wfn.org | ELCA Missionary Robert Wandersee Killed in Nigeria (Update)

[George Conklin <gconklin@wfn.org>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 14, 1998

ELCA MISSIONARY ROBERT WANDERSEE KILLED IN NIGERIA
98-29-169-AH

 CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert E. Wandersee, a missionary of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was killed in a
robbery-related attack Aug. 7 on a highway outside Jos, Nigeria.  Wandersee
was struck by bullets when the car in which he and two Nigerian passengers
were traveling came under attack. The perpetrators have not been apprehended.
      The passengers, Isuwa Haniel and Falaka Ya'u, co-workers from the
Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), were hospitalized with gun shot
wounds and cuts from broken glass.
     Wandersee, 46, served in Jos beginning in 1992.  He was secretary of
the Joint Christian Ministry for West Africa, a ministry of ecumenical
mission agencies and churches working among the Fulani people in seven
countries.
     The Rev. Daniel W. Olson of the ELCA's Division for Global Mission
said, "Bob Wandersee brought creativity, sincerity, and humor to his life
and work in West Africa.   He was greatly loved and appreciated by African
colleagues for his humble spirit and dedication to proclaiming the gospel
among Fulani people through the Joint Christian Ministry in West Africa
network."
     Wandersee provided pastoral leadership to Hillcrest School and the Jos
community in central Nigeria, according to Olson.   He was the author of
several booklets for Christian training and taught a course on
Christian-Muslim dialogue at the Theological  College of Northern Nigeria.
     Before going to Nigeria Wandersee served for six years in Madagascar.
In the United States he worked in camping and retreat ministries at Camp
Koinonia, Highland Lake, N.Y.  He also worked as a teacher and a farmer.  He
was born in Detroit Lakes, Minn., and grew up in Audubon, Minn.
     Wandersee was ordained in 1980.  He was a graduate of Northwestern
Seminary, St. Paul (now Luther Seminary) and North Dakota State University,
Fargo, N.D.  Wandersee studied Christian-Muslim dialogue at Hartford
Seminary in Connecticut and Luther Seminary.
     Olson, until recently the ELCA's area director for West and Southern
Africa, said Wandersee was "energetically preparing for the biennial
assembly of the Joint Christian Ministry in West Africa in November which
will bring together more than 100 people engaged in ministry among the
nomadic and semi-nomadic Fulani people from Senegal to the Central African
Republic."
 Wandersee is survived by his wife, Claire Sobon, and children, Nisha and
Karisa.
      Funeral services will be held at Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis,
Aug. 24 at 11:00 a.m.  Central Lutheran is one of the ELCA congregations
that helped sponsor the Wandersee's missionary service.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director 1-773-380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html