I have touched down in MN and am finally home. What an
amazing trip this was! The purpose of my travels was to gain a better
understanding of the mission work that we are doing at Iambi Hospital, gather
ideas for what God might be calling us to do when a Zumbro group returns this
October, and begin to establish some relationships with our ministry partners
-- both at Iambi and in the Central Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
of Tanzania (ELCT). I don't have all of the answers, but I certainly have
a much better idea about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for
our ministry in this beautiful country.
Bob, Sue and I parted ways on Tuesday afternoon. As
you've read, they were able to spend their remaining time building their
relationship with the new medical officer in charge of the hospital, Dr.
Nyenje. From what they have shared it sounds like it was time very well
spent.
all of us following our meeting at Iambi Hospital
I departed Nkungi Village and Iambi Hospital with Bishop
Steve Delzer and Kathy Bolin from our synod to spend time with the leaders of
the Central Diocese and Hartmot, our ministry partner from the Pommeranian
district of the Lutheran church in Germany. Doing cross cultural ministry
in another country is always enlightening (and to be honest, challenging). Adding
to the table partners from Germany, along with our African and American
partners was fascinating. I have learned so much and have such great
appreciation for the mission we all have to serve God's people in this region
of Tanzania.
We traveled Tuesday from Nkungi Village to the city of Singida.
Singida is where the offices of the Central Diocese are located.
(In the ELCT a diocese is comparable to a synod in the ELCA.) We
arrived in time to check in to our hotel (yes, it really was a beach front
hotel complete with a shower and good restaurant!).
three of Bishop Alex's top assistants in the diocese office
traveling in the back of the vehicle with us
scenes from the drive from Nkungi Village to Singida
kids in the area start learning how to carry items on their head as soon
as they are old enough to learn how to walk
Being able to relax
at dinner was especially enjoyable. Much of our conversation that evening
wasn't about Tanzania, but instead about the vision that Bishop Steve has for
ending food insecurity in our synod back home. It was a great
conversation and I look forward to the work that we will all be doing together.
Our newly elected bishop leads with a vision for us to be a church that
is reaching out to our neighbors -- in Rochester, Southeast Minnesota, Tanzania,
and beyond -- and it is exciting!
On Wednesday morning we were welcomed to the Central
Diocese office. How powerful it was to share communion with all of the
staff of the diocese office. So many thousands of miles away from home,
we gathered around the same table and celebrated Christ with us.
the Central Diocese office
By this
time I was finally starting to get the hang of the Tanzanian way: be prepared,
you could be called upon to offer a speech or prayer at any time. The
bishop's assistant took great joy in saying often, "And now the young
pastor will pray for us." Yes, that was always me.
After our service in the chapel we gathered with Bishop Alex in
his office, along with all of his senior staff members, to offer feedback from
all that we had seen and experienced in the past days. Bishop Steve,
Kathy and Hartmot had been traveling around the diocese for the past week
visiting all of our synod's ministry partners in the region. Zumbro's
partnership with Iambi Hospital and Nursing School is just one of the many partnerships
in the area. Even though I was only able to offer thoughts about the work
being done at Iambi, it was incredibly helpful to hear about all of the other
places that they visited. Learning about the challenges that are faced in
the whole area helps me to understand even better the work we are doing at
Iambi. It was also helpful to discuss with the diocese leadership what
they saw as the priorities at Iambi. There is so much work to be done.
We can't do it all (nor is it our responsibility to do it all) but it is
good to hear from the leaders regarding what they see as priorities for our
work. We certainly aren't in a position to come in from America and state
what we want to do. This is a partnership and we will work together with
the diocese and hospital staff at identifying how our partnership can be most
helpful and meaningful -- both for them and for us. It was a good
meeting. There were some hard conversations had, but there was also much
to celebrate.
Following our meeting we were promptly taken to a large room
where there was a head table prepared for the four of us and Bishop Alex.
Our Tanzanian friends have a much grander understanding of hospitality
than we do! It was a great celebration. More speeches thanking one
another for our partnerships, more prayers, more gifts, and, of course, more
food. I have a brand new Tanzanian dress made for me by the women of the
diocese! I truly felt honored and humbled to be representing Zumbro among
all of these wonderfully gracious people.
gathered with the staff of the Central Diocese
After more photos and farewells, we departed with Bishop Alex
for the city of Arusha. Arusha is home to the main offices of the ELCT
(this would be compared to the ELCA's main offices in Chicago). We had
some meetings lined up for the next day, but first we all stayed overnight at
the Mwangaza Lutheran Center, the same place that Bob, Sue and I had stayed our
first two nights in Tanzania.
