A Diocese of Massachusetts delegation, led by Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE, spent two weeks in December 2012 traveling in Tanzania and Uganda to visit mission partners there and see firsthand how health care and orphanage projects supported by this diocese are making a difference.
“Our trip was inspiring on so many levels—from the dedication and vision of the people of the Anglican Diocese of Tanga, to the profound care and solidarity of the Bishop Masereka Foundation health care and education work, the kingdom of God is truly in the midst of the people of East Africa,” the Rev. Sara Irwin, Rector of Christ Church in Waltham, said by e-mail after the trip.
“The trip offered us a glimpse of the power of what is being done as well as igniting our passion for what needs to be done. Our hearts were broken and healed again 10 times each day—what a privilege it is to be part of a global church!” Irwin said.
Other travelers included Bishop Shaw’s sister, Penny Shaw, from the D
Colin Johnstone
Bishop Mndolwa and Bishop Shaw during a ceremony to bless the new Kizara Health Center
iocese of Kentucky; the Rev. Thomas Mousin, Rector of St. John’s Church in Charlestown; Dr. Colin Johnstone of All Saints Church in Brookline; Amy Whitcomb Slemmer of St. Stephen’s Church in Cohasset; Heidi Marcotte from the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Duxbury; and Bishop Shaw’s assistant, Jackie Drapeau.
The time spent in Tanzania was an opportunity to renew this diocese’s longstanding relationship with the Diocese of Tanga and get to know its new bishop, the Rt. Rev. Maimbo Mndolwa.
“We are having an incredible adventure. Making friends, praying in different languages, witnessing to the generosity and connection of this church,” Amy Whitcomb Slemmer of St. Stephen’s Church in Cohasset reported in one of several e-mail dispatches during the trip.
Of a three-hour church service in Kizara, she said: “Packed house for Bishop Maimbo. Bishop Shaw gave a knockout sermon that concentrated on placing children at the center of our lives, and all of the benefits that come from that. …Children EVERYWHERE. They aren’t allowed to take Communion until after they are confirmed, so that saved a little time.”
Colin Johnstone
Bishop Shaw and Bishop Mndolwa plant a tree.
For Dr. Colin Johnstone of All Saints Parish in Brookline, a highlight was the dedication and blessing of a new health center in Kizara, a joint project among the Korogwe district council, Kizara villagers and Friends of Tanzania, a group of Massachusetts parishes that has raised about $96,000 for the project over the last four years. In addition to All Saints, Brookline, the Friends includes Trinity Church in Melrose and Grace Church in North Attleborough.
“Another [highlight] was the respect accorded to the Rev. Sara Irwin,” Johnstone said by e-mail. “The Diocese of Tanga does not ordain women, but Sara preached at St. James’s in Amboni, was invited to the altar during the prayer of consecration and was asked to distribute the blessed sacrament during Communion. A great occasion!” he said.
A smaller contingent then traveled on to Kasese, Uganda, where they were the guests of Bishop Zebedee Masereka, whose foundation Massachusetts has long supported. It operates a health care clinic and an orphanage program.
The Masereka Christian Foundation received a $250,000 grant last year from the Diocese of Massachusetts’ Together Now campaign for a new hospital to replace an outgrown clinic facility. The Massachusetts delegation had a chance to survey the site where the new hospital will be built, and to travel one morning with the clinic’s staff to conduct an outdoor clinic.
Colin Johnstone
The Rev. Sara Irwin administers Communion in Amboni.
“We watched them counsel and do AIDS testing, weigh, measure and dispense vitamins to babies and toddlers and provide prenatal care to the expectant mothers. It was so obvious to us during this morning the poverty and need of the young children there. We entertained them with songs, games, bubbles and lollipops,” Jackie Drapeau said.
The Masereka Christian Foundation, she said, identifies guardians for orphaned children, pays education fees for nearly 500 students and teaches life skills.
“The statistics for the children they are working with are staggering: 78 percent are orphans and 22 percent are vulnerable, so this foundation is critical to their survival and maturity,” Drapeau said.
Bishop Shaw said after the group’s return that, in addition to both the good work and great need that he and the group witnessed, what he saw was something of the Gospel going on.
“You know, I could see in Kasese what a huge difference this hospital is going to make, and the same thing is true in Kizara with the health clinic. The mission projects that our parishes are involved with individually do a lot of good, but sometimes we can make such a huge step forward by doing it together like this,” Shaw said.
“These projects teach us about our unity in Christ,” he said.
Read more about the trip in the Rev. Sara Irwin's blog posts from Tanzania, here, and Uganda, here.