Happy New Year from Tanzania! Heri ya Mwaka Mpya kutoka Tanzania.

As we enter 2023, I am praying for a productive year working with our partnership in Konde Diocese. There is so much to do! The Diocese has 90+ congregations and pastors under its care as well as numerous projects (tea, cocoa, and avocado plantations, training of evangelists and theologians/future pastors) and institutions (Itete and Matema Hospitals and several dispensaries and health centers, Iwambi Orphanage, Manow Lutheran Junior Seminary, Matema Bible College, Mwakaleli Vocational Center, Matema Beach Lutheran Center) that it oversees. The LSS Konde Fund supports many of these projects and institutions with your monetary contributions – and the Diocese is grateful for these gifts. But our prayers and our presence are important to them also. They (and I) would love to welcome you to Tanzania to visit your partnered congregation and/or to learn more about the work that they do to the glory of God.

A few months ago the Assistant to the Bishop, Rev. Dr. Meshack Njinga, took a survey among pastors attending a seminar in the Diocese. He asked how many of them thought they had a partner congregation in the Lower Susquehanna Synod. Forty-eight of them believed this was the case. Out of those 48, it turns out that 23 of them actually do have an LSS partner congregation. Even in Konde Diocese, not everyone is aware of their partnerships.

Among the congregations of the Lower Susquehanna Synod, we have 58 partnerships with Konde congregations. Some of these relationships are quite active and include frequent communication, regular visiting, financial contributions, or scholarships. Many more of them have unfortunately gone dormant, sometimes to the extent that one or both partners are unaware of the partnership. One of my responsibilities as the LSS – Konde Liaison is to strengthen not only the Synod–Diocese partnership but these congregational partnerships as well. Some of them will require a jump-start. But that’s what I’m here for.

I am listing here our 58 partnerships, with my thanks to each of these congregations for their support – past, present, or future – of their partners and their willingness to participate in the life and mission of Konde Diocese.

Advent, York – Ipinda St. Michael’s, Strasburg – Lusanje
Canadochly, York – Halungu St. Paul (York Street), Hanover – Masebe
Christ, Elizabethtown – Sanya St. Paul, Carlisle – Iwambi Parish
Christ, Gettysburg – Lwangwa St. Paul, Lititz – Kanga
Christ, Lancaster – Itete Parish St. Paul, Littlestown – Songwe
Christ, Shrewsbury – Matema Parish St. Paul, Millersville – Tumaini
Concordia, Columbia – Luteba St. Paul, New Cumberland – Mlowo
Emmanuel, Lancaster – Mbalizi St. Paul, Penryn – Isyesye
Good Shepherd, Liverpool – Ibungu St. Paul, York – Mpuguso
Grace, Camp Hill – Kasyabone St. Peter, Lancaster – Busoka
Grace, Lancaster – Tukuyu (Cathedral) St. Peter, Middletown – Bethel
Grace, Red Lion – Isuba St. Peter, York – Iyunga
Holy Spirit, Lancaster – Uyole Tree of Life, Harrisburg – Lufilyo
Holy Trinity, Hershey – Vwawa Trindle Spring, Mechanicsburg – Ilemi
Luther Memorial, York – Tunduma Trinity, Jefferson – Kipangamansi
Mt. Zion, York – Kamsamba Trinity, Camp Hill – Kambasegela
Paradise, Thomasville – Kiwira Trinity, Colebrook – Kiwira Coal Mines
Redeemer, Lancaster – Isange Trinity, East Berlin – Sinai
Salem, Chambersburg – Mbigili Trinity, Greencastle – Ukukwe
Salem, Dover – Lubaga Trinity, Mt. Joy – Ntaba
Salem, Lebanon – Idweli and Mwakaleli Zion, Akron – Nzovwe
Shiloh, York – Agape Zion, East Petersburg – Forest
Solomon, Chambersburg – Lukwego Zion, Enola – Lukasi
St. John, Mt. Wolf – Mbambo Zion, Etters – Mahanji
St. John, Shiremanstown – Katumba Zion, Lebanon – Mbafwa
St. Luke, Chambersburg – Kandete Zion, Leola – Mpata
St. Matthew, Lancaster – Ileje Zion, Marietta – Makwale
St. Matthew, York – Ruanda Zion, Newville – Ngamanga
Zion, York – Kyela

If you would like information on any aspect of the LSS-Konde partnership, my work in Konde Diocese, or the possibility of travel to Tanzania, please don’t hesitate to contact me at atrout@lss-elca.org.

New Year’s Blessings!