Tanzania Partnership

When we Minnesotans decide to travel to Tanzania, we have a long list of things to do to prepare.  Often our first step is to apply for a passport if we don't have one already, and closer to our travel dates, we have to obtain visas from the Tanzanian embassy.  It's a fairly simple process of filling out the paperwork, paying the fee, mailing in our passports and waiting for them to come back with the appropriate stamp. The process is not quite so simple for our friends in Iringa who plan to visit us here in Minnesota.  Not many Tanzanians have a passport, and some even need to obtain an official birth certificate before they can begin that process.  Then there's a lengthy online application form, a fee that must be paid by credit card (90% of Tanzanians have never even had a bank account), and an interview at the US Embassy. A pretty daunting process. But we started the process this week for our three friends who plan to visit Shepherd of the Valley next fall....

At Shepherd of the Valley, we have a place in the narthex we call the Story Wall.  It's essentially a place where we have a large space available to display photos and objects related to a ministry or an event. We often fill a story wall with photos from our travels to Tungamelenga.  Sometimes we fill the story wall with photos of the students for whom we provide scholarships. Today, the story wall shows our partnership both here and there, both us and them. Go take a look next time you're at church.   There's a photo of Joshua and his family.     And there's a photo of our Senior Choir leading worship on World Mission Weekend.     There's a photo of Pastor Diane with Humphrey Kahwage.     And there's a picture of Pastor Diane helping a Shepherd of the Valley kid experience carrying a basket on her head.       There's a photo from a Tanzanian auction....     ...

January and February is a pretty busy time for Saint Paul Area Synod partners visiting Iringa, Tanzania.  What's not to like about leaving Minnesota cold, snow and ice for the warmth of Iringa's January sun?  So I'd like to call your attention to a few currently active travel blogs. http://lynandmollieintz.blogspot.com/   SOTV members Lyn and Mollie MacLean are about halfway through their two month stay in Iringa.  This week they are visiting secondary schools in the Iringa Diocese, meeting and taking photos of many of the students sponsored by congregations in our synod. http://iringahope2013.blogspot.com/   Tom and Sandy Hendrickson are members of Christiania Lutheran in Lakeville, and are involved in the nonprofit organization Iringa Hope, which supports microfinance work in the Iringa Diocese.  They travel each day to another Tanzanian congregation and report on the successes and challenges of establishing a cooperative banking system in a country w...