Tanzania Partnership

Here we are in the time of COVID and there's no travel to Tanzania, but we still held a partnership meeting with our friends from Tungamalenga on Tuesday via Zoom. Our Tanzanian friends traveled by bus from Tungamalenga to Iringa where they were hosted at the Bega Kwa Bega office by Deacon April Trout and Pastor Lusungu Msigwa.  We began the meeting at 2 PM Iringa time, 6 AM here in the Central time zone.  Pastor Randy rubs the sleep from his eyes (above). Attending the meeting from Tungamalenga were Pastor Rahai Mgeveke, Parish Treasurer Lukimbililo Mkuye, Partnership Committee Member Noeli Kalulu, and Pastor/Doctor Barnabas Kahwage. Attending from Shepherd of the Valley were members of the Partnership Steering Committee: Judy Anderson, Sharla Wagy, Tom Thompson, Christina Nissen, Mollie & Lyn MacLean, Brenda Krueger, Kirsten Levorson, and Pastor Randy Brandt. The big news of the day was that Tungamalenga Parish has again grown so much that a new parish has been created f...

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phillipians 1:3-6 Most of the time our partnership with the people of Tungamalenga, Makifu and Usolanga Parishes in the Iringa Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania focuses on things that happen in Tanzania – a visit, a project, a celebration. This month, travelers share what makes them grateful about this partnership. There is much to be grateful for by joining other travelers in fellowship with our Tanzanian family and frequently I think of the lessons I learned. I was reminded of the value of second-chances, of being open to new people and soaking in new experiences without judgement. It was a living meditation and an opportunity to revel...

As SOTV Travelers walked around the city of Iringa, Tanzania last July, one commented that “every time we turn the corner, we meet up with someone” who has a connection to our partnership. We met Enock, a former scholarship student and now the manager of the Toyota service station. We stayed at the Lutheran Center where Addy, another former student, is the assistant manager. Vumilia was a new hire at the lodge in the village, and Maria is the outstanding teacher at the Mpalapande Primary School. Pastor John is the new assistant headmaster at a diocese secondary school. Consolata, a 2004 scholarship recipient, established a career in business and has sent her own daughter and three siblings to secondary school and college. Meritho is working in wildlife conservation. 18 years of providing scholarships for secondary and university students has made an impact. The impact of our partnership was even more visible in the villages as we received thanks for bikes and m...

July 14, 2017 While some members of our traveling group were out at Ruaha National Park, getting closer to nature, Bobbie and I spent the day in Makifu Parish.  Pastor Nejabel Madembo welcomed us to the church. Pastor Petro Shangalima and parish secretary George Kioniani were also there, along with partnership committee members Hosea Visima, chair, Evangelist Yohanna Ole Tunyoon, Evangelist Adam Kangai, Evangelist Joseph Kingiliyepi, Evangelist Azuberi Mhema, Evangelist Atuletye Msigwa, Evangelist Meshack Mkula, Dorothy Mota and Mariam Massinga. Our meeting had five agenda items: construction, water project, scholarships, transport, and SACCOs. We began by singing Yesu ni Rafiki Yetu  [What a Friend We Have in Jesus] and reading John 12:26. Pastor Madembo led us in prayer. Makifu parsonage The parish reported that in the past year, three ongoing construction projects were roofed - Kisilwa chapel, Malunde chapel, and the pastor's house at Makifu....

July 13, 2017 Who's ready for a safari to the national game park, Ruaha? kiboko Mbuni Simba Tembo Wazungu The day began with a partnership meeting with Tungamalenga Parish's partnership committee. We gathered in the grassy area behind the camp, with tables and chairs that kept moving as the sun and the shade traded places throughout the morning.   To start, we were honored with the gift of clothing. Shirts for the guys, blouses and skirts for the women, we were all dressed to show our unity with our hosts. Pastor Rick, Matt and Christina were present for the first part of the meeting, until they had to depart for the game park along with Andrew, Lydia and Isabella. Bobbie and I remained. See above for some of the sights on safari. Pastor Eva was busy throughout the meeting, in many roles - senior pastor, translator, and even chair of the meeting until Daniel arrived to take on that task. The partnership committee included ...

These remarks were shared by Jim Odland during Tanzania Partnership Weekend worship, January 24 - 25, 2015 at Shepherd of the Valley. T his service is intended to give you a glimpse into the colorful, vibrant and joyful lives of our brothers and sisters of Tungamalenga and Makifu parishes.  Like heaven, I think you have to be there to really experience it.  I am honored to share a few observations about my time there this past summer. There’s a constant pace in Tungamalenga with 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness each and every day of the year – constant commotion since people are outside in the temperate air, continuous crowing of roosters and the unusual sounds of the Islamic Call to Prayer several times a day.  The rhythm somehow provides our friends with joy, contentment and a general sense of welcoming peace that rubs off on all of the visitors we send there. The people of Tungamalenga and Makifu parishes live hard lives to be sure....

From time to time, someone asks, why Tanzania?  Why and how did Shepherd of the Valley get involved in ministry in Tanzania, and why has this ministry become such a large part of our congregation's mission? Here's what I've heard about how the partnership began.... Sometime in the spring of 2001, one of our members read an account of a fledgling mission partnership between the Saint Paul Area Synod and the Iringa Diocese. A relationship that began informally in the mid 1980s had been formally adopted as the Companion Synod program when the ELCA was formed.  In the article, the woman read that now individual congregations in the synod were being partnered with Tanzanian congregations, and people were starting to exchange visits at the grassroots level.   As I've heard the story, the woman went into Pastor Paul Harrington's office with the article she had read, and said, "We should be part of this!"   I'm told that Pastor Paul picked up ...

By Jenny Buckley, Group #1 Traveler Last September, I decided to commit to a trip to Tungamalenga, Tanzania with Shepherd of the Valley. This is something that I had always said I would do...someday.  I decided it was time to get uncomfortable and start doing those things that I had only talked about. Signing up for Tanzania was a bold decision to let go and let God work in me.   In the eleven months leading up to our departure, I didn’t quite know how to prepare or what to expect, I just kept praying that my heart would be open to what God had to show me; that He would erase my inhibitions and let me fully engage in the experience.  On July 29th, with a fluttering heart, I boarded a plane with 14 others from our church.  I spent the next 20 hours alternating between fear and excitement as I wondered what I would discover when I stepped off the plane in Dar Es Salaam.    And what I saw astounded me.  Women and children, in bright techn...