THE LIFE OF RICHARD WILLIAM MUELLER, JR.
(Continued)

Dad’s Autobiography – Chapter 16 – In Book, Page 34

London, David Livingstone, Our Second Furlough, Our Third Tour – 1965-1969, Bible Institute, Chinyanja Literature, Acting Superintendent, Field of Labor, Indigenous Church, Offerings

The second time we were in London, we also met a friend there. He had become a friend during our stay in Malawi. He had come to Malawi to help the government. We had come to serve souls. He was a ham radio operator and so was I. That was the bond that tied us together. It was quite a tight bond – so tight that he invited Irene and me to a curry dinner at his home. His wife prepared a delicious meal – but to attend it, I had to take Irene on a date. She was in the hospital at the time. She had had hernia surgery — but was given permission by her doctor to “go out” for the evening. Her fellow roommates watched her go – and bid her well – with laughter. Later that night, she had to sneak in while everyone was sleeping.

We met Mr. J. T. Blackwood at the Horse Guard’s Parade. What a sight that must have been! A proper, very refined, typical Englishman, wearing a bowler hat, swinging his cane, crossing the Horse Guard’s Parade Ground to meet unkempt, touristy American travelers. Irene and I shall never forget the sight.

One of the places he took us to that day was Westminster Abby. As we toured the church, I said to him, “David Livingstone is buried here.” He looked at me and said, “David Livingstone would not be caught dead here.” David Livingstone was a Scot. However, a short time later, he came to me with a sheepish grin. He led me to the middle of the church floor – to a plaque over the grave of Dr. David Livingstone. He was buried there – at least his body. His heart is buried in a tree in Africa.

OUR SECOND FURLOUGH

In many ways our second furlough was exactly like our first furlough. We visited families and friends. I also preached almost every Sunday and lectured many, many times during the week. We also traveled from Wisconsin to California by car. The price of a gallon of gasoline was about twenty-seven cents.

However, while our first furlough was nine months long – our first tour had been four and a half years – our second furlough was six months long – the normal length of a furlough back in those days. It was three years on the mission field and six months on furlough. Over the years it was found that six months away from the mission field was too long. A missionary would lose touch with his work. Consequently, tours on the mission field were shortened to two years with four months on furlough. This, of course, could vary depending on the needs of the missionary and the needs of the mission field.

Another way in which our first furlough was different from our second furlough was that — while the gifts given at the lectures on the first tour were directed toward the establishment of a Bible Institute — the gifts received on the second tour were directed toward the establishment of a Printing Press in Lusaka.

During our first tour in Central Africa we saw the need for pictures to illuminate the stories of the Bible. To meet that need, we asked that Sunday School leaflets be sent to us from the United States. That appeal was heard – and met. Bible pictures began to appear in the hands of African children and adults. Words appeared with those pictures. Sad to say, those words were in English — and unable to be read by many. We needed those words in the languages which Africans spoke. We needed a printing press in Africa.

That need was met – and, in 1966, the foundation of a Printing Press in Lusaka was laid. However, even before that blessed occasion, our Lord was at work laying another kind of foundation for the Publications Building.. The Executive Committee for Central Africa had put out an appeal for a Publications Director. Elmer Schneider had responded to that appeal – and we were asked to visit him and his family in Golden, Colorado, on our lecture tour back from the West Coast. He, his wife, Ginger, and their children, Laurel and Eric, welcomed us into their home with open arms. Our Lord had given us another missionary.

Our Lord had also brought our dream to reality when He allowed us to build and staff the Bible Institute outside of Lusaka. Zambia. Pastor Ernest Wendland was called to prepare courses of instruction – and to teach those courses – with the help of the missionaries living in the area. I was one of those missionaries. After our return to Africa — after our second furlough – I was also privileged to teach some of the courses.

Ernie Wendland, Jr., had also been sent to help us with our labors. He was gifted in languages – a great help in producing Lutheran Christian literature in all of the languages spoken in Central Africa: English, Chinyanja, Bemba, and Lozi – to name only a few. He also taught in the Bible Institute – and served as a resource man for the American Bible Society. To this day, he remains a blessing to our mission in Africa.

