The mission of OFM is to provide ministry education in places where such education is hard to get.  Classes have started in Geita, an African town around 100 kilometers south and west of Mwanza.  Geita contains the only working gold mine in Tanzania.  The gold mine is a big operation.

There are two Anglican churches in Geita itself, a larger one in the center of the city, a smaller one on the outskirts, and many other Anglican churches in the surrounding area.  I teach at the larger church in Geita, Christ the King, whose pastor is named Mathias.  He is the biggest supporter of the classes.  I currently stay with a local family.

The classes are held in the church itself.  High temperatures often drive us outside to under a large shade tree. Rain occasionally drives us back into the church.  There are 20 students, none of who speak any English, all who come from different Anglican churches in the area.  All students are evangelists, each pastoring a church under the infrequent and distant supervision of a priest-pastor.  From the data sheets I collected, the highest education level attained was 7th grade by the way we measure.  Only by grace, by some knowledge of Scripture, and by personal hard work do they succeed as pastors.

One day, I asked some questions of my students.  All 20 of them are lay people, evangelists and church teachers.   Priests rarely come to their churches. All the students normally lead Sunday services, doing a service of the Word.  In reality, they are the pastors. I asked each to describe the ministry at their church, how many members they had, and what was their average Sunday attendance.  These 18 people pastor over 2,500 people and collectively serve an average of 2,000 people on Sunday.  In one way, they may be big enough to qualify as a diocese in the new Anglican Province in North America!

An important moment occurred on Tuesday. I had perceived some feelings of inferiority among my students and I was asked, “Why is it that some parishes are pastored by priests and some parishes are pastored by evangelists?”   I thought – Oh this is an important question.  Lord, help me to give them your answer.

The reply, “In the Anglican Communion, the churches of most countries do not have evangelists in the same way as you do.  In those countries, almost every parish has a priest who is supposed to be the evangelist.  Here in Africa, you do not have enough priests for all parish churches because the education system cannot support the development of all those who might be called by God to be a priest.  Yet, God wants to provide ministry and leadership for his people.  In Lake Victoria, a boat without a rudder wanders aimlessly about, subject to every wind and wave, and cannot complete the journey.  A church without leadership and ministry is like a boat without a rudder on Lake Victoria.  So, God gives a gift to each parish without a priest; He gives them an evangelist to lead the church.”  They beamed.

Initially, class was very hard for them.  Translation makes progress slow.  Lack of ministry education makes most material new.  Prior bad teaching and bad assumptions means that they have to unlearn some things they thought they knew.  There were many misconceptions about Trinity, Virgin Birth, Dual nature of Christ, and others.  Changing such misconceptions is a big challenge, but they work at it.

The Holy Spirit moved mid-week. The students began to understand better.  They became more participative.  They thought and answered questions and discussed issues.  One lady evangelist witnessed to me how she thought that God had touched her life in the class and I was able to affirm that it was God.

Thursday, I met Rev Donat and nine other priests who were visiting from the Diocese of Gahini in Rwanda, and here in Geita for an evangelization crusade.  They must have talked to someone here because they asked if I would come to Rwanda and teach.  I gave them my card and asked them to contact me after I returned to America.

The ministry is working.  One week has been successfully completed.  The students have learned much new material about what the beliefs of the church are and what is ordained ministry.  Two more weeks of instruction will follow.

I congratulate the people of Christ Community Anglican Church in Liberty KY on the completion of the second phase of their building construction, doubling the size of their nave. Now God can fill it.  See pictures of the expanded church.  The link may be found on the MSJ website.

Thank you God.  Thank you people of God.  Your prayers and financial support are bearing fruit here in East Africa.  The teachers of God’s people are being taught.  Without you, all this does not happen.  This ministry, the students in Africa, the rural church in Africa all rely on you and all thank you. Asante sana!

Fr Francis Wardega MSJ
Mission Station Geita, Republic of Tanzania

Jambo!  My first mission trip was in the summer of 2000 when I traveled to Kenya under Bishop Weeks and Hugh Kaiser.  Over the years, I have made many friends there, among them a young man, now ordained a priest, serving in Nairobi.  We have kept in touch via e-mail, occasional phone calls, and now Facebook.

This trip, I traveled across the border from Tanzania to Kenya to visit these friends.  Crossing an African border at 10 PM at night required departing from the bus, leaving Tanzania through its immigration station there, walking 100 meters across no mans land in the dark, and entering Kenya, without a Kenyan visa!  The visa was procured upon arrival after the border officials sweated me a bit. .

