Tanzania Partnership

If you ever believed this partnership between Shepherd of the Valley and Tungamalenga Parish is only about helping our Tanzanian friends, here's an interesting blog post by Peter Harrits . Peter was one of ten travellers from SOTV who made the first trip to Tungamalenga in 2002. He was ordained last month, and a statement he wrote about his journey to ordination begins, "It was in the chapel in Tungamalenga, our companion congregation in the Iringa Diocese, in August of 2004, that my call to ministry was most forcefully and finally articulated." "Kneeling there, at the communion rail, shoulder to shoulder with my brothers and sisters (Men and Women, Americans and Tanzanians, Maasai and Hehe), vocational yearnings were given concrete expression and the vision of being a bridge-builder -- connecting people of faith from different parts of the world -- was born." When our friends in Tanzania heard of Peter's ordination, they rejoiced and offered prayers of ble...

Both Dr Randy Hurley and Amy Schulz have posted a few details from their first week at Ilula Hospital. Here's Dr. Randy's reflective comments about childhood in Tanzania: We have met a number of amazing young people here: ones that want to "grow up to be doctors and lawyers and such..." teachers, business people, those that can helpthis community progress and prosper. After working in the pediatric ward at Ilula, it strikes me that these children have such a gauntlet that they need to surpass in order to achieve these dreams. First you have to hope that you've been given a mother that is sufficiently well nourished to carry you to term, allow for good cognitive development and without complications such as malaria...and that she has access to a hospitalthat can safely deal with any complications that could occur at delivery. You need to hope you get a mother that does not have HIV and a family that can provide enough nutrition for appropriate brain development....

This August and again next summer, and the summer after that, Shepherd of the Valley members will travel to Tanzania to meet, live among, and get to know our brothers and sisters in Tungamalenga. We gather to share stories of our lives, our communities, cultures, and our common faith. For two weeks each year, we live, work and play bega kwa bega or shoulder to shoulder as sisters and brothers in Christ. You are invited along on one of these journeys. Karibu sana, you are warmly welcomed, as our partners would say. As you consider taking this journey, we ask you to be mindful of a few things: This is a mission of the church. As such, the focus of the trip is upon building relationships with our partners. We will need to be culturally sensitive and aware of the difference between being tourists and guests. Traveling to another part of the world is a challenging, exciting experience. Expect to be stretched--you will not have all the comforts of home at your fingertips. However, you will ...