Mission Tanzania 2017
Dear Friend,
Jesus' grace! Did you know that there are more Lutherans in worship this weekend Africa than in Europe and North America combined? Tanzania is the largest or second-largest Lutheran church in Africa.
According to the US State Department:
Tanzania is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. The incidence of internal trafficking is believed to be higher than that of transnational trafficking. Tanzanian girls from rural areas are trafficked to urban centers and the island of Zanzibar for domestic servitude; some domestic workers fleeing abusive employers fall prey to forced prostitution. Tourist hotels reportedly coerce some girls employed as cleaning staff into prostitution. Boys are trafficked within the country for forced labor on farms, in mines, in the informal business sector, and possibly on small fishing boats. Extracted from U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June 2009.
What if you could harness the energy of that great good news-proclaiming church of Tanzania to meet and help defeat such a tragic bad news issue like human trafficking?
Joy and I are planning a mission trip to northern Tanzania starting this January 30th. We will be joining Pr Joel (pastor of Living Water-Elk Grove) and Stephanie Midthun (Director of Courage House-Tanzania) and Jodi and Cassandra Burgess at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro for 2 weeks. We had a long checklist of things necessary to make it possible for us to go. Everything on the list was checked within a short amount of time. Family schedule, church schedule, financial resources for travel, and Trinity Elder's approval (they said "yes" to this and "no" to two other opportunities). We feel a clear "yes" from the Lord to go! Here are some of the things we will be doing as a team:Co-leading a 2 day conference for 300 Lutheran Pastors and wives.
• Working with Assistant bishop of the ELCT, Elingaya Saria, who represents over 7.5 million Lutherans in Tanzania.
• Celebrating 500 years of the Lutheran Church (Reformation), training in emotional wholeness, the authority of the Bible, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and training in how to fight human trafficking and how to minister to victims.
Connecting with Courage House Tanzania
• Training and equipping staff
• Working with local government trafficking authorities
Working directly with the girls at Courage House
Working with local missionaries and leaders (all denominations)
• Counseling, prayer, and encouragement
• Training local missionaries in group sessions/home churches.
• Training for local non-denominational/Pentecostal pastors
• Preaching in local churches.
How can you partner with us?
• Pray for us:
Relationships
Timing
We have always felt like we have tons to learn from Joel and Stephanie.
We also feel like we have much to learn from our Tanzanian Christian brothers and sisters.
Renewal of leaders, pastors, and missionaries
Our health and our family
• Give financially:
Joy and I have a goal to raise $2000 for travel/room/board for Lutheran Pastors and wives – ELCT conference. (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania is also putting $5000 into this conference, and Joel and Stephanie also have a goal).
Courage House-Tanzania has a need for keyboards, microphones, amplifiers, and some music supplies.
Three ways to give financially:
1. Checks can be made out to Trinity Lutheran Church that you can send it to 1450 W 7th Street, San Pedro, CA 90732 (“Africa” in memo)
2. Online http://www.trinitysanpedro.org/giving to pay online through our church.
3. Texting (424) 268-8757, enter the dollar amount, and the fund name "Tanzania." Example "100 Tanzania", which would send $100 to the Tanzania account. First-time donors will be sent a link to register.
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