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Greetings in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Robyn and I pray your Lenten and Easter seasons are a time of meaningful meditation on the self-offering of our dear Lord Jesus Christ and his glorious resurrection from the dead.
Since several of you have asked about our transfer to the Asia Region and specifically to The Philippines, we thought an open letter to all of you would be appropriate. We have written to a few of you about it. So, it is good for all to know.
First, we want to assure you that Neema Lutheran College School of Theology (Matongo) is in very good hands. Rev. Dr. Omolo, the principal is a solid Lutheran pastor and scholar, who earned his PhD in Theology from our St. Louis seminary. Rev. Magero, who is as fine a biblical scholar as I have ever met, has an earned Master of Sacred Theology from St. Louis as well. The other two, full-time faculty as men with master’s degrees in theology too. Additionally, they have two part-time Kenya pastors who teach one to two course each.
As of this year, Walter has mentored a new “Alliance Missionary” who is taking his place. An alliance missionary is a man from one of our partner churches who works as an LCMS OIM missionary under the supervision of our LCMS Regional Director. This man is from Brazil and has over 30 years of college teaching experience. Our alliance missionaries are not listed on the LCMS site, as they remain clergy of the church that lends them to us. We also have another man from Finland hopefully lined up for 2026. So, there will likely be two men in the not-too-distant future. Our LCMS missionary recruiter, Dr. Mark Rabe, is also working to bring an LCMS man (or family) to Matongo. There are at least two I have heard of who are going through the vetting process now. The requirements are strict, so many do not qualify. Please pray that Dr. Rabe’s efforts bear fruit.
Of all the confessional Lutheran seminaries in Africa, Matongo is in the best position to stand on its own. Our work here has been to bring them to this place, where their curriculum meets the exacting standards needed fulfill its mission.
Walter’s work with the seminary in Shinyanga, Tanzania will continue. We have a missionary family onsite, and Walter functions to approve their curriculum and syllabi, ensuring that LCMS funding goes only to those who will teach the truth of God’s word—who are faithful to the Gospel. So, Walter will still be serving the Africa region in that capacity. This work is about 30% of my work as it stands now.
The decision to move our placement to the Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS), Baguio, The Republic of the Philippines is based on where the greater, critical need is. Matongo is solid, with well-educated and qualified professors. It is adequately manned. The seminary in The Philippines has only two Filipino professors, who are both in their 80’s. They need assistance in, not only having another full-time professor, but in getting their Bachelor’s in Theology program accredited once again. Furthermore, their deaconess training program needs to be resurrected (a task we both will be helping them with).
LTS Baguio is the only confessional Lutheran (English-language) seminary in East Asia that teaches students from throughout the region. The fear is that this seminary might go out of existence if LCMS does not assist them now. They have been without a missionary professor for nearly five years. Therefore, seeing that Matongo is in good shape, we have accepted the call to make the move.
We have loved our time at Matongo. We certainly will miss it and our Africa team. We appreciate your prayerful support over the years. We look forward to the next chapter of our lives as missionaries serving through The Office of International Mission of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.
In Christ’s Care,
Walter & Robyn Steele
P.S. Remember our new, updated web site: SteelesInMission.com.
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