Building Foundations for Lutherans in Africa
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Transcript of Building Foundations for Lutherans in Africa
7/30/2019 Building Foundations for Lutherans in Africa
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/building-foundations-for-lutherans-in-africa 1/4
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.
7/30/2019 Building Foundations for Lutherans in Africa
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/building-foundations-for-lutherans-in-africa 2/4
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.
7/30/2019 Building Foundations for Lutherans in Africa
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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.
7/30/2019 Building Foundations for Lutherans in Africa
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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