Tanzania Partnership

The Youth Choir processes into the sanctuary, singing and dancing and kicking up the dust from the hard packed dirt floor. Hanging from the rafters are strings tied with colorful strips of fabric to decorate the space. Dappled light shines through the windows, a lacey checkerboard pattern in the brick wall created by omitting alternate bricks. The singing is loud and joyful, the energy is high. We're at Makambalala. To accompany the singing, there might be two drums, made with skins stretched across a hollow log. This girl slaps a homemade shaker. It's a stick, two long nails, and pop bottle caps that spin on the nails. The sound is something like a cross between a tambourine, maracas and jingle bells. Every visit includes a time for prayer, and prayer is memorable at Makambalala. In recent years, this congregation has adopted the practice of a fervent, spirit led community prayer. The pastor or worship leader will introduce the prayer, and then the congregation members start m...

Msembe is another of the twenty village congregations that comprise Tungamalenga Parish, our partner congregation. Msembe is located about an hour's drive from the central village of Tungamalenga, on the grounds of Ruaha National Park. Park headquarters are located here, and most of the inhabitants are employed by the park or by one of the various lodges located within the park. Because of its location, and because of all the elephants, lion, giraffe, zebras and other wild animals roaming the area, residents of Msembe have a very different environment and living situation than most of the other people of Tungamalenga Parish. First off, most of the residents originally come from a different part of Tanzania. They are educated as park rangers, drivers, or tourism and hospitality industry workers. They came to Msembe for the jobs the park offers. The members of this congregation are also more mobile than most Tanzanians. They might be here for a few years, then transfer to anoth...

Namelok is an easy 30 minute walk from Tungamalenga village, just down the road, around the corner, and then cross country. It's all level ground, no hills. Last August, the Shepherd of the Valley travelers made a special request that we walk from our camp at Tungamalenga to the village of Namelok, rather than taking the bus. We had been riding a bus a couple days in a row and needed to stretch our legs. Our hosts graciously agreed, even though they could not understand the American need to walk when transportation was so readily available. We kicked up quite a bit of dust on that walk. The women of Namelok are incredibly strong and resilient. Namelok is a Maasai village. These families have been located here since around 2004. Maasai traditionally have lived in Kenya and northern Tanzania, and in the past ten to fifteen years, have been relocated farther south. Maasai are traditionally nomadic herders of cattle. Maasai families also tend to be polygamous. That presents a challenge...

"A really progressive village," is how one well traveled friend has described Tungamalenga. Of the twenty village congregations that comprise Tungamalenga Parish, Tungamalenga is considered the "main station." It has a large worship building with an unusual hexagonal design, a youth center with parish offices and space for meetings, the parsonage, and a clinic with both outpatient and inpatient wards. There are approximately 200 members in the congregation. What's progressive about Tungamalenga? Situated on the road to Ruaha National Park, it gets more tourist traffic and commercial traffic than most Tanzanian villages. While homes do not have electricity or running water, a few businesses do. There are four camps or lodges in the area, providing lodging, restaurant and bar service, as well as day trips into the park for game drives. The morning ritual for women and youth includes a trip to one of several communal water faucets. People line up their f...

Have you ever tried to find Tungamalenga on a map? I just checked Google Earth and while the big cities of Iringa and Ilula show up with just a couple clicks, you have to zoom in pretty far before you find some of the villages we've visited--Mapogoro, Idodi, and "Tungamarenga" (yes, that's how it's spelled on Google Earth). Once you get to the level where those three villages show up, there's no more detail to be found; you can keep zooming in and all you see is blank space. So here's a handy map of Tungamalenga Parish, drawn a number of years ago by Dr Randy Hurley with the advice and assistance of then Pastor Alfred Kikoti. We've updated the map as several village congregations disbanded and other mission congregations were formed. Distances are approximate, and I can't verify which way is north on the map. Still, it's a pretty good approximation. Shepherd of the Valley is a large congregation in comparison to its neighbors, and it draw...

Today at worship we continued the celebration of the Epiphany season with its wonderful light imagery. You are the light of the world, you are the salt of the earth. Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven . The gathering hymn today was "We are Marching in the Light of God" and was accompanied only by drums and percussion instruments. Three of the drums we used today were gifts from our companions in Tungamalenga Parish, Tanzania. Let me tell you a little about those drums. Way back in August, 2002, when Shepherd of the Valley members first visited our partners, two of the drums in the photo above accompanied our group as we traveled around the parish, visiting many of the 20 village congregations that make up the parish. Our group of ten from Shepherd, plus the Tungamalenga Pastors and evangelists, would load up the bus each day for a tour of the parish. We'd bump along over dirt roads or pat...