ELCA NEWS SERVICE June 25, 2008 ELCA Presiding Bishop Visits Tanzania Hospital, University, Orphans' Center 08-098-JB IRINGA, Tanzania (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), returned here June 21-22 for the first time in 10 years and said much progress has been made in higher education and schools, health care and social services provided by Lutherans. But local church and church-related organization leaders told him there are still many needs. Hanson first visited the Iringa Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) in 1998 when he was bishop of the ELCA Saint Paul (Minn.) Area Synod, with which the diocese has a long-standing companion-synod relationship. Companion synods pledge to pray and provide support for one another. The Rev. Owdenburg M. Mdegella, bishop, ELCT Iringa Diocese, hosted Hanson. The LWF president's visit here preceded a meeting of the LWF Council, which Hanson is chairing June 24-30 in Arusha, Tanzania. When he arrived June 21 in Ilula, Hanson was met by several hundred people singing traditional African songs, escorting him into the village and to the Lutheran church. A congregation of about 600 people was waiting for him. "When I come to Iringa, my spirits are lifted because the Holy Spirit is alive in you," he told the congregation. He said Lutherans in the Southern Hemisphere are "teachers and missionaries" for Lutherans in the Northern Hemisphere, because Lutherans here freely share their faith in Jesus Christ and live out the gospel through the services they provide. The LWF is a communion of 68 million Lutherans in 140 member churches in 78 countries worldwide, Hanson said. "We share together and proclaim together one faith, one Lord, one hope, one Spirit, one Baptism. When we are clear about our unity, then we can also celebrate diversity," he said. Ilula Lutheran Hospital is owned and operated by the ELCT Iringa Diocese. It was started as a health care dispensary in 1938, and became a health center in 1992 and a hospital in 2007. Ilula Lutheran Hospital has 70 beds. In 2007 it served more than 24,000 patients, most on an outpatient basis. Hospital management reported it has 74 professional staff but needs another 80 to meet minimum hospital standards. The needs include physicians, nurses, medical-technical staff and other professional staff, the report said. Future plans call for construction of dormitories for a nursing school, renovation of staff quarters and construction of new quarters, Hanson was told. Hanson visited the Huruma Lutheran Diaconal Centre (HLDC), established in 1994 by the ELCT Iringa Diocese. It helps homeless orphans and other neglected children between 5 and 17 years of age, many of whom had been living on the streets, said Constancia Chilewa, director. Forty children are housed there, and the center provides services for nine others living outside the center. Mdgella said the center is special for him because when he first became bishop, "one of my tasks as bishop was the evangelization of street children." The HLDC seeks to meet the basic needs of children and prepare them "for future self-reliant living through education and skills," Chilewa said. Among its goals is to expand services and increase the center's capacity to 60 children. The center is supported by the ELCA Saint Paul Area Synod, the Berlin Mission, Danish Lutheran Missionaries and parishes of the diocese. On June 22 Hanson laid a cornerstone plaque at the foundational site of a new ecumenical chapel -- "Lutheran Chest Chapel" -- at the Tumaini University campus here. The Lutheran university was founded 14 years ago. It has a chaplaincy that provides regular morning devotions and Sunday services for Protestants and Catholics, said the Rev. Peter Fue, university chaplain and chair of the chapel committee. "Our chaplaincy is ecumenical and has played two major roles -- worship and ecumenism," Fue said at the ceremony. "That is why we have decided to indulge ourselves in the chapel project in an ecumenical spirit." Significant funds have been raised or pledged for the chapel, Fue said, and funds are still needed for the project. Hanson said he was grateful the chapel was built to serve an ecumenical community, which he said is a symbol of diversity and oneness in Christ. "It is always important and essential for Lutheran universities to have a chapel on the campus," Hanson said. "This is a place where the spirit of God brings people of faith and sets people of faith free for learning. So, it is essential there be a chapel." Hanson's visit also included preaching at two worship services June 22 at the Lutheran cathedral in Iringa. Each service was attended by more than 600 people. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog