Since 2001, Shepherd of the Valley has enjoyed a vibrant relationship with our companion congregations in Makifu and Tungamalenga Parishes in the Iringa Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.
Working bega kwa bega or shoulder to shoulder through prayer, presence and projects, we support ministries of evangelism, education, health care, and economic development. Makifu and Tungamalenga Parishes are each comprised of nine village congregations in a remote rural area.
Our partnership stands on three pillars -- prayer, presence, and projects.
Prayer
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart.”
— Phillippians 1:3-7a
The practice of praying for our partners and for our partnership is the foundation of the relationship between congregations of the Saint Paul Area Synod and parishes in the Iringa Diocese. Our companions in Tanzania often tell us it is the most important thing we do. As ‘can do’ Americans, our cultural bias is to jump right into projects and problem solving, and it can be a challenge for us to slow down and take time first to pray.
If you would like to pray for a specific individual from our companion congregations, prayer cards are available at the Welcome Center.
Presence
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
— Matthew 18:20
The practice of exchanging visits, being present with one another, building relationships with one another, is the glue that holds our partnership together. Shepherd of the Valley members commit significant resources toward sending a group of ambassadors to Tanzania each year, hosting Tanzanian guests every two or three years, and maintaining good communication between visits.
“By this you will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. ”
— John 13:35
Being present with our partners, seeing their needs, hearing their priorities – our practice of presence leads naturally to joint projects. Most projects we undertake have a bega kwa bega or shoulder to shoulder aspect. For instance, Tanzanians make bricks, gather stones for foundations, and build walls while our American resources fund the building materials for roofing and finishing chapels.
Projects include providing scholarship funds for 150 secondary and university students, providing bikes and motorbikes to assist pastors’ and evangelists’ transportation around the parish, providing funds for expanding the local health center, providing medicines and mosquito nets, providing funds for village access to clean water. Your financial contributions to our Tanzania Partnership are accepted with deep gratitude.
July 10, 2017 On Monday we headed out to Tungamalenga and Makifu parishes, ready to be offline for the next eight days. Our first stop was at Idodi Secondary School. Idodi is the first village we come to in the parish, and we have about 75 students attending the secondary school. Headmaster Christopher Mwasomola welcomed us to his office for an introduction and update. He said that Idodi is known as a community school -- the infrastructure is built by the community (in this case, heavily supported by a group known as Friends of Ruaha) and teachers are provided by the government. Fun fact: the Friends of Ruaha at one point received a donation from Roy Disney, whose name is included on the dedication plaque for the school's library. The school was registered in 1999 and has 889 students, 437 girls and 452 boys. There are 41 teachers. The government supports salaries, books, lab equipment, desks, and other basic supplies. There are 11 non teaching staff, with only tw
Safari in Swahili means journey. We'd like you to consider taking the journey of a lifetime with other Shepherd of the Valley members next summer. For two weeks in August, you could be ambassadors from our congregation living among and getting to know our partners from Tungamalenga Parish. What's a journey like this look like? We'll fly from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to Dar es Salaam with a short stopover at Kilimanjaro (alas, it will be dark and we don't get off the plane at Kili). That's about 24 hours from start to finish, with a four hour layover in Amsterdam. Arriving at the Landmark Hotel just before midnight, we get a good night's sleep in Dar before the eight to ten hour cross country bus ride to Iringa. notice the US and Tanzanian flags on the dashboard of the bus? Highlights of that cross country ride include driving about 100 kilimeters of the way through Mikumi National Park -- and if we're lucky, we'l
Pastor Naftal & Anjelina Ng'amillo In just a couple short weeks, we will be hosting guests from Tanzania. Pastor Naftal and Anjelina Ng'amillo from Tungamalenga Parish, along with Dr Mufwimi and Dora Saga from the Ilula Lutheran Hospital, will arrive in Minnesota October 21 for a stay of just over two weeks. What better way to welcome them than to learn a few words in their language? Karibu sana or, if you are addressing more than one person, Karibuni sana , means "we warmly welcome you." It's pronounced like this: KAH ree boo SAH nah or KAH ree boo nee SAH nah. Jambo means "hello." Another greeting is Habari, which is more like "how are you," to which a Tanzanian might respond Nzuri [good], Salama [peace], or Njema [fine, well, good] and then they might add, Habari yako [and how are you?]. When Tanzanians are in a gathering, like at church or at a meeting, and they rise to speak to the assembly, they almost always start by say
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