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.

Traveling to Sumbawanga

Last week we left the village of Nyabange, near Musoma, that has been our home base for the past two and a half years. We have friends there, from when we lived there from 1978-1982, and we have renewed those friendships over the past two years. At that time it was the central office of Tanzania Mennonite Church. Joe said he feels like Abraham, going to a place not sure of what we will encounter. Gloria said she feels like Sarah.

We were on our way to a town in southwestern Tanzania about 680 miles away, Sumbawanga. There is a growing Mennonite church with a dynamic young pastor who has been there only 1 year and has already brought new energy to the church. But they are isolated by distance from other Mennonite churches. So they are moving forward on their own without a lot of support or resources for growth. We are coming to do more intentional and in-depth mentoring with their leaders.

We had already delayed our move for a month or so because of the rains, and we thought they were over by now. And truly they had stopped. Some of the roads we needed to travel are not yet improved, so rain complicates travel with areas of slippery mud and potholes.

Discussing with other travelers, "Can we drive through?"

The first two days were normal travel. The first night we stopped in Mwanza, the second night in Tabora. And that night it rained. Or should I say it RAINED! Hard. The next two days we would travel over the worst part of the roads. We thought about waiting a day, but there was no assurance that the rain will stop. So we started the third day and traveled 9 hours to go 225 miles due to very slippery roads (that is an average of 25 mph). One place there was knee-deep water flowing over the road and we were unsure if we could pass, but after I walked through it and another vehicle passed through, we also tried and succeeded, then spent the night in the town of Mpanda.

When we left Mpanda, we heard a grinding noise in one wheel, but saw nothing unusual. About 10 kms into our trip, the left front of the car suddenly dropped a couple inches. All the lug nuts had come off and the wheel slipped off the lug bolts, but not off the hub. It was amazing that the wheel did not come completely off.  Accompanied by angels??

I jacked up the car, borrowed lug nuts from the other wheels and we went back to town to buy new nuts and we were soon on our way with no more car problems. There were muddy spots, however, and we were just able to pass a truck and a bus stuck in the road.

The countryside near Sumbawanga.

We arrived safely in Sumbawanga Thursday afternoon and were received warmly. The pastor had located a house for us to rent, which we moved into on Saturday. The house was unfurnished, and we had come with all our belongings in the car, which did not include large furniture. But we have been settling in with makeshift shelves and buying a few plastic chairs and a table and it is feeling comfortable. We plan to spend about 3 months here, with a break during June and July for other commitments and a visit to our family in USA in July. Then back to Sumbawanga for another month and a half before we move to a different location for another mentoring opportunity.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven……

Carrying water by bicycle from Lake Victoria.

We were reminded of these words in the last several weeks through the experiences we’ve had in a visit to Dar and Nairobi. Despite the sweltering heat and the severe dryness of the earth in most of East Africa, we hope in knowledge that there is a time when the refreshing rains will come. People, cattle, and the earth are suffering from the lack of rain. Every effort seems to be focused on surviving--getting water, finding food for cattle and for children and fending off disease. 

Churches too are struggling to survive, trying to find ways to build buildings and develop programs with the scarce funds that can be gathered from here and there. And yet, amidst the drought, new congregations are being formed, new vision is being developed for people outside the normal circle of Mennonites, and a new way of partnering together is being birthed.

Bishop Steven Mang'ana and Pastor Abner Mathube, pastor of
Upanga Mennonite Church, at the opening of the new Kisota
Mennonite Church

Bishop Steven Mang’ana and churches in Dar es Salaam are looking at ways to serve the people of the coastal areas. Bishop Albert Randa in Mwanza is making plans to bring services to rural villages. We recently heard of the growth of Mennonite churches in Uganda. And we are challenged by the spiritual vitality we are seeing among youth and young adults in Tanzania, even as some churches and leaders seem focused on programs and prestige, rather than true spirituality.

We believe God is doing a new thing among us. He has promised, “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring. They will spring up like a green tamarisk, like willows by flowing streams.” Isa.44:3-4

"Clouds without rain, blown along  by the wind." (Jude 12)

Pray with us for refreshing rains for this dry land and for the rain of the spirit to wash and refresh the people of the church. We trust God knows the season we are in and in time will bring us into a fruitful, more abundant season.

