From the seminary to Senegal

In November 2022, a routine email check put Josh Kenst, MTS ’23, on a path that led him to his current mission in Senegal.

“I had just returned from Karlsruhe, Germany, where I’d traveled with the Rev. Dr. Melanie Dobson’s class to the World Council of Churches,” said Kenst. “I’d met some people from Africa and they encouraged me to visit. Then I got emails from the ELCA recruiting for the global mission program a few months later. The timing seemed right for the place I was in my life.”

Kenst applied with an eye on serving in West Africa. He was assigned to a post in Senegal and arrived there in August 2023 for a year-long volunteer stint.

“There are a lot of complexities in global mission work, which the church is working to reframe in a positive way. Here in Senegal, the ELCA partners with two different Lutheran bodies, and volunteers like me are assigned where we’re needed, where our skills fit,” Kenst explained.

His work in Senegal has been oriented toward preschool students, creating picture books and Sunday School lessons that are distributed throughout the country. Kenst earned his undergraduate degree in youth ministry and theology from Thiel College — and he has a longstanding interest in creative writing — but his studies at LTSS were also formative.

“Really, every class I took, and all my professors shaped and prepared me for this work. I wouldn’t be able to do this now without them.”

Although the distance from family and loved ones has shown Kenst that global work is not his long-term future — he is considering chaplaincy or possibly academia — he has valued his time in Senegal.

“The heat and the language barrier have been challenging,” he said. “However, a huge part of the culture is ‘teraanga,’ which is a radical hospitality. They make sure everyone is well cared for, and that has been a joy to see and take part in.”