Tanzania Partnership

  a chicken in church?! I hope at least some of you had as much fun at worship last weekend as I did. I hope you had even half as much fun as I did.  I had a lot of fun. Senior choir leads worship with songs and drums    Worship was a celebration of our partnership with Tungamalenga Parish.  As soon as you walked into the building, you could see gifts from our partners on display: ebony carvings, colorful kitangas, favorite photos from our travels. The songs we sang in worship were largely gifts from our partners as well.  Asante sana Yesu, Amejaa Neema, Hosannah, Baba Yetu -- all songs we've learned from our partners.  All but one of the hymns in the sanctuary were accompanied by drums that have been given to us by our partners.  The one hymn that we sang with piano accompaniment was a hymn that we have sung together in Tanzania, with words that call us "to act with justice, to love tenderly, to serve one another, to walk humbly...

  This is Joshua and Rose Kuyaa and family.  This picture is on the cover of the worship bulletin for World Mission Weekend.   Joshua is an evangelist in Tungamalenga Parish -- a lay person who leads worship and does pastoral care in his village congregation.  In Tungamalenga Parish, there are two pastors for twenty village congregations.  The evangelists in each congregation give leadership and care to the congregation in between visits by the pastors, who might be present every couple months.   So why are Joshua, Rose and their children laughing?  The photo was taken in August 2012 when I visited their village, Namelok.  I had asked them to assemble and took a family photo with all of them looking very serious.  Then I explained that I wanted the photo for the children's camp we were going to hold later in the month.   The children's camp would help Shepherd of the Valley children experience a slice of Tanzanian life....

One of my favorite memories from my first trip to Tanzania in 2002... I have a clay pot that I brought back from my August 2002 visit to our partner congregation in Tungamalenga, Tanzania.  It's brick colored, like the dirt in that part of Africa.  It's a little lopsided, slightly cracked, and stained with charcoal from being set near a fire many times. It may not look like much of a souvenir, but it is a powerful reminder to me of the grace and compassion our Tanzanian brothers and sisters in Christ show one another. In Tanzanian churches, at the end of worship the congregation leaves the sanctuary singing and dancing, to form a circle outside.  "Our Christianity is not just for inside the church building, and this signifies bringing our faith out to the villages," said our hosts.  The singing, dancing and drumming continues until the pastor gives the benediction.  Then the fun begins. Members who are so poor that they have no cash to place in the chu...

World Mission Weekend is coming soon -- January 26/27! We'll celebrate our partnership through songs, prayers, and stories at all services.   One of the truly amazing gifts of this partnership is the sharing of our hymns and songs.   When we worship in Tanzania, we may be unfamiliar with the Swahili language and many customs, but in every worship service we hear a few familiar hymns -- the tune of Faith of Our Fathers is used for part of the liturgy.  Or a hymn familiar to us like What a Friend We Have in Jesus is sung.   As we travel from village to village on our packed bus, our partners sing and teach us some of their traditional songs.  Asante Sana, Yesu.  Iyo Neema.  Umoja .   Our travel groups are always asked to sing, and our partners have seemed to enjoy learning some of our traditional American songs.  In the highways, in the hedges, I'll be somewhere working for my Lord.  Walk together Children, Don't you ...

Pastor Naftal sent an email today.  He apologized for his infrequent messages lately, explaining that the cell phone he had -- the one that allowed him to receive and send email even when he is in Tungamalenga -- was not working well.  Now he has to travel to Iringa in order to access email. He wrote that the congregation is looking forward to the visit of Mollie and Lyn, Dr. Randy and Kari. And he let us know that the rains have arrived in Tungamalenga.  For the past three days, it has rained four and five hours a day.  In some places, the collection of water is "too much" and some newly planted fields have been washed out.  Dr. Barnabas will have to replant his rice field because of the rain.  This is in contrast to some years when fields have been planted and crops withered because of drought. "We thank God for the rain," he wrote. in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. ~~ I Thessalonians 5:18