Why are we going and what will we do?

Our home for three weeks will be near the city of Iringa, Tanzania in Africa.  Our sister congregation is located in the village of Mgama.  St. Paul Lutheran has partnered with them since 2003. This partnership is called the “Bega Kwa Bega,” which means shoulder to shoulder, part of the ministry of the St. Paul Area Synod of the ELCA. We pray for one another work on projects together like water, agriculture, education and health care. But the work we do together isn’t what you think.

Jeff and Patty Thomsen

This isn’t your typical mission trip. This will only be our second trip to visit our sister congregation. We don’t have hammers, nails or saws packed in our suitcases so that we might build things for them.

This mission trip is about our relationships with each other, about being present with one another in prayer, worship, singing, dancing, conversations, dreams and goals.

Carol Schuster

Our suitcases are full of gifts made by members of our congregation in Stillwater:  wooden crosses, quilts, blankets, knitted/crocheted merino wool hats, a liturgical banner and mosquito netting.

We are going because we are changed by being with our brothers and sisters in Iringa. Their faithfulness to God makes us look at our own relationship with God and open our hearts. We begin to see the world as God sees it and to value it the way that God does. That we may be a people who find ourselves among the weak and the vulnerable … praising God by helping the poor, tending to the sick, feeding the hungry and advocating for the voiceless.

Pastor Peter Harrits

Words from Pastor Peter Harrits, the Director of Bega Kwa Bega, “The Son of God came to earth not as a mighty king with strong armies or as a wealthy trader with prestige and influence. Rather, He came as the son of a carpenter and spent his life and his ministry among those who had very little or were left behind by those who were deemed a ‘success.’ He came so that all might have an abundant life.”