Guests
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.
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 development, and more.
Unfortunately, we recently learned that neither Paulo or Mfaume were granted visas to enter the United States. John will be our only guest this fall, and we will reissue invitations to Paulo and Mfaume another year.
Many people made very generous donations during our Tanzanian auction last January in order to pay the travel and hosting expenses for our intended guests. We are very grateful for those donations. So how do we use these funds in a way that honors both the intentions of the donors, and the originally intended recipients? We are considering three options:
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 development, and more.
Unfortunately, we recently learned that neither Paulo or Mfaume were granted visas to enter the United States. John will be our only guest this fall, and we will reissue invitations to Paulo and Mfaume another year.
Many people made very generous donations during our Tanzanian auction last January in order to pay the travel and hosting expenses for our intended guests. We are very grateful for those donations. So how do we use these funds in a way that honors both the intentions of the donors, and the originally intended recipients? We are considering three options:
- Retain the funds for the next time we host Tanzanian guests, hoping that at that time Mfaume and Paulo will be granted visas,
- Give a monetary gift to the Mpalapande primary school construction project in Paulo's home village, and a gift to the Kisilwa chapel construction project in Mfaume's home village,
- Invite two other guests this fall who might be more likely to be approved for a travel visa (someone who has been here previously).
Our Tanzania steering committee will make a decision at our meeting next week. We would like to hear your feedback on these options. Please leave a note in the comments below, or send an email to kirsten.levorson@sotv.org.
Meanwhile, we are very excited to be hosting John from October 24 - November 11. You will have opportunities to meet him at church, in Godzone and confirmation classes, in both formal and informal settings. Keep watching the News for the Flock for dates and locations.
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