Tanzania Partnership

Our driver, Kulwa, picked us up at 8 this morning for the drive to Usolanga.  He already had Pastor Lusungu Msigwa and his wife Gloria in the car.  Pastor Msigwa is the Iringa Diocese Bega kwa Bega liaison and served as our translator today. We drove out of Iringa, past the turn off to the airport, for about 45 minutes on a beautiful paved highway. At Isimani, we took a right and continued slowly on dirt roads the rest of the way.  Had to stop for directions once, and received the instructions to go past the school, then take a right.  We arrived, were greeted by Pastor Patrick Chaula, and had plenty of time to tour the new construction and also have breakfast before the start of the church service. Pastor Chaula has been here for 13 years - an almost unheard of length of tenure in a diocese where pastors are usually shifting from one parish to another every three to five years.  He and Pastor Msigwa joked that he had been here so long because the dioces...

Continuing the reports from our week in the villages, here are stories from visits to the Makifu Parish congregations.  I was there Wednesday the 13th, and the whole group Friday through Sunday, the 15th-17th. I had one of the best days of the trip when I visited Makifu while the rest of the group was at Ruaha National Park, enjoying Mwagusi Camp (Dean described it as "like going camping at the Ritz"). My driver Kulwa and I drove to Makifu chapel, where we were greeted by Pastor Nejabel Madembo and a few evangelists and church elders. I saw the progress on the pastor's home (walls up, ready for a roof). We continued on to Mahuninga, where the chapel is nearly finished after 12 years under construction.  Then to Ikwavila, where we checked out the water situation. Heavy rains earlier in the year filled their protected spring with sand, so they were sharing another spring with the animals.  Barnabas was with us and urged them to dig the protected area again, and fence it t...

Our group returned to Iringa last night after eight days in the villages.  I look at my notes from each stop along the way, and I have dates, places, descriptions of who and what I saw, what has changed from the previous year, words of welcome, words of pride in accomplishments, and words full of hope and anticipation of next steps. I have notes about introductions to church elders and parish leaders, notes about students sponsored from this parish, notes indicating gifts received from parents grateful for opportunities for their children, so different from their own life stories. In Namelok, bricks cover the dirt floor, waiting for cement to finish floors and walls. They have begun digging the pit for a latrine (a "modern toilet," the doctor stresses). Last week, they hosted a gathering of youth choirs. "We know that through this partnership, we share things in common with God," says the evangelist, thanking us for our support since 2006. At Kibaoni, we meet un...

Our day began today with the General Secretary of the Iringa Diocese, Mr. Nayman Chavalla, who spent an hour with our group. He talked about how we visit our partners at Tungamalenga and Makifu, and how we might get the idea that the Bega Kwa Bega partnership might be just about congregational partnerships like ours.  He used the time to help our travelers understand our own partnership within a broader context of the partnership between the St Paul Area Synod and the Iringa Diocese.  Some highlights follow. Prayer, presence and projects are the traditional three pillars of these partnerships. As partners, we pray for one another. The act of presence - sharing visits between partners - shows that we are serious about our partnerships, serious about learning about one another, serious about learning about our different cultural situations, and serious about our shared values. Finally, the projects that we undertake together are things that speak to the surrounding communities...

Our first full day in Iringa brought many joyful reunions.  Jenny and Peter Harrits are here in Iringa, and they joined us for dinner last night, along with Jenny's parents, Chris and Ron Buckley.  Pastor Eva Msigwa of Tungamalenga Parish was here at the Lutheran Center when our Land Cruiser rolled in, and she accompanied us for much of the afternoon today.  Dr. Barnabas Kahwage stopped by the Lutheran Center last evening just as we finished dinner.  We had a long conversation to catch up on family, clinic and village happenings. Meritho Katei was a surprise visitor last evening and again this morning.  Two years ago, our traveler group gathered funds to send Meritho to driving school.  Then he got a job at a resort in Zanzibar; after a few months had a job driving for a Dar based marketing company.  Now he is back in Kitisi, a congregation within Tungamalenga Parish.  He works for a Wildlife Conservation Association, studying the b...