This July of 2007 marked the seventh missionjourney Renewal Ministries has made to Tanzania in thepast six years. Our team this year made up of thirteenmembers was diversified and gifted. Joining me was

Fr. Earl Muller from Detroit Sacred Heart Major Semi-nary, Fr. Graham Keep of London, Ontario, Fr. Jan Bucof Slovakia, Sr. Rita D’Souza and Sr. Juana Teresa ofthe Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jim Lowe aseminarian from Companions of the Cross, MartinJanus of Slovakia, Karen Stein of Ann Arbor, MI, MaryJohnston from Wisconsin, Jeanne Thompson from Cal-ifornia, Dennis Donahue of California and John Mathefrom Florida. The week of events in the Diocese of Dodomamarks the tenth diocese where we have conducted out-reach in Tanzania. Our time in Dodoma was followedby another week in Dar-es -Salaam.

The mission to Dodoma was a response to theletter of invitation which we received last year fromBishop Juda Thadaeus Riwa’ichi , O. F. M. CAP. Theinvitation specifically asked us to be involved in thepresentation of a retreat for the priests of his diocese, aretreat for sisters, daily workshops and outdoor rallies.A focal point of our visit was the commemoration of the100th Aniversary of the first missionaries who arriviedin Dodoma in 1907. The brothers and sisters who make up the lead-ership of the National Charismatic Renewal in Tanzaniacontinue to do an outstanding job under difficult cir-cumstances and with minimal resources. The twoevents which we conducted this year were but a part ofan overall blitz which involved simultaneous renewalevents in four cities scattered about the country, someof which ran for twenty-four consecutive days. Otherspeakers were invited to rotate from city to city includ-

ing lay Catholic evangelists from Brazil and Kenya.We were once again blessed to work hand in handwith Fr. Mathias Mulumba from Kenya and CelinaKolumbani, a Tanzanian lay woman now studyingat Emmaus Community in Uganda. Our friend Ga-briel Otatu of Nakuru, Kenya was also on hand andcirculating between cities. Just a few of the leadersinstrumental in the planning and execution of theenormous undertakings are Mr. Joseph Mishili,Roman Lyimo, Estalatus Mtema, Alex Lengeju,and Louisa Bulemela. Dodoma is an eight-hour bus ride into the interi-or of Tanzania and is the official capital city. Thediocese is comprised of a population of 1,800,000of which about 20 per cent are Catholic. Themedian age is 18. One other Renewal event , arally, was conducted in the city of Dodoma 7 yearsago. Upon arrival in the city, our team took up

lodging at the Precious Blood Seminary about 5 milesfrom the town via an unpaved road. Our team busserved as our only form of transport to and from thetown twice a day. Each morning our team celebrated anearly morning mass, then breakfast. Our events beganat 9:00 AM in town and we were responsible for thepriests retreat, sisters retreat, and workshops on theHoly Spirit, Evangelization, and Healing and Deliver-ance. The rally began on the grounds of the Cathedralat mid-afternoon and continued until 6:30 PM.

DODOMA RALLY

Team with Bishop Thadaeus Ruwa’ichi

The three-day priestsretreat was attended by 34priests and was led by Fr.Earl who was assisted by Fr.Graham and Fr. Jan. BishopThadaeus was present formost all of the retreat andanother visiting bishop waspresent for a day. Fr. Earl addressedmany of the misconceptionsand questions regarding re-newal and was able to dis-tribute considerable printedmaterial which reflected thethinking and positive state-ments of the Church. In theend all of the priests presentwere prayed over to receive

Renewal in the Holy Spirit. This was an occasion formuch rejoicing by all of the participants. The priestswere also eager to attend the afternoon rally sessionsand to join the team in praying for the many thousandsof people.

Once again our Sisters from the Disciples of theLord Jesus Christ of Prayer Town, Texas added a vitaldimension to our ministry team. Sr. Rita and Sr. JuanaTeresa and the effect of their special communitycharism of evangelization was evident in every place

that we set foot. In Dodoma Diocese seventy sistersparticipated in a five-day Dodoma retreat, anothertwenty-two in Dar-es-Salaam. All were extremelyreceptive. Like dry sponges they came and drank in thewhole experience None was more receptive than theMother Superior of the community who is hoping forour return and has visions for a much greater gathering. Our two Sisters were constantly finding oppor-tunities to evangelize as we moved along. Throughtheir witness doors opened for ministry to a group ofBritish missionaries and another group of German girlswho were in the country doing some social works. TheSisters remained in Tanzania after the teams departure

PRIESTS RETREAT

SISTERS RETREATS

Priests of Dodoma Diocese

Bishop Thadaeus and Priest of Dodoma

to minister to the Goan Indian community in Dar-es-Salaam and to interview prospective youngwomen interested in their religious community. Inthe past year, they received one young womanfrom Tanzania into their initial formation program.

