Church Restart in Kapozwa

Pastor Ibrahim giving words of encouragement.

Sunday, May 10, we worshiped in Kapozwa, a village about 60 miles southwest of Sumbawanga, only a couple miles from the Zambia border. The first Mennonite church in this part of Tanzania was in Kapozwa, started in the late 1970’s by John Sikazwe and several Moravian friends, after they read about Mennonites in a church history book. They contacted the Mennonite church office Musoma, and with their encouragement, soon after organized themselves as Mennonites. Sikazwe was ordained later as the first pastor of the church.

Following the worship service, believers gathered to
choose their leaders.

Pastor Sikazwe moved to Sumbawanga town in 1983 to start a new Mennonite congregation. The church in Kapozwe continued for another 10 years, but eventually closed due to lack of leadership. Pastor Sikazwe retired in 2012.

The new pastor, Ibrahim Samuel, came to Sumbawanga in 2014 with new energy and vision. One of his dreams was to revive the church in Kapozwa, along with starting new churches in several rural villages. The first part of that dream was realized Sunday with the worship service held under a large mango tree, followed by a meeting of local believers to organize the congregation. They selected an evangelist/church leader, secretary, and treasurer by consensus from among their group.

Left side, Pastor Jakob Tanganyika,Treasurer Edod 
Simkanya, Secretary Gines Mumbeya, Evangelist 
Yeremiah Ntokwa, and Pastor Ibrahim Samuel.

Ten families have been identified as participants in the new congregation. We pray that the leaders will build unity and vision among the participants. We also planning with Pastor Ibrahim  to return to Kapozwa  for teaching about Mennonite faith and church leadership.

Kalambo Falls, on the border between
Tanzania and Zambia.

The church acquired land for a church building years ago, but a building was not built. Pastor Ibrahim advised them to begin building the church this year, because that will give credibility in the village and will be a place to begin community ministries, such as a kindergarten.
After the worship service, our hosts took us to see the Kalambo Falls, about 2 miles away, one of the highest waterfalls in Africa, over 700 feet high. The Kalambo River flows into the south end of Lake Tanganyika, about 6 miles downstream from the falls.