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.

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