Driving on rustic roads peppered with potholes, eating fried goat meat and nshima (thickly cooked corn meal), and watching literacy lessons scratched into the dirt with a stick—these were just some of the adventures the three members of the Humanitarian Aid Committee had when they traveled to Africa in July. The purpose of their trip was to assess how committee-funded humanitarian aid projects are helping pastors and evangelists gain an audience for the gospel in Malawi and Zambia.

During their two-week stay, Pastor David Valleskey, Mr. Kent Raabe, and Staff Minister Tom Hering met with approximately 20 national pastors and vicars, visited 14 local congregations, and met with 7 WELS missionaries in the region. Through these visits, Valleskey says the committee discovered that humanitarian aid projects like bore holes (deep wells) and home-based health care and education were accomplishing their goal of “building bridges” to share the gospel.

For example, in places where deep wells are dug, Bible studies or even church services are held nearby during times of the day when most villagers use the well. Valleskey says the project itself—providing fresh water—won’t save people, but it will help gain an audience for the gospel. Likewise, when laypeople are trained to provide home health care, they can witness about Jesus while caring for sick members of the community.

“One of the things we always have to be clear on is we are not saying to members of the community, ‘We will help you in your need if you listen to us,’ ” says Valleskey. “We simply want to show them the love of Jesus. At the same time, we want our members to be aware that this might provide great opportunities to tell others about the love of Jesus.”

Valleskey, Raabe, and Hering also saw vocational training projects in action, like group literacy lessons and tailoring classes. According to Valleskey, the benefits of vocational training are twofold: members of the community not only gain the skills necessary to support their families, but they also have an opportunity to learn about Jesus.

“The trip was very enlightening,” says Valleskey. “We came to understand better the unique needs and opportunities for humanitarian aid in Zambia and Malawi.”

He said the meetings with the church leaders were especially beneficial. “We found the national church is taking on much more of the work on its own, looking to the missionaries more as advisors and counselors,” says Valleskey. He says it’s part of the process of indigeneity—meaning the mission fields are becoming more self-sufficient and reliant on their own national pastors.