Tanzania Partnership

Bo and Juli Skillman (Christiannia Lutheran, Lakeville) are in Iringa and working on our behalf to take next steps in the Mpalapande Primary School project. Here is their report from a visit to Mpalapande May 17-19. We are grateful for their work! meeting between parish and diocese personnel at Tungamalenga Camp Background information for this visit and project began before leaving Minnesota through a briefing from Kirsten at our home and was followed by several conversations with General Secretary Chavalla and Pastor Msigwa upon arriving in Iringa. The primary aim for us was to make sure a proper understanding was in place between the district government offices for staffing this proposed primary school if the structure was built (through the church) and that the 4 tribes living in the area would come together to embrace this project. In Tanzanian fashion, the agreement was made verbally with the government the day prior to going to the village and is expected to be rece...

Bo and Juli Skillman (members of Christiannia, Lakeville) are in Iringa this month, serving as ambassadors for Saint Paul Area Synod congregations, visiting and communicating with our Tanzanian partner congregations. They held meetings last week on SOTV's behalf with Iringa Diocese General Secretary Nayman Chavalla and Rev. Lusungu Msigwa, Bega Kwa Bega Liaison for the diocese. Together, they discussed the next steps needed to move forward with the Mpalapande Primary School project . The diocese officials are following up with meetings with Tanzanian Education Officers to create a formal agreement governing the administration of the school. This week, May 17 - 19, the Skillmans along with the General Secretary, BKB Liaison, and Iringa Diocese Project Manager Amos Mkuye will visit Mpalapande to meet with the local planning committee, which includes Pastor Paulo Masinga and others from Mpalapande congreegation, as well as Pastor Eva Msigwa and others from Tungamalenga Parish....

It almost sounds like a lame exaggeration from an elder to a younger generation – “ When I was a kid, we had to walk 8 kilometers to school every day .” But an eight kilometer walk (just shy of five miles for us Americans) is the reality for the primary school students in one village among our Tanzanian partners. That’s 8 kilometers, one way. Mpalapande is a Maasai village within Tungamalenga Parish.  Over the past twenty years, the Tanzanian government has relocated Maasai tribes from their historical homeland in the northern part of the country to the south central regions of the country. Maasai are traditionally nomadic people, with large herds of cattle and goats that require space for grazing, so the government placed the Maasai in remote, unpopulated areas. The trade-off for ample grazing land is that the tribes are far from basic government services like water, health care and public schools. The children of Mpalapande have two options for primary school...

We enjoyed such a lovely visit with George Kioniani and Pastor Paulo Masinga in early April.  Their schedule was so full that our updates were all on Facebook rather than on this blog.  Here's a recap. A group of us waited patiently for their arrival at the airport.  Paulo and George were among the last passengers to get through customs. Finally! Karibuni sana. Friends of the partnership welcomed the guests throughout the afternoon and evening. The first weekend of worship was full of amazing experiences as Pastor Paulo and George began to meet the Shepherd of the Valley congregation.  So many people! Pastor Paulo and Pastor Randy Brandt served communion together. George greeted Mollie MacLean with Shikamoo! the traditional words of blessing spoken by a younger person to their elders. Pastor Randy noted that Pastor Paulo's face lit up every time he recognized a former traveler coming forward to receive communion.  (Some of...

George Kioniani and Pastor Paulo Masinga are on their way to Minnesota! In just a few short days, George Kioniani and Pastor Paulo Masinga will arrive in Minnesota, guests of Shepherd of the Valley from Makifu Parish and Tungamalenga Parish in Tanzania. We could not be more excited for their visit! Today we received this photo, taken just before they left Iringa for Dar es Salaam.  See that joy on Pastor Paulo's face? Tonight those of us at SOTV involved in hosting our guests met to go over final details of their visit, the schedule and logistics of accompanying our honored guests for a two week visit. Most of us involved in planning for this visit have been guests in Tanzania and have experienced the warm Karibu, wageni wetu - Welcome, our guests. The welcome we experience in Tanzania makes us feel as though we are Jesus on Palm Sunday, entering the villages to exuberant singing and dancing. Having experienced that warm Tanzanian welcome, we want to make...

Evangelist George Kioniani Mchungaji Paulo Masinga We are delighted to welcome our friends, Pastor Paulo Masinga and Evangelist George Kioniani, to Minnesota and Shepherd of the Valley!  They will arrive Friday, April 1st, and be with us for two weeks.   The tentative itinerary is here - check back for updates as plans firm up. George is a dear friend whom we met on our first visit to Tungamalenga in 2002.  He is a farmer, is married and has six children, and also cares for the children of his deceased brother. He is a lay evangelist, a member of the parish staff who ministers to congregants, assisting the parish pastors.  He currently serves as secretary/treasurer of Makifu Parish and is involved in planning and executing partnership projects. Pastor Paulo was the first Maasai pastor ordained in the Iringa Diocese and has been an associate pastor of Tungamalenga Parish since 2004. He is married to Leah and they have six children.  His oldes...

I've been (virtually) following a lot of Minnesota friends traveling to the Iringa area this past month, and all the blog posts and Facebook updates agree on one thing:  they haven't seen this much rain in a long, long time. The rains have washed out bridges, created nearly impassible roads in some areas, affected internet access and caused power outages across the region. If you head over to the Iringa Hope blog , Tom and Sandy Hendrickson have posted a few short videos of driving on rural roads through a deluge. Scroll down a bit on that page and you'll see a video of a SACCOs meeting where voices are being drowned out by the rainfall on the metal roof. While we heard from travelers a couple weeks ago that bridges in both Mapogoro and Idodi (villages found within Tungamalenga Parish) had been impassable, this week we learned the damage was greater than earlier reported. In these villages near Tungamalenga, and in the neighboring parish of Pawag...