Mission Work | The Lutheran Church

Mission Work

Sudan_Photo_02 LCMS work in Sudan began in 1998 when Sudanese refugees living in western Iowa asked the LCMS to start evangelistic and development work in their war-torn homeland. As a result, LCMS World Mission, through the ministry of Rev. John and Kathy Duitsman, established work in three areas known as the Nuba Mountains, the Shilluk Kingdom and Western Upper Nile in 2001. There is now work in the Upper Nile as well.

When John met a young Nuba man named Younan Bashir, he trained him in Lutheran doctrine and sent him back to his home to establish a Mission Training Center to train more leaders. Since then, the mission has been entirely carried out by the local population.

Bashir began worshipping with a few others under a tree. In three years, 38 Lutheran congregations were planted in the eastern half of the Nuba Mountains with opportunities to expand into the western half. It is estimated that the church has grown to possibly as many as 8,000 people! Even so, there are only four pastors to serve this vast region besides the 31 untrained evangelists and six elders. According to the Nuba church leadership, the Lutheran church is now the largest in the eastern region.

LCMS missionaries say the huge response to the Gospel they have seen has occurred in an area that has suffered greatly from [an ongoing genocidal] war, from famine and from a lack of any basic infrastructure. Another reason is that the Nuba people have heard the call of the Gospel calling them to reach out to their neighbor. They truly know that God is calling them—not ‘white missionaries’—and they are responding in love.

LCMS World Mission provides theological training, which is always the request of the national people of the LCMS. The people take this training and share it with others. They own the responsibility and privilege that this calling brings and are in turn saying, "Here we are. Send us!"

Now that peace has come in 2005, and the movement of people to various areas of the country is possible, attempts are being made to incorporate LCMS World Mission work--which basically has been based outside of the country with refugees in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda--with the work Reverend Elisa of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan has been doing from inside the country.

Two LCMS World Mission missionaries both work among Sudanese in refugee camps outside Sudan and within Sudan as well. The Sudanese Lutheran Mission Society in the United States, organized by Sudanese members of LCMS congregations, supports training and church planting efforts among Sudanese in Africa. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan is the result of the efforts of many partners, including the natinal church in Sudan, Sudanese refugees in the United States, and LCMS World Mission--all working toward the establishment of a single Lutheran church in Sudan.

Sudan_Photo_01 In November 2001, Rev. Andrew Elisa, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan, reported that his church body had about 5,000 members in 23 congregations, and he was the only ordained pastor.

In 2005, the Sudanese church has doubled in size, with some 10,000 members worshiping in 63 congregations. Elisa is now one of five ordained pastors serving the church, with nine more set to graduate from its four-year-old seminary in July. More than 60 evangelists and a dozen deacons and deaconesses also serve the church.

But with the January 2005 signing of the country's first real peace accord, ending two decades of civil war, the Lutheran church body is poised to explode even more with unprecedented growth--the number of congregations could double in a single year.

Roads that were closed during the war will open, land mines will be removed, and the church will need to go to new areas now with the Gospel. There are a lot of opportunities to open so many congregations in a short given time. At the same time, there will be competition, particularly from non-Christians.

In order for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan to take advantage of the new opportunities to spread the Gospel, Elisa said the church body will need to safeguard its current membership while securing three things: manpower to lead outreach endeavors, transportation to reach remote areas, and the wherewithal to print materials and construct shelters for preaching stations.

As Sudan drafts a constitution to guide a new national government that will include representatives from all sides of the conflict, Elisa says his church body will work to preserve the peace and encourage all sides to work together.

Of special note is the fact that Nuer-speaking Sudanese in the United States, who have joined LCMS congregations, are seeking ways to be in ministry to their countrymen in Sudan as well as to those in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya through the Sudanese Lutheran Mission Society. They are committed to the establishment of the Lutheran Church in Sudan. Many have expressed interest in providing leadership to new congregations or beginning new preaching stations.

Also assisting Sudanese Lutherans is LCMS World Relief/Human Care, which has provided food, wells, and medical and agricultural assistance.

Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF), an LCMS Recognized Service Organization works to translate, publish, and distribute confessional Lutheran books and materials worldwide. LHF donors are providing $370,000 in funding to construct the Rich Valley Lutheran Mission Center in Baguga, in southern Sudan. The center will serve as the headquarters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan, housing its offices--including those for translation and publishing--the seminary, and a worship facility. Plans also call for building a 1,000-student elementary school and a hospital.

Pres. Elisa is now one of five ordained pastors serving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan, with nine more set to graduate from its four-year-old seminary in July 2005. More than 60 evangelists and a dozen deacons and deaconesses also serve the church.

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