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| On the road to preaching points |
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| Nico Mbiwilo |
February 26th was our first full day in Tungamalenga and we started off meeting four of our students who "completed" Form IV but did not pass the Form IV test. This is very sad, because by not passing they are not eligible to go on for more secondary school. The Form IV test this year was national news because so few students passed the test. The national pass rate was 40%. Three of the students would like to go on to Tourism School and one is interested in nursing. I felt that they were feeling sad about their situation, but trying to take a positive attitude. Nico, Zaituni, and Chi Chi want to go to Ruaha Tourism College in Iringa. Zaituni would like to go to Nursing School.
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| Vaileth Ngwale |
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| Zaituni Brushi |
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| ChiChi Ng'amillo |
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| Zaituni with mother, Yusta Idunda |
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Vaileth with mother Leonada Mdindle
and brother |
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Nico in front of Tungamalenga church library with some books from SOTV
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| English words for the after school prog |
Nico and another student are teaching in an after school program at the Tungamalenga Church Center. They also took a short walk with us as the sun was setting at the end of our day and before we returned to our rooms for dinner and the evening.
Preaching Points
In every case, with our visits to the preaching points the attendance was low, because we were visiting in the very busy growing season time. We noted that at SOTV, it would also be hard to get a group of members together in the middle of the day on a work day.
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| Mapogoro Preaching Point Gathering |
Mapogoro Preaching Point. We were greeted by a Women's Choir. They thanked us for the mosquito netting for their children and for the bricks for the evangelist's home where five new rooms will be added. The preaching point has added a pulpit and altar.
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| Barnabas Kahwage and Angelina Kahwage |
Angelina Kahwage, the evangelist, is a sister to Barnabas. After our visit to the chapel we were taken around to the back of Angelina's home for a soda and ground nuts. As we were leaving Lyn and I were both given a hand full of zinnia's grown form the seeds that Judy Anderson, Sharon Mertz, and Kirsten Levorson had given them in August. We did not have time to visit that pumpkin whose seed was also a gift from last August.
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| Setting for our soda and groundnuts |
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Flowers grown from seeds given in August
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| Idodi Preaching Point |
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| Nicolas and Aleza Ivena, Evangelist and wife |
The Idodi Preaching Point had three elders and the Evangelist Nicolas Ivena and his wife Aleteza in attendance. They thanked us for the bed nets for the children. We enjoyed soda and groundnuts.
We also met Obed Mlehwa who is a second year Diploma Theology Student at Tumaini who was doing an internship at Idodi.
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| Makambalala Preaching Point |
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| Evangelist Atuletye Msigwa |
Our first afternoon visit was to Makambalala. Three elders were present to great us and Atuletye Msigwa is the Evangelist. They are in the process of building a house for the Evangelist, and it is needing a roof. They are also working on church benches. The improved agriculture has provided additional financial support to congregational giving; giving either cash or crops: an offering of two tins of rice per congregational member is their goal. After our visit there was a small procession from the chapel to our car the procession broke out in song Kuzunguku Zunguku, the song our Summer Children's Culture Camp had learned at SOTV. One woman was raising her infant into the air at the point when our group at SOTV would dance in a circle in place (I was dancing in a circle). Who knows what others thought, but I loved singing something I knew and feeling like one of the happy walkers.
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| Many were working in the fields |
Our last preaching point of the day was Makifu. Makifu will become a new church and have its own preaching points when it breaks off from Tungamalenga Parish. Hosea Visime is the evangelist and has been a master planner to make this future church successful.
Barnabas has worked closely with the doctor and nurse and is a referring center for any issues needing his expertise.
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| Small examination room |
Some rooms are too big and some rooms are too small. The dispensary seems poorly supplied and not well planned, but there are hopes that some areas can be reconfigured.
After our ride home, we met Niko and his friend for a short walk down the main street and a view of the sunset. Such a lovely day and night.
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| Niko and friend walked with us |
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| Sunset in Tungamalenga |
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