As I shared with many old friends in Kenya, I heard many phrases – “You taught us new things we never knew” and “Becoming a priest became a calling from God, not another job” and “We are different because of your teaching – still different after so many years.”  In one place I was told that there are now ten babies named Francis, Patricia, or Mary.  And one cow named Francis too.

There were many questions.  “How is Patricia?” and “How is Bishop Fick?” and “How is Bishop Weeks and Hugh Kaiser?”  There was much good remembering stories of the past.

These visits gave me time to acclimate to temperature and time differences before starting the main ministry in Tanzania this trip.  The original plan for the main ministry was to teach two weeks to new students, and one week to old students, all in the Tanzanian Diocese of Victoria Nyanza on Lake Victoria.  When the Bishop sent out the invitations, he expected 15 new students but over 50 signed up.   Evidently, the old students talked about their initial experiences in the classes and encouraged new students to enroll.

So, the plan will be changed.  All classes scheduled for old students this trip will be cancelled.  Instead, I will teach two groups of new students, splitting the total group of new students in half, and splitting the total time too.  Why is this important to the African church?

In many Anglican Dioceses in Africa, their statistics say something like this:  45 priests; 93 churches.  What does this mean?  It means that ordained priests serve only 45 churches.  Evangelists lead the remainder of the churches.  These evangelists are young men, on fire for the Lord, passionate in their ministry of the Word, but uneducated in parish ministry, uneducated in life, uneducated in school subjects, and doing the best that they can.  Over the years, many evangelists go on to ordination.

Such men are hungry for pastoral training.  They are excited by the opportunities to learn basic Christian teachings, ethos of ordained ministry, liturgy, sacrament, Scripture and preaching.  They have realized that parish ministry is more than an altar call. Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”  Ephesians 4:12 “to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”

The Bishop is excited.  The new students are excited.  I am excited too.

Logistical obstacles will be overcome.  More food will be purchased.  We will work longer hours.  And the legacy of the teaching done by OFM will take deep, deep root in the present and future of this diocese.  The work will not be spectacular healing services that will fill soccer stadiums; but it will be basic, personal teaching for young church leaders who will make a difference here. The Bishop has entrusted his young men, the future of the diocese, to this ministry.

Thank you so much to all of you who are praying – keep praying!  More teachers are needed here in Africa!  Also, thank you so much to all of you who donated money to make this trip possible, and are still donating money to keep the ministry alive.  You know who you are.  We could never be grateful enough.

Tonight, I will rest, listening to BBC News on my new little worldwide radio, a gift from a supporting parish.  Tomorrow I will visit other old friends.  Sunday, I will celebrate liturgy in a little, rural, Anglican church.  Next week, I will return to Mwanza in Tanzania, and begin the main ministry.

Mungu arabariki! May God bless you.

Fr Francis Wardega
Missionary Priest in Africa
Missionary Society of St John

Dispatch One from East Africa, November 2009

Matt. 28:19-20  “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the world. Amen.”

Most Christians recognize that quote from the Great Commission.  Part of verse 20, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you,” is one of the foundation Words of the Lord for OFM.  Another Word of the Lord that is part of the Scriptural foundation of OFM, is found  in Ephesians 4:12: “to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, to build up the Body of Christ.”  That is what OFM does in Africa.  Not glamorous, not fancy, just basic ministry work.

God’s call sent me to Africa for the eighth time.  The journey went from Cleveland to New York City to Dubai on the Persian Gulf above Saudi Arabia, to Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean coast of Tanzania, to Mwanza in Tanzania on the shore of Lake Victoria, all by air, four flights.  The journey continued with an eight hour bus trip across the Kenyan border, to Rabour, to visit an old friend and examine the legacy of four teaching trips there several years ago.  Leave Cleveland on Sunday; arrive in Rabour on Wednesday.

After six days in Rabour, return to Mwanza and work under the authority of Anglican bishop, Rt Rev Boniface Kwangu, of the Diocese of Victoria Nyanza (DVN).

I will teach for two weeks to around twenty new clergy and lay leaders.  I will teach them about the beliefs, teachings and practices of the Faith; also introduce them to the ethos of ordained ministry, to liturgy, to sacraments, to preaching, and to Scripture.  Most of these adult students were ordained with little or no ministry education because of the immediate great needs there.  Our instruction is for the church leaders and teachers who will teach others.  The students soak up the instruction like a sponge.

I will also teach advanced topics to around twenty different students to whom I taught the basic subjects listed above , on my last trip to Mwanza.  Advanced topics include pastoral theology, and in depth instruction on the Trinity, on the Incarnation, and on Grace.  This will be a challenge for them – one they will work hard at and succeed.

