Bwana Yesu, Asifiwe! (Praise Jesus! in Kiswahili) The Northwest Intermountain (NWIM) Synod has enjoyed and has been richly blessed by a 35-year relationship with our Companion Synod, the Ulanga Kilombero Diocese (UKD) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. In July 2024 a contingent of 13 pilgrims from the NWIM Synod traveled to Africa to visit the UKD.

Please watch a brief 5-minute video (below) of this trip which has been distributed to Region 1 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America World Hunger Chairs.

St. Catherine of Sienna said, “All the way to heaven is heaven.” Most of the way from Dar es Salaam to Ifakara is bumpy and awkward, punctuated with roadside checks along freeways and unpaved paths of varying quality. But even this section of our two-and-half-week pilgrimage to the Ulanga Kilombero Diocese was heavenly, because we saw the face of God everywhere we looked. 

This July, a group of thirteen people from across our synod will travel to Tanzania to spend 2 weeks bathed in the hospitality of our siblings in Christ.