January 2011: 

Greetings to you in the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

    I hope you will consider becoming a partner in Project: Pastoral Education, Sierra Leone.  Our Lord has blessed the prayers and generous gifts that many have provided these past few years to enable the equipping of Lutheran pastors to spread the Gospel in many villages and towns throughout West Africa.  This ongoing Project is strictly a labor of love, and we have been so privileged to have so many partners who have joined us.

    We have planned to deliver another pastoral education program, scheduled for January 10-21, 2011, upon official invitation from the officers of the Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sierra Leone. Our program will be expanded from past years by providing for two concurrent classes of about 10 pastors in each (20 men in all). This will involve adding an additional instructor with the three of us rotating our teaching between the sections, two teaching and one as resource. Rev. Jeffery Grams of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Scottsbluff, NE, has graciously consented to join Rev. Marcus Zill and I for this expanded program. He is an accomplished teacher and will be a fine addition to our teaching staff. Expanding our program into two sections will allow additional Lutheran pastors from Liberia to participate.  Our instructional program will run for the two-week period with all-day sessions covering the following topics:  Principles of Biblical Interpretation, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (vis-à-vis Pentecostalism), Lutheran Worship: Theology and Practice, and Indigenous Issues of Pastoral Practice. Assessment exercises and assignments will be built into the instructional modules to survey comprehension and application. We have again secured the use of the Javouhey Catholic Retreat Center in Freetown with the needed deposit. The national presidents of the Lutheran Churches in Sierra Leone and Liberia will select appropriate pastors for each of their church bodies to attend the classes.

    Our two-week advanced pastoral education project during January 11-22, 2010, was a tremendous success that God has blessed mightily. The instructional program carried out by Pr. Marcus Zill and I involved teaching units on preaching the Law and the Gospel, the shape of Lutheran worship and hymnody, an exegetical study of I Peter, and a roundtable on indigenous issues in Lutheran pastoral practice. Our participants were national leadership pastors from the Christ Lutheran Church of Sierra Leone (ten) and the newly formed Lutheran Church in Liberia (three).

    The president of the CELCSL has reported to us that participants at our session who are instructors in their basic pastoral education program have added material from our session into their basic pastoral education curriculum. Moreover, the leadership planned and executed educational sessions passing on our instruction to their pastors at their annual national church convention this past May. We are so very gratified and thank God for this extension of our teaching into the rank and file Lutheran pastorate in Sierra Leone and so value your partnership with us in this labor of love.

    We believe that the cost of this next project will be in the neighborhood of about $17,500.  Will you pray that the Lord might bless our efforts and provide for these funds?  As you may know, Sierra Leone is the most destitute country in the world according to the United Nations.  Our fellow Lutheran pastors and parishes in Sierra Leone and Liberia so need our help and support to nurture and spread of the precious Gospel. I know that times are tough right now, but whatever you might be able to provide by way of a financial gift to help us would be such a great blessing.  If you are so led, you can use the convenient PayPal button provided here. Or if you prefer, you can download the informational brochure with mail-in form and send your tax-deductible gift by mail.

God’s richest blessings to you,

Rev. Dr. Steven A. Hein
Assoc. Pastor, Shepherd of the Springs Lutheran Church

Paypal is offered as another convenient way to do so.  At the same time, we encourage our members to bring their offerings to the Lord's Divine Service as a response to the blessings of the Gospel that they have received..

Winter 2009/10:  Dr. Steven Hein and  Rev. Marcus Zill conducted another two week intensive pastoral  education program at the Leiceste Center in Freetown, Sierra Leone.  Thank you for your support! 

Fall 2008:  (From Dr. Hein)  We were privileged to prepare three of the men for ordination which took place at the conclusion of our program. 

Fall 2007:  Currently, the pastors and congregations of the Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC) of Sierra Leone do not have the resources for a regular program of theological studies for its servants of the Word. The leadership of CELC has requested help and Project:  Pastoral Education is a modest response to provide additional theological equipping in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our goal is to strengthen the Ministry of the Gospel within their congregations and their outreach to the people of Sierra Leone.

Here is an opportunity for interested Christians to partner with us in providing a two week in-service educational program designed to provide a multi-faceted agenda of theological instruction to strengthen the mission and ministry of pastors and leaders of the CELC of Sierra Leone. Your prayers and consideration of support will help to provide the funds necessary to make this project possible. Pray that the Lord will provide the laborers and resources for the harvest.

Shepherd of the Springs Lutheran Church gratefully welcomes donations from those who wish to partner with us in our ministry endeavors.