The rallies in Dodoma were well attendedwith several thousand attending each day. Thepriests and sisters, as well as Bishop Thadeausjoined us for most sessions. Rally talks covered anumber of topics and were presented by TomEdwards, Fr. Earl, Fr. Graham, Fr. Jan (the 3-waytranslation went amazingly well), Fr. Mathias andSisters Rita and Juana Theresa. All of the teammembers were involved in organizing and pre-senting the daily workshops as well as prayer ministryfollowing the rally talks. The Tanzanians were verymethodical in the handling of the deliverance ministryand as usual the opportunities were numerous as the“deliverance tent” being filled each day with dozens ofpeople being set free. Numerous people came forwardeach day to give testimony of the Lord’s marvelousworkings in their lives. Specific invitations for prayer were often issuedincluding prayer for married couples, for mothers andchildren, for men, priests, nuns, teens and young adults. Teachings presented in the rallies included thefollowing:The Love of Jesus---Fr. GrahamKeys to the Kingdom-Tom Edwards

Conversion and Prieshood--Fr. JanThe Our Father and Prayer---Fr. EarlEmpowerment in Time of Trouble---TomBringing Light to Darkness---Fr. MathiasMarriage and the Church---Fr. EarlThe Gift of Eucharist----Fr. GrahamTestimony---Sr. Rita and Sr. Juana TheresaEveryone a Missionary----Tom

Our week in Dodoma concluded with atime of fellowship with the brothers and sistersof Dodoma who organized, led and servedthroughout the event. Before departure wewere invited to the Bishop’s home. Bishop Thadaeus on two occasions em-phasized that he wants the Renewal Ministriesteam to return. He specifically asked us to

Sisters Retreat---Dodoma Diocese

Sr. Rita and Sr. Juana Theresa leading retreat

DODOMA RALLIES

Praying for Sisters in Dar-es-Salaam Retreat

return next year if possible as he desires to invite priestsand sisters from neighboring dioceses to come andparticipate in retreats which we would present. It seemsthat he is very much committed to promoting renewalof the faith in Tanzania.

Our second week of ministry in the large coastalcity of Dar-es-Salaam followed the same programschedule as that of Dodoma with one exception. Theretreat for priests didn’t happen. Just before our arrivalour Tanzanian brothers were informed that the priestwho had been given responsibility to organize the eventsimply didn’t do it. This was adisappointment but our teamquickly regrouped as now ourpriests were free to teach and leadother workshops. The workshopswere well attended and all of ourteam members were greatlyblessed as the dynamic of the HolySpirit was powerfully evident in allof the workshops. Some of ourteam members were led to teach agroup of people how to say therosary during one workshop. Thisled to an unexpected outpouring ofthe Spirit that left people resting inthe Spirit outside in the rain.Praise the Lord! Our participation in theafternoon rallies constituted the fi-nal week of a twenty-four day cru-sade. The event was held on

Jangwani Grounds, the same field used for the PopeJohn Paul II event in 1990. Our ministry in Dar also included other out-reaches to orphanages, small groups, and special ses-sions with individuals in need of attention. Team member John Mathe was able to bring thefirst well-digging project to near completion. A bless-ing of the well was arranged with Fr. Graham officiat-ing. Clear clean water is flowing from the well andsome of our team members had the privilege of seeingthe villagers enjoying this new benefit in their commu-nity. John was also able to hold some meetings withkey people to discuss future projects of this nature. Once again we were able to meet with PolycarpCardinal Pengo as well as Auxiliary Bishop MethodKilanini. Each greeted us cordially and expressed sin-cere support for the work we are doing, making it clearthat Renewal Ministries is welcome to return at anytime and needs no special invitation to do so. OurTanzania leader friends understood this to be a veryaffirming statement. On our final day in Tanzania, our team wasinvivted to the Catholic Radio station. Our speakerteam taped a one hour interview to be broadcast thefollowing day. The broadcast goes out to all Diocesesin Tanzania in Swahili. Equipment is not being in-stalled which will allow the station to produce andbroadcast television by Ocotber.

Jeanne Thompson shares in Healing & Deliverance workshop

Team with Polycarp Cardinal Pengo in Dar-es-Salaam

Dar-es-Salaam Ministry

Right: Fr. Earl Muller prayingfor participants at Dar-es-Sa-

laam rally.

Left: Fr. Graham Keep preaching at Dar-es-Salaam rally.

Below: Team tapes radio intervies withTanzanian Cathlic Radio.

Right: No mission iscomplete without its tri-als. Zigging to miss a fivefoot sinkhole on theright---our bus fell intothe ditch on the left.Eventually with lots ofprayer from the sisters onour team and lots of helpfrom the locals, we wereon the road again.

One goat in the skillet----Delicious!

Villagers fill their buckets at the new well

Fr. Graham and seminarian Jim Lowe assist inthe blessing of the new well

Newly constucted porch serves as tower for the new watertank at home of Estelatus Mtema

Team member JohnMathe rejoices at completionof the well in the village ofChange’Ombe, the first fruitsof newly formed Water Minis-tries. Our friend and co-work-er Estalatus Mtema and hisextended family, along with300 villagers, now have accessto clean water for drinking,bathing, and laundry.