LATEST SCHOOL NEWSLETTER - May 2006

May Newsletter

Amefufuka, amefufuka, kweli, kweli

He is risen, he is risen, indeed, indeed.

To the dear friends and supporters of Msalato Theological College,

These are the words breathed forth in the Easter celebration in Tanzania and around the world. As we come to the end of this glorious season, we want to greet you in the name of that risen Christ. We give thanks that we are an Easter people joined together not only in Christ but also in our common interest in the spiritual formation and training of the leaders of the church in East Africa.

Drought and Famine relief aid

I know that many of you have been concerned about the drought and famine in Africa. The outpouring of financial gifts from our mission partners and friends from around the world enabled us to keep the doors of the college open this past term. Our students returned from the long December to February worried and frightened. There had been no rain during “the rainy season.” They did not need to tell us that people were starving in the villages. We could see their thin frames and their concern for their families was palpable. We listened to stories of families digging roots and eating one meal a day. Within two weeks the president of the student body came to tell us that the students wanted go home. They could not concentrate. It was only with the promise of maize for their families and a long weekend to take it back to their villages that allowed us and them to continue our mission here. The students also received a second 100 Kg bag of maize to take home at Easter time. The students have asked to have a special Thanksgiving Service which they are planning for Pentecost Sunday afternoon.

In addition to the concern for our students and their families, hordes of begging children began coming to the campus. The staff began to meet daily for prayers. Again, due to the outpouring of gifts from our faculty and mission partners around the world, we began distributing flour and maize to over sixty neighboring families. This program is continuing with distribution being done every two weeks. It is a difficult task and we need much prayer and discernment in how to handle the every increasing numbers.

Power cuts plus the Generator program

When there is no rain, not only is there no food, there is also no water for electricity. Nation wide power cuts every other day for 12-14 hours became the norm. Then the rains came in March and the earth turned green and beans and maize were planted. Most people got at least a small bean crop, but the rains stopped at Easter so the maize in this area for the second year in a row simply burned up. The good news is that most of the rest of Tanzania, outside of Dodoma region, got good late rains. According to the Prime Minister, Dodoma residents will need support throughout the year.

During the blackout periods the students could not study after dinner. Our library is on a computer check-out system so books could not be checked out during these times. It was very discouraging, so we have begun seeking funds for a generator for the campus.

Glory be to God

We also want to share with you many other exciting things that have happened in the past few months at Msalato:

Three housing units for six married families were completed last June through the generous donations of Friends of Msalato under the leadership of Bishop John Ball. A short term UK missioner, Iain Sloane, lent his engineering skills to overseeing this project. They are a beautiful addition to our campus and very much appreciated by the families.

We began the first degree course at an Anglican institution in Tanzania this past August with three men. They will complete their first year of study at the end of June. We currently have seven students enrolled for the next school year which will begin in August. Four are from within the diocese, two from other dioceses in Tanzania and one from Kenya. These six men and one woman (who is from this diocese) have been here at the college since February doing the required pre-degree English and Study Skills course. We thank all of you who are sponsoring these students. Just to mention that we are still looking for sponsorship for one man who is from this diocese.

In February a beautiful new classroom building with 2 classrooms and 2 offices was completed for the degree students. Nearly one half of the cost was from donations from within the diocese, including a fund-raising event last fall in which the bishops and clergy walked barefoot up the “hill” to the college to be met by Archbishop Donald Mtetemela who laid the cornerstone. ∑ Archbishop Mtetemela also opened the new married accommodations, the library, and blessed a new kibanda for the students donated by friends from the UK. All in all, it was a grand and glorious day in the history of Msalato. ∑ The campus now has wireless internet connection through a generous donation from St. Thomas Episcopal Church of Columbus, GA, USA. This is the home parish of the Rev’d Sandra McCann, M.D., a full-time tutor at Msalato.

The clergy of the Atlanta Diocese in the states have donated the funds for a guest house for visiting lecturers and clergy for which the ground was blessed this past week. It will sit on the hillside below the main campus providing a magnificent view of Lion Rock and the skyline.

Work will begin at the end of June on a new well and pump. Already we have paid 7,000,000 Tshs with the total cost being 18,000,000 shs. This money has been donated by the Friends of Msalato and Redland Parish. It is important for our home use and gardening purposes as it is cheaper than the city water.

A new Anglican University will begin in September 2007 in Dodoma on the grounds of the old Mazengo Secondary School. A chancellor and vice-chancellor have been hired. Initially there will be three tracts offered: Nursing (at Mvumi Mission Hospital), Pharmacology (General and other hospitals in Dodoma), and Theology. Msalato applied to become the campus for theology, and we prepared to begin accepting students for August, 2006. However, due to the inevitable Tanzanian political snags, the university’s opening has been delayed until the fall of 2007. We are still provisionally the choice for the theology site. The principal and Kath Budden, (Diocesan Secretary of Education with CMS Australia) and our staff worked incredibly hard putting together a syllabus under extreme time constraints.

