I
nto the jungles of Africa, Pastor Andrew Mbugo Elisa comes. He sits on a chair between the mango trees with the chatter of monkeys in the branches. He sits on a chair, and the people from the village gather around him on blankets. Then Pastor Andrew begins to speak. He speaks God’s Word to the people. He tells them about God’s love for them in Christ. He tells them to repent of their sins. All day long he teaches them. Pastor Andrew is only a man, but the words he brings are the words of Christ extending eternal life to all who believe.
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And then the next day, Pastor Andrew continues teaching. In time, he will baptize groups of people—as many as confess the Lord Jesus. And so a new congregation is born in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sudan (ELCS). Andrew Mbugo Elisa is the bishop of the ELCS, a church body still in its infancy. Lutheran congregations have sprung up all over the large country of Sudan during the church’s thirteenyear history. Lutheran pastors from all over the world have assisted in catechizing and evangelizing in the ELCS. Never apologizing for their doctrine or confession, the ELCS dares in every way to be Lutheran. Laymen and laywomen walk for miles to attend catechism classes taught by visiting pastors and teachers. The young people in the church teach their children stories from the Bible. They are poor, they have few church buildings, and they face challenges of sickness or poverty, but they never compromise in their confession of God’s Word. “We stand alone on Word and Sacrament,” Pastor Andrew says. “As Lutherans we believe we have the very clearest teaching of God’s Word. Why would we not go out vigorously to share that and start more Lutheran congregations?” “Our approach is very bold,” he continues. “We do not want to simply make a contact with someone who is an unbeliever. We want to convert him.”