OUR THIRD TOUR — 1965-1969

When we went to Africa in 1957, the country to which we went was Northern Rhodesia. Now the country to which we went was Zambia – the same country with a different name. Nyasaland also had a new name – Malawi. From now on we shall call them by their new names. When we went to Africa, these countries were part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Now they were independent. The third country of the Federation also became independent. Today it is known as Zimbabwe. It was Southern Rhodesia.

We returned to Zambia rather than to Malawi because I was asked to be the Acting Superintendent of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa. Because our work in Malawi had just begun, we thought it would be the better part of wisdom to be stationed in Zambia where most of our mission work was being carried on.

However, as time went on it became clear that I would not remain in that position. Pastor Theodore Sauer was called to serve in that position – the position to which he had been called the first time he was called to the mission field in Africa. We were about to embark on our mission work in Malawi at that time.

Pastor Sauer served one tour in Zambia – three years – and then accepted a Call into the ministry in the United States. He served his Lord there for six years. Then, in 1970, he was called to serve in Central Africa again. He was called to serve as the Superintendent of our mission in Zambia and Malawi.

As I look back, I can see clearly why the Lord did not allow me to become the permanent Superintendent of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa. I am not a person who likes to sit behind a desk. I love to be among people. It was our family’s greatest joy to be visiting with the Africans we had come to serve. It was my greatest joy to meet with and instruct our African evangelists and pastors.

As Acting Superintendent of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa I had the responsibility of keeping an account of the monies which were sent to the mission from the United States by the Executive Committee for Central Africa. I saw to it that all bills were paid and that all of the missionaries had the monies they needed to cover their expenses. As the mission grew, this aspect of our mission work grew to the point where it became necessary to hire a bookkeeper to handle the financial affairs of the mission.

As a bearer of the Good News of salvation through Christ Jesus, the field of my labors extended from the suburbs of Lusaka to the Northwestern Province of Zambia. There were four churches in the suburbs of Lusaka under my care. One congregation had been established about fifteen miles west of Lusaka. Four congregations were to the north of Lusaka. Two congregations were on the Copperbelt, one in Ndola and another in Kitwe. And there were any number of congregations in the Northwestern Province. All of these were visited on a regular basis – twice a year with those six hundred fifty miles to the north. Those on the Copperbelt were visited no less than four times a year. We covered a lot of territory.

Even though these many congregations were under my care, I tried diligently to remember that we had been sent to Central Africa to establish an indigenous church. We wanted the members of congregations to look to their evangelists and pastors as their leaders. We did not want the members of congregations to think of the missionary as their leader. In order to impress this upon the members of congregations, I did very little preaching or teaching in the suburbs and villages. Rather, I went to observe. Every Sunday, Irene and I – and our children – visited at least two congregations – different ones each Sunday.

The, during the week, I had the evangelists under my care who were near come to our home in Lusaka for consultation, instruction, and encouragement. They would share with me the problems which might have arisen in their congregations. We would discuss them. We would find the answer to them on the basis of the Word of God. Then they – not me – would go back to their flock with that answer. We wanted the members of their congregations to go to their African shepherds only for help and advice. Again, we did this in order to bring about this aspect of the indigenous church in as short a time as possible. We must say that the establishment of an indigenous church in not a simple, easy, and quick task.

Self-support is another facet of an indigenous church. Because the income of an African in the bush is almost nothing, it was difficult to reach that goal. However, we did the best we could. We gave every opportunity we could think of to the members of our congregations to give to the work of spreading the Gospel of Christ Jesus. There were those who said we should not receive any offerings. However, we learned that when people heard the amazing truth that their sins had been paid for – that they were assured of an eternal home in heaven with the God who saved them – they wanted to give some offering.

Anything could be given – and was given. We have seen not only coins, but also eggs, potatoes, maize – and even a live chicken in the offering plate. When items such as these were offered, they were sold and the money placed into the church treasury. If they could not be sold in the village, we would take them home with us. But before we did, the officers of the congregation would decide on the monetary value of such offerings. Then, when we returned to that village, we would bring the money with us – money that we had received from the sale of those offerings – or money with which we had bought those offerings.