And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.Romans 8:28

“You look lost, may I help you?”

I had been wandering the halls of the university for a bit and a kind lady noticed and offered to help, asking, “What brings you to Concordia St. Paul?” It was the end of July 2019 and I was searching for a CSP magnet for our fridge.

As she showed me the way to the campus bookstore, I explained that I was a LCMS missionary serving in Africa and had just finished a meeting with the acting provost and dean of the business department. Earlier I had met the acting provost through a colleague and shared with him about Project 24 and Christ’s Care for Children—Kenya, the combined effort of the LCMS and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya (ELCK) to help orphaned and vulnerable children grow up in a Christ-centered environment.

The CSP business department often uses actual mission organizations as case studies for student learning, and my visit followed the provost’s invitation to share with the department leadership about areas we could use assistance. The visit had gone well, but I was advised to reach out to the head of undergraduate studies, who was missing from our meeting.

As we discussed this, I discovered my guide that morning was the very person I needed to speak with. She asked me to share more about the Project 24, and explained to me how students review efforts like these, understand the business case and operations, then at the end of the term provide a presentation of recommendations to the stakeholders.

Fast forward to December 2019, when, by videoconferencing, those involved in Project 24 from various parts of Kenya, North Dakota, and St. Louis, Missouri, watched students at Concordia St. Paul present their final capstone presentation. The opportunity to have a group like this take interest in helping children and provide valuable feedback was a blessing. They provided many good recommendations, but also for themselves, learned ways to become involved and help tell others about Christ.

John Wolf is the Africa Region Project Manager for the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. He and his family, with the support of LCMS churches like Saint John’s, are serving in Kenya. Please keep them in your prayers! We encourage you to follow their family blog, www.hereiamsendmesendme.blogspot.com, which is also where you can sign up to their mailing list and make donations.