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Showing posts from October, 2012

Our kind, compassionate friends

Since the news last weekend of Hurricane Sandy's imminent arrival, through the reports emerging telling of death tolls, power outages, and damage, I have been receiving email messages from some of our friends in Tanzania.  They are expressing concern for our welfare, asking if we are okay, and offering prayers for our safety and for the safety of all who may be in harm's way. It's a good day for us to be grateful for our dear partners, and to say a prayer for their safety and wellbeing, knowing that the dangers that befall them seldom make the news in the way a hurricane would. Giving thanks for the God who loves, protects, and comforts us all, in times of joy and in times of challenges.

Safari 2013: the journey of a lifetime

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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