Tag Archive for: Called to Proclaim World Missions 2019

Apache mission

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More than 1,200 people attended the Apache 125th anniversary celebration at Peridot Lutheran Church and School in Peridot, Ariz., on Oct. 26–28. The event commemorated the beginning of WELS World Missions sharing God’s Word on the Apache reservations of Arizona. In the months before the celebration, many mission teams volunteered on the reservations to help repair and clean the facilities and to share the gospel with the Apache. Pictured are Rebekah Patterson, who helped with vacation Bible school during the summer, and one of her students from Whiteriver, Ariz. For more photos and information from the anniversary event, visit wels.net/apache.

 

Did you know?

WELS Missions launched a new program known as Mission Journeys in 2018. The program coordinates short-term trips for WELS congregations and their members to help home mission churches, world mission fields, and existing congregations with outreach events. In 2018, teams traveled to Ecuador, East Asia, the Apache mission, Mozambique, and Paraguay. Want to get involved in WELS Mission Journeys? Learn more at wels.net/missionjourneys or by contacting [email protected].

Vietnam

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The Vietnamese government has invited WELS to build a theological training facility in its capital city of Hanoi, an unprecedented opportunity for our synod. WELS is currently the only Protestant church with official government permission to work with the more than two million Hmong living in Vietnam and surrounding countries. Hmong Christians in Vietnam are grateful for the message of free grace from Jesus that WELS has been sharing with them since 2012.

One Hmong pastor in Vietnam, Wasa Lau, says, “Many members would come and ask me to share the Word of God with them, but I didn’t know how to do it. Since receiving training [from WELS], I have grown in my confidence in what I believe and in sharing God’s Word. . . . The Hmong Fellowship Church currently has more than 300 congregations, but we still lack many things—especially training for all of the leaders of these congregations. That is what we are looking for now—for generation after generation to grow in the proper understanding of Scripture. That is what WELS can do for us.”

To learn more about Wasa Lau and his journey of faith, read the full article from the December 2018 issue of Forward in Christ at wels.net/pastor-lau. For information about how WELS has been serving Hmong Christians in Vietnam, visit wels.net/vietnamhmongoutreach.

Malawi, Africa

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Pastor Wisick Jeffrey (pictured with his wife) of Malawi is a member of the Yao tribe, a people group of two million people, which is predominantly Muslim due to historic contact with Arab slave traders. While he was growing up, Jeffrey became friends with children who attended Sunday school at a local Lutheran Church of Central Africa (LCCA)—Malawi congregation. He accepted their invitation to go to Sunday school with them. Over time, the Holy Spirit worked through the gospel message Jeffrey heard in class and he began confirmation instruction. At about the same time, his mother began to pressure him into memorizing passages from the Koran. On the day of his confirmation, Jeffrey told his family his intentions to convert to Christianity. His family then refused to help pay for his schooling.

Eventually Jeffrey continued his education in the town of Zomba, where Deverson Ntambo, the first Malawian pastor of the LCCA—Malawi, was serving. Ntambo is also from the Yao tribe, and he gave Jeffrey the encouragement and Christian guidance that was missing in his life. Ntambo encouraged Jeffrey to consider studying for the ministry and began taking him through the LCCA’s pre-worker training courses. Jeffrey was ordained in 2008 and currently is serving at Kanyepa Lutheran Church, the oldest LCCA congregation in Malawi.