From Jo and Russ in Iringa, Tanzania….
Salamu Kwaku to our Holy Trinity friends from Iringa, Tanzania! We are here for eight weeks volunteering with Bega Kwa Bega (Shoulder to Shoulder in Swahili).* When we return home we will share much more about our trip and our doings here, but we thought we would get a head start by telling you about our visit to Isimani, our companion parish, last Sunday. It was a doozy!!
It all began the Monday evening before, when we were honored to have dinner at the home of Bishop Gaville, head of the Iringa Diocese of the ELCT.* During dinner, he told us that on Sunday he would be traveling to Isimani. We immediately asked if it would be okay for us to come, too, and he kindly agreed. So we arranged for a translator and set out at 6:45 am last Sunday for the 30 mile drive (about an hour on a “good” Tanzanian road).
As we got nearer we drove past many people, young and old, walking to church—and then met a group waving branches and shouting “karibu” (welcome) when we came down the long approach to the church. The welcome was for the bishop in the car ahead of us, of course, but we felt included in it. Along with the bishop, we were escorted into the pastor’s office, where we met District Pastor Koko and Isimani Pastor Samson Laizer. The pastors robed and our translator prayed before we walked into the church for the service.
Now, about the service! It began at 8:15 and ended 41/2 hours later! That’s right, 41/2 hours—a record for us. And here is what is amazing: it really didn’t seem that long. There is so much going on and so much to watch and take in that the time goes by rather quickly. In this service there were eight choirs, a baptism, long announcements (because there are no bulletins), a 50 minute sermon (about false prophets) by the bishop, additional comments by the bishop recognizing the various parish leaders, and communion. About two hours into the service the children were called forward for a blessing by the bishop, and then were dismissed to their Sunday School classes. We think it’s fair to say we all left at the end of the service knowing we’d been to church! (See pictures below.)
(An aside given the weather in NH recently: it is winter here and we are at 6,000 feet, so the weather is very pleasant—75 degrees, low humidity, blue skies, gentle breezes. That weather is welome during a very long church service!)
We will visit Isimani again while we are here, but we can report now that Pastor Samson is very personable and has a great smile. The church building itself is looking good; it has pews with backs, glass windows, a tiled floor, and a very large sound system. The church compound consists of several buildings including the church, the pastor’s home, the original sewing center building, another building, the technical school (which now houses the sewing school), and bathrooms. Ground has broken for a new library and computer center.
We are happy to have shared the Sunday morning with the Isimani people and to have met the new pastor. Next week we will travel to the diocese schools and have a chance to meet the students from Isimani whom we sponsor. The impact of Holy Trinity’s companionship with Isimani is obvious and inspiring. Asante sana for your continued prayers and support.
- BKB is the companion relationship between the Saint Paul Synod of the ELCA and the Iringa Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT)—and it is the organization that Holy Trinity works through in our partnership with the Isimani parish here. We know this sounds complicated; there will be more about it all in the months ahead.
Amani,
Jo and Russ
Pictures:
Top Left: Bishop Gaville. Top Right: Pastor Samson.
Bottom Left: The Bishop blessing the Church. Bottom Right: Visiting Pastor Samson for tea.