Thanks be to God and thanks be to you for sending me on this work.   I pledge the most ministry to Him for His people and the most ministry to you for your donated dollar.  Please continue to pray for blessings, protection and sustenance for this work.  Please continue your financial support to keep this ministry alive.  I can be contacted in Africa at e-mail address:  jambofrfrancis@yahoo.com

Fr Francis Wardega
Canon Missioner to East Africa
Missionary Society of St John
Forward in Faith, Anglican Church

Fr. Francis is all packed and ready to leave tomorrow for Africa.  We have been blessed to see most of the grandchildren before he leaves.  He saw Jacob, Toby and Nora last week.  He spent time last night with Morgan and Gavin and today he will spend time with Brendan and Brady.

We will be up early to be at the airport by 4:00 AM.

The last days before he leaves are hard.  I have mixed feelings. I support his going but I miss him already.  Please keep us all in your prayers.  I will be posting updates of the trip so check back often.

Jesus bless you all.

What Does OFM Do?

Over the past nine years, the director of OFM, Fr Francis Wardega, has been serving the African Church, teaching and developing future leaders.  This ministry gives flesh to the part of the Great Commission that says:  “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

The ministry has done great work both in Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa.  It is not a colonial ministry that sends someone in for a week to pass out money.  This ministry puts a person on the ground for over a month, in a specific focused area, to teach ministry to young clergy and lay leaders in areas where such education is hard to get.

Many others go the large cities in Africa.  They do good work.  OFM goes to the rural, more primitive areas, where few go, lives there, and offers ministry education that is not locally available.  It works.  An examination of the pages at the web site, http://connectionkenya.wordpress.com, shows the long lasting effects of the work.

An individual days instruction to a group of three hundred people is often quickly forgotten.  However, knowledge gleaned from many small groups (8-10 clergy & church leaders), each spending a week in close contact with a “mwalimu” (Swahili for teacher), has a profound effect on a diocese.

Classes include:

What the Church Believes, Teaches and Practices.         Map of TanzaniaMap of Tanzania
The Ethos of Ordained Ministry, a Calling, not a Job.
Fundamentals of Sacred Scripture.
Liturgy
Sacraments
Pastoral Theology
Preaching
Anglican Studies
Case Studies in Parish Ministry

This ministry must work.  OFM has current invitations to come and teach from Bishop Boniface Kwangu, Bishop Jackton Lugumira, Bishop Daudi Chidawali, Bishop Maternus Kapinga, Bishop Gerard Mpango, all from Tanzania, and from Bishop Jackson Nzerebende from Uganda.  In the past, OFM has worked alongside of Bishop Alpha Mohammed of Tanzania, and SOMA-UK.  See below for the details of the newxt mission trip.

Dodoma Class

Mission Trip to Africa – 2009

OFM missioner, Fr Francis Wardega will leave Nov 8th for Tanzania on a six week teaching trip to the Anglican diocese of Victoria-Nyanza.  There, he will teach advanced ministry topics to twelve students he first taught in August-Sept 2008.  Additionally, he will teach basic subjects to twelve new students from the diocese.  He will return just before Christmas.

It takes three days to get to Mwanza, on the coast of Lake Victoria, the see city for Bishop Boniface Kwangu.  The journey goes through New York City, to Dubai, and then to Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean coast of Tanzania.  From Dar, a Tanzanian flight takes Fr Francis the last six hundred miles to Mwanza.

While there, Fr Francis will also visit parishes of the diocese, celebrating liturgy, preaching, working with vestries, meeting congregations, visiting orphanages and hospitals.  He will bring greetings from faithful Anglicans in America and show Anglicans in Africa that there are faithful Anglicans in America.

From the very beginning of the Christian era, followers of Jesus had a Spirit driven concern for evangelism, in their own backyard, and for the whole world.  That same concern dwells within each one of us today.  One of the marks of a good church, a good parish, is a heart for the missions.  Go into any church and look at the bulletin board.  Do you find information about the foreign missions?  Are the people and the parish part of an ongoing mission effort?  Look and see.

OFM offers an opportunity to give flesh to the Great Commission.  God does not call everyone to travel to distant foreign lands to spread the Gospel message.  Yet, all can share in that task through concern, prayer, and financial support.  All can share in the grace through concern, prayer and financial support.

We ask your help.  We ask your prayers.  We ask your financial support.  This ministry, OFM, continues to serve God and His people, through the blessings of His grace and the contributions of His people.  The needs are great.  The work is vast.  The Holy Spirit is all-powerful.

Would you become a patron of Office of Foreign Missions?

Costs for the 2009 mission trip:  $5,500
Money already raised:  $4,900
Still needed:  $600

Can you help us go to Africa?  Can you send a donation.  Please note: we will send stuff for your bulletin board.  Please let us know if you need that.

