Tanzania Partnership

As I prepared for this journey, there was one question I heard more often than any other:  Will you see Frankie? Frankie was the young boy we met last year at Mahove.  His parents asked us to come to their home and pray for him.  He had fallen from a tree six months earlier, was paralyzed from the waist down, and after spending three months in hospital, had been recovering at home.  He had developed severe bed sores on his hips, knees, and ankles, and when we met, he had a life threatening infection.  His parents asked us to pray for him, not expecting any kind of recovery. Our group asked to take him to the clinic in Tungamalenga, and he was cared for by Dr. Barnabas Kahwage and his staff for three months.  Healing came slowly.  His wounds were severe, and he needed nutritional supplements to boost his healing. After several months, his parents transferred him to the Roman Catholic clinic closer to their home.  He has been there...

I have been traveling for just over two weeks now, going almost nonstop day after day.  This morning, the group left for their safari in Ruaha National Park.  Pastor John and I stayed in Tungamalenga.  This morning we met with the Tungamalenga Parish partnership committee and interviewed ten students who are seeking scholarship support for college, university or vocational training.  Fascinating stories, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes inspirational. So I am sitting in the shade on a beautiful afternoon, relaxing and reflecting on these past few days. Recognizing miracles when they cross our path -- like Zera at Huruma Center, the little girl who sprawled across my lap during all of last year's visit. She had an umbilical hernia that caused her pain and made her the target of teasing, so she did not enjoy active play. We funded her surgery, and friends like Gary Langness facilitated her trips to and from the hospital during January and February.  When I s...

Friday was the group had a full day in Iringa.  We started at the diocese head office to hear General Secretary Naiman Chavalla give an overview of the work of the diocese and Bega Kwa Bega.  He highlighted the diocese work in areas of evangelism, education and healthcare, and explained the three pillars of the Bega Kwa Bega partnership -- prayer, presence and projects. Some of Chavalla's observations, particularly about the SOTV - Tanzania Partnership: "I saw you on Facebook this morning!" I know Shepherd of the Valley is very large and has many activities.  "You might think that what you are doing here is a very small activity, but here is has a very big impact." He noted that small things like the Mbu Project, providing mosquito nets to prevent malaria, is saving lives. He noted the generosity of SOTV's children, whose Godzone and VBS offerings have supported the Mahove water project, the pikipiki fund, and the Mbu Project. He noted the strength of...

I'm back in Iringa after six busy days in Tungamalenga and Makifu Parishes.  For the past several years, I (Kirsten) have arrived ahead of the group, visited the villages, listened to project reports and new requests, held meetings with parents of scholarship students, and meetings with the partnership committees.  It embarrasses me when I am introduced as being something like John the Baptist, preparing the way for the group that will arrive soon. But the work is what it is, and I love the work I am able to do. Getting the meetings and monitoring out of the way enables the group to do the joyful work of building relationships, strengthening the bonds of love between our parishes.  It also enables me to do follow up work as needed. This year I am seeing a settling in the parishes, after the transition from one very large parish to two medium to large parishes.  I started my visit last Friday in Tungamalenga. The partnership meeting was the first task, followed by...

Today is Friday, I am about to leave the city of Iringa to spend a week in the villages.  This will be a speed blog to catch you up on all that has happened since our packing and commissioning last Sunday. How can a week have passed without a blog post?  I suppose the answer is that somehow the travel days have become almost routine, and another answer is that the travel days can leave a body too tired to write coherently at the end of the day. Last Sunday, after the travelers were commissioned in worship and packed the bags of gifts, many of us celebrated the marriage of BKB Director Rev. Peter Harrits and Jenny Buckley.  There were so many signs of Tanzania throughout the day, from the colorful kitanga table cloths to the "Bwana Yesu Asifiwe" responses to the table blessing at the reception. On Monday morning there were details to cover at church before driving to the airport.  The flights all went smoothly.  The only surprises were that remodeling const...