Why Tanzania?

From time to time, someone asks, why Tanzania?  Why and how did Shepherd of the Valley get involved in ministry in Tanzania, and why has this ministry become such a large part of our congregation's mission?

Here's what I've heard about how the partnership began....

Sometime in the spring of 2001, one of our members read an account of a fledgling mission partnership between the Saint Paul Area Synod and the Iringa Diocese. A relationship that began informally in the mid 1980s had been formally adopted as the Companion Synod program when the ELCA was formed.  In the article, the woman read that now individual congregations in the synod were being partnered with Tanzanian congregations, and people were starting to exchange visits at the grassroots level.  

As I've heard the story, the woman went into Pastor Paul Harrington's office with the article she had read, and said, "We should be part of this!"  

I'm told that Pastor Paul picked up the phone, called the synod office, and asked to be partnered with a Tanzanian congregation.  Done deal.

So when I'm asked "Why Tanzania?" One reason is that Shepherd of the Valley is a congregation that says "yes" when the Spirit calls.

In the first months of our partnership, we didn't know much about what we were getting into.  We had meetings with Rev. Don and Eunice Fultz, founding coordinators of Bega Kwa Bega. They visited our friends in Tanzania and brought a short video showing us the Tanzanians' expression of joy when our new partnership was announced.  The Fultzes guided us as we planned a first trip. We also met with members of Christiania Lutheran Congregation just after their first trip.  They were so enthusiastic! They answered so many logistical questions for us.  A second reason this ministry thrived is that we had support from those who had gone before us.

In 2002, ten SOTV travelers made the first journey.  We were received as family, welcomed as honored guests, we were included in weddings and baptisms and funerals.  We learned lots, met many people.  We began to imagine what these congregations could do together. We went home feeling as though we had Tanzanian family.

Each of those ten first travelers have been back at least once since that first trip, and several of us go back nearly every year.  One of those first travelers is now the Director of Bega Kwa Bega.  Subsequent travelers have remained similarly engaged.  Even if they don't pay a second visit, travelers come home ready to share their enthusiasm with their own friends and family.  As a result, our congregation receives scholarship contributions from all over -- a family in Florida, two uncles from Iowa, a sister in Washington state, other relatives from around our own state.  The travel experience is so transformative, it turns travelers into evangelists on behalf of the partnership.

We encounter a wide variety of challenges and opportunities when we visit our partners.  Access to clean water is a challenge for several villages in our parish.  We see all kinds of opportunities to support healthcare, from building new wards and staff housing for the clinic, to providing medicines and mosquito nets.  We see how small loans can radically change economic outcomes for small farmers. There are so many ways we can make a difference.

In the stories and photos of our Tanzanian partners, our suburban community comes face to face with the fact of how well off we really are.  We may have our very real concerns about paying the mortgage, or affording a new roof, or how we'll manage the college tuition for our children.  But when we see our partners struggle for clean water, food, and shelter, our perspective is changed.  Coming home with an awareness of our abundance makes us want to waste less and share more.

Our travelers have also been blessed to have pastors and staff at SOTV who are willing to let us bring the partnership back to Minnesota in whatever ways we can so that the whole congregation can get a glimpse of the joy we experience.  We have had Tanzanian dinners for scholarship sponsors, we've been welcomed into Godzone to share hands on experiences with children.  Our congregation celebrates the partnership in worship, praying the Lord's Prayer in Swahili, while our choir dresses in Tanzanian clothing and sings songs we've learned in the villages. We've held auctions where people bid hundreds of dollars for a dozen eggs or a bundle of firewood, and thousands for a chicken they won't even get to take home. When we host friends from Tanzania, our congregation gets to meet the partnership face to face.

Another very big reason this partnership has taken root at SOTV is that accountability has been built into the structure and practice of the partnership from the beginning.  The Saint Paul Area Synod's Bega Kwa Bega Office provides the infrastructure that allows for financial transparency, accountability and oversight for the funds we provide.  SOTV's annual visits allow us to sit together with our partners each year, reviewing progress from the previous year and estimating and planning projects for the coming year.  Our congregation understands that the contributions we make matter, are deeply appreciated, and are used by good stewards.

Maybe the simplest answer to the question, "Why Tanzania?" is this: our hearts have been touched.  An SOTV family hears that most Tanzanians can't afford education past sixth grade; they have a sixth grade daughter and can't imagine her not having that opportunity to continue her education.  Their hearts were touched, and they provided scholarship funds for a Tanzanian student.

A Minnesota boy and a Tanzanian boy have exchanged letters and gifts for four years.  Their hearts have been touched, and they pray for one another every day.

In the end, all these factors work together, over and over.  We hear the Spirit calling us to go out and meet our Tanzanian neighbors, we are transformed by the experience, we return to share our stories and invite others into the partnership, who then go out to meet our friends, and are transformed again.

Tena na tena, again and again.