In the mendicant tradition of the church, we beg your prayers, personal and corporate.  In the mendicant tradition of the church, we beg your financial support, personal and corporate.
Fr Francis & Chigogo Children
Please send donations to:  Office of Foreign Missions,
St John the Apostle Church, 18401 Canal Rd, Clinton Township MI 48038.

We pledge the most ministry for your donated dollar.

Asante sana!          (Thank you very much in Swahili)

Fr Francis Wardega
Canon Missioner to Africa

Fr Francis Wardega
Office of Foreign Missions
Missionary Society of St John
A Member of Forward in Faith
18401 Canal Rd, Clinton Twp MI 48038
248-345-2651  jambofrfrancis@yahoo.com
http://www.connectionkenya.wordpress.com

Dispatch 5 – Last Dispatch for this trip

From Station Dar es Salaam in Tanzania

My Bus

Buigiri School

They learned the basic beliefs and practices and teachings of the histo ric Anglican Christian Church. They had many misconceptions. They also learned of the ethos of ordained ministry and how that is different from that of an independent minister. Their excitement grew every day. They sensed what was happening – they were learning new things and understanding them. It was making a difference in their thinking. The class on ordained ministry was especially moving to the priests, life changing. They were eager to return to the their parishes and deaneries and pass on what they had learned.

Final Exam Taking

Dodoma Class

There was much contact with local Anglicans who were vitally interested inthe details of the Jerusalem GAFCON gathering and in the details of the Lambreth Conference. We talked long about the future of the Anglican Communion and possible steps that they could take as faithful Anglicans in a diocese where the bishop was not
faithful.

Bishop Chidawali

My hubby has arrive in Dodoma after a 12 hour bus trip, half of which was on dirt roads!  People wrapped themselves in material to keep the dust off of them.  Fr. Francis will do this as well the next time!

Dispatch 3 From Station Mwanza in Tanzania

Summer 2008

Fr Francis Wardega

For many, mission ministry has a sort of exotic glamour to it. Such work includes large crowds, healing services, hospitals built, schools visited, and similar events. Such work is very good and very blessed. This ministry is different. We teach. We teach the teachers. We teach the preachers. We teach the leaders. We teach the ones who had no real prior opportunity to learn. There are many such people in Africa.

The bulk of the work is done daily. The schedule: teach 9 am to 7 pm. Teach ministry subjects to the depth that they are useful to the leaders of the parish. Do this every day, less an occasional rest day. The students quickly adapt to the schedule. They write down more notes than is needed. They listen and ask insightful questions. This is a two-week investment in a life that bears fruit in a parish for the next twenty to thirty years. Not glamorous – just effective.

Pastor Erasto puzzles about the deeper meaning of

Ezekiel chapter 37.
Notice the copious notes that he has taken in his notebook.

This week, we finished up the class on Ordained Ministry and moved into Fundamentals of Sacred Scripture. Then we ended with Sacramental Theology. These eleven students are different. They have absorbed so much. They talk about different things. They have a whole new and deeper appreciation of the Bible and their personal Bible. Everyone preached once and was affirmed and critiqued. They want more. “Can you stay for three months?” Sorry. They were very proud to pose for their class picture.

Proud members of Class #1, Nyakato School of Theology

As available, I go to local churches to meet the people there and celebrate the liturgy. Last Sunday, I visited St John in Nyamanoro. I preached in both Sunday liturgies. Each service had a 25 person choir, a different choir for each service. They worship with contemporary African worship music, choreographed. It is Motown gone Jesus! Such music keeps the young people in the Anglican Church instead of being attracted to other, more seeker friendly churches.

Fr Francis preaches at St John Parish in Nyemanoro, Sunday Aug 17

The work this trip will soon be finished in this diocese, until next year. Next on the schedule is a ten hour bus journey to Dodoma, the national capital in the center of the country where I will be working with Bishop Daudi Chidawali again. I will be teaching at his Bible College in Buigiri where I taught last year.

One unusual experience. I was invited to dine with Bishop Kwangu and a visiting bishop. As we sat and talked, I realized that somehow, many red fire ants crawling on me. I tried to be a good guest as long as I could but the others noticed my discomfort. I ended up trying to stand still while two Anglican bishops and one bishop’s wife killed so many ants that were feasting on me! That was my lesson in humility that day.

Thank you for your support. God and you make this possible. Please keep on supporting this mission. Please sustain this good ministry. It works!

Fr Francis Wardega

Office of Foreign Missions

Missionary Priest in Africa

18401 Canal Rd

www.connectionkenya.wordpress.com

Clinton Twp MI 48038

Africa e-mail: jambofrfrancis@yahoo.com