Teaching and leaving "Phoebe" in Liberia

Cheryl D. Naumann giving a copy of "In the Footsteps of Phoebe" to The Revd. Amos Bolay, President of The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia

Teaching Liberian deaconess students in Monrovia, Liberia.

From February 21 to March 5, 2014, I had the privilege of journeying to and from Monrovia, Liberia, at the invitation of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) Office of International Mission, to assist in teaching Lutheranism 101 to deaconess students of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia (ELCL), an African church body that just became a partner church of the LCMS at its synod convention in the summer of 2013.

This course in Monrovia was the second phase of deaconess training in Liberia organized under the directorship of Deaconess Grace Rao (Director of Deaconess Ministry, LCMS Office of International Mission), with whom I traveled to Africa. 

Our ten students came from all over Liberia, from five different tribes with five different languages, so the common language of instruction is English, which they all know as their second language. The two women that came the furthest traveled three nights and two days; one of them with her three month old baby!  Every day they were eager to learn.  We started at 7:30 a.m. and finished between 4 and 6 p.m. (even having class on Saturday).  We had to insist that they took breaks during the day and their whole lunch hour because when they finished lunch they would be back in their seats waiting for class to start again.

After our last day of teaching, ELCL President Rev. Amos Bolay took us to see the Liberian Lutheran Malaria Initiative office.  I thought of Bishop David Stechholz of the LCMS English District while standing in the office, since the Bishop is on the LCMS committee for this initiative and the English District has made such an effort to support the Malaria initiative.  It was very moving to see what a huge effect the LCMS is having in this part of the world that so desperately needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the hand of mercy that is simultaneously provided through the love of Jesus Christ.  What a privilege we have to partner with and serve the people of Liberia in so many ways!

KFUO BookTalk Interviews

These last several months since my dear father's departing to his heavenly rest have been very busy - and hence my lack of posts here on the blog. But activity in the realm of deaconess history has continued! In January I was interviewed three times on KFUO radio - A station located on property adjacent to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. BookTalk host Rod Zwonitzer did a marvelous job of interviewing me about In the Footstep of Phoebe, as well as encouraging his listeners to think seriously about diaconal work in their own churches. The good news is that you can hear these recorded programs simply by accessing the archived BookTalk section of the KFUO website: www.kfuoam.org, Archives, Book Talk, Jan. 14 (Part 1), Jan. 21 (Part 2), Jan. 22 (Part 3). After the interviews I wrote a 30-second advert for deaconesses, which is now airing daily on KFUO 850AM and streaming worldwide. The hope is that this will generate some interest to create more positions for deaconesses in LCMS congregations. Since recruitment programs for deaconess students have done their jobs well, we have a lot of women graduating from our LCMS deaconess training programs! Now the placement directors and the church as a whole need to keep up with finding enough appropriate places for these women to serve. This is a matter that we can keep in prayer! I hope you enjoy listening to the archived interviews!

Waiting to Serve

Most women serving as deaconesses are asked, "What is a deaconess?" on a fairly regular basis. In the Lutheran Church, the formal definition of such a servant of Christ has changed over the decades. All too often, the definition is dictated by what a deaconess DOES, rather than WHO or WHOSE she is. What needs to be remembered is that regardless of changing roles in the workplace, certain things are not altered. In particular, I mean that the expected attitude of the heart and mind - of consecration and servanthood - does not change. Having said this, I suppose those who have no personal knowledge of a deaconess still feel that they are in the dark as to her role in the church. If you are one of those people, it's probably time for you to read In the Footsteps of Phoebe.

Be knowledgeable about this profession (vocation) and how a deaconess might benefit YOUR own parish or institution. The downturn in our economy has caused many Lutheran congregations and institutions to forfeit the acquisition of more staff. Hence there are trained deaconesses who are waiting for first-time placements or who are hoping to move to a new position and are not able to do so. I challenge you today to take a creative look at your own ministry model, to see if it might be possible to put one of these waiting women to work with YOUR team, sooner than later!

RECORDING HISTORY - Good, Bad, or Neutral?

I hope that as many people as possible take time to record the "history" of their lives and the communities around them, particularly within the church. One of the reasons that multiple records are valuable to (church) historians is that no two people see or record the same event in the same way. We know this to be true about the four Gospels, for example, even as the apostles wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

It is also interesting to see that the same event can be reported as inherently good, bad, or neutral in its value to individuals, society, or the church. Before I started writing In the Footsteps of Phoebe, and old friend asked me, "What are your presuppositions?" I was rather taken aback, and stated that I simply planned to report historical events, rather than color them with my own presuppositions. Now that the project is finished, I understand what my friend meant. All of history, when reported, is seen as either good, bad, or neutral - and years down the road whatever is painted as neutral will be reassigned to good or bad in light of its long-term effect in a continued history. And so we are sometimes caught saying things like, "the jury is still out on that decision."

Of course, years down the road, not everyone will agree about whether today's current events have had a positive or negative effect on our lives - particularly in relation to our faith and the and our goal to be true to God's Word and to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations.

We should be praying fervently for God's guidance now, that the history we live and influence lands on the side called "good;" that someday when they is reported in newer history books, our decisions and actions as individuals and as "church" will be viewed as well-informed, wise, and God-pleasing.