Life@CtK: News from the CtK Global Mission Team

News from the CtK Global Mission Team

U.S. Ambassador Visits Iringa Hope

Iringa Hope is a series of local microfinance cooperatives located in the Iringa Diocese of Tanzania. It is an affiliate of the Saint Paul Area Synod’s Bega Kwa Bega partnership with Iringa Diocese. Christ the King has supported this microfinance initiative through our own financial gifts, especially to Nduli Parish’s own local cooperative. Nduli Parish is our companion congregation in Tanzania.
 
Iringa Hope has received many visitors in recent years, coming to see its unique, successful approach to ending extreme poverty among its members. In July, U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania Dr. Immi Patterson and her entourage came to Iringa to learn about these partnerships. After presentations by Iringa Hope representatives, the ambassador noted how impressed she was with members’ individual stories of financial success through their modest loans to improve their lives. She mentioned her strong interest in programs that empower women and youth, as well as being interested in microfinance and agriculture – all issues that are addressed by Iringa Hope. Bishop Gavile of Iringa Diocese noted, “Everywhere I go I see Iringa Hope buildings. This is a great thing for our people and a blessing to us all. Please keep on building!”

Want to read more about Bega Kwa Bega? Click here to go to the Bega Kwa Bega blog on the Saint Paul Area Synod website.

A Book to Add to Your Reading List

Among the Masaai is a just-published memoir of a young American woman who journeys to Tanzania to teach at the first school for Maasai girls in East Africa. Her students are young women caught in a culture between past and future, and they struggle to define their own fates. The author is Juliet Cutler, who spent two years as a teaching missionary in Tanzania. She has continued her involvement with the Maasai Girls Lutheran Secondary School and for girls’ education worldwide for twenty years. As she worked to change her students’ lives, she was also transformed by the community she found in Tanzania. 
 
The book is being released in September 2019 and is available at bookstores and online. Proceeds from the sale of this book support education for at-risk Maasai girls. Reviewers of the book have noted:
 

• “At once memoir, spiritual odyssey, and cultural analysis, Among the Maasai is a gorgeous, honest book” (Elaine Neil Orr)
• “This brave and heartfelt account of Juliet Cutler’s journey in Tanzania is an inspiring and important work. Through the intersection of her story with the extraordinary experiences of her young Maasai students, she reveals the transformative power of education.” (Herta Feely)

 
Juliet Cutler is a writer, educator, and designer of award-winning exhibits for museums, parks, and cultural centers. She and her husband, Mark Cutler, were missionaries in Tanzania and now live in the Atlanta area. Mark Cutler grew up in New Brighton and at Christ the King Lutheran Church. His mother, Janice Cutler, is a longtime member of this church and of CtK’s Global Mission Team. Learn more at julietcutler.com.

Global Mission Prayer

Dear God we thank you for the richness of this world you have created and for the people whom you have fashioned in your own image. We ask your blessings on the people of Nduli Parish, on the leadership and staff of Iringa Hope’s individual community cooperatives, and on those who dedicate their lives to educating your children through their work with youth around the world. We look forward to learning more about you and your plans for this world in the days and years to come. We pray in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Global Mission Events

• Tuesday, September 24, 7:00 p.m. - Global Mission Team Meeting, home of Judy Hill. Meetings include devotions, a lively business meeting, and eating together. Visitors are always welcome; please RSVP through the CtK office.
• Saturday, November 9 – Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Shoreview - Saint Paul Area Synod Bega Kwa Bega Fall Festival.

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Submitted by Judith Hill on behalf of the Global Mission Team at Christ the King Lutheran Church, New Brighton, Minnesota.