Tanzania

Bishop James received the call on Sunday evening as he travelled back from meetings in Dodoma. The voice on the phone spoke quickly, trying to explain what had happened before his limited mobile ‘airtime’ ran out.

The Eucharist service had just finished and the congregation of St Michael and All Angels’ Church in Sengenya in rural Masasi Diocese had returned home. Some of the church leadership remained inside to chat and share a meal together.
In this part of Africa, whirlwinds created by hot air spinning upwards in a vortex are not uncommon, especially towards the end of dry season as the temperature rises. This one, however, was extraordinarily powerful and seemed to come out of nowhere.

The wind whipped through the narrow church windows, mere slits in the mud-brick walls, and ripped the sheet metal roof away from its wooden rafters.

Everyone threw themselves on the ground as the entire church roof lifted and fell, twisting metal, splintering wood and ripping nails crashing down all around. Their quick action meant most emerged from the chaos with only minor injuries. One person would need hospital treatment.

Bishop James visited Sengenya as soon as possible. ‘It is part of the pastoral ministry of a bishop to offer comfort and pray with those in need’ he explained. Arriving at Sengenya, a small crowd had already gathered. Details of what had happened were shared and prayers were said. The bishop was shown around the ruined church building.

Despite everything, Revd Esau, a young deacon who was in the church eating lunch with the others when the whirlwind hit, is grateful. What if it had happened during the Eucharist rather than after most had gone home? What if the damaged electric wiring for the church lighting had electrified the collapsed metal roof? It was a miracle no one was killed. ‘God is good all the time’, he said.

Bishop James agrees that the old mud church building cannot be repaired. Next to it stands the roofless bare concrete block walls of its half-built replacement. ‘They will need much prayer to find the capacity to finish the new church structure before the rain arrives in November or December’, he said.

There is no doubt that the whirlwind that devastated St Michael and All Angels’ Church in Sengenya is a huge blow to the community. Amidst the wreckage, however, a spirit of resilience and gratitude stands out. They believe that divine intervention prevented any fatalities and give thanks.

As the community now faces the daunting task of completing the replacement place of worship before the rains, they do so with a renewed sense of purpose and a belief that, with God’s help, they will emerge from this with more faith, hope and love than before.

The Akan people of Ghana have a saying: “Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi.” Roughly translated it means, “It is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot.” From the proverb comes the word ‘Sankofa’, which means, “Go back and get it.” The symbol of Sankofa is a bird moving forward but with its head turned backwards, in effect going forward while remaining conscious of the past and the wisdom contained there.

At APF, we have had a sense of the importance of moving forward but looking back for some time. Our friend and partner Rev Dr Kate Coleman put it to us like this: “When you get on the train, choose the seat facing backwards.” Move forward but remain conscious of where you’ve come from.

So, while eVitabu, Jubilee Trees, Growing Greener, solar energy projects, locally-led pastor training in-service workshops and many other new and exciting initiatives absorb much of our time, we’ve also been keen not to forget good things from APF’s past. To go back and fetch what we forgot.

For example, our Tanzanian friends and partners have been asking for a reprint of our New Testament Bible Commentary sets ‘Ufafanuzi Wa Agano Jipya’ for some time. Written in the 1990s by Sister Dorothy Almond, a Church Army Tanzania missionary from Yorkshire, Ufafanuzi Wa Agano Jipya remains to our knowledge the only complete New Testament Bible commentary written in Swahili, not a translation into Swahili. With its clear language and simple explanations, demand remains high amongst poorly trained rural pastors who rarely have access to any other books beside a Bible.

It has taken us a while to get it right but at last, three thousand copies recently landed at the port in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from printers in India. APF partners in Tanzania including Heavenlight Luoga (Karagwe), Amos Nkini (Arusha), Timothy Saulo (Mwanza) and Emanuel Mhina (Morogoro) have been busy distributing hundreds of copies to rural church leaders across their regions.

Another 500 sets are available from the shelves of SomaBiblia Christian bookshops across Tanzania where they are selling at heavily subsidised prices to ensure they remain affordable to pastors.

We are deeply indebted to our generous donors in the UK and our committed partners in Tanzania whose support have made the reprint of Ufafanuzi Wa Agano Jipya possible.   Asante Sana!