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.
Sunday September 30, we attended a church service at the cathedral in Singida. It was an amazing experience, in many ways. One thing we did not expect was that the service would be centered on, and largely delivered by, the children of the congregation. Many, many children stood in front of a packed (extremely densely packed!) sanctuary (700 people regularly attend a service) and recited memorized Bible passages, and groups of them sang as well. It was a real treat to see all the smiling young faces praising God and sharing of their faith. After the 3 hour 30 minute service, the children all seemed to want to meet us. We shook hands and exchanged greetings with countless children, and many adults too. During the worship service we also had a chance to introduce ourselves and extend greetings from the ELCA, the Minnesota South, and from Mount Olive. This short post cannot convey all of what we felt but take a look at the photos and you will get a taste. The top photo ...
October 3 was a day of going separate ways and reunion. First thing in the morning we joined the whole Institute for a devotional service. Then we had a short, and productive meeting. Then breakfast. And then the Travelers went to separate tasks. Pastor Glenn taught a two-hour class on preaching. He said the students were sharp, engaged and extremely ready to learn. Sherry and Karen went back to the Kindergarten in Ruruma. They saw the children at the end of their class day, and presented them and their teacher with gifts. Pencils for the kids. Pencil sharpeners and one of the bags which were handmade at Mount Olive. The kids loved the gifts, the attention, and certainly the ladies who gave them. Mark and I, meanwhile, worked in the computer classroom, setting up the wireless router we had bought. We were successful in getting all the faculty and staff laptops connected to Wifi, and the staff members were all delighted. We were al...
Wonderful
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