Getting Ready to "Go"

Before our Savior ascended into Heaven He gave a command and a promise...He said: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

On Sunday, August 8th, I and a few other men will GO to carry out our Savior's great commission in Africa. While it is the pastors and our fellow Christians who do virtually all of the evangelism in the foreign fields where we are privileged to work, our part of the great commission has more to do with the "teaching them" to observe all things that our Savior has revealed to us in His holy Word.

I will be accompanied by Pastors Nathanael Mayhew and Mike Gurath, along with Steve Mayhew and Russ Schmitt as we leave for a teaching visitation trip to East Africa.

Pastor Mayhew and I will spend the first 10 days working with leaders of two church bodies in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These two church bodies have had struggles with leadership and cooperation over the past few years that led to Missionary Koenig’s resignation as the visiting missionary to Congo. Pray that the Lord will bless the meetings and that the love of our Savior will serve to motivate cooperation, patience, and a spirit of longsuffering among the leaders of the ELCC and the CLC-Congo. In addition to the meetings between the leaders of these two church bodies, Pastor Mayhew and I will also conduct pastoral training seminars and preach at several congregations in the Congo.

Upon completion of the first leg of the trip to the Congo Pastors Mayhew and I will meet up with the others in Nairobi, Kenya. The remaining three weeks will take us to several locations in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda where we will teach pastoral training seminars, attend the East Africa pastoral conference, visit several congregations, visit the newly formed congregation and school in the Moi’s Bridge area of Kenya, visit the school in Etago, and visit with the church leaders to receive a report and give encouragement concerning the re-opening of the seminary in Himo, Tanzania.

Pastor Mike Gurath (who was called by Holy Cross of Phoenix, AZ as a short-term foreign missionary for 6 to 13 months) will be introduced to the pastors and leaders who teach the seminary classes in Etago and Nairobi so they can work out a visiting schedule before he settles into his work in the Moi’s Bridge area.

Please pray to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for us and the many pastors of the church bodies we are privileged to work with in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Pray that the Lord will bless us with safety, good health, timely flights and good transportation, cooperation, humility, love, compassion, patience, wisdom, understanding, and most importantly…that He would bless the proclamation of His Saving Word as we meet to encourage the work, train pastors, and preach the Word.

Also, please pray for our families and the members of the congregations we are privileged to serve here in the U.S.