In a country that is beginning to see stirrings of opposition to the Christian message, a new initiative to inspire people to evangelise resulted in more than 100 Tanzanian Christians being trained to share the gospel, it was reported in December.
Hundreds of people from the local community attended a two-day open air mission of prayer, healing and preaching.
Sharing with those of other faiths
Church Mission Society mission partner Christine Salaman, who works as mission and evangelism co-ordinator for the Anglican Church of Tanzania, explained: ‘The outreach took place in Tunduru in the diocese of Masasi and trainees travelled from five different dioceses from the southern zone of Tanzania. In addition to teaching seminars, the training also included practical opportunities for believers to share their faith with people of other faiths.’
Christine continued: ‘Large numbers of people came to hear preaching and receive prayer. We also showed the Jesus film on a large screen outside and many people came.’
Traditionally, Tanzanian Christians have lived peacefully alongside their Muslim neighbours, but tensions exist, with some radical groups wishing to use Zanzibar as a springboard to extremism in East Africa. [See also Tanzania WIB.]
However, the Anglican Church in Tanzania [ACT] team has a vision to send out ‘missionaries’ across the whole country and three more training events are now being planned that will follow a similar pattern of teaching and practical involvement.
