Zambian Mission, Chipata, Zambia, Africa, Missionary John Holtz

The First Shoots

MissionAug2009a These days, they are found in my vegetable garden.

Slender sprouts of green pushing through the soil

The first shoots.

For years they weren’t there. The ground lay dormant. No one tilled. No one watered. The garden was really no garden at all. Just hardened earth. Rocky soil. Unattended land.

Then one day attention was given. A plan was made. The soil tilled. The weeds removed. The land watered. Seeds planted and fertilizer applied. And by God’s own design, they started to appear:

The first shoots.

Even more exciting, however, is that the same thing is now appearing elsewhere in Malawi: in many of our Lutheran Churches!

For months our pastor’s group has been making visits to congregations which haven’t been served by any Called Worker for years! We found what we feared: desolate land and untilled soil of the congregational heart. Similarities between an unattended garden and an un-served congregation abounded: Barrenness and fruitlessness. Untaught boys and girls. Unstarted work. Unmotivated leaders. Unlearned teachers.

Discouraged? Not at all! Not when the power of the seed is in the hand of God! We were hopeful with the possibilities that our good Lord had lain before us! Like spiritual farmers, we plowed and we sowed. We watered and we fertilized.

The Lutheran Christians were eager and excited to learn how to start a Sunday School in their own congregation. So our pastors’ group started teaching Sunday School Workshops. The questions were many:

What is the purpose of Sunday School? What is a teacher to do? What about the students – how can they learn best? How do we teach a Bible Story? What books are available? What can we do today that will impact the Lord’s Kingdom tomorrow? What is God’s will for our children and what are His promises?

Great questions! Important questions to answer, especially when there has been no Sunday School in many of our congregations for years – if ever!

You’re not going to believe this….about a month later we returned to the area in which we had taught the workshop and the report we received was astounding!

One congregation called Fisi (Chichewa for hyena) which previously had no Sunday School - now has a Sunday School of 186 children!

Imagine this…there are only two classes! Who of us have ever tried to teach a class of more than 90 kids?

God’s grace and power is softening the hard soil of negligence and ignorance. Tiny sprouts are appearing. Thirsty sprigs. A fresh start for young boys and girls. Thanks be to the Lord of the Harvest, Jesus Christ, that the Lutheran Church of Central Africa is “going green!”

Pray for us. Remember many of our congregations still have no pastor. Read the Parable of the Sower and recall the different types of soil. (Matthew 13:3-9; 18-23). Don’t under-estimate the temptations of Satan. Be aware that many of our lay leaders have a lot of challenges regarding literacy as well as their own understanding of the Word of God.

Keep in mind, our newest Sunday Schools are gardens full of shoots that are tender. Sprouts that need time to grow and time to root deep in the love and the truths of Jesus Christ.

Take heart in the promise of God, “that as the rains…come down from heaven…making it bud and flourish…so is God’s Word…it will not return empty…!” (Isaiah 55:10-11)

It takes time for a slender sprig to mature into a fruitful plant. But our congregations are hopeful and our hope is in Christ! The child in Sunday School today is the teacher of Sunday School “tomorrow.”

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for…

the first shoots.

In Christ,
Your Mission Partner
Missionary John Holtz
Malawi, Africa

A break out group at a Sunday School Workshop at Malaulomwe, July 2009
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