AN ARTICLE FOR FORWARD IN CHRIST
Sent on December 15, 2003

Written by Retired Pastor Richard William Mueller
Missionary in Central Africa from 1957 to 1972

SO! IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!

Those were the words spoken to us by Mr. Marowsky, a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Jefferson, Wisconsin. He is an organist there, as well as a retired teacher and organ builder.

We met him as he came out of church on one of the Sundays we worshiped there. Of course, we told him of our recent trip to Africa where we were invited to take part in the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Lutheran Church in Central Africa/Zambia – and the 40th Anniversary of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa/Malawi. We told him of the blessings which are ours because of that visit – the blessings of seeing some of the fruits of the preaching of God’s Word on that huge continent. Africa is three times as big as the United States.

When we were in the middle of revealing those blessings to him, he said what is written above. “So! It was all worth it.”

What was worth it? We do not know what Mr. Marowsky was thinking when he made that statement. We are, however, quite sure that he was not thinking about the eighteen plus hour plane ride to and from Southern Africa, the uncomfortable seats in cramped quarters, or the wearying waits spent in airports along the way.

What he was thinking of are conditions which are as true for missionaries today as they were when we were missionaries in Africa over thirty years ago. Because Mr. Marowsky lived near our parents, he was undoubtedly thinking of the years we spent apart from our parents and our siblings. He was thinking of the heartache of the parents in not being able to see their children and grandchildren.

He may also have been thinking of the hardships a missionary faces in a foreign land. He may have been thinking of days spent without electricity and of food spoiling in the refrigerator. He may have been thinking of the difficulty of living in a minority group. Whites in Africa are outnumbered by thousands to one. He may have been thinking of the difficulty in conversing with people who do not speak American English. He may have been thinking of the dusty, the muddy, the rocky, and the pot-holed roads in the Africa bush. He may have been thinking of flash floods which sweep a vehicle off its wheels without warning.

Yes, these are things which our missionaries experience to this very day. But, ask any one of them and they will tell you – even as Mr. Marowsky said, “So! It was all worth it!”

It is all worth it when a man comes up to you and tells you that he is the son or grandson of one of the men with whom you labored for the Lord in the 1950s and 60s. It is all worth it when an African man and woman comes up to you and tells you that you were there when he and she were baptized. It is all worth it when you meet a retired African pastor who was one of your students in the Bible School when you were in Africa — who worked side by side with you in serving bush churches with the pure and saving message of Holy Scriptures.

It is all worth it when you are met by a Professor at our Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka and know that he was one of your students in that same Seminary. It is all worth it when the wife of one of our African pastors reveals that she is one of the granddaughters of one of the first men to become a member of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa. He is a man who became an evangelist in the LCCA — and who is now wearing the Crown of Life before the King of Glory in heaven.

It is all worth it when one of the original members of the Lutheran Church in Central Africa proclaims that he witnessed your stay in Zambia to proclaim the peace that the Gospel brings to troubled souls during the troubled and perilous times of independence. It is all worth it when a man, neatly dressed in a blue suit, with a white shirt and red tie, earnestly desires to have his picture taken with you and his Confirmation Certificate because he confessed his faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost before you on the 1st day of August 1965.

It was all worth it when people thanked us, in Chinyanja, for coming to them with that precious Word which has assured them of eternal life in heaven – and we were able to understand them. It was all worth it when we were able to continue sowing the saving Seed, the Word of God, in the hearts of Zambians and Malawians, in Chinyanja, in a language which was remembered more than we ever imagined it would be.

It is all worth it when it becomes very clear that that Seed, the Word of God, is not only bearing fruit above ground – fruit which can be seen, but that it is also bearing fruit below ground – fruit which can also be seen. The roots of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa are creeping deeper and deeper into the soil of the hearts of the peoples of Africa. They are also becoming stronger and stronger – as is evidenced by the generation today which, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is remaining faithful to the faith of their Christian fathers, mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers.

Yes, it is all worth it. The gifts that made it possible for missionaries to be sent to Africa in the past – and the gifts that are continuing to make it possible for missionaries to be sent there today – are worth it. Also, those gifts that are making it possible for the Lutheran Church in Central Africa to become a self-supporting church – a church which is contemplating sending its own missionaries to the countries of Mozambique and Angola – are worth it.

And one day, before the throne of God, you will see that it was all worth it – for there Timothy Tonga, Benford Kawiliza, Salimo Hachibamba, Lot Lubaba, Timothy Mulando, Deverson Ntambo, Cylus Bowman, and many others from Central Africa will join you in singing praises to our Lord and King to all eternity.