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TANZANIA:
LCMS MISSIONARIES RELY IN TANZANIA, THERE ARE 2,000 PARISHIONERS FOR EVERY LUTHERAN PASTOR. Rev. Jonathan Clausing, LCMS missionary and theological educator, is helping to address that imbalance by training up new pastors at St. Peter Lutheran Seminary in Himo (Moshi), Tanzania. Whether teaching Luther’s Small Catechism to new seminary students or leading continuing education seminars for pastors (center photo at left), “LHF books are the bread and butter of what I do,” said Rev. Clausing. “The Swahili Small Catechism is far and away the most useful book. Everybody loves that book! I no longer have any, because I’ve given them all away!” Thanks to faithful LHF supporters, Rev. Clausing - and many more East African missionaries, evangelists, pastors and churches - will soon be resupplied with 60,000 more Small Catechisms, as well as nearly 50,000 “Jesus Never Fails” devotional booklets and 9,000 copies of A Child’s Garden of Bible Stories, all in the Swahili language.
OVER 7 MILLION LUTHERANS: “THIS IS GREAT!”
Rev. Clausing (right) and Rev. Trump (below) teach Tanzanian pastors from LHF books.
The needs are great. Although geographically Tanzania is only one-tenth the size of the United States, there are more than 7 million Lutherans (compared to the LCMS at 2 million, or the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod with 200,000 members). As the Gospel spreads and evangelists start new congregations, the lack of trained pastors and religious materials makes it a challenge to teach the Lutheran faith properly. “Given these circumstances, Luther’s Small Catechism sometimes replaces the work of the pastors in their absence,” explained Rev. Dr. Dinku Bato, LHF’s coordinator for African translation projects. “The pastor is responsible for 9 or 10 churches and mainly preaches. He can’t teach and do confirmation classes in all those places, with perhaps 150 people in class. LHF’s catechisms are vital! They faithfully teach in the languages of the people when pastors cannot.” “The people love education,” enthused Rev. Clausing. “They’re very eager to learn. Within the church that I serve (Lutheran Church of East Africa), the problems aren’t that there are false teachings, at least not intentionally. There’s just ignorance, and they want to learn more. So when we open up the Bible and show how what Luther taught is just
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ZOOM TO TANZANIA WITH LHF! Each month, LHF condu Clausing. Follow LHF on Facebook to watch recordings of tho 2
