Morogoro

Morogoro is a small city a couple hours drive west of Dar es Salaam. The Mennonite church in Morogoro is in the process of building their place of worship, as many buildings are built in Tanzania. The first Mennonites in Morogoro were from northwestern Tanzania where the Mennonite church started in the 1930's, and had moved to Morogoro for jobs. That is the way many of the Mennonite churches started in the cities throughout Tanzania, and even today, many of the churches in the cities are mostly people with roots in northwestern Tanzania.

Morogoro Mennonite Church

When the Mennonites  were given a plot of ground several years ago, they put their building plans on hold and built to serve the local community instead. They built a computer lab to offer classes to local youth, a classroom where they offered sewing classes, and a preschool. They soon discovered church attendance was increasing with the increase coming from the local area.
Later, they began to build their building, which is now under roof, but not yet completed. The pastor, Michael Rubingu, is native to the local area and relates well with the community.

Children playing on the grounds of the church-sponsored pre-school

We also enjoyed the hospitality of cousin Mary Hershberger and her husband, Dave Kraybill. Dave is on the staff of Sokoine University, through an arrangement with Ohio State University, where is a professor of agriculture.

Pastor Michael Rubingu, his wife, Gloria Bontrager, Dave Kraybill in front of the church