Tanzania Partnership

Today our good friend Dan McIntyre is in Iringa, setting up a laptop, printer/scanner/fax and internet workstation that will be used by Iringa Diocese pastors to communicate with their partners here in Minnesota. Dan is a member of Lutheran Church of Peace in Maplewood, and has great info on his blog at  http://danandsueintz.blogspot.com/ . Shepherd of the Valley is funding this workstation to improve communication between Tanzanian and Minnesota partners.  We purchased the laptop here in Minnesota, Dan carried it to Tanzania a couple weeks ago, and is setting it up with software, an antivirus program, and is purchasing the printer and modem in Iringa with funds SOTV wired. Our Tanzanian friends are most comfortable with face to face communication, while we Americans crave messages between visits.  Our Tanzanian friends all use cell phones and are responsive to text messages, while we Americans often have more to communicate than can be said in a text, or we ask for...

We've had a strong response from people interested in traveling to Tanzania in July/August 2014. Over 30 people have indicated interest in the trip! That poses some logistical challenges, so here are some updates on our plans. fill up the bus for the adventure of a lifetime! We have determined that the optimum size for a group is 10  - 12 people, with 16 still being manageable. Those numbers give us a better chance of securing good lodging and transportation accommodations. So we are offering the option of two trips next summer: July 29-August 12 with Pastor Chris, or August 7 - 20 with Pastor Randy. Another change is that applications and a nonrefundable deposit of $400 are now due by October 1st rather than November 1st.  This extra time will allow us to make reservations and other necessary arrangements. Online registration is now open at  http://www.sotv.org/registration.aspx . Registration for each option will close when the group reaches the maximum o...

Three times in recent years, our congregation has brought guests from Tanzania to visit Minnesota.  In 2006, Pastor Alfred Kikoti, Twandisyege Ambele, and Enoch Ndapisi came to visit. In 2008, Doctor Barnabas Kahwage and his wife Alice came.  In 2010, our guests were Pastor Naftal Ng'amillo and his wife Anjelina, along with Dr. Mufwimi and Dora Saga. Each time, our congregation has been blessed by the opportunity to host our partners, showing them some of the same hospitality that our travelers experience, and sharing more widely the face to face blessings this partnership brings. We were hoping to bring three more guests to Minnesota this fall -- Rev. John Mhekwa, Rev. Paulo Masinga and Mr. Mfaume Kisakanike.  These three would have represented many aspects of our partnership and its work in Tanzania -- the fruits of our scholarship program, the mix of Hehe, Bena and Maasai cultures in the parish, connections to our work with water, healthcare, economic...