This is a picture of LCMS President Matthew Harrison dedicating the new Lutheran Seminary in greater Accra Ghana. I was supposed to be on this trip but there were many things that hindered me from going. Here is an interesting report from Ghana from WMLT blog.
Bishop Paul Fynn spoke how the construction and completion of the seminary has been his dream for more than 25 years. When the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana began in 1957, there was only one pastor. Today, the ELCG has more than 150 pastors with more needed. Bishop Fynn said that as each seminarian graduates, he is tasked with planting at least one new congregation. Bishop Fynn described the many challenges that delayed the construction of the seminary. In fact, Bishop Fynn identified how Satan hindered the seminary at every turn because he hates the gospel and wants to prevent its preaching in the world. (Dr. Lawrence Rast, the president of Concordia Seminary in Fort Wayne Indiana, reflecting upon Bishop’s Fynn’s clear identification of the seminary delays as “Satanic,” noted that Western Christians have been so influenced by rationalism that they are unable to see building delays, funding problems, land title issues, and such as anything but “normal” delays or the cost of doing business. Dr. Rast noted that like Bishop Fynn, Dr. Martin Luther, would have regarded all of these events as troubles, trials, and hinderances caused by the devil to prevent the preaching of the Gospel.) From Witness, Mercy and Life Together blog.
I just spoke with one of the leaders of one of our mission societies and the discussion was about how there are as many ideas about what “mission” is as there are people involved. There are probably as many ideas about what is success and what is failure as there are interested parties. Then through in the wiles of the devil and we have an interesting mix. We are going to think about these things because in the Minnesota North and North Dakota partnerships with Project 24 there is certainly “troubles, trails and hindrances of the devil”.. It is how we handle them that makes the difference.