In the countryside, the church is growing.

Gloria and Lydia Mbeba outside the
Mbeba home in Magu

Monday morning, the first week of February (February 2-6), we drove the three and a half hours to Mwanza, to join Bishop Albert Randa for a week-long training for 5 candidates for ordination.

On the way, we stopped in the town of Magu to see Lydia Mbeba, whose husband, retired Bishop Joram Mbeba, recently died. She told us how on that day, he wanted to sing the hymn, “Thou my everlasting portion” (Bwana, u sehemu yangu). In the evening he looked up (he has been blind the last few years) and his spirit soon left his body peacefully.

Pastoral candidates and their wives at the seminar in Mwanza,

In Mwanza, we met the pastoral candidates. Four of them came with their wives. This is a new development in two ways. First, a lengthy training for pastoral candidates is not usually held. Second, inviting the spouse to attend is also new. But as we worked with the group, we sensed how much the spouses gained through the training, and how much strength that will bring to the ministry of the new pastor. Only one of the candidates is from a church family. The others are all from villages in outlying areas. Two of them said they came to faith through evangelism efforts in the diocese a few years ago. One of the wives is from a Muslim family. Bishop Randa taught them church polity and practices, we focused on broader leadership issues, such as working together in ministry as husband and wife.

Mwanza Diocese takes seriously the needs of rural villages. Many of the villages in rural Tanzania have little, if any, church presence. But the people are hungry for teaching and worship. These new pastors will be working in those areas. They also face the challenge of constructing church buildings. Two of the new pastors have started building and are working to gather funds to complete them.

Group of leaders and church members gathered "under the trees"
in Turugeta village to hear about Bible training.

The week of February 16-19, we joined Pastor Eliud Munanka in Tarime Diocese in visiting new

churches that have been started in the past year. Last July, a team of evangelists visited 3 rural communities west of Tarime with the Jesus film. The communities were chosen because of their location in an area with few churches. In each of the communities, a group of 30 to 50 people responded with commitment to form a new church. In August, the team visited another village with similar results. They expressed their desire for teaching, and the diocese will be providing the TEE program (extension Bible studies) to them. Since they do not have church buildings, the groups meet in local primary school classrooms.

Pastor Munanka and church elder Aidan Mwita looking at the
plot purchased for a church building in Korotambe village.

The news we hear in developing countries is not always positive, including the church. But in these two areas, the church is growing and people are finding hope in their new-found faith.

Perseverance in Prayer

In seeking a topic for our blog this month I was led to Isaiah 62:6-7. You who remind the Lord, take no rest, until he establishes Jerusalem.

It feels like we (as well as many of you) have been bringing our sister churches of East Africa to the Lord’s attention for quite awhile. We remind Him of their needs, lift them up, seeking direction for them and requesting God’s mercy, grace and power to be displayed on their behalf. Sometimes we get discouraged with the seeming lack of fruit from our prayers. Are our prayers not effective, are we not praying according to the will of the Father? Do we even know how to pray for them? This verse suggests that our job is to remind God--to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking (Matt. 7:7-11, note present tense). No rest, until HE establishes it. We often forget that our Father is a generous Father, a righteous Father, a Father who rewards persistent prayer. He is not our servant, but we, and the churches we serve, belong to Him and serve his purposes. Perhaps we desire our own agenda more than His, or seek our own answers rather than understanding God himself?

So reminding, is not suggesting, or trying to manipulate God into a certain action, but leaving the need, the work, to Him to perform in his own time and way. But reminding is an ongoing task for us, a persistent cry for His will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. And our Father is able to establish the church and bring it to pass.

We ask your persistence in prayer for the needs of the churches, the leaders, the Bible College, and the TEE program. Satan is persistent in his attacks on all that we attempt in the name of the Father, so we must counteract his power to destroy and kill. We praise God for already conquering and doing exceedingly more than we are able to ask or think!! 

A Different Perspective

Recently through an extended bout of malaria, I was forced to see things from a different perspective, namely from a position of weakness, utter dependence, and a rearrangement of daily priorities. I was forced back into the basics of existence, managing nausea, pain and weakness, forcing myself to eat and drink and sleeping lots! But along with this, since I didn't feel good enough to do anything, not even read, I was also given the opportunity to contemplate, meditate and pray. I often found my thoughts turning to others who are suffering, to the poor, to the helpless among us, and to the position of weakness.

