Nine New Pastors Ordained in Tanzania

Between the special guests, bishops donning all their kit, and the brass band warming up, the little trading center of Uchira, Tanzania, drew an inordinate amount of attention from those passing by on the highway that divides the town. When all were assembled, the procession began with the cross leading us down the motorway. Traffic slowed and then stopped as a couple hundred Lutherans crossed the road and made their way to the grounds of the Lutheran Church of East Africa's (LCEA) arch-cathedral where others had already gathered for the celebration. The assembly included representation from almost all the areas where the LCEA has congregations - Tanga district, Machame, Karatu, Kilimanjaro, Nairobi, Kahe, and Taveta. 

The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod has worked alongside the LCEA for many years. Many of Shauen's co-workers have supported and encouraged the ministry - Pastor Jonathan Clausing has taught at their seminary, Shara Osiro has arranged and hosted short term teams doing evangelism and Mercy Medical Team clinics, Sarah Kanoy has worked with those Mercy Medical Teams and also in the LCEA's hospital, and Shauen has visited many times.  There are also the projects supported by the LCMS - the chapel roofs projects, the support for their seminary, the scholarships to the next-level seminary in Kenya, the motorcycles for pastors and evangelists, the English courses, the mercy work - all projects through which the Gospel is proclaimed.  This weekend was one of those times when the church bears witness to the impact of those efforts - a church body that has grown substantially from Shauen's first visit seven years ago - the result of ongoing relationships and partnership in the Gospel for the sake of the lost. 

Although many of the candidates for ordination were known to Shauen, there were two in particular who stood out - Yacobo and Godson, both from Kahe. Shauen and St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, a Congregation Connect partner with the LCEA, have enjoyed working with these two men in their capacity as evangelists for several years. This week, they were ordained by their church leaders into the office of public ministry with the Kahe congregation choir singing in the service. Among the offerings collected in the course of the ordination service was an offering for the church building in Kahe which has seen slow but steady progress in collecting materials over the years in preparation for building a permanent structure. 

After the candidates were ordained, their wives were brought forward for a blessing from the archbishop. They, also, will bear a burden for the work their husbands do. By the end of the service the new pastors had received a clerical shirt (gift from the LCMS), the white robe, the red stole that marks their office, and the other vestments used in the worship service. Thus arrayed, at the conclusion of the 5 hour ordination service, these nine new pastors were presented to the church which responded with joyful outbursts of applause, ululating, singing, and dancing. Praise the Lord for the workers He calls to this office and those men's joy-filled proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.