LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 33

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OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL MISSION
Global Reports by Region
Africa, West Region—Rev. Gary Schulte, Area Director

As I prepare this regional report for West Africa, I must tell you
honestly that I last set foot in the region back in 2003 as I passed
through a throng of 5,000 protestors at the Abidjan airport to board
an Air France flight packed with 573 souls, the last of five missionary households to be evacuated due to the outbreak of civil war in
Côte d’Ivoire. In the larger context of that time, this evacuation sort
of worked out in a strange way for the Synod as the officials of the
Board for Mission Services were trying to figure out which 30 or so
missionary households to send home due to budgetary constraints.
As I boarded that plane and said a prayer for the region and the
church there, I thought to myself that we’re going to have a “Biafran
War” situation all over again, only this time for all the young mission churches in West Africa. You see, back in 1967, civil war broke
out in Nigeria, forcing the evacuation of all Synod missionaries. As
those sent men and women boarded the plane, they surely were thinking, “How can this baby church survive without our help?” When
they were finally able to return four long years later, they had their
answer—not only had the church there survived, but, purely by God’s
grace, it had grown stronger and more independent of outside aid.
To my knowledge, that new “Biafran War orphaned” status has
lingered to varying degrees for decades with regard to the churches
in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. It has not been nearly as
long for the churches of Ghana, Togo, and Nigeria. The common factor in all cases is that, by God’s grace, all have survived. A few might
even be said to be thriving.
Still, the churches in the region, in some cases, have lost thousands of sheep since I left in 2003 because of this orphaned status
and because often missionaries, in their commendable eagerness to
advance God’s kingdom, gathered way too many sheep before paying enough attention to preparing shepherds to care for them, protect
them, and keep them in the fold. I must note that this winnowing process is not always a bad thing because it is also purifies—but it cannot
be allowed to continue. Meanwhile, Satan is actively trying to destroy
the church there through the fourfold existential threat of traditional
religion, sects and cults, militant Islam, and false teaching within the
church itself. At this time, the “prosperity gospel” especially is a very
seductive alternative to the truth of the Gospel in this mostly impoverished environment, and Pentecostalism also remains a great threat.
So, the principal area where the West African church continues
to need help is in the area of theological education and the formation
of pastors. This is a true gift from God after all these years because,
just as President Harrison has pointed out so eloquently and so often,
theological education and the formation of pastors has always been
precisely the sweet spot of the LCMS—the gift we are uniquely positioned to give the world.
Since the resolution of the 2013 Synod convention to double the
number of foreign missionaries in the next triennium, the population
of the West African diaspora of Synod missionaries has increased
quickly from one or two to a dozen households, including my own,
almost all directly involved in theological education.
We currently have a renewed missionary presence in two
Anglophone (English-speaking) countries. In Ghana, Rev. David and
Joyce Erber (who have served in West Africa for some 30 years), Rev.
Steven and Cynthia Schumacher, Rev. Doug and Angie Thompson,
Rev. Mark and Susan Moss, and Rev. Ryan and Emily McDermott
are all tasked to live in Accra, the coastal capital, and help in different ways at the Lutheran Theological Seminary there, which just
dedicated a new building in 2014. Rev. McDermott will be focusing especially on deaf ministry, with some assistance from Rev.

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Schumacher. Cynthia Schumacher, meanwhile, is teaching in a local
Lutheran school. Rounding out the current Ghana team, Rev. Dale and
Suzanne Kaster are in the northern town of Tamale where Rev. Kaster
is currently conducting seminary courses leading to ordination in the
northern regions. In Nigeria, Rev. Richard Wokoma, a national pastor,
is serving the church there as a called LCMS missionary.
We also have a renewed missionary presence in the francophone
(French-speaking) nation of Togo. Rev. Jacob Gaugert, Rev. Micah
and Robin Wildauer, and Valerie Stonebreaker are tasked to live in the
small northern town of Dapaong and help in different ways with the
development of the Centre Luthérien d’Etudes Théologiques (CLET),
established in 1997. Pastors Gaugert and Wildauer will be teaching at
the Center, while Miss Stonebreaker looks toward possibly helping
start a local Lutheran school. The impact of this little seminary in this
little town in this little country is huge! All five of the francophone
mission churches, plus two more from Central Africa, have sent men
for training toward ordination at the CLET. Rounding out the francophone team at present, Rev. Fred Reinhardt, who has served in Africa
for nearly two decades, is based in Brazzaville, Congo, and serves as
Area Facilitator for Central Africa.
There are also seminaries in Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone
that want our help, and we are looking hard at deploying missionaries to those places to meet that need. Those situations are currently
being evaluated due to security concerns. In fact, the ground has
shifted dramatically throughout the region with regard to security in
recent years. Our window of opportunity may be short in some areas
for effective Gospel ministry. This definitely adds another layer of
urgency to the task!
While our focus remains on theological education, in this life
together in Christ, we have not forgotten that we are also called to
works of mercy, especially in a part of the world historically so beset
by physical suffering. This is where my wife, Stephanie Schulte, will
contribute to the team. She will be undertaking the pioneering work
of developing and implementing a strategy to deploy MMT (Mercy
Medical Teams) where and when they are needed most in the newly
created position of Regional Mercy Medical Ministry Coordinator.
All of this LCMS missionary work is just getting off the ground
again and, as great as the 2013 Res. 1-11 has been for West African
mission work, the widely held opinion of the missionaries is that it is
time to slow down just a little bit. It can often take as many as three
years of language and cultural acquisition in this environment before
a missionary is ready to do more good than harm. And right now, all
but four of our missionary households are completely new to the mission field. It is kind of organized chaos in West Africa right now as
things have progressed so quickly in the last three years. But I think
that is right where God wants His Church and His workers at all times
so that we remain wholly dependent upon Him!
I thank the Lord of the Church that He has seen fit to allow me
to once again be part of such a major manifestation of His grace in
these end times. May Christ continue to grant each of us His grace
and His passion for mission as we continue to do together this worldwide work of preparing the way for Christ’s triumphant return! We
work while it is yet daylight! Come, Lord Jesus!
Africa, Eastern and Southern Area—Rev. Shauen Trump, Area Director

The LCMS collaboratively supports and encourages God’s elect
in Lutheran churches or Lutheran mission areas across Eastern and
Southern Africa in church planting, pastoral education and formation, lay leader training, human care projects and grants, and Lutheran
schools, such that the clear proclamation of the Gospel may go forth
in existing and new congregations.
The Eastern and Southern Africa Area includes the following
church bodies in altar and pulpit fellowship with the LCMS:
2016 Convention Workbook