Our time with the leaders of the ELCT began with another chapel
service at 7:30am on Wednesday morning. "Karibu,"
we were greeted with, which means "You are welcome here." Again
we were all asked to introduce ourselves. How fun it was to bring
greetings to the ELCT from our little congregation in MN. When Pastor
Jason handed me the Tanzanian hymn book a couple of months ago I looked at him
like he was crazy thinking that I would be able to actually read from it.
"Just take it," he said, "you'll get it." Sure
enough. By the end of the trip I could sing from it whenever we worshiped
(which was daily). I even think I know the meaning of a few words that I
was singing!
Our first meeting that day was with the leaders of the ELCT.
The presiding bishop was not in town because he also serves as a bishop
of one of the dioceses, but we met with his top assistants and learned a great
deal about the structure and management of the greater church. It was
fascinating to learn about the mission that they do in their country, as well
as about the financial help that they seek from countries like the United
States and Germany. Hartmot serves as the General Secretary of his
district, and so throughout this meeting he was primarily the one offering
advice about the financial management and technical systems that the church
uses. And you guessed it, with all of these leaders in the room, when
Bishop Alex said, "And now we will pray..." I knew it was my turn.
our gathering with leaders of the ELCT
Our next meeting was with an organization called the Lutheran
Mission Cooperative (LMC). This is an organization that coordinates a
great deal of the Lutheran outreach ministry being done by the northern
countries in Tanzania. Kathy Bolin, who serves as the coordinator of all
the work our synod does with our companion synods, was primarily leading this
meeting as she sought out answers to some questions she had. The LMC is
the organization that our synod uses to wire money to our ministry partners in
Tanzania. The leader of the LMC is from Sweeden, and so now sitting
around the table doing ministry together were people from four different
countries. I listened and learned.
the staff of the Lutheran Mission Cooperative
Our last meeting of the day was to travel to Makumira University,
located between Arusha and the Kilimanjaro airport. Bishop Steve was
meeting with some folks on behalf of one of the Sudanese pastors in our synod.
As we were walking into the university I saw an animal running around as
a squirrel would be scurrying about on one of our midwest college campuses.
But this was Africa, and the animals that were everywhere were monkeys!
Since a safari wasn't a part of this trip, Hartmot and I determined that
this visit was our safari and we spent a couple hours watching and taking
photos of the monkeys. We're quite sure the locals all thought we were
crazy.
Our next stop was on to the Kilimanjaro airport. Hartmot
departed first and so we wished him farewell. My plane didn't leave for a
couple of hours, and Bishop Alex made it clear that they would not leave until
I could check in for my flight. So Bishop Alex, Bishop Steve, Kathy and I
found a little stand near the airport where we could sit and visit. The
conversation that followed turned out to be perhaps the most interesting
conversation of the whole trip as Bishop Alex shared his own call to ministry
journey. Alex was raised in a Muslim family. After spending his
high school years attending a Christian learning hour, he chose to be baptized
as a Christian. He talked about how he kept trying to avoid his call to
be a pastor, but that God continued to persist. I asked questions and he
shared all sorts of stories about what it was like to grow up Muslim in Africa
and then tell your parents you were converting to Christianity.
Finally, I asked Alex why he thought the Lutheran church in
Tanzania was growing so fast (I believe it is the fastest growing Lutheran
church in the world). With great passion he explained their system of
pastors and evangelists. It was wonderful to learn from him and to then
spend time talking with Bishop Steve about the challenge we face in the United
States, and in particularly our own synod.
Alas it was time to leave and begin my journey home. I
have learned so much and have been so honored to represent Zumbro so far away
from home. The ministry that we do in Tanzania is so, so important, and I
thank you for whatever part you have played in that.
What made this trip especially exciting was that while we were
in Africa, Zumbro adopted it's new mission statement: Our journey of
faith leads us to build bridges of understanding and peace, to reach out with
compassion, and to share the love of Jesus. Our work in Tanzania is
an amazing example of how we are living out this mission together. God
needs us. The people of Tanzania need us. I can't wait to imagine
the ways that we can live this mission out together in the coming years.
Peace,
pastor lisa
Bishop Alex and Bishop Steve leading us in prayer
a wonderful representation of the ministry that we share together