Tanzania Partnership

Tungamalenga Parish is comprised of twenty village congregations (often referred to as preaching points) scattered across an area that's roughly comparable to that of Apple Valley, Eagan, Rosemount, Burnsville, Farmington and Lakeville.  The pastors serving the twenty congregations have one motorcycle between them.  For a long time, there has been a recognition that the parish is too large and spread out to work effectively as a single parish. We've recently received word that change is coming to Tungamalenga Parish, and that a portion of the preaching points will split off and become an independent congregation.  That's really good news, indicating that the parish as a whole is also financially healthy enough to make the change, with each new congregation able to sustain operations and support its own pastor. We're not sure at this point how the parish will be divided.  A few months ago, we received a definitive statement from the diocese, passed along to us v

At last, water has come to the village of Mahove! Pastor Naftal sent a dozen photos on Sunday, showing progress on the construction of a 6.8 kilometer pipeline that connects the village of Mahove to an existing water system.  Above, Evangelist Azuberi Mhema (who also served as a lead construction team member on the project) holds the pipe that fills Anna's bucket with the first water to arrive in the village.  Prayers of thanks were spoken and much celebrating followed. This is where the new pipe joins the existing main line.  The villages of Kisilwa, Mahuninga, and Makifu have been served by the water system for over 30 years.  These villages are all in an area of the Great Rift Valley where wells have not provided a good source of water -- shallow wells run dry nine months of the year, and deeper wells have proven very expensive, both to drill into the bedrock, and to treat the water those wells produce, as it contains elements that make it undrinkable.