Small Loans Project in Mpwapwa Diocese

We have recently begun our small loans and savings project in a 4th diocese, the diocese of Mpwapwa. This project aims to support church youth groups in the development of income generation projects which benefit the group, individual members, church and community. We give small loans to provide capital to develop their projects and also encourage group members to make regular savings to ensure the future sustainability of the project. We also offer training to group leaders in project and financial management so that they are able to run their projects effectively. These pictures show the diocesan committee which has been formed to run the project in Mpwapwa. We have met with the committe and together have selected the groups which will take part in the project. Next week we will be going to Mpwapwa to begin the training of group leaders.

We still need more funds to enable us to continue this project. If you are able to support us please visit our just giving page above to make a donation.

We have also started planning for a national youth conference which will take place in September 2012, and will involve youth groups from each of the 26 dioceses of ACT. The event will include bible teaching, praise and worship, music, games and teaching on interfaith relations in a Tanzanian context. Please pray that God provides the resources we need for this event, and again if you are able to contribute please visit our just giving pages.

"Mwamba Salama" Youth Bible Study Training

We have a new project officer in the youth office, who started work on 17th October. His name is Justine Sabe. He is pictured here working in the office. Please pray for him as he continues to settle in to this role.

Last week we completed a seminar for youth leaders from dioceses all over Tanzania. 21 out of 26 dioceses were represented and 45 people attended. The seminar was is the use of a youth bible study guide called "Mwamba Salama" or "Solid Rock".
It is important to encourge the youth of Tanzania to read and study their bibles together and this book enables them to do this. The youth leaders who attended are keen to return to their dioceses and train others to use the book and engage in bible study with their groups. We have distributed 800 books around the dioceses and are now fundraising to enable us to print some more so that they can be used widely.

These pictures show the group at the seminar and trainers Rev. Joshua Mkoga from Ruaha diocese and Rev. Samweli Magawa from Morogoro diocese.

We also held a meeting of youth leaders which was the first for some time and it was useful to renew contacts and to hear what each diocese is doing with their youth, and to make plans for the future. We will shortly be holding elections for a new TAYO (Tanzania Anglican Youth Organisation) committee and ask for your prayers for this process, that the right people may be chosen to take things forward effectively.

Music and Worship Seminar

We have just finished a 3 day music and worship seminar for youth choir leaders and songwriters, and we praise God that it was a great success. 36 people from 4 different dioceses in the central zone of Tanzania took part. The picture above shows the whole group. We covered subjects such as "What are church choirs for and why do we sing";   "how can we use music to worship God and help others to worship";   "how to read the Word of God and write meaningful songs", as well as some basic music theory and song writing techniques. 3 talented musicians and evangelists, Musa Njagamba, Canon David Haj, and Amani Shabani taught the seminar together with myself. The picture above shows Musa Njagamba teaching.

It was a wonderful time of spiritual refreshment and fellowship as well as learning together. Participants said that they found the seminar was a huge blessing and encouragement and they have never seen such a seminar available before. As well as learning a great deal everyone met with God and many people renewed their commitment to Christ. They are desperate for more training and encouragement in this area. Many of those participating, as well as being leaders in their choirs, are also leaders in their parishes, deaneries and even dioceses so we encouraged them to take home some of what they have learnt and teach and encourage others. We also made a video of the event to help them in this.

We held the seminar at St. John's University, as the students are currently away there was space available for accomodation and teaching.

We are now keen to hold a similar seminar in the remaining 4 zones of Tanzania, as it is something which is very much needed. There is huge talent amongst the youth choirs in Tanzania but there is a great need to improve skills and understanding in the areas of music and worship. Musical training is need as well as spiritual and theological training as all songs are written by the choirs themselves.

We need to raise more money to make this possible. As the participants contributed to this seminar themselves we only needed around £400 to run it. We would need a similar amount for each of the other zones. Please consider whether you are able to contribute to help us in this work. You can contribute on our "Just Giving" page above. You can also donate to this page by text message - just text  ACTY77 followed by the amount to 70070 - for example ACTY77 £10.   We would be really grateful for any assitance you are able to give us.

We are also grateful for your prayers for this projects and all our work within the youth office.

In the last post I said that we had found a new staff member, though unfortunately he has been unable to take up the post. Please pray as we look for another person to fill this role. We have selected a diocese to take part in the next stage of the small loans and saving project and now just need a project officer to run it!

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to the ACT Youth Office blog! My name is Christine Salaman. I am a mission partner with CMS (Church Mission Society) UK and work as a Youth Development Consultant for the Anglican Church of Tanzania.

I aim to use this blog to keep you up to date with some of the activities and projects we are working on in the youth office. The video below should give you a bit of a flavour of our work and some of the projects we are doing.

Please pray for us in our work and please also consider supporting us financially in any way you can. We have 2 "just giving" pages (links above) on which you can make donations. These pages also give you more details about the projects.

Also we have just appointed a new project officer, Geofrey Njama, who will start work on 12th September. Please pray for him as he settles into this role.