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EASTER GREETINGS
Dear friends,
Dear blessed children of God,
Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. (John 11:25)
Christ is raised, Hallelujah!
Christ is raised, Hallelujah!
It is another occasion of great joy to the world. It is my pleasure to send you these Easter greetings from the North Eastern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (NED-ELCT). We thank God who has carried us safely throughout the Lent Season. It suffices to use the word ‘safely’ in qualifying this journey of the Lent Season leaving room for further qualification depending on what has been happening in our various contexts. As long as we have entered the Holy Week and eventually the Easter festivals, it implies that we have been taken through safely. We are safe as long as we have been given another opportunity to reflect on our lives in relation to the saving grace of God. Even if things are not working well with my life I still stand under this saving grace and I am one among the many who stand a chance of partaking in the life of Him who is resurrected. That chance is still open to me as I still have the possibility of hearing Him telling me: I am the resurrection and the life. And after that He continues to tell us the same words he told Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40). If we believe in Him we will have life and consequently be in the glory of God.
This year’s Lent Season and the time before it have had significant marks in the life of the Church in Tanzania. A new history has been written in the life of the Church in Tanzania. We have experienced the burning down of churches; the killing of pastors and some being wounded; we are experiencing and living under threats, etc. All these happenings had created a state of urgency for all church leaders to come together and reflect on the situation. It is the first time that Christian leaders of all denomination came together and deal with a common threat. In that meeting we had to rethink about what it means for a church to live under persecution. The most difficult part of the meeting, as you might all imagine, was on how to deal with the situation. I thank God for all the prayers which came before Him from His children around the world while we were struggling with these difficult issues. For the first time we came to realize what Jesus meant in His priestly prayer when He asked His Father to make His Disciples (Church) united. Even for me, for the first time I came to realize the unshakable strength constituted in the unity of the Church. To make the long story short, at the end of the day, after long discussions and prayers we came up with a message for the Church and for those in power (government). It is a statement which was intended to encourage Christians to stand firm to their faith at the same time reminding the government of its responsibilities to maintain peace and security for its citizens. I believe that this statement will reach you after it has been translated into English. Keep on praying for the church in Tanzania.
Apart from that sad story let me share with you two joyful events which are ahead of us. The first one is the forthcoming International Conference on Land Justice to be held in mid September. Please check the websites www.landjustice.or.tz or www.sekomu.ac.tz and then look under the Institute of Justice and Peace. Invitations have been sent to all partners for their contributions. I thank all those who have already responded. The registration procedures and other important information will appear under the above mentioned websites. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania and the Sebastian Kolowa Memorial University (SEKOMU) still invites all our partners to be part of this important consultation. Remember to pray for this event.
Secondly, I want to inform you about the 125 years jubilee of our diocese to be held in 2015. For us this means 125 years of mission work. Can you imagine that even after all those years we are still creating new mission areas within our diocese! I thank God who delayed the return of our Lord Jesus Christ because we are not yet done with the work of reaching out to all. This coming jubilee is very significant for our mission work, which of course, constitute efforts to strengthen the church, particularly the diaconal work. We have decided to start the preparations earlier in order to make sure that we have enough time to accomplish the goals we have set forth for ourselves. Please, pray for us and support our journey towards the 125 years jubilee.
After saying these I want to wish you a joyful and blessed Easter Season.
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