In Africa, the lack of resources available for education, coupled with traditional beliefs and practices, leads to misunderstandings of the Living Word.  From the congregational level to the national church body, an overwhelming need exists for basic doctrinal teaching for Lutheran pastors, evangelists, and deaconesses.

Consider that the East African region alone (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi) covers 1.8 million square kilometers with a combined population of 126 million, over 60 percent of which are Christians.  The Lutheran Church in Tanzania alone has over 5 million members, but many struggle to understand what Lutherans believe and why.  The average pastor serves 12 parishes but only visits one each Sunday.  The other eleven are served by evangelists who have had little or no training.  Even those who are trained have few books and limited opportunity for further formal study in the Living Word and doctrinal theology.

Currently working in 23 countries, LIA addresses this issue by not only teaching confessional Lutheran doctrine, but also training African pastors to be the teachers in their own communities.  Continuing education seminars cover:  liturgy, hymnody, how to teach the Small Catechism, and doctrinal topics such as justification, prayer, eschatology, and the proper division of Law and Gospel.