Thirty years ago a new UNH professor, Joe Lugalla, arrived at Holy Trinity and asked if we’d be interested in a relationship with his father’s Lutheran church in Isimani, Tanzania. Pastor Opderbecke took the request to Council and they said YES! Pastor O. traveled with Joe to Isimani to meet the congregation. A year later, a dozen Holy Trinity members made the first congregational trip to meet the folks in Isimani and begin our relationship.
Holy Trinity then joined Bega Kwa Bega (“Shoulder to Shoulder”), an organization headquartered in St. Paul, MN, which connects U.S. Lutheran congregations to congregations in the Irigna, Tanzania, Diocese. Bega Kwa Bega manages our relationship and disperses the funds we send to our sister congregation. Money from Holy Trinity sponsors scholarships/room and board to both secondary and college education for Isimani kids.
Isimani is a rural community near Iringa, a beautiful city in the mountains of central Tanzania. The Iringa Lutheran Center is our headquarters and our main hotel when we visit.
In addition to scholarships, Holy Trinity activity through the years includes:
- Donated monies for purchasing maize
- Christmas gift cards to purchase sheep, goats, chickens, etc.
- Library donations from the BGLibrary “weeds”
- Donations to support the Girls’ Sewing School
- Three days at a safari resort near Iringa
- An overnight at a nearby Maasai community
- Three-day retreats to Zanzibar
- HT members teaching/working at Iringa Lutheran University
HT members as Bega Kwa Bega directors
Pastor Livingston Msungu and wife Saporah live in the Isimani parsonage with their 3-year-old son Bethany. Pastor Msungu’s leadership in the community is remarkable. Under his direction, the Girls’ Sewing School doubled in capacity and hired a professional staff. In addition, he organized the Carpentry School to provide young men with a profession. And he’s created a children’s lending library.
The Tanzanian Team invites you to participate. If you’ve visited Isimani, tell your story. If you’d like to know more or have questions, please ask. There are forms at the display in the Gathering Area to add to our narrative.