Our History

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Since June 2001, members of two congregations on opposite sides of the globe have been partners through a Companion Congregation Covenant. Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Apple Valley, Minnesota, is a large suburban congregation of the Saint Paul Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Tungamalenga Parish is a remote, rural parish comprised of 20 village congregations, part of the Iringa Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.

Our congregations are united through the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the purpose of sharing ministries of evangelism, education, healthcare, and economic development. Our members promise to pray for one another, to learn about one another's culture and challenges, to visit one another, and to share the gifts God has given each of us.

Over one hundred Shepherd of the Valley members have visited Tungamalenga since our initial journey in August 2002. In 2006, three guests from Tungamalenga made the long journey to Apple Valley, and two more guests visited SOTV in 2008. All these visits serve to deepen the relationships between our congregations and will continue to be a mainstay of our activity in the future.

Our partnership is one of 70 such congregational partnerships between churches in the Saint Paul Area Synod and the Iringa Diocese.

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