Read about the work and projects of the Mission and Evangelism Department of the Anglican Church of Tanzania, working in dioceses across the whole of the country
From 8th -11th October 2013 we held a conference of Mission and Evangelism Co-ordinators or representatives from dioceses across Tanzania. 15 dioceses were represented and Bishop Elias Chakupewa of the diocese of Tabora was also present as the chairman of the department.
There has not been a meeting of this sort for at least 6 years so it was a wonderful opportunity to meet together, share experiences, encourage each other and share in fellowship together.
Rt. Rev Francis Ntiruka
Representatives from Kibondo and Kagera
During the conference there was teaching from Rt. Rev. Elias Chakupewa of the diocese of Tabora, Rt. Rev. Francis Ntiruka, chaplain of St. John's University and Rev. Charles Unjiro of the diocese of Mount Kilimajaro. Seminars included teaching on church planting, discipleship and bible study. We also had the opportunity to share our work and plan together for the future.
.... Masasi and Zanzibar
There are some wonderful, committed evangelists in Tanzania who work very hard to spread the Gospel in challenging situations.
.... Kiteto and Mara
We ask that you pray for them as they serve God in this way, whilst facing difficulties of lack of finance and resources.
We praise God that our 4 week music and worship school has been successfully completed. 35 students attended respresenting 14 different dioceses of the Anglican Church in Tanzania, together with some representatives from the Catholic, Pentecostal and Lutheran churches. The students are all leaders in their choirs, churches, deaneries and dioceses, and even some pastors attended. So, our hope is that they will return to teach, encourage and build up others.
All those involved were greatly blessed by the school. As well as learning about music theory and pratice, they also learnt more about the importance of their ministry and how to be effective in God's service using the gifts he has given them. We also had some powerful times of worship, prayer and learning from God's word together.
One of the challenges which we set was to write songs from a passage from the book of "Songs of Songs". This was to practise their song writing skills and also to practise trying to interpret difficult parts of scripture and write meaningful songs about them. The students did this in small groups and later we went to the studio and recorded our two favourites. the clips below show groups singing these two songs at church on the Sunday morning.
We ask for your prayers as we further develop this important work, both through schools like this one and shorter seminars in the dioceses. There is a huge need and demand for training of this sort and music and choirs have such an important role in the church in Tanzania. It is important that we develop skilled musicians who truly have a heart for serving God through their ministry and enabling others to worship God through music and song.
Thank you so much to all those who supported us financially to make the school possible. Students paid fees to attend but without the subsidy that we were able to give them they would have had difficulty finding enough money.
Our Teachers Evangelist Musa Njagamba and Meraby Kaimukilwa
We thank God that the national mission and evangelism office of the Anglcian Church of Tanzania is now up and running and continue to pray for his guidance and blessing on our work.
From 11th August 2013 - 7th September 2013 we will be running a month long music and worship school which will be held at St. John's University in Dodoma. This school is a follow- up to a school we ran last year through the youth department which was a great success and a huge blessing to all who attended. The school is aimed at Christians with a music ministry who are using their gifts to serve in their local churches. Many are leaders, musicians and songwriters in church choirs which are very big in Tanzania and a major tool for outreach and evangelism. At the music school we will teach the technical side of music, including reading and writing music and piano and guitar skills so that these musicians can improve their skills, as well as the spiritual side to help students understand more about the importance of their ministry in the church and how they can use it to wroship and serve God and help others to do the same. In this way the students are enabled to serve God and preach His word more effectively through their music ministry. We have a team of music experts and evangelists to teach the course. The pictures show the music school which took place in August 2012.
Later in the year, God willing, we hope to call mission and evangelism leaders from the 27 dioceses of the Anglican church together to share experiences and plan together how to go forward in mission and evangelism in the future. We also hope to offer training during this meeting, possibly in areas such as discipleship, bible study and outreach. The mission and evangelism department on a national level has been unstaffed and unable to co-ordinate this important work for a number of years, though great work has been continuing on a diocesan level in many areas. It is important that we now come together and work together towards a co-ordinated strategy for mission and evangelism in the Anglican Church of Tanzania. We pray that God will provide to make these events possible as we are very short of resources at present. If you feel able to support us in this work please visit our "just giving" page on the link above. We would be grateful for any donation you are able to make. We also value your prayers as we try to establish and develop the mission and evangelism department.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Welcome to my new blog! I have now begun working for the Mission and evangelism department of the Anglican Church of Tanzania. Please pray for God's vision and guidance as I begin this work. Please also consider making a contribution to this work on the link to "Just Giving" above. Thanks
We are currently looking to re-establish this department which has been without personnel for several years. We would like to employ a new co-ordinator to work alongside me as well as developing the office and our resources, so that we can effectively co-ordinate mission work in the dioceses across Tanzania, though our main challenge is funding for this. We are also looking to develop projects possibly in areas such as discipleship, bible study and outreach, as well as training in music and worship. Please pray for us and if you are able to help us we would be very grateful.
