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Monday
Dec052016

December 5, 2016 Field Notes

 
Writing from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL
December 5, 2016
 

Evangelism in Tanga District and Kahe, Tanzania

Missionary Nurse Sarah Kanoy visits with a man in Tanga District, Tanzania
Rev. Shauen Trump addresses a congregation in Tanga District, Tanzania
Missionary Rev. Jonathan Clausing shares a Gospel message in Kahe, Tanzania
Rev. Jonathan Clausing shares a Gospel message in Kahe, Tanzania

 

St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau, Missouri is full of people who love God, love others, and make disciples. They've worked through the LCMS Office of International Mission for years, first in Kenya, then in support of missionaries on retreat, and now in Tanzania. Their openness, eagerness, and excitement make them excellent servants to undertake just about any task the church may ask – even door to door evangelism which we know is quite intimidating for any LCMS member.

But in Tanga and Kahe, Tanzania, congregations are eager to have guests join them in door to door visitation. They want new friends to go with them to make visits to the sick, church members, potential members, and leaders in the community in their homes to share a brief thought from Scripture, to share a burden, and to pray together. This is how the church in this part of the world does its work and the hospitality of the local cultures means that you are virtually never turned away and almost always invited in to visit.

The two teams from St. Andrew's had very different experiences but Shauen, Pastor John Dehne, and missionary Sarah Kanoy were privileged to be able to visit both locations in the course of the week. In Tanga, the presence of visitors from America provided access to doorways that have always been closed to the local church workers – the homes of Muslims. Because of the presence of the visitors from St. Andrew's, the local evangelists, pastors, and even bishop were invited into the homes of dozens of Muslims – something the bishop said he had never done before. In Kahe, the team traveled far and wide across the town and even by foot out to villages miles away. Missionary Jon Clausing, who has been working on Swahili all year, was able to share a Gospel message in Swahili and finally see the fruits and the importance of working so hard on language. Shauen got to talk with a family who had a daughter struggling under a curse from a neighbor. Shauen pointed to Christ and the cross, to the girl's baptism, and to the comfort we have in God's Word and in His enduring love for each of us.

Praise the Lord for our dear brothers and sisters from St. Andrews!

 

Missionaries of Eastern and Southern Africa

You've seen many of our newsletters include a section welcoming new missionaries to the field. Our team has, indeed, grown this year. I was reminded of this at our recent Continuing Education weekend. Take a look at these pictures of our Eastern and Southern Africa team in January (first picture) and then in September (second picture) to get an idea of how much our Eastern and Southern Africa field has grown this year. Every one of these wonderful and amazing missionaries has been sent by the church to proclaim Christ in this part of the world. We have more open positions on this field and around the world. If you've ever felt interested, let us know at lcms.org/service . Praise the Lord for sending His workers into the field!

Jan 2016 Continuing Ed Class of 12 counting children

January 2016 Eastern and Southern Africa Continuing Education Class
(including from the States the professor, his wife, and a seminary student)

Sept 2016 Continuing Ed class of more than 30

September 2016 Eastern and Southern Africa Continuing Education Class
(including from the States the professor, his wife, and a team of 4 providing children's programming)

 

Sept 2016 Continuing Education – Spiritism and the Gospel

This past September the Eastern and Southern Africa field was happy to welcome Professor Kou Seying and his wife Maykou from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Professor Seying has extensive experience addressing Spiritism in the Hmong community. He presented an excellent course on Spiritism and the Gospel for our missionaries. The course helped crystalize many of Shauen's own experiences over the years and gave him a framework to better understand the issues of spirits, witchdoctors, and witchcraft here in Eastern Africa. Although Professor Seying's experience is all from the Hmong people group, it is amazing how directly it applied and resonated with the places where we work in Africa. Thank you to our presenters!

In addition, in response to our last-minute request, a Florida team quickly assembled to assist with children's programming. DCE Jeremy and Kristin Becker and DCE Phil and Kyrie Klopke made themselves available and together made a great team working with missionary kids from newborns into the middle teens. They brought VBS materials, gifts for children and families, and fit right in with our missionaries. Thank you to our children's programming volunteers!

 

Photos in Focus

A few weeks of fall in the USA

 

 

 
Prayer Requests

For comfort and support in grief and anxiety

For wisdom, discernment, and patience for Shauen and Krista in their work as spouses, parents, and missionaries

For the missionaries, projects, and relationships Shauen oversees for the church

For Shauen's travels, classes, papers, and regular work as he begins a modular PhD program
In Praise

For God's people in Tanga and Kahe, Tanzania who heard the Gospel

For a God who knows grief, sorrow, and burden and carries us through our own
 
 
Contact Us At:

Shauen & Krista Trump
PO Box 22
Karen 00502 KENYA

Shauen.Trump@LCMSintl.org 
Krista.Trump@LCMSintl.org

TheTrumps.org 
LCMS.org/Trump
 
To support this work financially,
you may send a tax-deductible gift to:

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
PO Box 66861
St. Louis, MO 63166-6861

Make checks payable to The LCMS and mark the memo line “Trump-East Africa”
      OR
Give securely online at http://LCMS.org/trump
 
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Copyright © 2016 Rev. Shauen and Krista Trump, All rights reserved.