Subject: CLIMB: LHF Mission News - Africa Trip Sent: 8/10/19 9:53 PM Received: 8/12/99 9:31 AM From: Robert L. Rahn, 74301.2325@compuserve.com To: Confessional Lutherans in Missionary Boldness, CLiMB@CAT41.org

LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION MISSION NEWS

8/11/99

Esteemed Brothers,

I have probably been a notable absentee for the past weeks. The convention schedule and travel schedule didn't allow for me to keep up. Now I'm off on a trip to Africa and won't return until Sept. 1. Thought you might be interested in a few facts in regards to the trip.

The first segment of the trip will be in Nairobi where the LHF will conduct a week seminar for the Ev. Lutheran Church of Kenya (ELCK) and their Hymnbook Committee. We are helping publish a hymnbook for their church.

Last year we sponsored Rev. Mark Onunda at the Fort Wayne Seminary and he received a good background in hymnody and liturgics. We are now taking Rev. Tim Quill and Rev. Richard Resch to Nairobi to conduct the seminar along with Dr. Anssi Simojoki, who is our Director for African work. Mark has an ambitious schedule planned for his committee and it will be the beginning of a major project. This foundation will be most important for the Hymnbook Committee.

The latest information is that the Lutherans in Tanzania have learned about the hymnbook plans and now want to send members over for the seminar so that they can also publish a hymnbook.

Dr. Anssi Simojoki has been doing what he calls "pioneering" for the ELCK. We would call it church planting. Several new congregations have been started under his direction. It isn't part of our plans but the ELCK was given permission by the LHF to use Anssi as a resource person. Much of our work is unheralded and low key.

Yes, we plan to visit a Game Park in Tanzania, but more importantly, we plan to visit some of the pioneering places where Anssi is working. We will also have a banquet with the Swahili translation team. We just did a third printing of the Enchiridion in Swahili, the request was for 100,000 copies. I wanted to delay and do the entire Catechism but we were "convinced" by the locals that the Enchiridion was in high demand now. We take so much for granted in this regards, probably thinking of what value is the little work? I think we will be featuring this "little blue book," as it has become known in Africa, in our Reformation mailing.

Then it is on to Sudan, where on the 29th Andrew Mbugo Elisa will be ordained. I'll have more to share on this when I return I'm sure. This has been an interesting situation with the LWF entering the picture and trying to sabotage it. They got to the Bishop of the ELCK and ordered him not to participate. The Bishop is pretty orthodox but we need to provide more encouragement. He refuses to ordain women and that puts him at odds with the "enlightened" hierarchy of a decadent super political machine that calls itself a church.

Also attending the ordination will be Ken Greinke and Al Buckman of the LCMS Mission staff. I am pleased that they are getting more involved. They will also travel to Ethiopia prior to the ordination. I'm hoping we can promote the idea further of a Lutheran Church in Sudan with two districts, the North and South. Some Lutherans they have been working with in the U.S. have convinced them to work through refugee camps in the south. We have now also had contact from some of those folks wanting to do the Catechism in the Nuer dialect. We have given the go ahead. So, we could have the Nuer speaking and the Zande speaking divisions, both would be rapidly growing church groups.

Our goal is to have Andrew as the Bishop or President as I don't think there is anyone else who has had seminary training. His evangelistic zeal coupled with his strong confessional stand is most needed in the face of what could be some strong opposition from LWF.

Isn't it strange that we are well advised of the persecution of Christians throughout Sudan at the hands of the Muslims. Little does the church know of the persecution of "its own" in the interest, not of theology but bureaucratic control. No doubt I'll have more on this. I'll want to report clearly if there is any overt activity on the LWF part. They don't even understand justification as being Lutheran, so why would they be so interested in enlarging their unlutheran tentacles?

It is our hope to conduct a seminar in Sudan in February that will include Dcn. Pam Nielsen, other LWML ladies, and several Pastors. We want to do this every six months to make sure the church retains its confessional posture in the face of the opposition.

You are welcome to use any of the above with appropriate editing. I'll be back with another installment after the trip.

In flight to Africa,

Robert Rahn

LHF Executive Director

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