Tanzania Partnership

We're coming to the end of our scholarship fundraising year, and let me be straight with you, it looks like we are about $10,000 short of our goal.  Our goal would continue to fund 150 Tanzania scholarships -- 100 students from Makifu and Tungamalenga Parishes attending secondary schools,  ten more students from other diocese congregations, another 25 orphans from Huruma Center attending both primary and secondary schools, and 15 students attending college, nursing schools, and university with hopes of becoming pastors, teachers, medical professionals, doctors. It's a big goal, keeping all those kids in school, or giving opportunities to new students when some current students graduate.  We're grateful to every one of you who have already contributed to our scholarship fund.  We have fabulous donors -- some who have been faithfully giving to this program since we sponsored our first students in 2002. We also have a great need calling for support.  We...

Four years ago , I visited the village of Ikwavila for the first time.  The people I met told me I was the first wazungu to venture to their remote village.  To get there, we had driven four hours out of Iringa to the village of Tungamalenga.  Heading out of that village toward Ruaha National Park, we took a left onto the road that leads through Makambalala, Makifu, Mahuninga, and all the way uphill to Kisilwa. At Mahuninga, we took another left onto a narrow road that used to end at the bridge where we normally go offroad to Mahove.  At the bridge, continuing on a new road where there used to be barely a path, we arrived in  Ikwavila. The hospitality was humbling.  I accepted the gift of a chicken. This church elder welcomed me to the village.  His young son greeted me in perfect English, "Good morning, madam.  How do you do?" Our travelers have visited Ikwavila every year since that first time, and as we have gotten to know ...

The Tanzania Scholarship Program at Shepherd of the Valley is one of the biggest pieces of our partnership with the Tanzanian parishes at Makifu and Tungamalenga.  Every year, members of our congregation contribute about $45,000 to support 150 students in secondary schools, vocational training centers, and universities. Across the Saint Paul Area Synod and the Iringa Diocese, the Bega Kwa Bega Scholarship program is also one of the largest pieces of our companionship.  Nearly 70 congregations are involved in providing about 1200 scholarships to students throughout the diocese. In recent years, the Iringa Diocese has seen enormous growth.  Village congregations are growing, parishes are starting new congregations in neighboring villages.  Saint Paul Area Synod has provided scholarships to theology students at the university, and the number of ordained pastors has grown. Over thirty new parishes have been established in the diocese in recent years. ...

December 1st - today! - is our stated deadline for contributions to Shepherd of the Valley's Tanzania Scholarship Fund. Of course we gladly and gratefully accept donations in any amount at any time of the year, but our December deadline is a fairly important way we assess and estimate the number of students we can support throughout the coming year.  So if you haven't given or pledged yet, please take action today! Now, if you want to give to this ministry but can't find a big chunk of money in your checkbook today, here's the way to go:  Simply Giving allows you to set up recurring automated withdrawals from your bank account.  You can set it up to withdraw $15 twice a month or $30 once a month, and over the course of a year, your contributions will support one of our secondary school students. It's easy!  https://vimeo.com/146680673

This month, we are collecting funds to support 150 Tanzanian students who would not be able to continue their education without support.  Here are a few words of thanks from our students. I am a student in form four [10 th grade]. I come from Ikwavila in Makifu Parish. The aim of this letter is giving you thanks for the chance to study biology, mathematics and English. In my family, I am the first one to study at secondary school. Yours faithfully, Baricki. I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. The aim of writing this letter is to say thanks for your help paying school fees. Now I’m in form three [9 th grade]. I promise you I will study hard and I will get high marks in my exams. I don’t have any way to thank you but God will bless you. Yours faithfully, Hans. I greet you with great pleasure. I am a form four [10 th grade] student. I have three sisters and I am the last child. I lack all parents, I mean I am an orphan. But I’m still fighting for my educ...

Our friend Nayman Chavalla, General Secretary of the Iringa Diocese, is fond of telling visiting guests that when we help one student with a scholarship, we are really improving the lives of that student's extended family for years to come.  "When you see me here," he remarked last summer, "at least ten more stand behind me." We've seen that over the years in our own partnership. The young man on the right is one example. Early in our partnership, we provided scholarship support so he could attend university.  He was the oldest of six children, all orphans under the care of their uncle, a secondary school teacher with a family of his own. The young man finished college and began to teach mathematics at a highly regarded junior seminary.  Later, he was an instructor at a university.  Through his young adulthood, he paid the school fees for his younger siblings. One scholarship, at least six who stand behind him. The young woman on ...

Today we celebrate All Saints, remembering the faithful who have died and gone before us to the heavenly feast. Almighty God, you have knit your people together in the body of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Give us grace to follow your saints in lives of faith and commitment. Anyulumye Msigwa Rev. Benjamin Ngede We speak your name, we remember. We light a flame, we remember. Though life is changed now, it is not ended. In this bright promise, we remember. Enock Ndapisi A life lived in Christ is a journey into joy: a life fully lived whether many years or few,  A life fully lived as beloved child of God. We remember. Chake Kuyaa A life lived in Christ is a dance into the light:  a light passed along as the future calls us on, a light passed along in an ever changing song. We remember. Rose Mahlum I'm just a stranger on a journey, traveling to a distant land. Where there's a mansion waiting...

Thanks to many contributions to the Tanzania Scholarship Fund this past year, Shepherd of the Valley supported 150 students in secondary, vocational, and university programs! Since 2001, your gifts to SOTV’s Tanzania Scholarship Fund have made a world of difference for hundreds of young men and women who would not have had the opportunity for education. In the United States, we appreciate, and perhaps even take for granted, our system of public education. Our friends in Tanzania experience a different reality in their educational system: ·         Secondary school tuition fees range from $300 to $900, plus boarding fees. ·         The cost of secondary and advanced education often exceeds the family’s annual income.   ·         Fewer than 25% of Tanzanian youth are able to advance beyond sixth grade. How does the scholarship program work? ·   ...

The people of Makifu Parish have begun building a house for the pastor's family. Two years ago, they completed the construction of this chapel.  The section straight ahead in the photo above is the sanctuary; the section on the right is office space for the pastor, congregational secretary, and a small sacristy. When Pastor Madembo and his family moved here, they lived in a rented house just down the road.   Here's a view from behind the chapel, where the parsonage is under construction. They have made a lot of progress in just two months. Parishioners contribute to this project in many ways.  Some provided labor, collecting stones for the foundation, digging the foundation, making bricks, and helping to construct the walls. A gift from 2014 SOTV travelers (a thank offering for the hospitality we received in the parish) provided funds to purchase cement for this stage of the construction. Azuberi Mhema is a skilled mas...

A year ago, when 15 Shepherd of the Valley members visited Mpalapande for a partnership meeting, we were joined by several friends from Iringa, including Bega Kwa Bega Director, Rev. Peter Harrits, Iringa Diocese General Secretary Nayman Chavalla, and Bega Kwa Bega/Iringa Diocese Coordinator Rev. Lusungu Msigwa. At some point during or after the meeting, General Secretary Chavalla made some comments, including a statement that one of our travelers, Jenny Buckley, was the "intended" of BKB Director Peter Harrits.  Mind you, at the time, there was no formal engagement.  But General Secretary declared that the wedding should take place here in Mpalapande. Fast forward a year, Peter and Jenny were married at the end of June, and included in their wedding plans a celebration here in Mpalapande.  You can read about the elaborate preparations here . It was a beautiful day.  As preparations continued, and as our drivers brought choirs from various villages, there ...