August 9
Amazing growth in just three years!
Today we visited the Illula Hospital and the Secondary School at Image. Both
of these places have undergone huge growth since our last visit three years
ago. The hospital has grown from a clinic with rustic facilities and less
than a dozen nurses, to a district hospital with two doctors and 40 nurses.
The new operating theatre was completed in 2006 and a new trauma and radiology
center is now under construction, and best of all, the Nursing School is now
under construction, and is expected to open in just two years!
The Image Secondary School, where 47 of our students attend has grown from
two grade levels and a fledgling campus to a virtually full campus with grades
through Form 5 and 600 students. Next year they'll add the final year's class
and program, Form 6. Their biggest current issue is clean water. They need
4 wells to provide water for drinking, hygiene and sanitation, at a cost of
$2,000 per well.
And Oh, what a welcome! We were greeted at Image by all of the students, who
performed choir pieces, dances, acrobatics, and even fire-eating tricks. 39
of the students we sponsor were on campus while we were there, and they are
a warm, welcoming, engaging and deeply appreciative crowd. The videos, stories
and photos when we get back will be amazing.
God's Spirit moves, and amazing things happen.
Pastor Marty
August 9
The things that I find most memorable about Tanzania are the people that
we are meeting. Everybody is so happy and have the most beautiful, unforgettable
smiles and laughs.
The girls that I have met are all equally beautiful and remarkable. At the
village a girl named Attu introduced me to some of the younger girls and her
friends. The younger girls did a dance for me-the same dance they had just
done for the church service and Attu tried to teach me how to play the drums.
The little girls were all better than me, though, and thought it was funny
I didn't know how to play.
At Image secondary school we were greeted with the most talented show. When
the bus pulled up everybody was waiting outside and started singing and dancing.
Some of the older kids had a show for us and they sang songs with funny, impressive
dancing. Everything was really cool. One of the sponsored girls there was
named Tullah and she came up and hugged me before I even saw her or had met
her. She held my hand the entire time and made me promise that I would write
a letter to her. Her uncle is a man named Alex that we know and has come with
us to most Preaching Points we have visited. Tullah was really funny and nice.
Also, today we went to Pommern secondary school. That's where Wema, one of
the girls our church sponsors, goes to. She was a little bit shorter than
me, but twenty-one. She was so grateful for her sponsorship that she couldn't
stop hugging us. To my mom she would say, Thank you my mom, and to me said,
Thank you my sister. She took my hand and showed me all around the campus,
including her dormitories and some of her friends. She couldn't stop laughing
and crying and it was really touching.
I've really enjoyed being in Tanzania and I'm lucky to be here.
Siri
08-09-2008
Ka-BOOM! A Building Boom
During the past few days we visited the Itungi Parish, Tumaini University,
Ilula Hospital, and Image Secondary School. All are ministry initiatives of
the Iringa Diocese of the Lutheran Church of Tanzania. In the past three years,
all have undergone significant expansion of their physical facilities and
thus their capacity to serve the people. We have been awestruck by it all.
The Itungi Parish - The main church in the village is nearing completion
with window openings filled with glass, doors, a bell tower entry, a unisex
lavatory, and office space for the pastor. One large preaching point church
is also nearing completion, two new preaching point churches are on the drawing
board, as well a building for a kindergarten, and new homes for evangelists
are at various stages of planning and completion.
Tumaini University - has grown to 2500 students enrolled in 14 majors. It
began operation in 1994 with one program, a Divinity School, with 37 students
enrolled. Three years ago there were only 750 students enrolled.
The Ilula Medical Center- has recently been designated as a District Hospital
by the Tanzanian government, which is very good news for the people in the
region. They have added at least 10 new buildings since we last visited in
2005. The numbers of people served, the kinds of medical services and procedures
provided, and the quality of care has been significantly improved.
The Image Secondary School - has grown from two grades in 2005 to five grades
today. It now serves 600 students, all of them are boarding students. It also
has added at least ten new buildings since 2005.
We in the U.S. hear that the Christain church is growing robustly in Africa.
We have seen it every day with our own eyes in the Iringa Diocese. Bwana asa
Fiwe! (Praise the Lord!) Amen!
Babu Dick
8/10/2008
We have just returned from Itugi village where we had another packed and
productive day. We started by leaving at 8:30 for a 45 minute drive for 10:00
church service. We picked up several other people along the way, Alex (a student
that Dick and Zarida sponsored who is now a teacher at Image) and District
Pastor Golden and his family. At 10:00 we roll into the village, greeted by
singing and dancing. We do not however go directly to service, they have prepared
breakfast so we must eat first. Then we went to service. The service was much
more interactive for us as Pastor Golden informed the congregation that in
addition to their choirs the choir from Como Park Lutheran Church would also
be singing, and we did! We had chosen "Asante sana Jesu" (Thank
you, thank you Jesus) and sang three of the Kisawhili verses and ended with
a verse in English. The service ended and we were presented with many gifts,
they said "a very small token of their appreciation". Then they
served us lunch and we had a meeting with the parish and village government
leaders. We saw the site for the planned village kindergarten, the agricultural
plot and where the first well is planned. The water people here told us to
tell the village that they would have water by the end of September. We got
back around 6:30, tired in a happy way.
God has done and continues to do things that would seem impossible here.
I am so grateful to God that I, and Como Park Lutheran Church, can be one
of His tools.
Tom
August 10, 2008
Today was our final visit with the people from Itungi. What a joyous Sunday
we had together. The vibrant music and great welcome were the same as last
Sunday, but today we had the privilege of witnessing the reception of several
new members and four baptisms. When Pastor Marty laid his hand on the heads
of those being baptized it was truly a moving experience and another example
of how your congregation at Como Park and the congregation at Iungi are joined
in one faith. I have marveled at how dedicated your congregation is to this
partnership and hope to carry some of that spirit home with me to my congregation
in Valparaiso.
Irene (Janet's sister)
Editor's Note: The group is in the process of getting packed for their
return trip, so these are likely to be the final updates before their return.
Ilula Hospital
