Enock Ndapisi

Our dear friend Enock Ndapisi went home to heaven this weekend.  

We first met Enock in 2002.  He was the chair of the Tungamalenga Partnership committee and had retired from his job as headmaster of the Tungamalenga Primary School.  At the time, he was one of the few people in the village able and eager to converse with us in English.  He helped introduce us to many Tanzanian customs, and he was so kind and gracious.

He suffered a stroke sometime after our visit, and even with limited medical services, recovered so well that he was able to travel to Minnesota in late 2006 with Pastor Alfred Kikoti and Twandisyege Ambele.  The three were Shepherd of the Valley's first Tanzanian guests.  They experienced snow and marveled that our houses could be so warm inside while it was so cold outside.

Enock was such a gracious guest.  He even attended a lutefisk dinner, cleaned his plate, and asked for the recipe.

The day he arrived in Minnesota, SOTV staff welcomed the guests with singing.  As we toured the building that day, we showed Enock a display of photographs from our previous visits to Tungamalenga.  He spotted a photo of his wife Anna. We hadn't known her name or her relationship to him -  had just chosen the photo because she was such a striking, strong, beautiful woman.  He asked for a copy of the photo.

Enock suffered another stroke in 2007, and since then movement in his right arm and leg had been impaired.  For a few years he was still strong enough to walk to church.  In recent years, we visited him at his home. Each visit, he would show us that he could walk, and what progress he had made in his recovery.

He always thanked us for the prayers we said for his health and for his family, and for the partnership.

So many of us have special memories of Enock.  Susanne Miller wrote, "Oh, huge loss for us here. Great gain at the gates. He was a true servant and loved Jesus. It showed when you looked into his eyes and the beams of light came out of him. Radiant."

Mollie and Lyn MacLean remembered visiting him in 2009.  "Enoch was at Tungamalenga church and Lyn had the honor of walking him home. There Enoch insisted that Lyn choose a fan from his wall. The fan says "Mpaji Ni Mungu." I think this says God is the giver. On that same visit, Barnabas walked me to the cemetery because I had asked to go there. There were a number of Ndapisi graves there. We treasure his visit to SOTV and his witness, a remarkable man! Our sympathy to Anna, their family, and Tungamalenga."

Enock is survived by his wife Anna, by six of their seven children, and by many grandchildren.  

We thank God for the blessing of knowing this faithful servant.