Training Church Leaders

After Wal and Pastor Steve returned to Faribault and Nile Our Savior, the Sudanese congregation asked for help in providing more training to the leaders of the churches Wal had worked to establish in South Sudan. They hoped to send the leaders to a school operated by the Lutheran Church in Gambela, Ethiopia. Attending this school costs $1800 per student. This fee includes tuition, food, travel, books, lodging, and even a stipend for the student’s family. Wal and the Sudanese congregation asked for money to send three of the leaders to this school, and Pastor Steve was willing to present this request to the English-speaking congregation. As Pastor Steve recalls, “On a Sunday I raised this up in a sermon as another possible way to reach out, and by the end of the second service I had the money for three. By the end of the week I had the money for six.”¹ 

On a Sunday I raised [the prospect of raising money to send South Sudanese Church leaders to school] in a sermon as another possible way to reach out, and by the end of the second service I had the money for three [leaders]. By the end of the week I had the money for six. —Pastor Steve

Six students attended the two-year program, and in 2011, Wal and Pastor Steve returned to Africa for the graduation of those six students. Because there is still no official Lutheran denomination in South Sudan, Pastor Steve commissioned the students as lay ministers rather than ordaining them. The students each received certificates declaring them “lay ministers of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) serving in South Sudan.”² When asked how he felt to have helped these students become commissioned as lay ministers, Wal was at a loss for words and replied, “Very nice.  I feel very excited. I could not, you know, I tried to explain, it I think I couldn’t. Very big. Very big.”³ 

When asked how he felt to have helped these students become commissioned as lay ministers, Wal was at a loss for words and replied, 'Very nice. I feel very excited. I could not, you know, I tried to explain, it I think I couldn’t. Very big. Very big.' —Wal Reat

Wal has also received theological education supported by the English-speaking congregation at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church. In 2012 Wal was participating in a three-year specialized program through the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) called TEEM (Theological Education for Emerging Ministries). TEEM is specifically geared towards immigrant groups or congregations in remote areas where it is difficult to find a pastor. As part of this program, Wal traveled to a seminary campus three times a year for weeklong training retreats. According to Pastor Steve, “In between, I’m his mentor. So, we read everything together, we write his papers together, we do all of that in preparation for those classes three times a year.”⁴ 

Wal was set to complete the TEEM program in June 2012 and then would be ordained as a pastor in the ELCA. In the immediate future, Wal planned to become a part-time staff member at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and to continue to lead worship services in the Nuer language.  However, Wal hoped to eventually return to South Sudan to help people there “know God.”⁵  As Wal said, “I’m thinking about to go back permanently, but not now.”⁶