With great joy and gratitude, this year we are celebrating 20 years of partnership with brothers and sisters in Christ from the Iringa Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. A companion covenant was signed in June 2001 and travelers made the first journey in August 2002. What a blessing this relationship has been!
The relationship has been built and nurtured on the strong foundation of our mutual commitment to pray for one another, to be present with one another, and to do projects together.
Generous support has enabled us to contribute to building chapels, providing bikes and motorbikes for lay evangelists and pastors, stocking the rural clinic with medications, providing mosquito nets to prevent malaria, and sending hundreds of young people to school for education that would be beyond their reach without your gifts. We’ve taken on big projects like the water systems at Mahove, Ikwavila, and Mpalapande. We’ve contributed to the expansion of the clinic. We built a primary school in an area where children had to make the choice of walking 3 miles to school, or not attending at all.
We’ve seen the blessings flow in the lives of students who graduate and get good jobs, in congregations that thrive and grow, and in communities whose lives and health are better than before.
We are asking you to continue to support our partners in Makifu, Tungamalenga, and Usolanga. Pray for them, follow our Facebook page for updates, and give generously to support scholarships, medical supplies, and funding for parish projects. There are yet more chapels to roof, motorcycles to buy so that pastors can minister to their far-flung village congregations, and water projects needed in unserved areas.
In addition to our regular commitments, this year we invite you to give generously in honor of our anniversary. The anniversary project is to build a laboratory at Tungamalenga Dispensary, to support the expanding needs at the clinic. You’ll hear more about this project in the new year.
Your gifts make a world of difference, now more than ever! Your gift can be designated to be used for TZ Scholarships, TZ Medical, TZ Projects, or TZ Anniversary, or you can indicate to use it where it is needed most in the partnership. Please write checks payable to “SOTV” with “Tanzania” in the memo line, or give online at sotv.org/give.