Meanwhile things in the leadership training programs also seemed to be at a standstill.  Follow-up calls to the Diocese-based TEE programs weren't opening up to any further visits and although some groups affirmed that they were meeting and progressing, we couldn't tell how well and alive the program really was! The Bible college continued to struggle with inadequate funds, few students, and little movement toward resolution of the many faceted problems it is facing. In addition, we were feeling discouraged about the generally low state of spirituality in the churches and were asking ourselves and others in leadership, “What has happened?”

Missionaries aren't used to approaching their work from a position of weakness or powerlessness. Usually we find it in our power to manage, make things move, or persuade others to cooperate. But now God has brought us to a different perspective, that of working from a position of weakness. From this perspective, we realize our inadequacies, our inability to have answers, our absolute dependence on waiting for God to move, heal, and provide. And from this position, we sometimes must resign ourselves to give up Doing, and agree to just Be his children and his servants. When this happens, we tend to slow down and then are able to notice the small positive ways God is working in our lives and the lives of people around us. Things such as the training Joe was asked to give to 4 of the 5 students at the Bible college. In spite of the small number, their participation was good and they seem excited about being able to return home and form a study group of their own. Also, we have friendships with individuals who are sincerely seeking God’s way and are also concerned about the negative things in the churches. And we are refreshed by the joy on the faces of the children we see every day. God is teaching  us to recognize Him as our provider, healer and sustainer in every situation and to Be Thankful.    Gloria

Where are we now?

First, we are back in Tanzania, 4 weeks now. We spend our days doing housekeeping and house maintenance, meeting people who come to the door, preparing more study materials. It is also a beautiful time of the year with jacaranda, bougainvillea, and flamboyant trees in full bloom.
Spiritually, we are grateful for ways God is working in our own lives and also in the lives of others around us.

Emotionally, we are 2 places: here in Africa, and back in the USA with our family. We are happy when we hear that they are doing well, the “little ones” getting bigger and doing the things that “little ones” do. To live in two worlds stretches the mind and the spirit, and sometimes the body, but we are so enriched by the diversity we are privileged to experience.

In our work, we feel like we are in-between –not quite into the next phase of our work, but not removed from it either. Recently Joe has been spending more time than usual with matters relating to the Mennonite Theological College of Eastern Africa (MTCEA). To put it briefly, MTCEA is at a low point in its existence – out of money, few students, poor support from local churches, very little financial assistance from abroad, and a board of governors that seems to be unable to address the issues.

The interim administrator is working hard to find new ways to make the college effective and sustainable, and we have been trying to give him support toward making changes that need to be made to move the college forward. It is an example of the difficulty of bringing a western institution into an African setting and expecting it to work. So often it doesn’t work without input of financial and human resources from the western culture that brought it here. The education provided by the college is critically needed, but the resources to sustain it are not always easy to find.

Chapel of Mennonite Theological College with
Jacaranda trees in full bloom.

The future of the college is related to the larger question of how sending churches should relate to the receiving church, and those relationships seem to be at a turning point. When western missionaries first came, they were in charge, and local churches were dependent on them. Later, there was a move towards independence, both nationally and in church leadership, and missionaries took on a servant role and tried to support, but not exert undue influence in local decisions. It often included financial support, with local decision-making. Now we are ready to enter a new relationship of interdependence. We don’t quite know what that looks like, but here are some suggestions.

One, we will walk together in ownership and governance. Western expertise and experience, even finances, are needed and welcomed, but resourcing and governing should go hand in hand. Two, we will focus on providing people above funding. Providing funds without accountability leads to unhealthy dependency, and that actually hinders forward movement, so it is no longer enough to send money only. It misses the human relationship factor that maintains accountability and energy.

Are we ready for that kind of relationship, where we walk together and deal with the challenges that come out of that? Giving time and energy and expertise is often more costly than giving money. That is where we find ourselves – looking for ways to walk alongside our brothers and sisters in ways that strengthen us all as we move forward together to build God’s kingdom on earth.