On Sunday, July 14 our group was commissioned and our gifts were blessed as part of our Sunday morning worship at St. Paul Lutheran. The above picture is a blurry screenshot of our livestream because I didn't think to take a group photo! Here is the text of the Commissioning and we invite you to continue to review it and pray the words to it throughout our travels. We will do the same. Thank you! Asante!
Pastor: A reading from Romans 12:4-8. “4For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.” A reading from Acts 13:2-3. “2While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ 3Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” Each of us is called to live out our faith as Disciples of Christ. A special call has come to these fourteen people who are willing to represent us as they travel to meet with the members of the Iringa Diocese and the Migoli and Mtera congregations in Tanzania, who we partner and rejoice in ministry with. All: We, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, send you, with our blessing. We thank God for your commitment and willingness to go on our behalf. We promise to pray daily for you, your families, and those whom you will encounter on your journey. We ask that when you return you share your new information, experiences, and insights with us. Group: Thank you, our family of faith, for your prayers and support as we embark on this journey. We promise to pray daily for you, too, while we are away, and look forward to sharing with you the insights and deeper faith we know we will gain. All: We thank you, God, for the world you have given us to love, including the people and the land of Tanzania and the Iringa Diocese. We ask your special blessing on each of them and on these gifts they will bring on our behalf. Give them eyes to see and ears to hear the things that you would teach them. Grant them traveling mercies, and may they grow in faith and wisdom so that we, through them, may learn more clearly what it means to be members of your beloved global community of faith and Body of Christ. Amen, and safari njema (safe travels).
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Over a year ago, on March 19, 2023, an initial interest meeting in another trip to Tanzania to visit our partner congregations, Mtera and Migoli, was held. That meeting was well attended and from it sixteen members of our church ultimately committed to traveling together to Tanzania. As part of our initial meetings together the dates of July 17-31, 2024 were decided on for our trip. That seemed like a long way off at the time. Fast forward to today, June 13, 2024, only a little over one month from our departure to TZ! Much planning and preparation has happened over that past year, including a wonderful Tanzania Celebration Sunday in April that the whole congregation was able to be a part of! Now, final preparations are underway, including the application of our travel visas and packing!
This blog will be an opportunity for you to follow along with our travels. It will be easy to read and to share, if you have friends or family that may be interested in our travel experiences. In addition to regular updates here we will also post on our church social media (Facebook and Instagram). I recommend you bookmark this page and follow it daily (once we've left for our trip). Or, you will also be able to find the link on the home page of our church website. To fill you in a little bit on our plans, here is a summary of our travel itinerary.
Here is the roster of our Trip. Please keep us all in your prayers!
That's all for now. Watch for more updates coming soon! Pastor Dale |
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