Africa – Zambia: Teachers

Teaching the Word in Zambia

One of the unique features of the African country of Zambia is that in its constitution it has declared itself a Christian nation. Currently in the Lutheran Church of Central Africa (LCCA) there are 116 congregations, 34 preaching stations, 26 pastors, and 4 missionaries. “It is rare to find someone in Lusaka, Zambia, that doesn’t know who Jesus is,” says Pastor Dan Sargent, a mission coordinator in Lusaka. Reaching out with the gospel has already been done. What needs to happen now is “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). In order to help with that commission, workers are needed to assist the pastors and teachers in Africa. In 2010, a joint effort through Kingdom Workers, Wisconsin Lutheran College (WLC), and Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod World Missions resulted in a pilot program where two WLC education graduates were sent to the Zambia Seminary with the primary goal of teaching English to the wives of the seminary students, along with tutoring their children. Erika Laete and Rachel Wendland are currently serving as teachers.

Seminary students live on campus with their wives and children for three years. Serving seminary student families plays a key role in the future success of their ministries. The official language of Zambia is English, but five languages are commonly spoken with 73 dialects. English is the language of the educated and middle class. Learning English empowers the women and prepares them to function at a higher level as they head into Central Africa where English is a means to getting acclimated to the emerging new culture.

Tammy Shrunk and Abby Hintz were the two WLC graduates to serve in the pilot program. “They were self starters,” remembers Sargent. They came with the primary intent of teaching English to the seminary wives and tutoring the seminary children in extra studies outside of their shortened school day. While there they discovered and fulfilled a need to begin a preschool program because of the large number of younger children in the families. Furthermore, by immersing themselves in the neighborhood, they also developed relationships with faculty members at a community school, where they took it upon themselves to present best practice methods for improving education methods. In 2012, with funding from Kingdom Workers, teams of two volunteers will continue to serve as the Zambia Seminary campus teachers.

“While the program has been largely successful and well received in Zambia, the challenge remains to build a model and fund the project indefinitely,” says John Kolander, WLC provost who was involved with the foundational planning of this program. “With the Lord’s blessings, we’ll be able to build a sustainable model for years to come.”