At St. Andrew’s Annual Meeting in November 2022, we announced that St. Andrew’s has voted to move forward with our Lutheran partners in Tanzania. We are officially partnering with the people of the Kipanga Parish, our new congregational partner in Iringa, Tanzania. We will walk shoulder to shoulder (“Bega Kwa Bega” in Swahili) together. Bega Kwa Bega is the name of the St. Paul Area Synod’s companion synod program with the Iringa Diocese in Tanzania.
This partnership commits us to three things:
- Prayer – SALC and the people of the Kipanga Parish promise to pray for one another, as sisters and brothers in Christ.
- Presence – We commit to visiting one another; being present with one another. We are thrilled for the ways that can happen and we’ll have more news eventually about what it will look like for us to travel to Tanzania.
- Projects – Intentionally third, we are first rooted in prayer/presence, but this partnership commits us to supporting projects alongside the congregation to support their life and ministry in that place.
This has been a long journey for St. Andrew’s, and we are pleased to take this next step. Many in the St. Andrew’s congregation have been advocates for this partnership for years, and it’s a blessing to bring it to fruition. An exploratory ambassador trip with a small group from St. Andrew’s to Kipanga Parish will occur in July 2023.
We ask your prayers for the people of the Kipanga Parish, for the people of St. Andrew’s, for the ways this relationship will continue to grow, and for the ways that God will work in and through this partnership. More information about how we will begin to integrate this partnership into our ministries will be coming soon!
Tupo pamoja! (We are together!)
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BegaKwaBega/
St. Paul Area Synod: https://spas-elca.org/mission/global-mission/tanzania
