God At Work in the West Region

by Robert Mohns

Throughout my years of service as the West Regional Pastor for Lutheran Church–Canada, I have witnessed the Lord’s hand guiding His Church, sustaining His people, nurturing them in faith, and welcoming the lost or those who have strayed into His kingdom. Many members have expressed a desire for greater awareness of the developments and events occurring among the congregations of LCC.

Jesus once told the story of a sower sowing seeds. He did it not in the patterned way of us moderns, but seemingly indiscriminately, randomly, all over the place (Matthew 13). Jesus used stories like this to help His disciples understand His work, so I want to share a few stories too to highlight the Lord’s ongoing work in our regions.

After nine years of pastoral formation through the Pastors with Alternate Training program, and under the guidance of Rev. Mark Ruf alongside host congregation Grace Lutheran Church, Joseph Nhial was ordained and installed to serve the Nuer language people in Calgary. The Word of the Lord and the working of the spirit in Word and Sacrament has yielded both numerical growth and spiritual maturity, with more than three hundred Nuer-speaking people from the community attended Rev. Nhial’s ordination and installation. Today, this community is nearing the final stages of establishing the South Sudanese Nuer Lutheran Church Fellowship of Calgary as part of LCC. Remarkably, despite limited resources, this young faith community also supports two Nuer-speaking congregations overseas. Efforts are underway to obtain and develop Nuer language resources to support both worship and ongoing catechesis within the congregation.

Rev. Jean Luc Damas and his family settled in northern B.C.’s Dawson Creek after he was certified to teach in Canada, joining the French language school programme there. Rev. Damas, originally trained as a Roman Catholic priest in Haiti, became acquainted with LCC through Rev. David Somers, missionary-at-large for French ministries. Rev. Damas undertook courses at the Francophone Lutheran Liturgical Institute and later entered the colloquy programme, becoming certified for a call in LCC. Rev. Damas continues to support the Haitian diaspora in Canada and has developed numerous connections. Recently, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Dawson Creek applied to the President’s Ministry Council for Rev. Damas to serve as Assistant Pastor alongside Rev. Ken Eifert. His addition will greatly benefit the Peace River Circuit, which faces the challenge of providing Word and Sacrament ministry across a vast area with a shortage of pastors.

Faith Lutheran Church in Surrey, B.C., supports numerous language communities, enabling worship in each group’s prayer language. The congregation has begun a new mission project called, “Overcoming Babel,” which will make use of an AI service to bridge the gap between the many language groups of this multi-ethnic congregation. Faith also hosts a growing Oromo language community. Several years ago, Rev. Mark Smith, then LCC’s Mission Executive, connected with Rev. Magarsa Danu, who moved to Vancouver to serve the Oromo language community. Rev. Danu, who trained for ministry at the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus’ seminary, entered our colloquy programme and was certified for ministry within LCC, receiving a call to serve as missionary-at-large to the Oromo community. This ministry has flourished, and steps are now being taken to formally establish a LCC congregation in the lower mainland for the Oromo community.

Sin and death are conquered, and the Life of the world brings new life into the world.

In northern Alberta’s Fort McMurray, Trinity Lutheran Church and the Oromo worshipping community received pastoral care from Rev. Keith Haberstock for nine years. Rev. Haberstock has now accepted a call to serve at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Chilliwack, B.C. As Trinity can no longer support a resident pastor, LCC pastors from the Oromo Evangelical Church of Calgary have offered to provide the English-speaking community with Word and Sacrament as they are able when visiting Fort McMurray to serve the Oromo community.

St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Calgary, the mother church of the city, remains one of the last bilingual German/English-speaking congregations. In recent years, a group of Eritrean Christians began worshipping with them and have joined the congregation. The once elderly congregation has revitalized its Sunday School and Eritrean young people have joined the confirmation class. This new involvement has revitalised the congregation’s ministry.

The Sower continues to sow the seed randomly, all over. Even on this sin-hardened country and this thorn-infested heart of mine, the fruit of faith and life are born and sustained. Sin and death are conquered, and the Life of the world brings new life into the world. I am constantly surprised and amazed. And if you pay attention, perhaps you too will see it hiding in the rocky crags and under the weed-infested fields.

At a baptismal font in a hotel conference room, or with a congregation gathering in a meeting room at a hockey arena, parents submit their children to death to sin in Holy Baptism and receive back to themselves a new creation, a child of God. There can be no greater joy in this world than that!

At an overcrowded hallway in a hospital, with alarms going off, a pastor crouches over his parishioner, providing the medicine of immortality—perhaps for the last time this side of eternity. And he witnesses those dry bones taste the fulfilment and peace of God.

At a lowly cemetery in the dead of winter, parishioners and pastor cluster together to bury their beloved, awaiting the joyous resurrection where all the saints will be raised pure and holy to behold their Lord as He welcomes all to the wedding feast that has no end. What a day that will be!

There are countless stories yet to be told of God’s activity through His Church; for the Sower continues to goes forth to sow. I am grateful to have travelled for a time as LCC’s West Regional Pastor and to have been shown the hand of God at work.

Rev. Robert Mohns is Regional Pastor for Lutheran Church-Canada’s West Region.

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