December update

We have spent the past 3 weeks or so at our home in Nyabange, just outside Musoma, TZ. There have been some house repairs, generally taking things at a slower pace, but also getting curriculum together for the training workshops we will be giving. This week we begin traveling again and will be on the road for about a month. Our travels will include Mwanza, Arusha, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Dodoma, and Tabora.
Sunday, December 2, we worshiped with the Rwamlimi Mennonite congregation, just outside Musoma town. We were invited by a former neighbor  Rhoda Koreni. The church has been meeting for many years, but they are just now getting around to building their building. For years, they met in a local school, but recently needed to move. The building has foundation and wall, but the roof is not yet on. Still, they meet there, with tarps stretched over poles to give some shade.
One of the challenges we see is church buildings. Some of the materials they can make themselves, such as burning bricks, but purchasing cement, and then the lumber and corrugated metal for the roof, are more of a problem. But it happens, through fundraisers and just keeping at it, little by little. At least, when they are finished it is paid for.
We continue to hear about the need for training for church leaders. In Lake Diocese, which is based in Musoma, we were told that about half of the ordained pastors have no training in Bible or leadership, and among lay pastors, the number is even higher. Most of them have completed only primary school, that is usually grade 7, so the educational level in general is lower. We also read that the literacy rate in Tanzania has actually decreased over the past 20 years, from about 95% in 1980 to about 78% today. Not sure what the reasons for that might be.
We are proposing a locally-based training program in which the local pastor or some other leader is the main trainer. Since many of them have some had some biblical studies, we will rely on them to train their lay leaders at a basic level. We say this will be a "primary school for leadership training" and those who are able can move on to more advanced training later. Even at the most basic level, it will be more than most of them have had. So far our proposal has been received well and there seems to be some urgency to get the program started. The question we often hear is, "When can you come and get us started?" So we are putting together a schedule beginning in January to hold "Training of Trainers" workshops in the dioceses.