By Shauen Trump
Greetings in Christ from Nairobi, Kenya. I am Pastor Shauen Trump, the regional director for Africa for the LCMS. My family and I are grateful to have served the church in Africa for many years. We feel privileged to be raising our children here in the midst of these rich and vibrant cultures where talk about spiritual and religious matters is welcomed. We get to tell people about Jesus — and they want to talk about Him!
Today in Africa, we have a problem — a good problem! Almost every Lutheran church body we work with is growing, some as much as 15% a year. Those churches are constantly playing a game of catch-up: trying to catch up with newly planted congregations in need of pastors, trying to catch up with new member classes, trying to catch up with the astounding work of the Holy Spirit and carry out the work of the church as it grows.
The rapid spread of the Gospel and the church in Africa makes even more painful the shortage we are currently facing in the ranks of LCMS missionaries to the Africa region. The LCMS currently has just seven missionary families serving in Africa.
Pastors in Africa are stretched thin. Almost every pastor you meet is overseeing between five and 15 congregations. The leaders of the Lutheran partner churches we work with in 25 countries across Africa are urgently renewing their requests for LCMS missionaries to serve with them as elementary, middle school, and high school teachers; English as a Second Language instructors; computer and technology specialists; nurses; pharmacists; instructors in deaconess and social work programs; church planters; church administrators; and theological educators in seminaries.
Beyond these requests for embedded, grass-roots missionaries, these rapidly growing church bodies are asking for the programs and projects we offer — for new member and lay leader materials, for continuing education for church workers, for translation of Lutheran resources into their vernacular languages, for short-term volunteers, for support in pursuing advanced degrees for their own seminary faculty and church leaders, for visitation, and for advisors on seminary development and curriculum. We have a great need for missionaries to facilitate all these programs and projects!
Further, our own dear missionaries in Africa — who have given their lives to this service — are so passionate and convicted that they constantly over-stretch themselves to take advantage of the myriad opportunities to spread the Gospel, plant Lutheran churches and show mercy. These missionaries need partners to share the work and support them: field chaplains, member care coordinators, business managers, accountants, writers and photographers. Our Africa Team needs missionaries to multiply the impact of the whole team.
Missionary service in Africa is not easy — and not everyone can do it. Missionaries must be solid Lutherans. They must be healthy physically, mentally and spiritually. They must have resilient relationships and the ability to thrive in stressful and challenging situations. They must be able to operate both independently and on a team. They must be intelligent and flexible. We have these kinds of amazing people in our LCMS congregations across the country, fulfilling good vocations in all walks and stages of life — and maybe you’re one of them. We need this message, this appeal, to reach these kinds of people, perhaps even you, and anyone you can think of whom the Lord may have gifted for this particular type of work.
Please prayerfully consider missionary service.
The harvest is plentiful. The church needs missionaries — from all walks and stages of life — for every region of the world. If you are wondering whether you are called to this kind of service, please reach out. If someone in your congregation comes to mind, please send us a referral so we can reach out to them even as you suggest the possibility to them directly. You can start now by contacting our director of missionary recruitment, the Rev. Dr. Mark Rabe, at mark.rabe@lcms.org.
Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support.
Photo: LCMS Communications/Erik M. Lunsford
