Tanzania Team Travels

 The Tanzania Team made it home safely. A great big thank you to all the wonderful people of the Tanzania Central Diocese who welcomed us with open arms. We are so blessed by our partnership. And thank you to our Mount Olive congregation here in Rochester. God’s work was done through your tremendous support. We are so grateful. Asante sana. 

 Incredible views in Tarangire National Wildlife Park. What a beautiful end to our travels. Tomorrow we head for home. 

Before leaving Singida, we made a visit to Bishop Hilinti’s office to report what we had seen and experienced in the Central Diocese of the ELCT. It was a very good meeting, especially because Mark and the Bishop have been long time friends. This relationship goes back to Mark’s visit in 2007 when Hilinti was a relatively new pastor. Also Pastor Glenn learned that the Bishop not only blessed his recently translated book, but it had been highlighted at the recent ELCT bishop’s conference. We are thankful for our partnership and so happy to have met in person once again.   

 This is our last sunrise on Lake Singida. We have had this view every morning for the last 10 days. We are now headed for our last safari, Tarangire National Wildlife Park. 

The staff, teachers and students of Hull High School are so grateful to Mount Olive for equipping their very first computer lab. The classroom was set up on Friday with the help of Mark Masbruch and Hull computer science teacher, Yasim. Thanks to the generous financial gifts from Mount Olive members, 14 laptop computers and a printer were installed along with an internet connection. In addition, a generator was purchased to keep the computers running during power outages.  You have done a good thing. 

Today we worshiped with our siblings at Kijota Parish. 5 different choirs sang and danced. Pastor Glenn was the guest preacher and he was very well received. We exchanged gifts and recommitted to our partnership that was established 25 years ago. We were sad to say our goodbyes.    

In downtown Arusha, we saw this scene where chickens were being taken down from the top of a bus and then wheeled away in a wheelbarrow.  Chicken was a staple food in most of our meals. Even during tea time, or second breakfast as Mark called it.   

 Each day we are amazed at the faith of the Tanzanian people, and are reminded how much we have in common. We love our families, we welcome friends, we like to share food and we give gifts to show our compassion and love for each other. Amani Church in Singida was no exception. We are so thankful to them for their music and their willingness to ask and answer questions we were curious about. Our day was full and blessed. 

 Is was a special day getting to visit Hull High School in Kijota. 5 years ago when we visited, there were 170 students and they needed a new dining hall. Today we saw the results of Mount Olive’s collaboration with Hull, and were able to see the new dining hall first hand. This year there are 513 students at Hull, and the new dining hall is being used for many purposes. Sherry even led a session with students in the new hall asking them questions from Mount Olive members, getting them to ask questions about us, and teaching them about Mount Olive and Minnesota. It was a good day. 

 Today the women of Kijota gathered together for a sewing day, but more than that, to share the day with each other. From 10 am-5:00pm, the woman listened to what Sherry had to share about her family, Mount Olive and what it’s like to live in Minnesota. They answered questions from Mount Olive members and asked some of their own. Then Sherry demonstrated how to make stuffed safari animals using felt she brought from home. Everyone made their own, enjoying the day as they worked. Before parting ways, a large group photo was taken. It was a wonderful day spent together. 

 Pastor Glenn and Mark had a very good meeting with the Parish Council, Pastor Johanes and retired Bishop Sima. They talked about the relationship between Mount Olive, Rochester, MN and Kijota Parish, Kijota, Tanzania. They learned of their plans for the future and made plans to stay connected it he future.  Pastor Glenn, Mark, Bishop Sima, Evangelist Charles and Pastor Johanes in front of Kijota Parish. 

We had a fun time today at Ihanja Technical Secondary School. We met staff and students and toured the school which is going through a major renovation. When the ELCT (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania) assigned headmistress Erica Munna the job of directing the school in 2021, it was in total disarray. From 2015-2020, a private company ran the school, but without doing required maintenance of buildings and technical machines. The school was in poor condition, but she along with her staff are working hard to raise the required funds to complete renovations to eventually provide room for up to 500 students. This includes fixing up dormitories, getting a reliable source of water and repairing technical equipment used in carpentry and car repair, etc. Currently attendance is 83.  We ended our time with the students by giving them the gift of a soccer ball. They said they play every Friday, so will make great use of it. 

 Anyone who knows Sherry, knows she loves to sew, so shopping for fabric was a highlight, especially when she got to shop with two of her friends, Faraja and Letty, whom she met on her last visit to Tanzania in 2018. It was a fun expedition, and no one got run over by a 3 wheel tuk-tuk.   

 Today’s travels took us to the small town of Iambi to visit Iambi Lutheran Secondary School. Mark visited there in 2007, and the school is doing very well under the leadership of headmaster Stephen Chima growing from 80 to 160 students. Pastor Glenn had the pleasure of teaching a religion class to a large group of teenagers. They had many good questions. 

We traveled to Kiomboi for the day, and were greeted with the customary warm Tanzania welcome. A highlight of the day included Pastor Glenn teaching a class of eager seminary and religion students using his book recently translated into Swahili by Pastor Mpumpa, The students were very appreciative of Pastor Glenn’s teaching. Mark was able to check out the computers donated by Mount Olive in 2018. They were in good working order, though accessing the internet continues to be a challenge. We returned to Singida for the night.