Hands to the Plow
LBIM is excited to share the news of the recently completed and printed resource entitled Les mains à la charrue! (Hands to the Plow!).
This book is the fruit of a collaborative effort by LBIM missionary Reverend Dr. Paul Szobody (primary editor), Reverend Dr. Eugene Boe (sponsor), Pastor Elroy Vesta (printer), LBIM missionary Matthias Szobody (illustrator), and others who helped along the way. 1,000 copies have been printed, and LBIM will assist in shipping these books to Chad and subsequently distributing them at a subsidized cost to our Chadian and Cameroonian colleagues in ministry.
Following is the introduction to the book, written by Dr. Szobody:
Herein are some documents considered essential for workers in Lutheran churches in French-speaking Africa.
At a conference in Chad for the continuing education of church workers, one of the speakers, Dr. Eugene Boe, a professor of Systematic Theology in the United States, quickly recognized the need for a manual of confessional texts, something practical for all workers—pastors, catechists, elders, etc.
Dr. Boe proposed that we gather together certain important and fundamental confessions for the ministry of the local church. After targeting certain texts, it was decided to also add a practical explanation of the Christian calendar year, showing its usefulness in the liturgical and pedagogical life of the Church. We want this manual to be useful to everyone, including missions and the most remote parishes in the bush. We are especially targeting workers with few sources and little education in French or theology. We translated several documents (the first part of the manual) into easy-to-understand French, based on what is heard among ordinary people in Chad. Our model was the dynamic language used in the Word of Life Bible translation, an ecumenical translation project in West Africa. We sincerely thank Dr. Boe for proposing this project and for assisting in its implementation. Lutheran church workers in Africa owe him a great deal.
For the first part of this Manual (chs. 1-4 and the Glossary), we thank the readers in N’djamena, those who worked to correct the texts and suggest expressions that were better understood locally.
Furthermore, I am extremely grateful for the availability and work of Dr. Ambroise Téko for his valuable contribution with his final readings and corrections.
For the second part of the Manual (chs. 5-6), in Middle French, we thank The Lutheran Heritage Foundation (USA) for granting us the rights to print certain works by the late Dr. Wilbert Kreiss, works lovingly created for French-speaking missions in Africa.
Finally, we express our great appreciation for the drawings of Matthias Szobody.
Paul Szobody, Ph.D. in Theology
On behalf of LBIM, I want to add my expression of gratitude to Dr. Szobody, Dr. Boe, Pastor Vesta, Matthias Szobody, and all who helped this vision become a reality. I am grateful and full of anticipation as to how this resource, placed in the hands of our fellow ministers of the gospel in Francophone Africa, will serve the advancement of the gospel in that region, for the glory of our LORD. Thank you, Church of the Lutheran Brethren, for your prayers and support of the global disciple-making mission that we hold dear.
Dan Venberg is the Director of Lutheran Brethren International Mission in Fergus Falls, MN.