You have heard a lot about what I do here in Tanzania, so now
it’s time I introduced you to some of my colleagues and helped you get a feel
for the scope of Scripture Engagement work in Mbeya.
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| Jo records some Safwa singers |
Jo (a British lady) specialises in making audio and audio-visual Scripture
products available to people in their language, as many people prefer this way
of engaging with Scripture, and some people can’t read. This week she is going
to the Bungu language area to record local people reading Ruth and Jonah in
their language. Once she has finished editing the recordings, we hope to
distribute them via phones, CDs, radio and solar-powered audio devices.
Konga & Heri are kept busy supervising the literacy and Scripture
Engagement (SE) workers who live in their language areas. They themselves were
once literacy & SE workers in their own language areas – they did such a
good job that we invited them to come and work in our main office in Mbeya to
support their colleagues. They are frequently travelling to visit their colleagues,
to encourage and advise them and help them teach workshops. We primarily
conduct two kinds of workshops – one is to train Sunday school teachers in
interactive ways to teach children the Bible (this often includes teaching them
to read their language so that they can use local language Bible resources with
the children) and the other is to train leaders in churches to read their
language and prepare and lead Bible studies.
Frank (Tanzanian), Karin (German), Alison (American), Gift
(Tanzanian) and Baraka (Tanzanian) focus primarily on literature production and
literacy training, but their work often overlaps with Scripture Engagement, as books
and literacy (as well as Jo’s audio and visual resources) are all essential to
helping people engage with Scripture.
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| Literacy & SE colleagues (photo taken 2016, a couple more people have joined the team since then) |
Prisca, Mwangunga, Mwangosi, Sambwe, Ngwatta, Nsolelo,
Amani, Nzowa, Pitrosi, Majaliwa and Nyambo live further afield – they are the
Literacy / Scripture Engagement workers who live and work in their language
areas. They are involved in advocacy, teaching people to read their language,
leading Bible studies and groups for listening to audio Scriptures and training
others to do the same. They have a challenging task! Some have taken bold
initiatives. Nsolelo & Amani recently started up two ladies’ football teams
in Amani’s village, Mshewe. Before practising, the young ladies meet to learn
to read their Safwa language and study the Bible together! A couple of other
neighbouring villages have also started teams, led by Safwa literacy teachers.
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| Young ladies playing football in Mshewe |
These are just the people directly involved in Scripture
Engagement here in the Mbeya Cluster Project. There are so many more who are
essential to the overall goal of seeing people engaging with God’s Word in
their language and being transformed by it. I haven’t even mentioned the
translators, linguists, IT specialists, administrators and others involved!
So, I’m not alone in this work! I have my own specific role to
play, but I am very much a part of a broader team, and it is my privilege to
work alongside these people. Please pray that God would direct our steps and
that we would work together well, with God as our ultimate leader and teacher.
