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We are blessed to add the prayer letter of Joy and Paul Mueller to our site.

Thanks to members Del and Dorleen for sharing this with us.

Mueller Email Prayer Letter – June 2008

Volume 4, No. 5

Apologies to all for sending this a bit late. Believe us, there has been a lot of activity and changes and it is time to report them to you.

One of our jobs is to support, encourage, strategize, and develop vision alongside of the African LCMS WM missionaries. It is an exciting job which turns more into a learning experience for us than wisdom coming from our desks!!! I want to share two stories from the work of two of your LCMS WM missionaries among Muslim people groups. Both stories come from Guinea: one from Siguiri and one from another village near that town.

Andrea Herman works among Muslim women. Here are bits and pieces of her story: “I went into the market and when I got to the shop, a young Fulani man kept asking me questions like, “What are you doing here?” (Studying Maninka). “Why?” (So I can teach). “Who will you be teaching?” (Maninka women). “What will you be teaching them?” (God stories). Then he said, “Oh, you’re a Christian!” and proceeded to ask a LOT of questions about Jesus. There were also 4 other Fulani men there. After a while, the store owner invited me in so I could talk to all of them (we had been talking “outside” on the route through the market). It is important to understand, it’s not very appropriate for a group of Muslim men to invite a woman to talk to them, but even more bizarre that they invited me in to discuss a religious topic! In their culture, men don’t ask women about religion. It wasn’t hard to see that this encounter had God’s fingerprints all over it, and when I wasn’t talking, I was for praying for God’s help. I was so unprepared to have that conversation. We had to speak in French because I don’t think they would have understood my broken Maninka. The more they talked about Jesus, it was clear that they were missing some details. I asked them, “Don’t you know what Jesus did?” None did. The shop owner then invited me to sit in his “big man” chair (it’s like a high chair for adults to show everyone who is the boss). I was feeling incredibly self-conscious since we were in the middle of the market, and a crowd started to gather to see why the white lady was sitting in the boss man’s chair. Then one of the men said, “Tell us the story about Jesus.” I couldn’t believe my ears! So I started telling them about the 30 year old Jesus and his ministry. Another man stopped me. He said, “No, start with His birth!” You can imagine my shock and awe at the wide open door that God had opened among this group of men. So I started from the beginning, and told the story, though many questions were interjected. More than 2 hours later the shop owner said, “We have kept her too long. We need to let her go.” But he told me I had to return soon so we could talk again. I said I would. When I returned home, I told Abou all what happened and asked if he would go visit them as a follow up. Abou brought tracts in Arabic, telling them to read them, ask questions, and he would return to talk. Abou mentioned he also had a printed resource in their mother tongue, Pular. The shop owner said, “What is it, I’ll buy it!” He said it was the 4 Gospels, but it costs the equivalent of $5, a lot for the average Guinean. The shop owner said, “I promise if you bring it, I will buy it from you. I want to read anything that is in my language!”

The second comes from Tim and Heidi Norton. Excerpts from his story follow: “A man came here to help us, we thought, who claimed to be a Christian for 20 years. In reality, his only interest was in gaining money and status for himself. He created divisions between the English speakers and the Maninka speakers in our church fellowship. He divided the Maninka speakers away from the mission. He has now left our area for good. We rejoice that the numerous rifts he created have been healed. There is a new trust between the English speaking members of our fellowship and the Maninka, there is a renewed vision for how to evangelize people with the Gospel and not false promises (this man had given many). One village that I had never visited myself was anxiously expecting things from this man because of one of those false promises in the name of the mission, but they were very forgiving when I went to see them and still expressed a desire to collaborate. The Holy Spirit has been working in the hearts of one family there for a long time, but fear has inhibited them from expressing their faith openly. The father of this family had leprosy and went to a Catholic clinic in Mali for treatment. He received the healing and in the meantime, most of his children were struck by the witness of the priests, nuns, and lay people they encountered. The oldest son in this family told us he is a Muslim but he has more faith in Christ than he does in Mohammed. Please pray for this village. It could very well be the site of a mass conversion if the people are able to overcome their fear. There were times in this ordeal when we didn't know what was going to happen to the very small group of believers here. But praise God, this attack was thwarted! We can rejoice that what some intended for evil God has turned into good.”

WOW! Many of you probably realize how difficult Muslim evangelistic missionary work can be. It is often slow and difficult, with little visible results. Yet, the Holy Spirit is actively working in the lives of people to change hearts – even when we don’t realize it. God uses circumstances which we would never have planned. Notice how God, in the middle of these situations, created opportunities for His Good News to be proclaimed. We need eyes like these missionaries – willing to see opportunities in the least humanly expected places, and through the most unexpected circumstances.

Our work is to support, pray for, and encourage these missionaries in person on the field. It is a wonderful work. It is also a work you can join in as you pray for and support them. Though by distance, it is still a powerful God who works through your prayers and gifts in order that His Good News is shared and those who still live in darkness one day join the eternal heavenly choir.

One other piece of news related to our situation: Joy was working for both LCMS World Relief and Human Care and World Mission. However, LCMS WR-HC is moving in another direction and her 2-year call has come to an end. She developed African strategies, processes, and protocols for LCMS World Mission and LCMS World Relief and Human Care which have moved their activity forward in positive ways. She has accomplished a great deal, and the processes and protocols now in place can begin to function on their own. As a result, she will now return to her former school district in Minnesota and was accepted into an international studies doctoral program at the University of Minnesota. She has enjoyed immensely her 2+ years working with the missionaries in Africa and the leadership of the National Churches throughout the continent. It is two years which will never be forgotten. In that regard, she is so thankful for all the prayers, the support, the letters, the emails, the visits, the hugs, and good wishes. It has been a blessing from God and an honor to be chosen to be involved in his mission once again in Africa. Thanks for all you have done to make that happen. Paul will continue to serve as Regional Director – Africa, LCMS World Mission.

Prayers:

1. Praise God for faithful missionaries like Andrea and the Nortons and all the other African missionaries who faithfully serve.

2. Praise God for the successful missionary orientation where the Gillards, Trumps, and Rodewalds just finished training.

3. Praise God for the many people who support LCMS WM missionaries around the world, especially those in Africa.

4. Pray for the personal prayer and financial support of your missionaries, especially those new ones heading to field who need to raise funds so they can serve God as missionaries in Africa.

5. Pray for Joy as she transitions back into a new ministry in the good ‘ole US of A and supports the African mission work from there.

Thanks for the prayers and support we receive. Please keep in touch with us. Paul’s email: Paul.Mueller(atsymbol)LCMS.org*. Joy’s email: Joy.Mueller(atsymbol)LCMS.org*. Our snail mail address is P.O. Box 22, Karen, 00502, Kenya, E. AFRICA.

If you are receiving this via US Postal Service but have email, please let us know so we can send it to you electronically. It is quicker and more cost effective for the Careciples from Peace Lutheran Church in St. Louis who mail the letter. This group has been helping us share our ministry with you since 1983! We praise God for them as they serve Him in the world.

If you wish to support our ministry, please send your gifts to: LCMS World Mission, 1333 South Kirkwood, St. Louis, MO., 63122-7295, ATTN: Missionary Support and indicate the support is for us by name. Please inform us of your intentions so that we can personally thank you.

To support projects of LCMS World Mission visit: http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=5878.

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