brothers in Africa said, “Yes, I would love to keep learning Bible, church history, doctrine, and shepherding God’s flock.”

Then Covid-19 kept saying, “Wait.” Related travel restrictions worsened. Classes were delayed. The cohort met only over WhatsApp.

But God finally made a way. Flights—even two-day flights—and bus trips were lined up. Bags were packed up. Six A.M. border crossing issues for some got solved. On March 30, 2022, twenty-two pastors arrived safely at the campus of the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia. It was the first time CLI’s 2020 Bachelor of Divinity (BDiv) cohort was able to meet in person, after nearly two years of waiting.

The gathering was a Psalms class. But it was almost a regional CELC meeting. Participating were:

• One pastor from the Lutheran Church of Cameroon (Israel).
• Six pastors from Kenya, from Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (Amayo, Mbeta, Ochichi, Omuse, Owage, and Owidi).
• Five pastors from the Lutheran Church of Central Africa – Malawi Synod (Chumba, Macharenga, Mandevu, Mukhweya, and Mulinga).
• Two pastors from Christ the King Lutheran Church of Nigeria (Udo and Udo).
• Eight pastors from the Lutheran Church of Central Africa – Zambia Synod (Chisankulo, Makowani, Mbele, Mbele, Ndumba, Shawa, Shonga, and Soko).

For most of the 19 pastors in the cohort, CLI’s March 31–April 7, 2022 Psalms course was the third in a series of nine courses and a final thesis, all of which will lead, God willing, to a Bachelor of Divinity (BDiv) degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (WLS). Since they already have a bachelor of divinity degree, three Kenyan pastors were starting on a Master of Theology (MTh) program through CLI and WLS.

The main teacher for the course was WLS Professor Bradley Wordell. He kept showing how the whole book of Psalms fits together and centers on Christ. Also teaching was Dr. Ernst Wendland from Lusaka Lutheran Seminary, who taught two afternoons, and Pastor Daniel Witte, who led learning the last day and a half.

We thank God for all the concord the Spirit of our risen Brother created among all the pastors in attendance. For more sidelights on this CLI Psalms course, in hopes that you will keep singing to God with all who were in it, “How great your name!”, please see this WELS Friends of Africa article.

Submitted by Pastor Daniel Witte

         
                                  Prof. Bradley Wordell leading a session