To complete the degree classroom project in which two more offices and classrooms will be added, we will have our next fundraiser on July 30 in Jamhuri Stadium in Dodoma. This will be a concert with several different acts, with first billing belonging to Rosie Mhando, the most popular gospel singer in East Africa, a native of Dodoma, and an Anglican. She will be joined by Mchoya, the leader and founder of a very famous troupe (yes, traveled extensively in Europe) who perform the authentic tribal dances of the Wagogo tribe. They are phenomenal. Also on the program will be another wonderful singer named Jennifer Mgendi and others yet to be confirmed. Please pray for this time that we will not only have a successful gate but also that it will be all to God’s honor and glory.

Carol Derbyshire (longtime missionary with Cross-Links) who is head of the Dodoma Language Institute (DLI) that oversees the English studies at Msalato has agreed to reimburse the college for the cost of the current library. This site will then become the offices and classrooms for the DLI. The college will use the proceeds of the sale as seed money for a new library. With the addition of the degree program and the need for computer access to libraries around the world, we need not only more library space and computers but also more English courses. This agreement should help with both of those needs. We have begun seeking funds for the new library and applying for computer grants.

We have advertised for the position of a fulltime qualified librarian. Please pray that we will find a willing and knowledgeable Christian to help us. Applications are due by June 10. We have received no applications to date. If we fail in getting a librarian from within Tanzania, we will have to seek one from overseas. Please keep this person in your prayers.

The diocese is awaiting the arrival of a container from the states any day. Over one half of the contents will go to medical projects co-ordinated by Dr. Martin McCann, husband of our tutor Sandra McCann. Martin is a pathologist who has set up the first histopathology laboratory outside of the three Tanzanian medical schools. He also teaches clinical officers and medical technologists at Mvumi Mission Hospital one day per week. In addition to the medical supplies there are over 1200 volumes of books in this container. These books were ones specifically requested by the college from the book lists for our degree and diploma students.

Thanks be to God.

We thank God for the part-time tutors who faithfully come to provide a respite for the full-time staff and who allow us to provide a variety of courses and services: -The Rev’d Ruth Shock from Liverpool who taught Revelation and Church History this past half-semester.

-Ms. Helen Entwistle from the UK who is teaching English for six months.

- Sue and Chris Watterson from Liverpool who have returned for the fourth time to do English and campus maintenance respectively.

-The Rev’d. Dr. Paul Elliott from the US who is teaching Pastoral Care and The Theology and Psychology of Ministry for two months.

We are looking forward with much excitement to the arrival of the following new full-time tutors. o The Rev’d Given Gaula who has just returned with an MTS from Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS.) o The Rev’d. Hilda Kabia who is finishing her MA at St Paul’s, Limuru. o Ms. Leslie Steffensen from VTS with an MTS will join us in late June. Leslie came as part of a student mission group that taught at St. Philip’s and Msalato last summer and was smitten with the bug to teach in Africa. She is returning with her engineer husband and three children. Kirk will teach at Jubilee High School. o Ms. Robyn Appleby from New Zealand with an advanced degree in linguistics will join the DLI staff in the fall after completing language school and a couple of other diocesan projects.

As we give thanks for the above tutors, we also mourn the loss of long time UK missionary Joanna Sayer. She is truly missed by all, and we pray for her as she begins as Mission Personnel Director for Cross Links in July.

Msalato will celebrate their 50th year anniversary in 2011. Glory be to God. We have appointed a planning committee and are making plans to video some of the people who were around when it all started. Our five year plan is centered on the question: What do we want to look like at fifty years of age?

It is indeed a very exciting time in the life of Msalato Theological College. It is also a very stressful and very busy time as periods of transition and change tend to be. Please pray for all the staff that more people may come to help us and that funds may be available to hire more Tanzanians. Pray for our students as many struggle under burdens few of us can really imagine. We feel that we are living on a sea of prayer. We are well aware that we cannot do this work alone. We need your friendship and your prayers so that we might continue our work with faithfulness and wisdom as we work.

PRAYER NEEDS

For wisdom and discernment in how to handle the food crisis with regard to the neighbors ∑ For continued support to students and college during this time of food shortage.

For our staff, who in addition to carrying heavy course loads, have a host of extracurricular duties. ∑ For more staff, especially for a librarian and more English tutors.

For our students and their families.

For our projects: library, generator, well, guest house, married housing units and that we may set our priorities in God’s order

For our fundraising event on July 30th that it would truly be to the glory of God.

For funds to complete maintenance of our dormitories and staff housing

For Bishop Mhogolo and family in their time of bereavement over the death of Irene’s mother

For Tanzania and its government officials who seem sincere in trying to curb corruption and to ensure that no one starves in Tanzania during this famine.

Grace and peace, The Rev’d. Dr. Dickson Chilongani, Principal