Tanzania Partnership

July 12, 2017 We arrived at Mpalapande ready to celebrate. We could see that preparations were still in progress. There was a tented area, with an altar and chairs for honored guests. The women were cooking off in the shade, and Maasai men were gathering under the shaded walkway of the school building. Two vehicles full of diocese leaders had just arrived. The school was looking spiffy, and the area around had been cleared of all construction debris.  The day before, mounds of sand had been leveled.  It all looked great. Look at those solid doors with their shiny golden handles. Inside, the windows were washed, the blackboards clean. Guests from the Iringa Diocese head office included district pastors and department heads. The Maasai mzee [elders] were standing by. The contractor was present, and members of his staff had put the final touches on the dedication plaque just the day before. Bishop Gaville, who had been consecrated and inst...

July 10, 11 After our visit at Idodi Secondary School, we continued to the preaching point in the same village, where we were welcomed with singing and dancing. Evangelist Kaily Kifuko leads this parish now along with Nicholas Mvena and Shakuru Mbeya. There are 70 adult members and 60 children. On Sundays, the chapel is full with students from the secondary school, so the congregation schedules two services. Work will continue on the evangelist's home as soon as funds become available.  For the past year, the Namelok chapel has been the parish priority for construction. The Idodi chapel was the first of our joint projects completed, way back in 2002. The chapel is now connected to the national grid for electricity. We continued on to Tungamalenga and the main station of the parish. There were speeches of welcome, singing, dancing, and more welcomes. Then we were served a delicious meal in the youth center. Rice, beans, stew, cooked vegetables, sala...

July 10, 2017 On Monday we headed out to Tungamalenga and Makifu parishes, ready to be offline for the next eight days.  Our first stop was at Idodi Secondary School.  Idodi is the first village we come to in the parish, and we have about 75 students attending the secondary school. Headmaster Christopher Mwasomola welcomed us to his office for an introduction and update. He said that Idodi is known as a community school -- the infrastructure is built by the community (in this case, heavily supported by a group known as Friends of Ruaha) and teachers are provided by the government.  Fun fact: the Friends of Ruaha at one point received a donation from Roy Disney, whose name is included on the dedication plaque for the school's library. The school was registered in 1999 and has 889 students, 437 girls and 452 boys. There are 41 teachers. The government supports salaries, books, lab equipment, desks, and other basic supplies. There are 11 non teaching staff, wi...

July 9, 2017 Worship at Usolanga was a wonderful experience.  While we were being served chai [breakfast] in the pastor's home, the sound system was warming up and calling people to worship.  For about 45 minutes before worship begins, the music is played at a very loud volume so that all the neighbors hear. Pastor Rick preached the sermon, with Pastor Lusungu Msigwa as his translator. Compassion and justice was the theme, and Pastor Rick told the travelers they might hear bits and pieces of it again sometime. At the end of the service, gifts were exchanged.  We were presented with six large bottles of honey from the local preaching point bee keeping project.  When we are unable to take food items home, we give the items to the Huruma Center orphanage.  The kids will love this. We were each given kitange, and Pastor Rick and I were also given cross necklaces made of Maasai beads. Shepherd of the Valley's gifts to Usolanga included ...

July 8 We arrived in Usolanga Saturday late morning and were welcomed heartily.  Pastor Patrick Chaulla said, “We heard you were coming and we prayed for your journey.” Pastor Lusungu Msigwa, the diocese liaison for Bega Kwa Bega, accompanied us as our translator. They told us there are seven preaching points and another new one about to be established.   We met Associate Pastor Gabriel Msabaha and Secretary of the parish, Yusta Mkosa. The plan for the afternoon is to visit all seven preaching points and be back at the main station by 4 PM for informal visits with parishioners.  (Knowing our typical two hour preaching point visits in our other companion congregations, we are wondering how we will make it to all seven preaching points in one afternoon!) Pastor Rick, Evangelist Rose Chaulla, Pastor Patrick Chaulla, Pastor Gabriel Msabaha Usolanga, the main station, counts as the first preaching point. From there, we backtrack tow...