Tanzania Partnership

July 15, 2017 We began our tour of Makifu Parish at the main station with Pastor Nejabel Madembo welcoming us with his warm smile. While waiting for everyone to arrive, we got a tour of the newly roofed parsonage and had a chance to share photos with friends. Then it was on to Kisilwa. There was a lot of joy here as the congregation proudly showed us the finished roof on this chapel that has been waiting several years since the walls went up. Even more impressive is the fact that two sons of the congregation contributed most of the money to buy iron sheets for the roof. Funds from SOTV were used to buy lumber, nails, and other supplies. Next, the group from the game park rejoined us at Misufi. This is a newer preaching point, still renting a house to use as a worship space. It's a two room structure, so it's kind of awkward for a gathering. Evangelist Lazaro Mlunza explained that there is a new primary school in Misufi and this d...

To get to Makifu Parish, you need to drive west from Iringa about 90 kilometers or about two hours.  You'll need a Land Cruiser and an experienced driver for a safe, comfortable ride. A coaster bus will work as long as you stick to the roads, and it will take an extra hour. You'll drive through Tungamalenga Parish -- the villages of Idodi, past the turn off to Kitisi, through Mapogoro, and then you'll see the two cell towers at the edge of Tungamalenga.  Keep driving through town, past the market and the camps.  Just after the bridge the main road continues to the right, headed toward Ruaha National Park.  You'll take the left turn. A little ways down the road there's an elephant crossing.  It's not marked of course, but you can see a wide clearing where the elephants come from the park in search of water. My driver Esau, who is also a qualified game guide, says that elephants return to the same places for water, even places their herd visited a hundred y...