When Rev. Andrew Mbugo Elisa, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan (ELCS) died in December, the young church body was stunned. Rev. Elisa, only 43 years old, had been a strong leader with a vision and plan for spreading the Gospel throughout his beloved country. Who would now lead? And what would the vision be? These most important questions have not yet been answered. But in many ways, Rev. Elisa’s vision lives on, especially through the seminarians at Concordia Lutheran Institute for Holy Ministry (CLIHM).  LHF has played an important part in helping Rev. Elisa’s vision of seminary education for Sudanese men become a reality. Working with Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Ind., LHF staff helped put together the seminary’s curriculum, or course of studies. LHF also helps find instructors who travel to Yambio, Sudan to teach.
“If we’re going to have valid and substantial translation work going on that’s solidly Lutheran in nature, we should have Lutheran people doing the work,” said Rev. Robert Rahn, former LHF director, who coordinates the CLIHM instructors. “Since there originally was no Lutheran church in Sudan, where were we going to find Lutherans to do this work?” he explained. “We have to engineer and train our own people not only to be proclaimers of the Word, but also to help LHF in printing the Word. It’s very closely related.” Fourteen men make up the current CLIHM class. They come from North Sudan and South Sudan, and even from Uganda. Their teachers come from even farther away: from Minnesota, North Carolina, Arizona, New Jersey, and from Finland. “Jesus called His disciples to leave their nets behind and follow Him,” said Rev. Rahn. “These men in Sudan have also left everything they have behind, to follow Christ and become fishers of men.” Perhaps the most difficult thing for the students to leave behind is their families. Many of the men are married and have children, but their families cannot afford to come with them to Yambio. “The students feel a calling,” said Rev. Bernie Lutz, a retired LCMS missionary who’s twice taught at CLIHM. “They come to the seminary with very little. They and their families make a lot of sacrifices. “One of the students, named David, had a young daughter who died. He was unable to attend her funeral because he didn’t have the money to travel back home,” Rev. Lutz remembered. “He wasn’t able to spend any time with his family and grieve with them.” Most of the men are the main breadwinners in their families, supporting them by farming small plots near their home. While they’re at the seminary, their families must do without their physical strength, hard work and leadership. “They don’t always know how their families are going to get by without them, or how things are really going back home,” Rev. Lutz said. “The men love their families deeply and are concerned for them.” And so, while they’re in Yambio, the men apply themselves to their studies so that they may not only be good pastors, but also so that they may quickly return to their loved ones and the communities they will soon serve.  “The students are very fine,” said Rev. Reijo Arkkila, a missionary from Finland who has taught two pastoral training classes in Sudan (pictured above, far right). “They are active listeners and have many questions. The spirit in the class is great!”
Rev. Lutz agrees. “All of the students come here with a desire to learn and to grow,” he said. “Our goal, as teachers, is helping form well-developed pastors who are able to preach Law and Gospel in an effective way.” “The pastors who teach them are also very committed to the mission,” said Rev. Rahn. “Most of them raise all the funds to cover the costs of their travel to Sudan all on their own.” The costs are well worth it, in Rev. Lutz’s mind. “With the money and the staff, the ELCS could start a new congregation every week,” he said. “A lot of people there don’t know Christ, so there’s a real challenge for the Lutheran church to reach the lost in Sudan.”
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